Features
ENDING THE FIRST YEAR WITH A BANG! – Part 7
CONFESSIONS OF A GLOBAL GYPSY
By Dr. Chandana (Chandi) Jayawardena DPhil
President – Chandi J. Associates Inc. Consulting, Canada
Founder & Administrator – Global Hospitality Forum
chandij@sympatico.ca
Orders by Herr Kollmann
In the early 1970s one of the Expert Lecturers in Restaurant and Bar Service at the Ceylon Hotel School (CHS) was Herr Lothar Kollmann.. He dressed well with white shirts that were fashionably embroidered with a small Black (Schwartze) Rose. As a young man in his late teens, he had served in the German army during the World War II. He had lost two fingers in his right hand, due to a pre-mature grenade explosion. He often came to our class and said, “I need five volunteers”, showing the three remaining fingers from his right hand and two fingers from his left hand. This confused us. As this was for extra hard work, we never wanted to volunteer. Therefore, we would look down to avoid eye contact. Annoyed with this reaction, on one occasion, he waited for one minute and then turned red in anger. He pointed his index finger and ordered, “You, you and three of you, Kommen Sie, NOW!” We quickly marched behind him, obediently.
On another occasion when a group of students were relaxing during our 10:00 AM tea break, he came to us and asked, “Who has a licence to drive?” A third-year student, Walter Perumal, stood with his arm up and proudly announced, “Me, sir. I do”. Walter was anticipating an opportunity to drive the new van of CHS. Herr Kollmann grinned and said, “OK, Walter. Excellent. Now drive this tea trolley back to the kitchen and wash all these dirty tea cups.” That was the last time Walter volunteered for anything until he graduated from CHS.
Missing Cigarettes
Herr Kollmann smoked Rothmans Cigarettes imported from the UK, while students shared locally made much cheaper Bristol Cigarettes. One day we managed to hide his packet of cigarettes, but wondered why he never commented about it. Later we enjoyed smoking his Rothmans after we returned to the CHS hostel. Over thirty years later Herr Kollmann was invited by one my batch mates, Chris Isaac, to dinner at his home in Germany. When he noticed that Herr Kollmann had forgotten to bring his Rothmans, Chris had offered a cigarette to him. Herr Kollmann lit one cigarette and proceeded to put the whole packet of Rothmans into his coat pocket. He then stated, “Isaac, we are now quits!”
CHS focussed a lot in teaching us food production and service. It was able to recruit several expatriate experts with the generous funding from the Carl Duisberg Society and the West German Government. In addition, CHS was fortunate to obtain help from the International Labour Organization (ILO), an agency of the United Nations. The Food and Beverage Service training provided to us by a Swiss national, Mr. Jorge Müller, an ILO expert Maître d’hôtel was very popular. Mr. Müller was a very friendly person and loved to see his students progress in their careers. The ‘hands on’ basics in food and beverage service skills I learnt from Mr. Müller laid a strong foundation for my early career in hotel operations.
Nineteen years later, Mr. Jorge Müller and I became work colleagues. In 1990 we both worked for Schiller International University (SIU) Hotel Schools. He lectu
red at the SIU Hotel School on the Engelberg campus in Switzerland. I ran the SIU Hotel School on the London campus in the UK, as the Acting Director. We became good friends. Every time I went to Switzerland to teach hotel management as a Visiting Professor of the International Management Institute (IMI) in Lucerne, he hosted me to dinner.
I founded the International Hotel School (IHS) of Sri Lanka as the Managing Director, 30 years ago at the Mount Lavinia Hotel. I recruited a few former CHS personalities to assist me in establishing IHS. They included Mr. Eardley Edrisinha (our Vice Principal at CHS in the 1970s) as the Principal, Mr. Jorge Müller as an Adviser and a CHS graduate senior to me, Mr. Kamal Happuwatte (later the Principal of CHS) as the Curriculum Development Consultant. By then I had learnt that for any project to be successful, a leader must wisely surround him/herself with people better than him/herself. IHS will celebrate its 30th anniversary as the second oldest hotel school in Sri Lanka in September 2021.
