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Obituaries:
Nande Palihakkara, Colombo, Sri Lanka, Jun 27, 2024
Mazher FazleAli –
Jan 21 2023 – Colombo, Sri Lanka, From Him do we
come and unto Him we return! Tuan
Ariff Kitchil – Jan 17 2023 – Colombo, Sri Lanka,
From Him do we come and unto Him we return! GEC
Jebanesan – Aug 23 2022 in Australia. May he Rest
in Peace! NM
Fernando – The death is announced of NM (Nandadeva
Mahinda) Fernando. His remains will be available
for viewing
at Lihiniya Florists, 530, Galle Road, Ratmalana
(0779901088) From 8am- 9.30 Am On Fri 15 July
2022. Burial at The Public Cemetery, Rawathawatte, Moratuwa At 10.30 Am. May he Rest in Peace!
*
We were
a bunch of 220 excited schoolboys, joining Royal
College in 1959. Around a 100+ came from Royal Primary
School, while the rest joined from many other schools
in the island,
Nande was always a very charming and adventurous personality notwithstanding his amazing ability to laugh things off with ease.
At College, Nande held the prestigious role of Charter President of the Interact Club in 1965/66. He was also a keen follower of sports and games.
After
leaving school in 1966/67, Nande went into the banking
sector and then moved on to pursue a lucrative career
in Finance and spent many years working overseas, as
An
active member of the Royal College 59 Alumni Group,
Nande was always interested in maintaining close ties
with the old boys and ensuring that the group
developed The
magnanimous humanitarian personality of Nande has
always been a significant trait of his outgoing
personality and he never stepped back from extending a
hand to Having
enjoyed and contributed his best through 76 long years
to the world, Nande, finally left us on Jun 27,
leaving behind his beloved wife, Anoma, and lovely
daughter, Ruchira. Standing
by his casket at the Jayaratne Respect Funeral Parlor,
on the morning of his cremation on Jun 29, the smile
on his face told the whole story of pure contentment
and * AGM
2023
President: K K Amaradasa
Daya
Weerasekera, Rajan Sivasubramanim, Sarath (MS)
Fernando, Akram Fernando, M Chandraprasad, R
Rajasooriyar
AGM 2022 at the Capri Club held
on Sat May 7 2022 President:
M Chandraprasad (re elected) Secretary:
Rajasooriar (re elected) ***** OBIT M Ranjan
Perera – Passed
away on Feb 7 2022 in Colombo, Sri Lanka. May he
Rest in Peace S
Rathnathicam – Passed
away on Feb 4 2022 in California, USA. May he Rest
in Peace Russell
Geddes – Passed
away on Jan 18 2022 in Australia. May he Rest in Peace Shirzad T Aziez (Susu) – Passed away on
Mar 24, 2021 in Colombo. May he Rest in Peace OBITUARY/MEMORIAM From: skanda485 <somaskanda21@gmail.com> Gentlemen,
please feel free to share with your network of
Royalists. Blessings
Skanda The
new year
greetings of hope for 2021 were marred by the news
that “Master “ Weerasingham, an English
teacher of excellent repute at Royal College who
subsequently settled in Canberra had passed
away at age 92 ! Tiddy Wijeratne , Don Abey, Beryl
Dias Abeysinghe ( widow of a former High
Commissioner ) and “Master “, as he was fondly
referred to were the Canberra senior seniors
who graced all our Mission functions regularly
inspite of being handicapped by mobility issues that
are normal for those beyond four score and ten
! They
graciously lit the Lamp
to celebrate events and their
blessings stayed with us throughout the year. Don Abey , a mountain of
knowledge, Tiddy a cricket connoisseur and gentleman
player in his time, and Beryl , gracious and elegant
right up to to her 99 th bday, have all passed on to
the heavens above and with Master
joining them, our community in Canberra
will bid farewell to yet another of its
much respected elders. To me “ Master “was more than a
teacher. A very dear friend whose deep affection was
shared mutually to the extent that we spoke on the
phone almost every week end after my return home in
May 2019. He was compassionate as he was
wise and a meal at his home was always a joy because
he insisted on cooking for his guests. On such
evenings the Master Teacher not only excelled as a Master Chef but was
also the perfect host to his guests ranging from
grateful students to prominent members of the
community. His dedicated
physician Dr Sivakumaran was often a special guest ! Rest in Peace
Dear Master. You have more than fulfilled your
purpose on Earth and your legendary legacy as a
teacher, counsellor, and a deeply caring friend will
I am certain live
on in Canberra and in the hearts of all who knew
you. Needless to say there will be his students the
world over who will be paying their respects in an
appropriate way to a Guru they loved and respected
very much. A final word
of appreciation for his daughter
Sulochana and son in law
Saravanan for their unconditional love and
care of Master at their home even though they had
the option of placing him in elders care in his
final challenging years. Bless them both. Although a
familiar week end voice has been stilled for
me, the happy memories will remain. “Skanda” Haputale ********* OBITUARY: Nihal
Abeyasena – Sun Feb 23, 2020 in Colombo. Interred
at Kanatte, Borella May he
Rest in Peace ********** Scouting
Award by KPGs son Scout's
Award Ceremony 2019 was held at RC Main Hall. The
Chief Guest of the event was Admiral Thisara
Samarasekara, former Navy Commander and Guest of
Honour was Mr Palitha Fernando, President's
Counsel- former Attorney General. KPG Fernando
Memorial Award for the excellence in conducting
Programmes was Awarded for the 1st time by the
Chief Guest.
Annual
Dinner 2019 – Taj – Nov 30, 2019
Obituaries****** Ananda Mallikarachchi Passed away
in Kalutara, Sri Lanka – Dec 3 2019 – RIP my friend
Vishwa Vedage, Passed away in London, June
4, 2019 – RIP my friend Mahadeva Balakumaran,
Passed away in London
June 2, 2019 - RIP my friend **************
AGM Mar 10, 2019 The AGM was held at
the Capri Club at 730 pm with a large gathering
present. New Committee elected
uncontested for 2019/20 Mazher FazleAli -
President Fazli Sameer -
Secretary AU Suraweera -
Treasurer General Committee: MBM Naizer Nihal Canagasabey Upali de Livera Library Committee: Sunil Wimaladharma Dr AN Guneratne DER Hapuarachchi Mar 7, 2019 ST Aziez suffered a
massive heart attack and was warded in the ICU at
Durdens Hospital, Colombo. We wish him a speedy
recovery. Dec 30, 2017 Ranjan Madanayake
passes away. May his Soul Rest in Peace! June 6, 2017 We have just received
the sad news of the demise of L Lathpandura in USA
in 2015. May he Rest in Peace! May 21, 2017 Announcing the passing
away of Asoka Waranasuriya in Colombo after a brief
illness. May he Rest in Peace! Jan 6 2017 We regret to announce
the death of Suren Chitty today. Details of the
funeral arrangements will be announced when
received. May he Rest in Peace! Mar 18 2016 Obituary: Dear '59 Group Sad News of the demise
of our colleague H. P. Kariyawasam I am sure you would
have already read the mail from Manchanayaka
informing the sad news of the passing away of one of
our batch mate H.P.Kariyawasam.
As Manche was telling he was a nice guy we
associated very much at college and even later when
he was at Galgamuwa. However I
lost touch with him during the later years
possibly because he was working in Kandy. Sarath
has just found out the details of the funeral
arrangements. The
Funeral would take
place tomorrow (Saturday 19th)
at 5 pm at Balagolla Cemetry, a place
along kandy- mahiyangana road passing pallekelle
stadium. He
leaves behind his wife and daughter Shanika. Residence
Telephone 0812421258 mobile
071 8011468 Pullaperuma Dear
’59 Group, I
got this email from a Colleague of mine Tilak
Nikapitiya who was the Director of Irrigation,
Kandy Range. Our
Batch Mate H.P. Kariyawasam has passed away on the
16th. Kari
was an extremely nice guy whom I got to know when
we entered RC in 1959. He was a very quiet person.
I could remember he had his own group of people
like Pulleperuma, Andradi, LVK De Silva, GSC
Perera, Ganepola etc. I
do remember Kari was a very decent guy. He was not
a stir character. After finishing the TA Training
School at Galgamuwa, Kari served the Irrigation
Department as a Technical Assistant for many
years. Then he got his
promotion and served as Irrigation
Engineer (Kandy) for a long time. I
am really saddened by his demise. May
he attain the Supreme Bliss of Nibbana! Regards Palitha
Manchanayake From: kat
nik [mailto:nikapitiya42@yahoo.com] Dear
Palitha I
have to announce about the sudden demise of Mr.
H.P Kariyawasam IE our neighbour and for long time
friend of mine even before we both got married. He
served in ID, since his training from Galgamuwa
and also worked with me at Makandura Scheme with 7
other TAA. We lived in the same private house as
bachelors in a long dormitory there. Lastly he
served at Kandy IE’s office and involved in
protecting the Kandy lake banks with Gabions. He
was promoted as an IE and served many years in
that capacity too. After
retirement he joined a private consultancy firm
and working till his last date. He has gone to
Badulla on inspection on previous day( 16th) and after return
had his dinner and slept at his home here. At the
dawn at about 3.30 am he was taken to Kandy
Hospital by his co officer . He passed out on the
way. He was having a Kidney problem for few years.
