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Appreciations

A life of compasssion and gentleness of spirit
Joyce Perera
"Oh for the touch of a vanished hand
Or the sound of a voice that is still"
This poetic allusion grips me as I recall with nostalgia, memories of my dear sister who passed away last week.

She was the second in our family, beautiful and blessed with many talents. Singing and music were her chief delights.
In later years, as a devoted Catholic, she participated in parish activities and the choir.

Tragedy struck when her husband met with a serious accident and she had the responsibility of nursing him.
Her gentleness of spirit, which was uppermost in her and her compassion led her to deny herself many things to attend to his needs.

Being a member of a prayer group of the Renewal movement, the support of the community helped her to accept and surrender her life to Jesus.
May the angels guide to paradise.
Dareena

A brilliant economist with a zest for life
Hema de Zoysa
On May 23, we were awakened to the shocking news that our neighbour Hema de Zoysa had suddenly passed away. We were stunned, as Hema seemed to be in the pink of health and always endeavouring to keep fit. Adding to our astonishment was that this exercise-enthusiast had died virtually at the foot of his treadmill, at home.

Hema was one of Sri Lanka's illustrious sons. I had the privilege of knowing him closely for almost half a century. He was my senior at Peradeniya University in the mid 1950s. I really didn't know him then, though I had heard of him because of his fledgling romance with a fellow student from the north, a romance that bloomed into a life-long marriage. In those Peradeniya days, the romantics were among the stand-outs in the campus. Hema was thus a bridge-builder between the communities, a son of Balapitiya soil who came to enjoy nathaswaram drumming as much as he did the Kandyan.

Soon I came to know Hema as a colleague at the Central Bank of Ceylon, then as fellow-student at the London School of Economics. Next we interfaced in the Ministries of Finance/Planning and finally in Washington when Hema joined the IMF in 1973.

Hema's contribution to economic policy-making in Sri Lanka was impressive. Successive finance ministers were quick to see Hema's unique public finance skills and commandeered his services on his return from the London School of Economics. Hema served as Director of Economic Affairs at the Treasury for more than five years, beginning in 1968.

It's a tribute to Hema's tact as well as his professional skills that his advice was sought after and valued by finance ministers of varying political hues, from SLFP/LSSP to UNP. I recall, for instance, that Hema's voice was pivotal in scrapping the Bank Debit Tax, which was proving to have harmful effects, including increased tax evasion.

A defining characteristic of Hema was that he was no push-over and he held steadfast to his professional convictions. I once asked him what he had learned from working at the Treasury. He said to me that he realized that economic policy-making was, as in politics, the art of the possible, and as he put it, "Taking two steps forward and one step back".

Sri Lanka eventually lost this public finance expert to the IMF, where he advanced rapidly with his Sri Lankan experience and hard work propelling him to progressively higher levels of responsibility, and eventually to the position of Division Chief. Hema retired from the IMF about five years back, but only in name. Soon he was back in the saddle as Macro-economic Adviser to the Government of Gambia, a position he held at the time of his death.

Hema had a taste for the finer things in life and didn't miss out on luxuries such as vacations to exotic places, and prized events such as the Olympics and Sri Lankan cricket Test matches. Hema was equally known for his charitable disposition, such as his contributions to putting a number of children through school in Africa.

Though Hema had passed the proverbial 'three score and ten' milestone, his demise came too early in view of his youthful vigour which so characterized him and the many years which appeared to lie ahead.

I know that he had plans to return to Sri Lanka and give of his rich life-long experiences, but death had to intervene. So Sri Lanka lost one of its distinguished and liberal-minded sons, and we in Washington lost a devoted family-man and trusted friend.

Nadaraja
Ramachandran

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