Learning to Plan Hospitality Events
We learnt a few basic steps in event planning when we were involved in organizing a holiday party at the Ceylon Hotel School (CHS). That event was a success, so some of us continued looking for an opportunity to practice our newly acquired skills in event planning. The idea of celebrating the graduation of the third-year diploma students came up during a booze party at the CHS hostel. Our temporary “Dutch courage” made us ambitiously innovative in our suggestions. After the student representatives presented the concept of a Graduation Ball dinner dance open to public, the Principal and the teaching staff decided to support this idea. The leadership of the event was entrusted to the second-year students. As the first-year students, my batchmates were grouped into various sub committees to support the event.
The top venues for dinner dances in Sri Lanka at that time were three well-reputed hotels established in the 1860s – Galle Face Hotel, Mount Lavinia Hotel and the Grand Oriental Hotel (later Taprobane). These hotels were too expensive for us. Therefore, after we raised a small amount of funds through dance souvenir advertisements, we settled for the relatively inexpensive Samudra Hotel as the venue for the CHS Graduation Ball in 1972. The students did most of the work to organise a memorable event. We managed to raise sufficient f
unds to hire one of the most popular dance bands in Sri Lanka at that time – Gabo & the Breakaways. My good friend, lawyer-turned-musician, Sohan Weerasinghe, was their lead singer.
First-ever CHS Graduation Ball in 1972
In preparing for the big day, some of my batchmates learnt ballroom dancing and practiced at the hostel using broom sticks as phantom dance partners! Apart from learning ballroom dancing, one of the biggest challenges we had was finding actual dance partners. I was pleasantly surprised to be invited to join the table of one of our German-trained lecturers, Mr. Rohan Dias Abeysinghe. Knowing that his beautiful younger sister was attending the dance, I had some hope of partnering her. That plan did not materialise, as her brother was over-protective of her.
My other choice was a British teenage girl staying with her parents at Samudra Hotel. Unfortunately, a handsome CHS graduate who was two-years senior to me, acted promptly to book that girl as his partner. I was still not out of luck, as I finally found an Australian teenage girl holidaying in Sri Lanka, who became my partner. I liked the hot pants she wore to the dance. These were fashionable in the Western countries, but shockingly new to Sri Lanka at that time. With that trendy and groovy attire, my last-minute dance partner quickly became the talk of the event. A few of my poor batchmates who could not find dance partners were hoping to get an opportunity to dance with her, if and when I took a b
reak from dancing. I selfishly blocked any such partner-sharing arrangements by simply dancing non-stop with my partner. We nearly won the Baila dance competition held at the end around 5:00 am.
The first CHS Graduation Ball was a great success and we had lots of fun. We also made substantial profits. This tradition that we initiated has now continued with 25 more CHS Graduation Ball dinner dances held during the last 49 years. This event was rebranded as ‘Gravitas’ since the year 2009, to attract non-CHS hospitality professionals. It is now considered the most popular and prestigious event in the social calendars of the Sri Lankan hospitality industry management professionals. Not bad for an event wit
h a humble beginning that evolved during a student booze party at the CHS hostel in 1972.
The Worst in Class
Soon after the graduation and dance events were over, I received the bad news on the last day of our first year at CHS. I have placed last out of 28 students in my batch during the final examinations of year one. Unlike now, at that time the common practice was to publicly announce class overall positions and display final results on school notice boards. That 
was a humiliating practice, especially for the person coming last in class! As I was the only student in my batch who did not study at all, my batch mates were not surprised about my poor performance at the year-end examinations. I was too scared to go home for the summer vacation with my report card. When I finally went home, I was happy to hear that my father was away on some government business. My mother wanted to see my report and I told her a white lie, “CHS will send it by mail”. I had some breathing space which I used to hang out with my neighbourhood buddies. However, I felt like a ‘crab in boiling water.’