One of his daughters (out of 2) has got married 1
˝ years back to a boy from Australia one
Rambulwella and after marriage they both left SL.
We were told a month back they got a baby. I
think he is your classmate at Royal with Lakshman
Kiriella. He is a nice, honest and devoted
officer. I am sending this because I think once
you told me that he was your classmate at Royal. May
he attain Nibbana. If you need there Tel No is 94
81 2421258 Tilak
Nikapitiya *** Mar 17
2016 MINUTES
OF THE 23RD ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF THE ROYAL
COLLEGE ’59 GROUP HELD ON 10TH MARCH 2016 QT THE
CAPRI AT 8.00 P.M. The
meeting was called to order at 8.00 p.m. by the
President, Mr. Charitha Ratwatte. 1.
Two
Minutes silence was observed in memory of the Late
Sidney Gunaselara and Gamini de Silva. 2.
President’s Address: The President outlined
the progress made by the Library Committee and the
other activities of the Committee. He thanked the
Committee Members for their co-operation in carrying out the activities of the
Group. He made special mention of the support
received by the ’93 Group in completing the Library
Project, with our Library Committee. 3.
The
Minutes of the 22nd Annual General Meeting which
were circulated in advance were taken as read, and
proposed by Dr. P A Gunaratne and seconded by Mr.
Preman Soysa. The Minutes were approved unanimously. 4.
The
Secretary’s report too which was circulated
in advance was proposed by Mr. Anil Kannangara and
seconded by Mr. Sunil Wimaladharma and was approved
unanimously. 5.
The
Audited accounts for the year which were circulated
by the Hony. Treasurer, was proposed by Mr.
Padmaperuma, and seconded by Mr. Nihal Canagasabey.
The Accounts were unanimously approved by the membership. 6.
Election
of Office Bearers for the year 2015/16 – The President remained in the
Chair since he was not seeking office and conducted
the election. President: The Name of Mr, Sarath
Perera was proposed by Mr. Nihal Canagasabey and
seconded by Mr. M B M Naizer. The anme was
unanimously accepted by the House. Hony. Treasurer: No Names were
proposed and the Chair proposed that the new
committee meet and decide on the Treasurer. Mr. Sunil Wimaladharma Mr. L,V. Talagalle Mr. M Rajasooriar Mr.
Sarath Perera, addressed the members and said that
he was taken by surprise and thanked the
membership for the confidence reposed in him. There
being no other business was terminated at 8.45
p.m. Charitha
Ratwatte
Mazher Fazleali Oct 12
2015 Obituary: Gamini
de Silva (Ketty), Colombo, Sri Lanka Sep 27
2015 obituary: Sydney K
Goonesekere, Colombo, Sri Lanka Mar 12
2015 obituary: Bandula Kulatunga, Mar 12 2015 in Australia [reported
by Jeremy Perera]. May he Rest in Peace!
Bandula
Kulatunga on his last visit to Sri Lanka in 2010
with Prasanna Mendis, UC Jayasinghe & Livera Jan
6 2015 <hr
size=2 width="100%" align=center> Dec 9 2014 obituary:
<hr size=2 width="100%"
align=center> July 25 2014
May he Rest in Peace
A fine and fitting tribute
to a man of great courage, determination, and
compassion may
he Rest in Peace! - Fazli Sameer KPG
was a good friend ever since we started college
together in 1F. So sorry to have been away
from the country and not see him during his last
stages. Thanks
Sunil, Nizar and Nihal for writing this fitting
tribute. -Sube *** Office
Bearers of the Royal College '59 Group 2014/2015 Hony.
Treasurer: Upali
Suraweera Committee
Members. M.Chandraprasad Library
Committee Sunil
Wimaladharma July 13
2014 Fazli Sameer's Mum moves on Mrs Ryhan Sameer, 95+ passed away
on Sunday July 14 and was buried the same evening at
the Dehiwela Muslim burial grounds. May
she Rest in Peace!
APR
29 2013 Upali de
Livera’s Brother moves on
Dec 12 2013 Athula Senanayake Moves On ***
Ando's Father Passes Away July
26, 2012, 10:37 pm DIAS –
NANDA NISSANKA (N. N.). Son of the late Mr. and Mrs.
Arthur V. Dias, beloved husband of late Dayadari,
loving father of Ajith,
Naomal and Neelakanthi,
Prasantha moves on
DIAS
ABEYGUNAWARDENE, PRASANTHA NIMAL (ex Deputy
Director SACEP) - Loving son of late Norman &
Daisee Dias Abeygunawardene, precious son-in-law
of late Ernest & Ruby Muthuvaloe, beloved
husband of Subashini, darling father of
Sulakshana, brother of Dushyantha (Dinko),
brother-in-law of Mano, Emmanuel & Jo,
Kamalini & Freddie, grandfather of Aevahn,
Ayrron & Syesha & father-in-law of Elmo
Anthony. Cortege leaves residence No. 09,
International Buddhist Centre (IBC) Road, Colombo
6 at 4.30 p.m.
on Thursday 26th January for Burial at Kanatte
Borella (Roman Catholic Section). 023680 DN Wed
Jan 2005 2012 I just got the news about
Prasanna. Fortunately
I was able to see him last week. I then called a
couple of others eg Jiggs, Huna etc and asked them to
go and see Prasanna as soon as possible. Prasanna
was a real gent and we will all miss him. Upali,
please give Subarshini my deepest sympathies if
you happen to go to the funeral Regards Firoz
Nilam Now that
we are all passing through 64 the rate of movement
to the other side will certainly accelerate and I
do hope and pray that we have all lived our lives
well to be content and pleased with our
contribution towards humanity, our families, and
the world in general. Its been
a long 6+ decades on the planet and lets hope we can all meet
on the other side, someday. Regards Fazli -------- Some
have been there early and some will be dead on
time and a few will be, as usual late. What ever
it is let us think of the good we did,do and will be doing in
future (provided always, if time permits). Summarizing
the 6 decades we have not done bad. Only a few
(Less than 5) have failed in their duties. Out of
36x6=216 only about 5 have failed. Work out your
first form arithmetic and see the percentage.(2.3148%) right
or wrong? Among
many achievements, the latest is Lukshman Samaranayaka.(King James IV
Professor). Have we
failed? NO! Let us
do more to help the needy. Love Hapu Yes,
Daya ndeed a very sad moment!! He was a decent
bloke, and tried hard to taech me to play
tennis!!! Did call
on him, about 2 months ago, but frankly in a way
it was a merciful ending. May he rest in peace!! Mazher May he Rest in Peace! ---------------------------- Jan 26
2012 Tribute to Rama by Vela In a message dated 24/01/2012
18:11:08 GMT Standard Time, kvelupillai@gmail.com writes: Dear Vipula,
May 25
2011 Upali de Livera's Mum moves on May she rest in Peace! OBITUARIES 2011.05.26
Thursday, 26 May 2011
00:00 DE
LIVERA, HAZEL MURIEL – Beloved wife of late
Terrance Glenville de Livera, mother of Upali,
Nihal, Indrani and late Dr. Mangalika, mother-in-law
of Ursula, Sasaleka, Senerath Colombatantri and Dr.
Nimal Warnakulasuriya, grandmother of Shiyara,
Eranga, Thulan, Dushan, Dulip, Geshan, Yasura,
Sameera and Chathura. Cremation at 3.00 pm General
Cemetery Borella on 26th May 2011. Cortege
leaves residence at 1.45 pm. 282/8, Sriyakantha
Gardens, Waragoda Road, Kelaniya. AGM Feb 26 2011 Royal College ’59
Group Office
Bearers elected for 2011/12 President:
Mr. Charitha Ratwatte Hony:
Secretary:
Mr. J.U. de Livera Hony:
Treasurer:
Mr. Anil Kannangara Minutes
of the 17th Annual General Meeting of
the Royal College
’59 Group held on 12th June 2010,
at the VIP ROOM of
the Colombo Oval Meeting
commenced around 8.35 p.m. on 12.6.2010, with Mr.
