Features
Manourie Muttetuwegama, a personal memoir
by Manik de Silva
My grandfather, the late Dr. O.A. de Silva of Sisira, Randombe, Ambalangoda, chose two phonetically similar but fairly uncommon names for his two elder sons. My father was Walwin Arnold and loku baappa was Colvin Reginald. Colvin married much earlier than thaththa and thus all three of his children were older than my parents’ five.
The brood at Pendennis Avenue (now Abdul Caffoor Mawatha), Kollupitiya, were Manouri Kokila, Shireen Mohini and Nalina Visvajit. None of them, however, were ever called by their given names. Manouri was Toonie (sometimes Toonie Man or TM to her father), Shireen was Podi Toot (often PT to Colvin) and NV was Koiman (but never KM). None of us cousins (22 in all on our paternal side) ever figured out or learned how or why these nicknames were coined. So Manouri – a most unusual name then and possibly the progenitor off all Manouris (or Manoris who came since) was always Toonie akka to all her cousins.
The nicknames were not the only difference between us cousins. Colvin’s children called their parents mummy and daddy while to the rest of us, our’s were amma and thaththa. The children of that family, as I remember, had more liberties than us due to Colvin’s easy going nature and very busy professional and political life. Perhaps kudamma was less indulgent notwithstanding her kindness and hospitality. My father was the only person who, as I recall, she did not serve at her table because he had made it very clear that he must serve himself!
Manouri was both an extremely attractive child and later a beautiful woman who, her father, particularly, doted on. So also did her grandfathers on both sides. Both grandmothers died early. I clearly remember loku bappa once taking her to England as a child, maybe he wanted to to show off his daughter to his British friends (Both Walwin and Colvin were educated at the London University after a brief stint at the then University College here). When they returned, loku bappa with his penchant for a good story, used to regale us with their experiences on that trip. One I vividly recall was “whenever we went to a restaurant, Toonie’s eye unerringly went to the most expensive dish on the menu.”
Very few remember the tragedies Toonie akka went through during her 85 years, She bore them all stoically, never brooded over misfortunes and always presented a cheerful face to the world. Little known is the accident she suffered on her bicycle either as a child or early teen. She had cycled to our home on Charles Way and was going back to Pendennis Avenue when she was hit by an overtaking car on the Galle Road and was unconscious for 14 days. It was “touch and go” as her brother reminded me after her death.
He also told me a story I did not know before. Kudamma was at her bedside when Toonie akka regained consciousness. Perhaps having being vaguely aware of those nursing her during her coma, she had asked “Why are you wearing my mother’s clothes?” when she opened her eyes, having mistaken her mother for one of the nurses. I remember as a child counting the days of Toonie akka lying unconscious on a hospital bed. It was a traumatic time for the whole family but she soon bounced back fully recovered.
She was one of the two cleverest girls a Visakha Vidyalaya of her time. The other was Kumari Wickramasuriya, my mother’s eldest sister’s daughter. I remember her and Toonie akka in the early fifties going together in a six-member contingent for a Girl Guide event in Australia. Four of the girls in that group were from Visakha. I also remember viewing a Visakha school play in which Toonie akka was acting, playing the part of a king, when she dropped her crown on stage. Not for her the indignity of bending down to retrieve it. She laughingly ad libbed a line clean off the script by describing herself as “a king without a crown!” We all thought that was brilliant.
Her parents, undoubtedly anxious too see her qualify as a barrister like her father sent her to the UK after she had completed her secondary education. She was called to the bar at Lincoln’s Inn like her father before her and her brother and daughter after.
Koiman too was shipped off to London for law studies although he always had a penchant for mechanical engineering (and still does). His mother wouldn’t hear of him doing anything but law and Colvin, sadly, did not intervene. Koiman practiced his profession very briefly and has remained a non-practicing advocate/barrister for most of his life. International phone calls were few and far between in those days and I recall one to Toonie akka on one rare occasion, when she said she was busy cooking a pork chop for her brother. For the past several years, after his return to then Ceylon, he’s been a very strict vegetarian and no fish, flesh or fowl is permitted in his house.