When my father returned from his trip, he opened the mail and there was an envelope with the CHS logo on it. The letter was from the CHS Principal, Herr Reinhold Sterner, and addressed to my father. The letter referred to my report card, which my father had not seen yet. The letter ended with a forceful paragraph which read, “Do yourself, your family, your son, this school, and the hotel industry of Sri Lanka, a big favour by removing Chandana Jayawardena from the Ceylon Hotel School immediately. He will not succeed in a profession such as hotel-keeping, which requires hard work, commitment and discipline.”
by Dr Gotabhya Ranasinghe
Senior Consultant Cardiologist
National Hospital Sri Lanka
When we sought a meeting with Hon Dr. Ramesh Pathirana, Minister of Health, he graciously cleared his busy schedule to accommodate us. Renowned for his attentive listening and deep understanding, Minister Pathirana is dedicated to advancing the health sector. His openness and transparency exemplify the qualities of an exemplary politician and minister.
Dr. Palitha Mahipala, the current Health Secretary, demonstrates both commendable enthusiasm and unwavering support. This combination of attributes makes him a highly compatible colleague for the esteemed Minister of Health.
Our discussion centered on a project that has been in the works for the past 30 years, one that no other minister had managed to advance.
Minister Pathirana, however, recognized the project’s significance and its potential to revolutionize care for heart patients.
The project involves the construction of a state-of-the-art facility at the premises of the National Hospital Colombo. The project’s location within the premises of the National Hospital underscores its importance and relevance to the healthcare infrastructure of the nation.
This facility will include a cardiology building and a tertiary care center, equipped with the latest technology to handle and treat all types of heart-related conditions and surgeries.
Securing funding was a major milestone for this initiative. Minister Pathirana successfully obtained approval for a $40 billion loan from the Asian Development Bank. With the funding in place, the foundation stone is scheduled to be laid in September this year, and construction will begin in January 2025.
This project guarantees a consistent and uninterrupted supply of stents and related medications for heart patients. As a result, patients will have timely access to essential medical supplies during their treatment and recovery. By securing these critical resources, the project aims to enhance patient outcomes, minimize treatment delays, and maintain the highest standards of cardiac care.
Upon its fruition, this monumental building will serve as a beacon of hope and healing, symbolizing the unwavering dedication to improving patient outcomes and fostering a healthier society.We anticipate a future marked by significant progress and positive outcomes in Sri Lanka’s cardiovascular treatment landscape within the foreseeable timeframe.
by Fr. Emmanuel Fernando, OMI
Jesuit Fr. Aloysius Pieris (affectionately called Fr. Aloy) celebrated his 90th birthday on April 9, 2024 and I, as the editor of our Oblate Journal, THE MISSIONARY OBLATE had gone to press by that time. Immediately I decided to publish an article, appreciating the untiring selfless services he continues to offer for inter-Faith dialogue, the renewal of the Catholic Church, his concern for the poor and the suffering Sri Lankan masses and to me, the present writer.
It was in 1988, when I was appointed Director of the Oblate Scholastics at Ampitiya by the then Oblate Provincial Fr. Anselm Silva, that I came to know Fr. Aloy more closely. Knowing well his expertise in matters spiritual, theological, Indological and pastoral, and with the collaborative spirit of my companion-formators, our Oblate Scholastics were sent to Tulana, the Research and Encounter Centre, Kelaniya, of which he is the Founder-Director, for ‘exposure-programmes’ on matters spiritual, biblical, theological and pastoral. Some of these dimensions according to my view and that of my companion-formators, were not available at the National Seminary, Ampitiya.
Ever since that time, our Oblate formators/ accompaniers at the Oblate Scholasticate, Ampitiya , have continued to send our Oblate Scholastics to Tulana Centre for deepening their insights and convictions regarding matters needed to serve the people in today’s context. Fr. Aloy also had tried very enthusiastically with the Oblate team headed by Frs. Oswald Firth and Clement Waidyasekara to begin a Theologate, directed by the Religious Congregations in Sri Lanka, for the contextual formation/ accompaniment of their members. It should very well be a desired goal of the Leaders / Provincials of the Religious Congregations.