C. Ratwatte, occupying the Chair (in the absence
of Mr. S. Skandakumar - ). Attendance:
at the AGM and the Dinner
12th June 2010. AGM/Dinner 1
D.B.J Wickremaratne 2
3 Shiran Gunaratne
& wife 4 D.E.R. Hapuarachchi 5
M. Ranjan Perera 6 Sisira
Wickremaarachchi
8 M.
Chandraprasad 9
10 M.B.M Naizer
& wife 11 12 Nihal Canagasabey
& Therese 13
Ranjith Pulleperuma 14
15 Akram Dawood & wife 16
J. Kudahetty 17
R.L. Perera 18 19 Charitha Ratwatta
& wife 20
U. Suraweera 21 Anil
Kannangara 22 KPG
Fernando 23 24 J.U.
de Livera & wife 25
DG Wickremasinghe 26
Tissa
Jayaweera 27
U.Jayasinghe 28 L.C.C.
de Silva 29 Preman
Soysa 30
M FazleAli 31
S T Aziz 32
33 Panna & Saro 34
JLD de Silva 35
SN Jayasinghe 36
37 Nande Palihakkara & wife 38 P.V.Perera 39 P.G.
Perera 40 41 Sarath
Perera & wife 42
P. Dias Abeygunawardena 43
44 Sarath Prera &
wife 45
46 Sunil Wimaladharma & Dulani 47 K.M.
Totamune 48
M.
Hassim 49
KAR
Perera, 50
Ananda Mallikarachchi 51
S Athukorale 52
Y.M. Silva 53 54
S.K. Goonasekera & wife 55
S. Suriyasinghe 56
Prasanna Mendis from Australia Notice
convening the meeting was read by the Hony.
Secretary. Hony
Secretary tabled the following
1 S. Skandakumar 2
MGH Salgado 3 Dr.
Lal Karunaratne 4 Dr.
MJM Peroos 5 Nicky
Kumarage. 6 Ajith
Dias 7 Lal
Abeysekera 8 Gamini
de Silva 9 Sanath
P Mendis 10 Rajan
Siva 11 Metha Abeygunawardena 12 Upul
Kulasinghe 13 Ranjan
Dandeniya.. 14 S.R.
Jayasinghe… 15.
H.R. de Silva 16
N. R. Senanayake 17
Daya Weerasekera 18 Suren
Cooke, 19 C.
Abeywickrema 20. Edward
de Silva, 21.
R. Rajasooriyar 22
Nimal Gooneratne 23
Rohantha Samarajeewa. 24
Padmaperuma 25.
CPBT Jayasundera 26
PH Wickremasinghe Tribute
to the deceased members ..
two minutes silence
was observed. R.G.A.
de Silva, W.
Koch, S. Selliah, M.N. Jaimon, Rohan M. Perera,
R.S.R. Gunawardena, D.
Mahinda Jayasinghe, Naveen D. Rajapakse, R.
Rajaratnam, Hema Bamunawela, ,
Jeeva Satchithanandan,
P. Chandrakanthan, Sarath Ambepitiya, C.J.L.
Wijeratne and Rama Sellamuttu. Priyanath Dias
S.L. Gunasekera Mr. Anil
Kannagara invited members to come foward to
replace/relieve the members who have
been serving as office bearers/Comittee members
for a very long Confirmation
of the minutes of the 16th AGM held on
13th June 2009 at the Board Room of the
Colombo Oval had been circulated. Mr. R.L.
Perera proposed and Mr. S.K. Goonasekera seconded
for adoption and was carried out unanimously. Account/Treasurer's
Report : Dr. Panna
Gooneratne proposed and Mr. Sunil Wimaladharma
seconded for adoption and was carried out
unanimously. Election
of Office Bearers Mr.
K.P.G. Fernando proposed
that Mr. S. Skandkumar
continue as President for the ensuing year. Mr.Sunil
Wimaladharma proposed and Mr. Anil Kannangara seconded
that the rest of the office bearer's too should
continue for the ensuing year.. There
being no other nominations this was duly adopted. President:
Mr. S. Skandakumar Hony:
Secretary:
Mr. J.U. de Livera Hony:
Treasurer:
Mr. Anil Kannangara Committee
Members:
Mr. M.B.M. Naizer
Mr. D.G. Wickremasinghe
Mr. Sisira Wickremaarachchi Library
Committee Mr.
Charitha Ratwatte
Mr. K.P.G. Fernando
Mr. Sunil Wimaladharma There
being no other business meeting adjourned for
Dinner Feb
10, 2011
SENTHIL MOVES
ON Dear
'59 Group, --- While I
received Palitha’s message I was busy looking at photos Palitha
sent me a few weeks ago as Muthu had already
passed the sad news to a few of us. Attached
here are two edited /enlarged (not very sharp
because of under exposure) photos of Sentil. The
best I could do to dark
originals Long
live his cherished memory. Daya de
Silva, Colombo Senthil
lovingly called Appu by his mates was a very sober
and decent guy. He was one of the pillars of the
DP club in colpetty and he would tell us off if we
When I
saw him in London 2years ago I was not happy
with his condition and I did tell him to take care
and then when I saw the photo Mancha sent a
few days S
Muthulingaswamy London,
UK ---
---
The
sadness is truly inexplainable. I just called his
home in Sydney and spoke to his son in law, R
Thiagalingam. They also wanted the link to the Group
website Will
update the website on his passing, this evening.
He will be the 26th out of the RPS Class of 53
(known) and RC '59 Group fellers who have
departed. May his
soul rest in Peace! Fazli
Sameer, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia ---
---
The
bulb of the group of 59 will stay lit at Royal College
even after the players have all gone…..such has been the magnitude
of our contribution. Skanda --- Very sad
indeed to hear Senthil's sudden demise. --- Dear Upali,
Thankyou for advising me of the sad
passing of Sentil, although I have had no contact
with him since leaving Sri Lanka in 1968, he will be
fondly
Please give my condolences to the family. Suren
Goonewardene UK --- Very sad
indeed. I recall Senthil very well as we
were together in the Tamil class at Royal. I
have also worked with the elder brother Dr
Vijayaragavan ---
Vish Vedage --- Shall
tressure this machang Fazza. Sthuthi.
Damn decent bloke no? Snr civil servant's
sonnaboy, but no pakum nil. Often at that
Deanstone Pl kadey Sthuthi
again_______________Prasanna Mendis, Australia --- 11/1/11 Well guys,what else can one say
at this sad moment,but condone with his wife and
daughter. When i
see the wickets gradually falling,it
only reminds me that we are all in the departure
lounge awaiting that final call. Rgds’ Suren
Cooke --- Thank you for taking
the trouble to convey the sad news about
Sentil. Yu-Hua and I were very sadened to hear
of his sudden demise. I had not seen Sentil
since the time I left College until about 5 years
ago when I started to turn up for the regular
dinners with the 59'ers Please covey our
sincere condolences to Sentil's family. Please
let me know the date and time of his funeral. Best
Regards Ranjan
Chandrasena --- I was
hoping to catch up with the Sydney mates on my
next trip possibly next year. Very sad I missed
him. Love Sam. Dr.Sidha Sambandan --- We have
26 down now from a total batch of 225+ almost 45
years since leaving College No doubt
the frequency will probably increase as we move
through time since life expectancy gets shorter
with increase in time (no different to The
beauty of it all is that we are still connected
(thanks to technology), basically, due to our firm
commitment of coming together with hearts and
minds There
will probably come a time when only a few will be
left behind to share and reminisce similar
thoughts as and when our time comes up to move on. I am
sure the gallant voices are absolutely unanimous
in the fact that they were the best years of all
our lives? Fazli --- EULOGY
DELIVERED BY PALITHA MANCHANAYAKE I’m
Palitha Manchanayake, a class mate of Senthil. I
got to know Senthil about 58 years ago when we entered
Royal Primary School in 1953, as 5
year olds. I could still recollect, how
we used to play, in the school play
ground, during the interval. We were
at Royal Primary for 6 years,
and then joined Royal College
in 1959, thus forming the ’59 Group. Senthil
was always there at the
College Cricket matches on
Fridays and Saturdays during the Cricket
season. He never missed out
any of the College Rugger matches, may it
be Royal-Trinity, Royal-Thomian or any other
matches. In the 5th Form, we both
opted to follow the Maths Stream, and
we were in Mr. Arasaratnam’s class where we
completed a 2 year syllabus in 1 year. Senthil
entered
the Engineering Faculty at Katubedda
Campus and graduated as a Mechanical Engineer in
1974. He then joined the Walkers as a Project
Engineer and continued to be there for very many
years. Senthil subsequently joined the Browns Group, and
thereafter, migrated to Australia with his
family in 1989. As
an active member of
our ’59 Group in Sydney, he was very keen to
meet any of our guys visiting here. He never missed
out any of
our get to-gethers. The last occasion we met, was on the
15th of December2010, where he enjoyed
thoroughly, talking about the College
days and the fun we had. Senthil
was a soft
spoken, mild, calm and
well-composed person. Over the years, I have
noticed, that he has never
spoken bad of any one. He had a very good
rapport with everybody. He was truly a
fine gentleman, and a sincere friend. When we
heard of Senthil’s sudden demise,
I sent an email around to our ’59 Group,
and all were deeply shocked. Messages of
Condolence came pouring in from
all parts of the world asking me to
pass them on to his wife Jeyamali and
daughter Uma and
son-in-law Ramesh, which I did. So on
behalf of the ’59 Group,
also of the ’58 Group (
I know Senthil had closer links with
the ’58 Group, some of them are present here
today), also on behalf
of the Old Boys’ Union of
Royal College in NSW &
ACT, I should mention that we
all miss Senthil very much
and our fond memories will remain in
our hearts.