I mentioned earlier here that Toonie akka, in her lifetime, took several body blows which would have felled lesser mortals. She was only two years old when Colvin was jailed under the colonial Defence of India Regulations, broke jail and went underground in India for four years. That was a traumatic time for the young family. After her bicycle accident, the second blow struck when Sarath Muttetuwegama, whom she married was killed in a motor car accident near Ratnapura in1986. Then she tragically lost their son, Maithri, a few years later. Thereafter she was diagnosed with cancer.
I remember going to Sarath’s ancestral home at Kuruwita after his tragic death. Toonie akka hugged me, and told me, “Malli, when I was small, mummy took me to K.C. Nadarajah’s (a well known lawyer of the day) home where there was a vakyam (ola leaf) reader from India. He read mine and told me ‘you will have a very happy marriage for 19 years and after that what…’ He didn’t say what that what was then, but it’s now 19 years since we married.” Perhaps she believed that Sarath’s death was foreordained.
There was also a time when Sarath, then a proctor who later qualified as an advocate, was engaged to Manouri when Colvin saw him on his feet in a courtroom. He told me: “I’m not saying this because he’s marrying my daughter, but his cross-examination was exceptional.” Sarath did as well in his profession as a criminal lawyer as he did in politics – among the best parliamentarians I’ve seen during long years as a lobby correspondent. He was much loved in the Sabaragamuwa Province where he was Sarath appo to the people. Prime Minister Premadasa once publicly said, perhaps to dig at Anura B, “Sarath Muttetuwegama is the real Leader of the Opposition, not Anura Bandaranaike.”
During her later years Toonie akka suffered an accident at the Yala National Park when she was in the deep south on human rights work. Her finger accidentally caught in a deck chair strut as she sat down, and part of it got sliced off. She was taken to the Tissamaharama hospital with the slice digit in ice in a sirisiri bag and later rushed to Colombo. But reattachment was not possible and she lived with that for the rest of her life. In those years she walked with a stick with great panache. She had inherited a lot of her father’s mannerism but not his booming voice. She never failed to ring me up and congratulate me on the paper I now edit whenever she had enjoyed an issue, and that was often.
It may be worth retelling an anecdote relating to her life and mine. That happened when she took an Ll.M. degree from London University after her first degree. I was then a raw cub reporter on the old Ceylon Observer. Her maternal uncle (mother’s brother), Dr. S.L. de Silva (husband of the well known educator Dr. Wimala de Silva), then Director of the Ceylon Technical College, phoned me and said I should write a paragraph of Manouri being the first Ceylonese woman to earn an Ll.M. degree. I wrote a news paragraph front-paged in the Sunday Observer.
When I went to work next morning, a woman subeditor on our staff said I had published a false claim and mentioning another lady lawyer who she said had an LlM, I was terrified. My editor, the redoubtable Denzil Pieris, called me up and said the subeditor concerned had complained to him and was spreading the story around the office. He said had told her that if there was a valid complaint, he should be told so by letter. “Manouri’s Colvin’s daughter. I bet I’ll never get that letter,” Denzil said. “In any case that degree was from an American University called Colgate which to us here is a brand of toothpaste!” he told me to my great relief.
A little known part of her life was that she was a temple-goer. Sunil Rodrigo, chairman of the Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd. (ANCL) during my Daily News days, who lived on Isipathana Mawatha, once told me that his wife, Thilaka, was deeply impressed seeing Toonie akka walk to the Isipathanaramaya off and on. Mrs. Rodrigo didn’t associate somebody like Manourie with temple going.
Let me conclude this narrative with the time Lake House paid me to resign, having moved me out of my job as editor of the Daily News for14 years to a ‘nothing to do’ position as the company’s editorial consultant about a year earlier. I was kept twiddling my thumbs doing nothing and spent my time writing articles for the foreign press. But that’s another story. Toonie akka was then on the Lake House board and she told me that the then Media Minister, Mangala Samaraweera, who wanted me out, did not know our connection.
“I told him you were my malli,” she said but that was to no avail. She also told me that the then chairman and another director used to whisper to each other, keeping her out of the conversation when my dismissal was discussed at board meetings. So I left Lake House after nearly 40 years of service when Manouri was on the board of ANCL, then under government control. It turned out best for me, given that I was paid to go rather than having to work under conditions which would have certainly compelled my resignation.
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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