Features
Learning Discipline The Hard Way
Part 4 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
As a free-spirited teenager, I resented being told what to do day and night at the Ceylon Hotel School (CHS). The senior students continued their ragging at the hostel as well as bossing us at the school for a full week. It appeared that the intention of the school’s leadership was to mould the newcomers from the very beginning. In the evenings we had surprise visits by the hostel warden who lived with his family right in front of our hostel. He was a nice elderly gentleman, but at times was annoyed by our lack of respect for CHS after-school rules.
Letting out the steam at Judo
A few days after the semester commenced, the rag leaders announced that as a reward for our obedient behaviour, all Fresher F***ers (FFs) will be given an evening off during the rag week. Each of us had to get permission from a rag leader to be released from the hostel for a few hours after informing him how that evening will be used free of harassment. I told the 
rag leader that I need to be present for an important championship qualifying judo bout at the Colombo YMCA. He sarcastically told me, “If you know judo, show me how you throw an opponent.” Without batting an eyelid, within seconds I grabbed his shirt front with both my hands, used a common hip movement in judo to upset his balance and threw him over a bunk bed.
While he was trying to recover from the fall and get up from the floor, there was pin-drop silence among my batch mates, who were in a line to obtain the ‘evening off’ permission. With some effort the senior collected himself and told me: “OK, you know judo. Permission granted to have an evening off”. I walked away with a grin, winking at my batch mates. I quickly went to the Judo Club, fought well, won the semi-final bout and came back to the CHS hostel feeling like a lion. Unfortunately an unpleasant surprise was awaiting me.
The word has spread among all students in the two senior batches at CHS of what I did to a Lord Veteran. In unison they had agreed that I am a FF who had to be put in his place by hook or by crook. My rag that night became worse with various physical punishments. With that extra focus on me, most of my batch mates were off the hook that night, but became forced spectators of how I was punished. I had to do many rolling breakfalls on the concrete floor of the hostel portico and push ups until I did not have any strength to stand. This treatment made me angrier, but also made me tougher and determined to eventually win. That mood helped me win the Judo championship final a few days later.
Mischief at the kitchen
The first kitchen practical was fun. We learnt about different kitchen equipment, different
vegetable cuts, methods of cooking, filleting a fish, doing advance preparations or mise en place (French for preparation of dishes and ingredients in a professional kitchen), as well as making a bouquet garni (also French for a bunch of herbs, typically in a Muslin bag for flavouring soups and stews), a beef stock and a béchamel (a rich white sauce of milk infused with flavouring). We were thrown in to the deep end during our second kitchen practical when we had to prepare a three-course menu to be served for lunch in the CHS training restaurant.
We worked in groups of three, and made four portions of each food item. Under supervision, we made Consommé Julienne, Filets de Sole Grillés, Pommes Duchesse, Carottes Vichy, and Crème Caramel. We had to loyally follow the recipes in the CHS adopted text book ‘Practical Cookery’ by Cesserani and Kinton from the Ealing College, UK. The German Chef Instructor Herr Helmut Belling who was in charge of the practical class refused to send the four portions of Crème Caramel I had prepared to the training restaurant, as those lacked the required firmness. After that bad experience, whenever I had to make Crème Caramel again at CHS, secretly I mixed an extra egg yolk into the custard.
The chef was a fun-loving nice guy. Having observed that I stole a cube of cheese from a refrigerator and quickly ate it in the midst of the practical, he had replaced the remaining cheese cubes with a bar of Sunlight soap cut in similar sized cubes. He laughed for a long time when I tasted soap in my mouth at my second attempt to steal cheese. After the lunch we prepared was served by the
second-year students to 36 horrified customers at the training restaurant, we had to clean and wash the kitchen. During this time, I focused more on having fun by throwing wet dusters around the kitchen at my batch mates who were working hard. My irresponsible action resulted in a hilarious water fight in the kitchen until the Chef Instructors returned fro
m their lunch to re-enforce order.