DANIEL -
ROBERT SHANTIKUMAR
Passed away peacefully on Tuesday Seventh
September 2010 surrounded by his loving family in
Melbourne, Australia. Beloved husband of
Beatrice Ranji Daniel,
cherished and adored father of Sharon and Anne,
father-in-law to Wilhelm and Richard and loving
grandfather to Michael, Kayne and Ave. Viewing
Service will be held on Thursday 9th September, 7.00
p.m. at John Allison Monk House, Melbourne, Australia.
Funeral Service will be held on Friday
10th September, 2.00 p.m. at All Saints Anglican
Church, Melbourne Australia. Telephone:
0061-3-88027765. May he Rest in Peace! @@@@@@@@@@ June 30
2010 ’59 GROUP AGM 2010 AGM of the ’59 Group was
held at 8.20 pm. on
the 12th June 2010, at the the VIP Room of
the Colombo Oval (Tamil Union). Folllowing were
elected as office bearers. President:
S. Skandakumar Hony.
Secretary
J.U. de Livera Hony.
Treasurer
Anil Kannangara Committee
Members. D.G.
Wickremasinghe
Sisira Wickremaarachchi
M.B.M. Naizer
Sunil Wimaladharma Library
Committee.
K.P.G. Fernando
Charitha Ratwatta
Sunil Wimaladharma Tks/regds, J.U. de
Livera Hony
Secetary. Apr 30 2010 Jan 14 2010 IN MEMORIUM – SUNIL ABEYSUNDERA From: sue To: 4s7cf@sltnet.lk Sent: Wednesday, April 28, 2010
12:34 AM Subject: Demise of Bill I wish to inform you with a sense
of sadness of the demise of my husband Dr. Bill
Benson [Sunil Abeysundera]. He passed away recently( 12 th April) and
was cremated at a private ceremony according to his
wishes. Prior to his passing he provided
me with a list of those he wished me to inform via
email. If you know of any others who may
wish to know of Bill's passing
please inform them. Some of you may have known him as
"NibiruET" on the Internet forums he participated
in. If so kindly notify the membership, particularly
the "PCLOS Backroom Forum" members. Sincerely Sue Benson ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Apr 30 2010-04-30 Top honor for
Sri Lankan professors in Hong Kong Professor L P Samaranayake,
Professor Malik Peiris
Two Sri
Lankan Professors were awarded the highest academic
honor of the University of Hong Kong through
bestowal of Endowed Professorships. They are Professor
Lakshman Samaranayake (awarded Tam Wah-Ching
Professor in Dental Science) and Professor Malik
Peiris (Tam Wah Ching Professor in Medical Science.)
Each endowed amounts
to US$2.6 million and the interest proceeds will be
utilized for research and development purposes by
the recipient. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jan 14 2010 IN MEMORIUM – S L GUNASEKERA It is with sadness i intimate to
you the passing away of our beloved colleague S L
Gunasekera (Sarath Lakdas Gunasekera) last night of
a heart attack. SL was an outstanding boxer in
college and won the Junior Best Boxer's cup at the
Stubb's Shield meet on his first appearance. Since
leaving College he had a brief stint with the Sri
Lanka Navy and there after took up management of his
coconut property in Kuliyapitiya. He leaves his wife
Padmini and two sons. Cortege leaves residence -
Pallewela Mills, Kurudelpotha Estate, Kulipitiya on Saturday 16th
January, 2010 at 2.00 pm for burial at Andiambalama
Cemetry (Methodist Section) at 3.30 pm. May he rest in peace! Dec 25 2009 IN MEMORIUM - PRIYANATH DIAS It was truly sad to receive an
email notification from Colombo this mornming on
the passing away of one of our Group Members, Priyanath Dias of Panadura. ole chaps,
with their spouses, had met for a grand buffet
Luncheon get-together. have
done over five decades ago. MAY
HE REST IN PEACE! Dec 20 2009 50th Anniversary
Celebrations held at the Galadari Meridian Hotel in
Colombo 80
"young" '59 Groupers gathered together with their
pretty wives at the Galadari Meridian Hotel in
Colombo to meet again and enjoy a sumptious buffet
lunch in celebrating the 50th Anniversary of having joined Royal
College, Colombo. See pics at this link:
http://www.worldgenweb.org/lkawgw/rcpa01.html AGM October 2009 2009/2010 Office
Bearers President:
S. Skandakumar Hony Secretary:
J.U. de Livera Treasurer:
Anil Kannangara Committee
Members M.B.M.
Naizer D.G.
Wickremasinghe Sisira
Wickrema arachchi Library
Committee Members K.P.G.
Fernando Charitha
Ratwatte Sunil
Wimaladharma *************** SEP 2009
OBIT They
nurtured us through our Right Royal Days and May
God Be Pleased with them on their return to Him.
In Loving hearts they
will live on forever. Our prayers and
supplications are with Nihal and Muthu in these
trying times of emotion and grief CANAGASABEY
- NOELLE Relict
of the late W A S Canagasabey C.C.S., much loved
mother of the late Shanti and of Carmel, Nihal and
Therese, devoted grandma of Sanjay, Shara,
Naren and Kishan and beloved sister of Leo
Wijesinghe and Marie Pereira, expired on 15th
September 2009 and was laid to rest the same day.
The family wishes to convey their sincere
gratitude to those who helped in numerous ways and
sent messages of condolence. A requiem mass for
the repose of her soul will be held at St Mary’s
Church, Lauries Road, Bambalapitiya at 6.30 p.m.
on Thursday 1st October 2009. *************** AGM July
2008 New Committee. 2008-2009
President:
S. Skandakumar COMMITTEE: A.U.C.
Suraweera LIBRARY
COMMITTEE MEMBERS K.P.G.
Fernando AGM Royal College ’59 Group AGM and
Dinner at outgoing President G S C Peperas' Residence
– June 2008 1.
Lal Abeysekera 2.
Metha Abeygunawardena & Wife 3.
Mrs. Vajira Ambepitiya (wife of the Late Justice
Sarath Ambepitiya) & Son 4
S.W. Athukorale 5.
S.T. Aziz & wife 6.
Sajee Bahar 7.
Nihal Canagasabey & Wife 8.
A.W.S. Cooke & wife 9.
M. Akram S. Dawood & wife 10. J.
U. de Livera & wife 11. G.
E. S. de Silva & wife 12.
Gamini de Silva & wife 13. N.
K. N. G de Silva 14. A.
N. Dias & Wife 15. M.
Fazliali & wife 16.
Bryce Fernando & Wife 17. K.
P. G. Fernando 18.
Panna Gooneratne & Saro 19.
Nimal Gunaratne 20.
Shiran Gunaratne & wife 21.
Edward Hapuarachchi & Ramani 22. M.
Hassim 23. U.
C. Jayasinghe & wife 24. C.
P. B. T. Jayasundera & wife 25.
Sarath Jayatilaka & wife 26. Anil
Kannangara 27. L.
B. Kiriella & wife 28.
Jayantha Kudahetty 29. N.
B. L. Lieverz - Chief Guest Colombo Leg of the
Bradby 30. B.
S. P. Mendis & Wife 31. M.
B. M. Nizar & wife 32. D.
Y. Padmaperuma 33.
Nanda Palihakkara & Anoma 34.
Jeremy Perera 35.
Sarath Perera & Ranji 36. M.
R. Perera 37. P.
G. Perera 38. P.
V. Perera 39. R.
L. Perera 40.
Sheila (Wife of the Late Mr. Rohan M. Perera)
& Daughter 41. D.
R. Pulleperuma & wife 42. R.
Rajasooriyar 43. M.
G. H. Salgado & wife 44.
Rohantha Samarajeewa & wife 45.
Preman Soysa 46. V.
Satchithnandan 47. A.
U. C. Suraweera 48. K.
Suriyasinghe 49.
Milan Silva 50. L.
V. Talagala 51. K.
M. Thotamune & Nirmali 52.
Preman Soysa 53. Daya
Weerasekera & wife 54. D.
G. Wickremasinghe 55.
Sisira Wickremaarachchi 56.
Sunil Wimaladharma & Wife 57. Mrs.
K. D. S. Wijesundera [Retd. Librarian] 58. Miss
Maya Wijeratne Asst. Librarian 59.
Miss. Ranjini Perera Fornmer Assistant 60
Vasasntha de Silva - RC'60 Group Sunday Feb 11, 2007 A group of ‘59ers in
Colombo came together at the Great Wall Hotel in
Bambalapitiya to fete one of the group, D R
Pulleperuma on his appointment as General Manager of the Ceylon Electricity Board
in Sri Lanka. P N Dias Abeygunawardena was the
first to arrive at the Hotel at 1930 followed by
Ruchi Perera and Tissa Jayaweera. Chief Guest
Pulle walked in with Lady Pulleperuma at 20:10
Hours. MBM
Naizar, PH Wickremasinghe, DG Wickremasinghe, LC,
Senthil Kumar, and Anil Kannangara. Tissa Jayaweera reporting from
Colombo for RC '59 Group Goss. Oct 17 2006 Personality
Suren
Wickremesinghe Both
Suren's parents have planted their footprints
firmly and surely in the sands of time in our
country's history..