Besides being a formator/accompanier at the Oblate Scholasticate, I was entrusted also with the task of editing and publishing our Oblate journal, ‘The Missionary Oblate’. To maintain the quality of the journal I continue to depend on Fr. Aloy for his thought-provoking and stimulating articles on Biblical Spirituality, Biblical Theology and Ecclesiology. I am very grateful to him for his generous assistance. Of late, his writings on renewal of the Church, initiated by Pope St. John XX111 and continued by Pope Francis through the Synodal path, published in our Oblate journal, enable our readers to focus their attention also on the needed renewal in the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka. Fr. Aloy appreciated very much the Synodal path adopted by the Jesuit Pope Francis for the renewal of the Church, rooted very much on prayerful discernment. In my Religious and presbyteral life, Fr.Aloy continues to be my spiritual animator / guide and ongoing formator / acccompanier.
Fr. Aloysius Pieris, BA Hons (Lond), LPh (SHC, India), STL (PFT, Naples), PhD (SLU/VC), ThD (Tilburg), D.Ltt (KU), has been one of the eminent Asian theologians well recognized internationally and one who has lectured and held visiting chairs in many universities both in the West and in the East. Many members of Religious Congregations from Asian countries have benefited from his lectures and guidance in the East Asian Pastoral Institute (EAPI) in Manila, Philippines. He had been a Theologian consulted by the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences for many years. During his professorship at the Gregorian University in Rome, he was called to be a member of a special group of advisers on other religions consulted by Pope Paul VI.
Fr. Aloy is the author of more than 30 books and well over 500 Research Papers. Some of his books and articles have been translated and published in several countries. Among those books, one can find the following: 1) The Genesis of an Asian Theology of Liberation (An Autobiographical Excursus on the Art of Theologising in Asia, 2) An Asian Theology of Liberation, 3) Providential Timeliness of Vatican 11 (a long-overdue halt to a scandalous millennium, 4) Give Vatican 11 a chance, 5) Leadership in the Church, 6) Relishing our faith in working for justice (Themes for study and discussion), 7) A Message meant mainly, not exclusively for Jesuits (Background information necessary for helping Francis renew the Church), 8) Lent in Lanka (Reflections and Resolutions, 9) Love meets wisdom (A Christian Experience of Buddhism, 10) Fire and Water 11) God’s Reign for God’s poor, 12) Our Unhiddden Agenda (How we Jesuits work, pray and form our men). He is also the Editor of two journals, Vagdevi, Journal of Religious Reflection and Dialogue, New Series.
Fr. Aloy has a BA in Pali and Sanskrit from the University of London and a Ph.D in Buddhist Philosophy from the University of Sri Lankan, Vidyodaya Campus. On Nov. 23, 2019, he was awarded the prestigious honorary Doctorate of Literature (D.Litt) by the Chancellor of the University of Kelaniya, the Most Venerable Welamitiyawe Dharmakirthi Sri Kusala Dhamma Thera.
Fr. Aloy continues to be a promoter of Gospel values and virtues. Justice as a constitutive dimension of love and social concern for the downtrodden masses are very much noted in his life and work. He had very much appreciated the commitment of the late Fr. Joseph (Joe) Fernando, the National Director of the Social and Economic Centre (SEDEC) for the poor.
In Sri Lanka, a few religious Congregations – the Good Shepherd Sisters, the Christian Brothers, the Marist Brothers and the Oblates – have invited him to animate their members especially during their Provincial Congresses, Chapters and International Conferences. The mainline Christian Churches also have sought his advice and followed his seminars. I, for one, regret very much, that the Sri Lankan authorities of the Catholic Church –today’s Hierarchy—- have not sought Fr.
Aloy’s expertise for the renewal of the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka and thus have not benefited from the immense store of wisdom and insight that he can offer to our local Church while the Sri Lankan bishops who governed the Catholic church in the immediate aftermath of the Second Vatican Council (Edmund Fernando OMI, Anthony de Saram, Leo Nanayakkara OSB, Frank Marcus Fernando, Paul Perera,) visited him and consulted him on many matters. Among the Tamil Bishops, Bishop Rayappu Joseph was keeping close contact with him and Bishop J. Deogupillai hosted him and his team visiting him after the horrible Black July massacre of Tamils.
