Life and Times of a Scholarly Administrator

The Sri Lanka Administrative Service (SLAS) is 60-years old having succeeded the Ceylon Civil Service which was abolished in 1962. During this period, I cannot think of many scholarly administrators. Leo Fernando’s wide- ranging career and interests can be matched only by a very few other administrators. What strikes me is the range of subjects and interests that he has been engaged in his lifetime. Now he has written a charming book, “Biographical Sketches of Leo Fernando a Professional Generalist” which tells an equally charming story of his career and concerns.

The story of his childhood is instructive and entertaining. This is a story of a middle-class family living under difficult circumstances. Leo lost his father when he was only two years old, and it is his mother with other relations who brought him up. Pitipana and neighbouring villages had a strong musical tradition, and this instilled in young Leo, his life-long interest in all its forms. Music formed an important part in his life and that of his family.

Leo’s early schooling was at Maris Stella College, Negombo, where he learnt his English. He offers interesting details of the ways in which teachers encouraged the learning of English. Then he moved on to St. Joseph’s College, Colombo. He had some very bright students as his contemporaries. There he started to learn Greek and Latin. Fr. Peter Pillai was the formidable Rector of the College. From what Leo says, Fr. Peter Pillai was of the view that an Arts education made the better person.

Leo entered the University of Ceylon when Sir Ivor Jennings was still there, and he read Western Classics. He was equally at ease with Greek and Latin, and English and Sinhalese. I first met him at Peradeniya in 1955 and we were both residents at Ramanathan Hall. He pursued his musical interests and enjoyed his social life at the University. I would have preferred if he had expanded his story of his time at the Peradeniya University.

Leo started his life’s career teaching at Trinity College, Kandy. Among his students at Trinity, were Sarath Amunugama and Jayantha Dhanapala, who rose to prominence in later life. Then he moved into an administrative career in the public service. He held many posts in Colombo and in the provinces. My impression is that of the posts he held, he enjoyed his stint at the Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration.

Unusually for a government administrator, Leo developed an interest in public finance, in an academic sense. By this time Leo had qualified as a Chartered Secretary and a Fellow of the Institute of Management Accountants in London. His experience in Government and his qualifications in accountancy provide a background for this new interest in public finance. He is the author of a book “An Introduction to Government Finance in Sri Lanka”.

In our time in the public service one had to know about public finance only through the Financial Regulations (The FR). Now, administrators have this handbook. The versatility of Leo Fernando can be observed in the two other books he wrote – “The Story of Chemistry” and “Why I am not a Buddhist”. Science and religion are both subjects which fascinated Leo. He wrote numerous letters to the newspapers, a few of which he has included in the current book.

Leo refers to the changes that were brought about in the Sri Lanka Constitution of 1972 in relation to Public Finance. In the 1948 Constitution, the chief accounting officer of a ministry was the public official in the form of the Permanent Secretary. In the 1972 Constitution this provision was removed, and the minister assumed control of a ministry’s finances. Although it did not happen at that time, this opened the floodgates of corruption and the misuse of public finances.

Leelananda De Silva