His father, Dr. S.A. Wickremesinghe, led the
Ceylon Communist Party for many a decade.A doctor, by
profession, from an affluent family in the South,
he chose to devote his life, to better the
lives of the underprivileged. Suren's mother,
Doreen, was British, and was the first foreign
woman to be a member of an Asian Parliament, when
she won a seat here in 1952. Dr. Wickremesinghe,
as I remember him, would breathe fire and fury on
election platforms, but was a most refined gentle
softspoken man, who was on the best of terms
socially with political opponents and those who
held diverse political views. That was a time when
that was common practice among politicians of all
hues. Sep 3 2006 It’s more
than a Bradby at stake It’s Bradby
time once again. The talking point is on Royal and
Trinity and how they would perform at this all
important. encounter. Unlike in the past this year’s
counts more than the “Bradby plum alone. The winners
of this game will be in a higher plane next season
while the other will languish in the ‘B’ division
for another whole season. All three top teams in the
division “B” Isipathana, Royal and Trinity are
having equal chances for their promotion to the top
league next year.
In the
past on so many occasions, the team, which is
weaker, has ended up turning tables. Intriguingly
this year both sides are equally balanced with
some hardy forwards and are set on a mission to
hold on or to capture the custody of their
cherished shield. The first leg of this Bradby
encounter will be also a tournament game. But this
year is a special one for the “Lions” as they are
celebrating 100 years of rugby and this will be an
ideal opportunity to finish their season on a
winning note cemented with a promotion to the top
division.
The
match will be on September 9 at the Royal Sports
Complex and following is the schedule for the
games. Under 12
- 2.15 pm Bradby
was on offer for the first time in 1945 when one
of the Royal Principals E L Bradby (1939-1945)
offered the trophy. Meanwhile Trinity was
administrated by C E Simithrarachi offered for the
under 17 trophy. In
the initial game Royal was led by D L Fernando and
the Trinitians were under R G Sourjah. Though
Royal won the initial leg 3-0 Trinity came back
strongly to take the Bradby when they beat the
Reid Avenue school 6-0 in the second leg. Trinity
enjoyed the best series of wins from 1952-57 when
they won the Bradby on 6 consecutive years.
Royal’s best series of wins were from 2001-2004
winning for 4 years in-a-row. The 100th encounter
between the two schools was played in 1983 in
which Ashan Ratwatte led Trinity and Royal was led
by Sriyan Cooray. Trinity won 20-16 on aggregate
in this centenary encounter. Only
once in the history of the Bradby Shield has both
games ended on equal points. In 1992 the first leg
ended in a nil all draw and even the second leg
too dead locked at 3 points a piece. Himesh
Gunatilake led the “Lions” and Harindu Wijesinghe
led the Reid Avenue School Royal’s
best victory in the series was in 2002 when they
outclassed their arch foes in a two match series
by 83 points to nil. Zulki Hameed led the Royal
outfit in that year. The “Lions” hit back strongly
after 4 years wait in 2005 when they simply
outclassed and outplayed Royal in all the
departments to aggregate 69 points to 13. Trinity
was led by B N R Fernando with playmaker
Pushpakumara being the architect behind their
victory. This tiny scrum half will be remembered
by the rugby lovers for may years as he looked a
carbon copy of Michael Jayasekera (present Vice
President –SLRFU). Trinity
are leading the tally with 33 wins to Royal’s 27
with one game ending in a tie. Trinity
under national youth player Imalka
Maddumapatabendi opened the 2006 season with a
warm up against St Sylvester’s beating them 21-7.
Next they beat Army also in a warm-up at 20-14.
Their preparation for the Centenary game against
Kingswood was hampered when St Peter’s pulled out
from their annual encounter without a valid
reason. Though they lost to the defending league
champions Kingswood 10-16 they crossed their
opponents’ line on no less than two occasions. The
major setback for Trinity in this game was place
kicking, which cost them many a point that should
have come their way. In their next encounter they
retained the Canon de Saram trophy when they beat
the Thomians 12-0. Then they ended the seven-year
hoodoo by beating the Katugastota Antonians
convincingly by 24 points to 13. While
participating in the “B” division they recorded
the highest points for the season when they
rampaged to a 112-3 win over a shell-shocked
Science College and continued their good form by
inflicting defeats on Joes 38-20, Vidyartha 34-3
and Rajans 36-0. The
Royal outfit enjoyed a consistent year of rugby
this season. They are led by nippy scrum half
Chammika Sandaruwan. They opened the season
against St Peter’s in a friendly encounter beating
them 13-6. Then they followed it up with
convincing wins over Science College (42-0), St
Joseph’s (39-0), Vidyartha (31-7) and Dharmaraja
(37-12). Finally they
met their waterloo in their tussle against
Isipatana in their own back yard by crashing to a
22-7 defeat. And thus lost the custody of the Maj
Milroy Fernando Trophy. Without any doubt the
finds of the season are the hooker Bilal Hassen
and crack and dynamite number 8 Diran
Warunakularusiya who have out fought their
opponents time and again. May
22 2006 From Ando
in Colombo Dear '59 Group member, Our committee has
decided on the following events. 1.
Bradby 9 Sept. Saturday, in Colombo - get together
in the evening 2.
Bradby 23 Sept. Saturday, in Kandy - subject to
sufficient numbers joining, the plan is to arrange
for match tickets and
hotel accomodation in Kandy. 3.
16 Dec. - dinner (with spouses) in Colombo - venue
to be decided We are
very encouraged by the contributions made to our 3
projects and those who have not yet contacted
Jeremy, Niki and Firoze, please do so at your
earliest. For
those who want to contribute in Sri Lankan Rupees,
please make out a Cheque in favor of ROYAL
COLLEGE '59 GROUP" and post it to me at 116
Lake Drive, Colombo 8. Kind
Regards Ando May
22 2006 From:
Dias, Ajith Dear '59 Group
Member, At the AGM held
recently, I was appointed as the new Chairman
for the '59 group for the current year. Whilst
I thought this position was bestowed on me due to my
being clever in school and
my business acumen etc, I was politely
informed by all that it was only due to
the non availability of another sucker! In
view of the serious deterioration in facilities at
Royal, most agreed that we should get involved in a
few more projects, now that the library is in good
shape and also with
sufficient funds to maintain the standards and
infrastructure for quite a while. The great efforts
put in by Chari/KPG and the committee ,has made the
library, one of the best , and is demonstrated as a
show piece to all the other college groups. The
new
executive committee identified the following 3
projects as the most useful. 1. the
hostel 2.
cricket facilities 3.
skills development As a
target we are trying to collect between Rs 1 -1.5
million for these projects by way of contributions
and also a special souvenir which will incorporate
several advertisements etc, which should bring in
a large portion of our requirement More
details will be forwarded in due course. It would
be greatly appreciated if you could contribute a
minimum of US$100 or its equivalent towards
funding of this project. I hope
you agree that this amouint is not too much to
request considering what we all gained by being at
Royal and the immense benefit
our projects will provide to the present
generation of Royalists. It would
be greatly appreciated if your contributions
are sent to one of the following, who will
make arrangements to remit the funds to our
account in Colombo. 1.
Firoze Nilam - email is firnil8@aol.com,
office:
firoz.nilam@parexel.com. tel
.home 8583503101 cell
98870035. home address : 5543 Meadows
Del Mar East, San Diego, 92130 CA, USA
2. Niki
Kumarage - email nkumarage@yahoo.com
mobile
07971090041 home 0208 863 5054.
3.
Jeremy Perera - email jerry@haycarb.com.au
tel home 03
98024761 office 03
95447199, mobile 0413880027 I will
contact you with a program of events planned for
the rest of the year and would be delighted to see
you at some of the se occasions. kind
regards Ando Apr
9 2006 From
Prasanna Mendis in OZ: Just to update you
boys of happenings here in wintry Melbourne.
The OBA here put on an avurudu celebration at an
ornately dressed-up new reception hall
half-owned by a Royalist, Malik Deen, (who I think
is a good decade jnr). We had four distng'd
guests from Ceylon with their wives, who should be
labelled more-disting'd for various reasons !) - Judge W'mantry,
Ken Bala, Ratna Sivartnam, and our own putha a year
jnr to us 59ners, Vassa de Silva, Lennie's
son. The business magnates were at Lorenz
'Lollo' Pereira's table, while Vassa was with us at
Jeremy P's. I was the only fool in
full suit, having mistaken the
injunction 'smart casual' for lounge, as is the
case with most do's. Naiya deKretser didn't
let me forget it !