Sri Lanka-Singapore Free Trade Agreement
By Gomi Senadhira
senadhiragomi@gmail.com
“You might tell fairy tales, but the progress of a country cannot be achieved through such narratives. A country cannot be developed by making false promises. The country moved backward because of the electoral promises made by political parties throughout time. We have witnessed that the ultimate result of this is the country becoming bankrupt. Unfortunately, many segments of the population have not come to realize this yet.” – President Ranil Wickremesinghe, 2024 Budget speech
Any Sri Lankan would agree with the above words of President Wickremesinghe on the false promises our politicians and officials make and the fairy tales they narrate which bankrupted this country. So, to understand this, let’s look at one such fairy tale with lots of false promises; Ranil Wickremesinghe’s greatest achievement in the area of international trade and investment promotion during the Yahapalana period, Sri Lanka-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (SLSFTA).
It is appropriate and timely to do it now as Finance Minister Wickremesinghe has just presented to parliament a bill on the National Policy on Economic Transformation which includes the establishment of an Office for International Trade and the Sri Lanka Institute of Economics and International Trade.
Was SLSFTA a “Cleverly negotiated Free Trade Agreement” as stated by the (former) Minister of Development Strategies and International Trade Malik Samarawickrama during the Parliamentary Debate on the SLSFTA in July 2018, or a colossal blunder covered up with lies, false promises, and fairy tales? After SLSFTA was signed there were a number of fairy tales published on this agreement by the Ministry of Development Strategies and International, Institute of Policy Studies, and others.
However, for this article, I would like to limit my comments to the speech by Minister Samarawickrama during the Parliamentary Debate, and the two most important areas in the agreement which were covered up with lies, fairy tales, and false promises, namely: revenue loss for Sri Lanka and Investment from Singapore. On the other important area, “Waste products dumping” I do not want to comment here as I have written extensively on the issue.
1. The revenue loss
During the Parliamentary Debate in July 2018, Minister Samarawickrama stated “…. let me reiterate that this FTA with Singapore has been very cleverly negotiated by us…. The liberalisation programme under this FTA has been carefully designed to have the least impact on domestic industry and revenue collection. We have included all revenue sensitive items in the negative list of items which will not be subject to removal of tariff. Therefore, 97.8% revenue from Customs duty is protected. Our tariff liberalisation will take place over a period of 12-15 years! In fact, the revenue earned through tariffs on goods imported from Singapore last year was Rs. 35 billion.
The revenue loss for over the next 15 years due to the FTA is only Rs. 733 million– which when annualised, on average, is just Rs. 51 million. That is just 0.14% per year! So anyone who claims the Singapore FTA causes revenue loss to the Government cannot do basic arithmetic! Mr. Speaker, in conclusion, I call on my fellow members of this House – don’t mislead the public with baseless criticism that is not grounded in facts. Don’t look at petty politics and use these issues for your own political survival.”
I was surprised to read the minister’s speech because an article published in January 2018 in “The Straits Times“, based on information released by the Singaporean Negotiators stated, “…. With the FTA, tariff savings for Singapore exports are estimated to hit $10 million annually“.
As the annual tariff savings (that is the revenue loss for Sri Lanka) calculated by the Singaporean Negotiators, Singaporean $ 10 million (Sri Lankan rupees 1,200 million in 2018) was way above the rupees’ 733 million revenue loss for 15 years estimated by the Sri Lankan negotiators, it was clear to any observer that one of the parties to the agreement had not done the basic arithmetic!
Six years later, according to a report published by “The Morning” newspaper, speaking at the Committee on Public Finance (COPF) on 7th May 2024, Mr Samarawickrama’s chief trade negotiator K.J. Weerasinghehad had admitted “…. that forecasted revenue loss for the Government of Sri Lanka through the Singapore FTA is Rs. 450 million in 2023 and Rs. 1.3 billion in 2024.”