Hostel coming live at night
At the end of our first week at CHS, the ragging was coming to an end, but I was given an individual warning by the seniors that if I do n
ot strictly follow the golden rules of the Shefton (name of the CHS hostel), the seniors hold the right to do a second rag to my whole batch. In fact, we had to take an oath promising that we will follow these golden rules which included items such as: “FFs will always obey Lord Veterans”, “FFs will always be last” (when collecting hostel food etc.), “FFs are seen, but not heard”, so on. After the rules were memorized and repeated, the ragging officially ended. The seniors finally gave us a warm welcome, which included a big arrack booze party till the early hours of the morning.
The party mood at the hostel continued throughout the three-year period. When we had pocket money, we found any excuse to have a party and get drunk, particularly after CHS sport teams took part in games with various external teams. Our motto was: “Win or lose, we booze”. In between these big parties, we used to get together in small groups of f
our to have an occasional drink. In this case all we needed was each of the four students to contribute Rs. 2.50 to bring the total collection to Rs. 10.00 (little more than US$ 2.00 at that time). This was enough for us to buy a bottle of arrack, a bottle of ginger ale, and a packet of Bristol cigarettes. After two hours all four were drunk.
Movie nights and water fights
When we could not afford to get drunk, we went instead to see movies at 9:30 pm and walked back to the hostel close to midnight. That entertainment cost each student only 50 cents (for the cheapest gallery ticket right in front of the screen). Regularly, we upgraded ourselves to more comfortable seats at the back of the cinema during the interval without being noticed by the cinema attendants. Usually, the other hostellers who did not even have 50 cents to go to the movies, had their entertainment by challenging those returning from cinemas for a midnight water fight. The attackers usually waited with buckets of water and hose pipes hiding behind the trees in the hostel grounds. Often it was l
ike a guerrilla ambush.
On days we made too much of a noise after midnight, we made the poor warden lose his sleep as well as his temper. If his wife and daughters too were awoken, we got into deep trouble. If and when the angry warden came to t
he hostel to check, we pretended to be fast asleep, some in wet cloths.
One minute late
I was in the largest room in the hostel which was called ‘The Dirty Dozen’, named after 1967 classic movie about 12 of the US Army’s worst prisoners turned into commandos to be sent on a probable suicide mission. It had bunk beds for 12 students. There were 10 first year students and two second year students who supervised us as our room bosses. During our second week at CHS, owing to some late-night fun, I overslept the next morning. In spite of efforts by my room mates to wake me up, I and two other students were late by one minute to enter CHS. For our bad luck, the Principal was standing at the entrance, and immediately assigned after school ‘punishment’ tasks to three of us. The other two students got easy punishments – one had to clean a few toilets and the other had to polish some brass door knobs. As the Principal was targeting me based on his philosophy: ‘hit the toughest hardest’ to teach others a good lesson, I got the worse punishment.
Memorable punishment
I had to prepare two large stock pots for the next day’s kitchen practical, clean the kitchen windows and then spend the whole night in the kitchen as the kitchen door was under repair. I was very angry and could not understand why Herr Sterner could not arrange a night security guard. Late afternoon, during my guard duties, my old buddies from the Ananda College Rugby Football team came to practice at the army grounds which was just behind the CHS kitchen. During their 
practice break, through a window I treated them with lots of ‘free’ snacks I collected from the CHS kitchen stores. My former team mates were impressed. Later I ate some left-over food kept in refrigerator for my dinner and slept on a stainless-steel kitchen table. In my later career when I became a Hotel School Principal and a College Dean, if I ever gave this type of punishment to any student, I would have to spend very high legal fees defending myself. Those days were different. However, Principal’s cruel punishment worked. I was never late again!
In spite of my challenges during the first month at CHS, I was able to jump start my hospitality career with a few part-time jobs towards the end of 1971 while experiencing some ‘real life’ ups and downs.
(More, next week.)
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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