He's become a superbly warm human b, and a great
lover patriot of SL in any convers'n abt cricket,
esp re Perali Murali. And there was also Brian
'the champ' Lieversz
and wife at table. That's a Dutch girl, and
Naiya's is an Italian damsel - all reconciled to
curry, but not sure if so to the sweetmeats which
was the dessert for the night - kavum, kokis and
mungkavum. The main
meal of rice with about ten curries and relishes
was cooked by Sarath Mendis and family - a doughty
trooper of the 1960 group - who has done this
before. And this time, though the OBA had
planned only to have 200 guests, 300 had to be
accommodated due to severe and persistent demand
in the last week. All
smokers had a chance to meet and have a moment to
reminisce with the magnates, who were our seniors
by not too much time;
the twain cut a good figure for the way
they conducted themselves.
I have dried out great pals, so will stop befo disgracing
self. Best
wishes for Avurudu and /or Easter
! __________Pras... Mar
2006 Guys,
do take a look at the blog created for Kadalay of
Royal at http://kadalayroyal.blogspot.com
which is meant to capture, collect and record all
the wonderful stories, events and sayings about good
ole Kadalay. Nov 2005 Indira Samarasekera, wife of
Harsha (HDP) Samarasekera (Sam) has been appointed
President of the University of Alberta in Vancouver
BC, Canada. This is, indeed, a great achievement and a
moment of pride for all of us as well as the rest of
Sri Lanka http://www.president.ualberta.ca/index.cfm TENNEKOON - ASHLEY (Formerly
Staff St. Thomas' College, Gurutalawa) (Librarian
Royal College, Colombo) (Lake House). Son of late
Mr and Mrs. E.V.W. Tennekoon, dearly beloved
brother of Mignonne, Indra, late Yvonne, Stanley,
Wensley, Rukmani and Malini, expired. Cortege
leaves Mahinda Funeral Parlour, Mount Lavinia on
8th Saturday at 10.00 a.m. for Cremation at
Galkissa Crematorium. Service at 9.30 a.m. Remains
will lie at funeral parlour from 3 p.m. on Friday
07th to 10.00 a.m. on 8th Saturday. 11/4,
Uyankelle Road, Panadura. DN Obituary Sat Jan 8
2005 '59 Group Get Together: sent in
by JL Daya de Silva from Colombo Mon Dec 13 2004 This is
specially to those who were abroad and couldn’t make
it while in Sri Lanka. 59’ Group news. Day before
(2004-12-11) night an informal get together of 59’
Group was held at GSC (Sarath) Perera’s residence
where a large gathering of members and their spouses
attended. Sarath hosted the
dinner and special invitees were 10 of the surviving
masters including Madam Weerabaddana together with
incumbent Principal Mr. Gunasekera a Young
one. M/s.
Bogoda Premaratne, RIT Alles, L. Samararatne (Pol
Tokka) ,G.W de Silva
(Kota Silva) , Wickramasena, Viji Weerasinghe,
Wariapola, Tosai, TDSA Dissanayake and Madam
Weerabaddana were present. Cost of
Entire Dinner was borne by GSC and the Group
collected donations LKR 500/- upwards and
presented with a token Gift Voucher of LKR 5000/-
each which was a symbolic appreciation of the
great service rendered by the teachers. KKS
Amaradasa, Lucky Kiriella made speeches on behalf
on 59’ G and Mr. RITA, Bogoda Premaratne
returned with appreciative orations. Mr.
Premaratna’s one was very interesting and lengthy
and well received. It was
an emotional night spent with the notable absentee
Sarath Ambeypitiya whose heroic death reverberated
sentiments of varying nature and everyone was
willingly or unwillingly forced to look back where
we stand in the degradatory march to oblivion. Sarath
Ambepitiya - High Court Judge Dear
59’ Group member, It is appropriate to
pen down a few words in memory of our colleague, and
history maker in many ways.
Sarath was a lone
fighter and laid down his life for Justice and
Principles he loved and valued most, as a true
Royalist, while many Royalists still remain alive
covered in apparently Lion like skins but their skin
really belong to Sheep or Foxes.
First of all the state (Not this govt.
or Previous govt. but the Sri Lanka State whoever is
the President or Prime Minister – Of UNP or UNF or
present UNDF) is to be made responsible for THIS
cowardly assassination as no protection whatsoever was
given or even thought about for a valiant fighter of
Terrorism, Narcotics Trade, Human Rights abuse by
State Military apparatus and Child Abuse just to
mention a few.
If one has visited
Saraths residence, he will wonder how fortunate he was
to live so many years, unprotected, isolated and
neglected, at the mercy of his opponents, and would be
assassins before falling a victim. This is a
miracle.
The population of Sri
Lanka should be ashamed of and made responsible for
saluting and garlanding and bowing down to all those
cowards called politicians who manipulate the state
machine and judiciary to reach their political dreams
and destinies by accommodating all types of
Terrorists, Drug dealers, Betting centre Operators,
Arms dealers and Human rights abusers and leave the
Law Enforcers, Judiciary, Security Forces exposed and
vulnerable to punishment by assassination.
The politicians must be
held responsible for by not supporting them in their
day to day official business matters and lives, spent
among criminals and Mafia gangs trying to prosecute
and meter justice.
To fight against these
principles, the whole nation is challenged and called
upon to wake up from the dream they enjoy now and get
rid or eliminate all those politicians who are paid
servants directly or indirectly of the terrorists,
drug dealers, and the mafia who run this Island
state. The only way to honour
Sarath Ambeypitiya in his own humble way and
tradition, the Royalists (of
59’ Group and else) if they are really, should
think seriously about the disease affecting Sri Lanka
and lead the rest to get out of this bogey if the
future generations are to live like humans and to
prevent them from being called 2nd generation cowards
following the path taken by their forefathers. Our School song gives
us the spirit to sing and also to act the correct
way……but we still loudly sing a different version and
practice accordingly. - Daya While expressing deep
sympathies on the killing of High Court Judge Sarath
Ambepitiya: We
will not be deterred by such cowardly and
insidious acts - High Court Judges' Association
Secretary by
Sarath Malalasekera "We
will assure the nation as a whole that we will not
be deterred in performing our duties by such
cowardly and insidious acts of those who operate
outside the boundaries of decency, humanity and
compassion," said High Court Judges' Association
Secretary Ms. Rohini Perera yesterday. The
Colombo High Court Judge Ms. Rohini Perera said
that the High Court Judges are shocked at the
cruel and insensitive way in which the life of
Justice Sarath Ambepitiya was lost in broad day
light near his official residence. This
is no doubt a mean and insidious way of
threatening the Judiciary from performing their
duties in the way they had always performed for
the protection and security of the nation. "It
must be clearly stated that the judiciary can
never be threatened in any shape or form
whatsoever and are determined to maintain the high
standard in the dispensation of Justice which we
have always maintained without fear or favour or
partiality," the High Court Judges' Association
Secretary added. Judge
Ms. Rohini Perera emphasised that the
implementation of the death penalty as from
yesterday, November 20, 2004, is no doubt a firm
signal which President Chandrika Bandaranaike
Kumaratunga using her Executive Power has sent to
those who may in the future contemplate laying of
rash hands on the ark of Justice. On
behalf of the High Court Judges Ms. Rohini Perera
extended the deepest sympathies to the family of
the late Justice Sarath Ambepitiya. The
Royal College '59 Group in a message said: "We
deeply regret the loss of a dear friend and a
colleague, High Court Judge Sarath Ambepitiya,
who has sacrificed his life for being an honest,
upright and fearless judge and a citizen of Sri
Lanka". Sarath Ambepitiya High
court judge shot dead in Sri Lanka 's capital It is with deep
regretand much sorrow that we bring to your notice
the Brutal
Killing of our dear friendand colleague of the '59
Group, Sarath Ambepitiya. As most of you are
living abroad for your information Late Sarath
Ambepitiya was a High Court Judge in Colombo. In 2002,
Ambepitiya sentenced the elusive leader of the Tamil
Tiger rebels to 200 years in prison after convicting
him in absentia of planning a 1996 bombing that
killed 91 people in the Sri Lankan capital. The
judge issued an arrest warrant for Tiger head
Vellupillai Prabhakaran, 47, whom he found guilty of
conspiracy in the truck bombing of the Central Bank.