If these numbers are correct, as tariff liberalisation under the SLSFTA has just started, we will pass Rs 2 billion very soon. Then, the question is how Sri Lanka’s trade negotiators made such a colossal blunder. Didn’t they do their basic arithmetic? If they didn’t know how to do basic arithmetic they should have at least done their basic readings. For example, the headline of the article published in The Straits Times in January 2018 was “Singapore, Sri Lanka sign FTA, annual savings of $10m expected”.
Anyway, as Sri Lanka’s chief negotiator reiterated at the COPF meeting that “…. since 99% of the tariffs in Singapore have zero rates of duty, Sri Lanka has agreed on 80% tariff liberalisation over a period of 15 years while expecting Singapore investments to address the imbalance in trade,” let’s turn towards investment.
Investment from Singapore
In July 2018, speaking during the Parliamentary Debate on the FTA this is what Minister Malik Samarawickrama stated on investment from Singapore, “Already, thanks to this FTA, in just the past two-and-a-half months since the agreement came into effect we have received a proposal from Singapore for investment amounting to $ 14.8 billion in an oil refinery for export of petroleum products. In addition, we have proposals for a steel manufacturing plant for exports ($ 1 billion investment), flour milling plant ($ 50 million), sugar refinery ($ 200 million). This adds up to more than $ 16.05 billion in the pipeline on these projects alone.
And all of these projects will create thousands of more jobs for our people. In principle approval has already been granted by the BOI and the investors are awaiting the release of land the environmental approvals to commence the project.
I request the Opposition and those with vested interests to change their narrow-minded thinking and join us to develop our country. We must always look at what is best for the whole community, not just the few who may oppose. We owe it to our people to courageously take decisions that will change their lives for the better.”
According to the media report I quoted earlier, speaking at the Committee on Public Finance (COPF) Chief Negotiator Weerasinghe has admitted that Sri Lanka was not happy with overall Singapore investments that have come in the past few years in return for the trade liberalisation under the Singapore-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement. He has added that between 2021 and 2023 the total investment from Singapore had been around $162 million!
What happened to those projects worth $16 billion negotiated, thanks to the SLSFTA, in just the two-and-a-half months after the agreement came into effect and approved by the BOI? I do not know about the steel manufacturing plant for exports ($ 1 billion investment), flour milling plant ($ 50 million) and sugar refinery ($ 200 million).
However, story of the multibillion-dollar investment in the Petroleum Refinery unfolded in a manner that would qualify it as the best fairy tale with false promises presented by our politicians and the officials, prior to 2019 elections.
Though many Sri Lankans got to know, through the media which repeatedly highlighted a plethora of issues surrounding the project and the questionable credentials of the Singaporean investor, the construction work on the Mirrijiwela Oil Refinery along with the cement factory began on the24th of March 2019 with a bang and Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and his ministers along with the foreign and local dignitaries laid the foundation stones.
That was few months before the 2019 Presidential elections. Inaugurating the construction work Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said the projects will create thousands of job opportunities in the area and surrounding districts.
The oil refinery, which was to be built over 200 acres of land, with the capacity to refine 200,000 barrels of crude oil per day, was to generate US$7 billion of exports and create 1,500 direct and 3,000 indirect jobs. The construction of the refinery was to be completed in 44 months. Four years later, in August 2023 the Cabinet of Ministers approved the proposal presented by President Ranil Wickremesinghe to cancel the agreement with the investors of the refinery as the project has not been implemented! Can they explain to the country how much money was wasted to produce that fairy tale?
It is obvious that the President, ministers, and officials had made huge blunders and had deliberately misled the public and the parliament on the revenue loss and potential investment from SLSFTA with fairy tales and false promises.
As the president himself said, a country cannot be developed by making false promises or with fairy tales and these false promises and fairy tales had bankrupted the country. “Unfortunately, many segments of the population have not come to realize this yet”.
(The writer, a specialist and an activist on trade and development issues . )
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