Twelve months have passed since the death of Achilles Joseph. My close association with the late Mr. Joseph began when he was a Senior Superintendent of Police and Director, Police Higher Training. I had previously met him when he was Superintendent of Police, Matara.
My great admiration and respect for Joe, as he was affectionately known to those close to him, started to grow during my interaction with him at the Police Higher Training Institute. I was a visiting faculty member at the time, handling training in leadership and communication for senior police officers.
The late Mr. Joseph was a true professional and stickler for perfection. He believed in doing things right, and he put heart and soul into whatever he undertook. Little wonder the Police Higher Training Institute improved greatly as an institution during his tenure. He had an uncanny ability to grasp ideas and concepts and transform them into applicable tools and processes.
His work and initiatives were tempered by human understanding and empathy. He enriched the curriculum and training materials at the Police Higher Training Institute with a library, a source of up-to-date knowledge that was greatly appreciated by the senior police officers.
Joe went on to become SSP Implementation and Progress Control, Elections, and finally Deputy Inspector General of Police in 1992, a position he held with honour until his retirement in 1995. He was proud of his achievements as an officer and gentleman, after a long career in the police that began when he joined as a young Sub Inspector in June 1956.
Even in retirement, Joe continued to contribute to the Police force as president of the Retired Senior Police Officers Association, from 2004 to 2005.
After retiring from the Police Department, Joe began a new career in training. This line of work came to him naturally. He took to it like a fish to water. Occasionally he and I would work together on joint training programmes for the private and public sectors.
Joe always gave of his best. He conducted training programmes for the National Savings Bank; Sampath Bank; Commercial Bank; Seylan Bank; the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC); Bank of Ceylon; John Keells; the University of Moratuwa, the Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration (SLIDA) and other private and public sector organisations. He also conducted management training programmes in the Maldives. He was always updating his knowledge through research.
In 1997, Joe founded the Sri Lanka Institute of Training and Development, which has grown from strength to strength. The institute celebrates its 10th anniversary this month. He would be proud to see how the SLITAD has developed over the years.
Above all else, Joe was a good man – a simple man with no pride or arrogance. He was always happy to help and to impart his knowledge to others. To him, humane service was above money and wealth. He was God-fearing and he played straight. He set a fine example to the rest of us.
Shakespeare’s Mark Antony said “the good that men do is oft interred with their bones”, but this will not be the case with Joe, who will be remembered by the professional community for years to come.
Nalin N. P. Jayasuriya |
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