The explosion also wounded 300 people while
destroying the bank and other buildings in the city
center. Bandu
Dissanayake Monday, Oct 25, 2004: This
appeared in 'Interact' a two-monthly newsletter
issued by The Committee for Sri Lanka, edited by
Shyamon Jayasinghe, (the original narrator of
Maname') who is now here in Melbourne. It is about
our very own '59er, Bandu Dissanayake, sometime a
hosteller. His family produces the weekly SL TV hour . It goes to air on
a Sunday morning, premium watching time here, which
is no mean triumph considering how competitive
different ethnic and interest groups are in
demanding good timeslots for TV. Am only sorry I
can't reproduce his picture for you. His wife
Mihiri puts the news footage obtained from
SL together and reads the news, while his son
Tharake, a budding doctor, is front man and anchors
the show with a charming young lady of their
acquaintance. *************************** OUR
FOLK IN THE MAINSTREAM By
Esjay Interact
features two Sri Lankan Australians for their
special demonstration of working successfully with
the social mainstream in this country: GALLILEO
OF GLEN WAVERLEY Who
in the Sri Lankan community of Victoria hasn’t
heard of Bandu Dissanayake? Everyone would say “I
have”. But have you ever known Bandu as a star
gazer in the tradition of Galileo? Only a handful
would say “yes” The
first thing that touches you these days when you
visit Bandu’s palatial home in Glen Waverley are
the telescopes-large as life in his lounge. His
very capable and talented wife, Mihiri, does not
mind this location for Bandu’s toys. Bandu
Dissanayake has many achievements in the
Australian mainstream. He was recently elected
Supper President of Dandenong Lions Club- a
position held all these numerous years by an
Anglo-Celtic Australian. As president, Bandu has
many projects in the stream- all connected toward
improving the quality of life for Dandenong school
playgrounds, childrens’ playgrounds, and heart
walkers for kids. Bandu
Dissanayake came to Australia in the year 1981
having spent 12 years in England where he
qualified as a Chartered Engineer. He presently
works as Manager Systems Development at Nissan in
Melbourne . He is also
Member of the Institute of Marketing and Member of
the Astronomical Society of Melbourne. As far as
the local Sri Lankan community is concerned, Bandu
had been founder member of the 3ZZZ Community
Radio, founder member of the Sinhala Cultural and
Community Services Foundation, President SCATS,
founder of SCATS Elders’ Welfare Society (SEWA),
and founder of the Dandenong Buddhist Meditation
Society. He is known to contribute generously
toward community charities. Bandu
Dissanayake lives with his wife and two sons |
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Sep 2003: A new
Committee of Management was elected comprising the following:- President:
A KODIKARA, 19A Deal Place, Colombo 3 - Tel
+94-11-257-7515 Secretary:
J.U. de Livera, 282/8, Sriyakantha Gardens,
Waragoda Road, Kelaniya. Tel. Res. +94-11- 2916832
or +94-11- 74-812470. Treasurer:
Upali Suraweera, 25
A, Prathibimbarama Road, Kalubowila, Dehiwala.
Tel. Res. +94-11-276-4978 Committee:
Ranjan Madanayake,
D.G. Wickremasinghe, M.H. Subasinghe Library
Committee: Charitha Ratwatte,
K.P.G. Fernando, Sunil Wimaladharma E-Mail
received from the new Secretary, J U de Livera jusel@zeynet.com News
update from new Secy Livera - Oct 2003:- For your
information Indra Lokubalasuriya was in Colombo
recently. We were happy to meet him at "Giggs"
place on the
10th evening (10.10.2003) for dinner hosted by
"Giggs" Lambert Wickremasinghe too was
present on this day. Earlier
this year we (Amaradasa) hosted Rev Roger Herft at
his residence. Our guys
also met M.S. F'do and
Dr. D.C.P Karunaratne this year. What news
about you, would
you be coming to Sri Lanka on holiday in the near
future. Good luck
in your endeavours,
regards, Upali de
Livera - Hon Secy '59 Group This will
be copied to Indra
Lokubalasuriya. Thanks for being
in our midst. Great to be with 59 ' Group members. cc.
Dr. Lal Karunaratne. My thanks for
the trouble you took to contact me
during my short stay. Pl. let me know
details of
your intended visit to Sri Lanka next
year. ps.
It is better you send email's to my above address
(Home) with copy to ctppexp@lanka
.ccom.lk |
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Aug 2003
Group
Reunion Several
members of the Group participated in the 2003 '59
Group Reunion which was held in conjunction with the
first leg of the Bradby Shield Rugger match held in
Colombo. One of the long lost mates who graced the
occasion were HDP Samarasekera, all the way from the
Western Coast of Canada. The event was organized by
none other than the dynamic Ranjan Madanayake
together with the committee of management of the
Group. Wednesday June 23 2004 OBITUARY: FERNANDO -
C.T.M. (Former Principal Royal
College, Colombo 7, Retd. Director of Education
& Consultant National Institute of Education).
Dearly beloved husband of Kusuma (Principal Buddhist
Ladies College & former Principal Girls High
School, Mt. Lavinia), loving father of Harsha
(Attorney General's Dept.), Pabhashi (Cambridge
University, UK), and Yuresha (Attorney General's
Department), loving brother of Quintus, Pearl and
Aloy. Remains lie at 51 A, Bogahahena Road,
Battaramulla. Funeral arrangements will be notified
later. Former Royal College
Principal passes away Former Royal College
Principal, Mr. C. T. M. Fernando passed away on
Tuesday the 22nd after a brief illness. Mr. Fernando, a leading
educationist, graduated from the University of
London offering a unique combination of subjects -
English, Sinhala and Pali. He received his
postgraduate Diploma in Education from the
University of Peradeniya and also studied
linguistics and phonetics. He continued his studies
in Edinburgh. He commenced his career as
an Assistant Teacher in English language and
literature at St. Mary's College, Matugama in 1952
where he later became Vice Principal. He was one of the youngest
to be appointed as a grade 1 Principal, serving in
Weeraketiya Central College and thereafter at
Karawita and Seevali Central Colleges. He later functioned as a
Regional Director of Education, Hambantota district
from 1975-1980. He was appointed as the
Principal of Royal College in 1981. Mr. Fernando's
tenure at Royal from 1981 to 1986 coincided with the
150th anniversary celebration during which period
Royal experienced major educational, institutional
and infrastructural reforms. He was acknowledged as an
independent and a strict disciplinarian and a high
standard of discipline was maintained during this
era and Royal excelled in academic and extra
curricular spheres. His contribution to the
field of education continued even after retirement.
He authored a large number of publications on
different aspects of education and school
management. Post retirement he was the
founder principal of Scarborough International
School, Ratnapura, Principal, St. Nicolas
International College, Colombo and an Education
Consultant to the National Institute of Education
where he was serving as a Member of the Academic
Affairs Board at the time of his demise. He leaves behind his wife
Kusuma, Principal, Buddhist Ladies College, son
Harsha, State Counsel, Attorney General's Department
and two daughters Pabhashi, PhD student at
University of Cambridge, UK and Yuresha also State
Counsel of the Attorney General's Department. His remains will leave his
residence No. 51A, Bogahahena Road, Battaramulla on
Thursday June 24 at 11.30 a.m. to lie in state at
Royal College and thereafter the cremation will take
place at General Cemetery, Borella at 3.00 p.m. Thursday June 17 2004 Received by e-mail from G
Salgado (retired Librarian) in Colombo I'm sure that you'd be
happy to hear that the RC '59 Group is actively
engaged in the RC Library development project after
we got a new Principal at the end of October
2003. He set-up a new Computer Lab for
the Primary School (wired for 40 terminals -- over
20 already available) within one month of assuming
duties. Parents are contributing towards
the balance! A second computer lab (for the
Upper School) was opened on January 30th --
former Staff Room opposite the Armoury. This
one is wired for 75, and 40 already installed. The
Principal suggested that the '59 Group assist
in automating the RC Library, which challenge
we've accepted; this project is making
steady progress. Software (incl. barcode
software) already installed. Data entry
begun -- students awaiting O/L results engaged
in this. Till now, a few terminals at the new
Primary School Computer Lab were being used for
this purpose. The server was shifted to
the Upper School lab last week as this is much
closer to the library. There
are four (old) computers already in the library
-- only two in working order (yet very
slow!). A technical report reveals that
it is not worth repairing the other two, and we are
hopeful of securing replacements as donations, as we
need a minimum of four for the
library. '59 Group funds amounting to
approx. Rs. 375,000 are to be released towards
payment for installation of software, purchase
of a laser printer, barcode scanner, and a
digital camera, etc. Library Membership Card
would finally carry the member's photo as well. Could you kindly pass the
message to other Old-Royalists over there
in the Gulf Region that any Educational Software
they could contribute would be welcome, as we
are starting such collection from scratch
-- for Primary, Middle, and Upper schools. ***************** Monday Mar 8 2004 E-Mail from HDP
Samarasekera (SAM) in Vancouver, Canada To: Tissa Jayaweera
<tissa@itmin.com> Dear Tissa: Greetings from Vancouver,
British Columbia, Canada. This has been my home
since 1977. Prior to that I spent two years in
Davis, California, USA. I left Sri Lanka in 1975.
There aren’t too many Old Royalists in this part of
the country, and hardly any from the ’59 Group.
Following are a few names that I know from our batch
that resides in Canada/ USA: P.Chandrakanthan –Toronto, Ontario,
Canada - Deceased. P.T. Chandrasoma (Para) –
Pasadena, California, USA O.K.P.Gunasekera
– San Diego, California, USA C. Krishnarajan (Krish)
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Firoz Nilam – New Jersey,
USA C.L.A.K. Perera – Ottawa,
Ontario, Canada R.M.S. Perera – California,
USA A.P. Ponanbalam – New
Jersey, USA S.Rathnathicam – Portland, Oregon,
USA S.L.Samaratunga
– Edmonton, Alberta, Canada J.Satchithanandan – South Carolina, USA –
Deceased I.R.Thurairatnam
(Mousy) – Las Vegas, Nevada, USA H.R.Dandeniya
- London, England G.E.C.Jebanesan
- Sydney, Australia A.Senthilkumaran - Sydney, Australia Harindra Samarasekera (SAM)
<samarasekerah@telus.net> Note; Some of the others of
the Group who live and work overseas, as per my
records are as follows:-
Fazli Sameer Dr S. Sambandan, UK Shah Jahan Bahar, Australia Muhammad Monty Cassim,
Japan R Chandrasena, Australia Maurice D Chapman,
Australia A F Nigel de Kretser,
Australia B Dissanayake, Australia Muhammad Fazli Sameer,
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia M Sarath Fernando (Goiya),
UK Russel A Geddes, Australia V B Godamunne, Australia Rev Roger Adrian Herft,
Australia/NZ S R Jayasinghe, UK Graham Koch, Xian, China D C P Karunaratne, UK A B Kulatunga, Australia Kamaludeen Irshad Mahmud,
Germany Palitha Manchanayake,
Australia D P G Mendis, Australia Prof A Suri Ratnapala,
Australia S Rama Sellamuttu,
Australia Muhammad Arooz Sheriff, LA,
USA Anthony Don V Walpola,
Australia Ravi Wickremaratne,
Australia R G Wickremasinghe, UK ***************** Monday Mar 1 2004 Royal College '59 Group
Get-together 2004 Our Class Mates as given
above have confirmed they will be in Colombo for the
Royal Thomian Cricket Match. They would like
to meet as many as possible as they have not met
most of us for a
very long period . We have decided to invite
them for dinner at the TAMIL UNION CRICKET CLUB ( P Sara Stadium) on
10th March 2004. (venue changed from Otters Aquatic
Club to P Sara Stadium) In order to have maximum
participation, prices will be kept at a lower rate .. Rs. 350/- per
person. A cash bar will also be
made available , but if
you like you could bring your own liquor. If you have other engagements please drop in
even for a few minutes. We have experienced
difficulty in reminding over the phone and it would
be of great assistance, if you will kindly confirm
your participation before the 5th March , to the
undersigned be return e mail or on telephone:
4812470 (res) or 2916832 (res) or to D.G. Wickremasinghe
on 2588919 Anthony Walpola (Polos),
S.J. de Silva (Jaani), from OZ will be present at
this occasion and we are aware that Jeremy Perera
(OZ) and C.J Weerasooriya are expected to be in
Colombo and any member who has contact with them , please invite them to
be present on this occasion. |
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Jun 2003: Obituary
NAVARATNAM
THAVANEETHARAJAH Retired
Teacher Royal College and Jaffna Hindu College;
Cricketer and Rugby Player of Royal College expired
on 22062003. He is the beloved husband of Uma and
dearly loved by his son Pretheeban (Student,
Veterinary Medicine Peradeniya), dear brother of
Doctor Navaneetharajah and brotherinlaw of Dr
Beatrice Jessie and uncle of Sanjayan (Air Lanka)
and Doctor Prithiva, beloved son of the late Mr C.
Navaratnam (Divisional Superintendent of Post
Offices) and Katpaham of “Kurukaddu” Urumperai East,
soninlaw of late Mr & Mrs Thambimuttu. Remains
will lie at Barney Raymond’s Funeral
Parlour, Borella from Tuesday to Wednesday evening,
thereafter at 267/11,
Galle Road, Kollupitiya from 8.00 p.m. to 3.30
p.m. on Thursday. Funeral will take place according
to Hindu Rites from 1.30 p.m to 3.30 p.m Cortege
leaves at 4.00 p.m. for Cremation at 5.00 p.m.
Kanatte Crematorium, Borella. Joyful
coming together of 'Royal family' RCU
chairman Rizan Nazeer told a news conference
yesterday that this would be the fifth walk and the
second parade. It's main
objective is to collect funds for the construction
of a Career Guidance Centre and a Scout Centre for
the students and is sponsored by National Savings
Bank and National Lotteries Board. "As usual
we expect the Prime Minster to flag it off as last
year and the walk would commence at 4 pm from the
college premises, proceeding along the Flower Road
to Galle Road, Bullers Road and ending up at the
sports complex at 6.30 pm. We expect over 10,000
students, old boys, parents and well-wishers to
participate including some parliamentarians as
well". The parade
would end with a food and musical extravaganza with
Bathiya and Royalist Santush in concert with a
retinue of other stars to finish off the eventful
day in style. A
fireworks display and a children's area are also on
the cards. RCU
Assistant Secretary Abaya Amaradasa said that they
hope to collect about seven million rupees. "Last year
we collected six million rupees, this time we hope
the public will fund this noble cause as they did
last year," he said. Principal
of the Royal H. L. B. Gomes said that the event
would bring the "Royal" family together once again
and urged everyone to take part. "This is a
chance to repay the debt to your Alma Mater," he
said. Mar 2003: E-Mail
received from Prasanna Mendis in Australia prasman@bigpond.com: Just to
let you know that our good pal Hema is no more, as
informed by one of the many batch mates who gave a
helping hand to him in the last year and a half when
he was diagnosed with a brain tumour. This note to
me is from Nihal Canagasabey. Friends in SL, please
excuse me letting you know something which you may
have known better than me. Still,
Nihal's note is a warm one which is good to read.
Regards ______
Prasanna. Sent: Friday, March 21, 2003 1:18 AM E-Mail
from Nihal Canagasabey: nihal@slt.lk Dear Pras, Trust you
received my previous email regarding Hema
Bamunawela. This is
just a short update to say that Hema passed
away at 7 pm last night. It was a merciful release
from, in his case, this wicked world. He is going to
be missed by many
of us. In case anyone needs to know his
residential address was:-
1/1 Fernando Place Off Waidya Road
Dehiwela Tel: 722 562 He leaves
behind a Sister and niece, for whom he cared very,
very much. To say
he lived 'for them' would not be incorrect. In
fact I always felt that
his being a bachelor was so that he could
do more for them. That was the Hema some of us
loved. regards Nihal Obituary:
BAMUNAWELA, HEMA Beloved
brother of Chamindra, loving uncle of Kalani,
expired. Cortege leaves Mahinda Funeral Parlour,
Mount Lavinia at 1.30 p.m. for Cremation at Galkissa
Crematorium 2.00 p.m. on 22nd Saturday. No.
1/2, Fernando Place, off Waidya Road,
Dehiwela. 22-03-2003 The death
of Mrs Leelawathie Beatrice Bandara-Kiriella, mother
of Lakshman Kiriella, Minister, was also announced in
the SL newspapers in March 2003 as follows:- BANDARA
KIRIELLA LEELAWATHI BEATRICE (BETA)
of
Weedagama Walawwa. Wife of late Eustace, mother of
Nirmanee, Palitha (P.B), Nihal (N.B), Lakshman (L.B),
Rohan (R.B) and Malkanthi, mother-in-law of Anandan,
Khema, Jennifer, Charmaine, Rosemary and Nihal Marambe,
expired. Cortege leaves residence 159,
Alakeshwara Road, Ethul-Kotte on Saturday 15th at
4 p.m. for Cremation at Borella, Kanatta at 5 p.m.
15-03-2003 |
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Jun
2002: Obituary The death
of Jayantha Kudahetty's father has been announced in
the Sri Lanka Daily News of Friday May 7, 2002 as follows:- KUDAHETTY
- T.P. DE S. (Turin) Dearly
beloved husband of late Nancelia (Dinky), loving father
of Jayantha & Rukmal, fatherin-law of Visakha &
Nirantha, grandfather of Dilshan Dinesh, Sachini &
Avanthi, expired. Cortege leaves at 9.00 a.m. for
Cremation at the General Cemetery, Kanatte at 10.00 a.m.
on Saturday 8th June. 37A, Raymond Road,
Nugegoda. No flowers please. All
Group Members in Sri Lanka who are able to attend the
funeral are kindly requested to convey the condolences
of all the others who are unable to make it to the
funeral. Several e-mails have been received from
Australia expressing their condolences. Jayantha
is currently the Director of Marketing of the Board
of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka (BCCSL). May 19
2002 - Obituary
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True Tales
of Terror from the ‘59er Days
A
palm-sweating experience of finding self and a pal
seated right next to Nondi Senaratne, Kataya's
bunching pal, at the Majestic Theatre at a matinee.
Luckily, he was full of approval for our taste , and never dobbed us in.
– Prasanna Mendis /Australia
Many
times have encountered loose-neck Gunaratnem at places
in school time, but
never bothered, and he too would have been too far
away mentally to know or care. - – Prasanna Mendis
/ Australia
Cutting
college during the 2:10 interval wasn’t I surprised
to bump into Dudley driving past on Thurstan Road
when he pulled up by the curb and had me get in the
car and brought me back to College and almost
suspended me from my O levels). – Fazli Sameer /
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia |