Appreciations

Commander M.G.S. Perera

On December 9th this year, the Sri Lanka Navy completes fifty years as a regular force. But Instructor Commander M. G. S. Perera, the man who trained generations of Officers and Sailors and the man who created the Naval and Maritime Academy, will not be there to witness this anniversary. He left us for "the other shore" just last August, a full fifty years after he joined the Navy. On this first anniversary of his death, it is appropriate that I pay a tribute both to MGS, the head of my Instructor Branch and describe in some detail, the growth of Training in the Navy - product of his vision and initiative.

By the time I joined the Navy (as an Instructor Lieutenant in 1960), we were in "Uva" camp Diyatalawa. MGS had, by this time, completed his time in that rank and was awaiting promotion as the First Instructor Lieutenant Commander. It was one of a series of "Firsts" he achieved in the Navy.

He had started his career as a teacher after qualifying for the "Ceylon Teacher's Certificate" in English and Sinhala. MGS ("Steve" to his friends) had an insatiable urge to learn and this drove him to the then famous Victoria Jubilee Technical Institute (VJTI), in Bombay where he was awarded the Licentiate in Mechanical Engineering (LME) with Honours in 1947. After two more years studying Machine Design and Practice, he returned home in 1949.

The "Ceylon Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve" (CRNVR) was then expanding, and MGS enlisted in August 1949. They had no idea of the value of his qualifications and took him in only as Petty Officer Stoker Mechanic. Around this time the Navy acquired its first ship, HMCyS. Vijaya, (ex HMS Flying Fish) and he joined her in Trincomalee, as part of the First all-Ceylonese crew to sail her to Colombo for commissioning.

The Navy soon realized that his expertise was being wasted and took the unprecedented step of directly commissioning him Instructor Lieutenant in 1952. No one, I think, made it so fast from Petty Officer to Lieutenant. He was promoted Instructor Lieutenant Commander in April 1960 and, later, Instructor Commander in 1964.

I speak of him and his achievements as the last of the Instructor Officers who worked with him. At the beginning, he was the one and only Instructor Officer in our one-ship Navy. He was given a large room, called the "Royal Ceylon Navy Schoolroom", in HMCyS Gemunu, where his task was to teach the basics of almost everything naval to Officer Cadets selected for training at Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, England.

As the Cadet intakes grew in numbers and frequency, he needed assistants with University degrees. The first assistants he brought in were Inst.Lieuts. In 1960 H.D.L.M.Palmon, E.M.A.Perera, T.Mahadewa and I were commissioned. A proper training establishment for Officer Cadets - including the first "Gunroom" - and for sailors was established in Diyatalawa and not long after that, MGS was appointed the Commanding Officer of HMCyS. Rangalla - the First Non-Executive Branch Officer to be appointed to Command! MGS thus established the First Naval Technical Training Centre to train Artificer Apprentices before they were sent to Indian training schools.

About this time he proceeded to England to specialize in Meteorology at the Royal Naval Air Station, HMS Culdrose, becoming the First and perhaps, the only naval officer to qualify as such. He also completed study tours of Britannia Royal Naval College Dartmouth and the Engineering Colleges at Manadon and Plymouth, and HMSS Sultan, Fisguard, Raleigh, Collingwood and Caledonia (in Scotland).

In 1962 disaster struck the Navy and part of the price paid was to hand over Diyatalawa to the Army in 1963. So we did a "flag shift" from Diyatalawa to Kochchikade, which became the new HMCyS. Rangalla, again with MGS in command.

In 1966, the sun shone on the Navy again, and a large intake of sailors was recruited but, alas! the infrastructure for training had, by now, been dismantled. The shore establishment at Trincomalee, HMCyS Tissa, was hastily shifted and the Tissa barracks was re-commissioned HMCyS. Parakkrama - II.

Back in Kochchikade MGS, with his usual foresight, had already started planning to set up a proper Naval Academy. Lt. (E) D.C.D. Lecamvasam, the Engineer officer and I were serving in Trincomalee, but we were chosen to join him in this venture. The logistics of this operation was fantastic, and a nightmare, too, but his fertile mind found ways and means, where lesser minds found only obstacles.

Finally, MGS himself arrived in Trincomalee and the "Naval and Maritime Academy" was born on January 15th, 1967. Separate Schools such as those for Navigation, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical and Electronic Engineering were then established. Here he found the opportunity for analysis and experiment, creating an environment in which the staff did "brain-storming" sessions where the future of the Navy was discussed, debated and even presentations made to the Prime Minister.

These were heady days, and many of the ways in which the Navy developed in the 1970s saw their genesis during these sessions. MGS designed new courses to keep in line with the way the Navy was progressing. They all were the product of MGS' fertile mind!

He did not think the Academy was useful to the Navy alone, either. He knew that it was a National Institution, and that the Navy, alone, could train all sea-going personnel. He undertook to train Police launch drivers, 11-ton fishing vessel masters, seamen and other sailors qualifying themselves for merchant marine service, staff for the Ceylon Shipping and Fisheries Corporations. Many of those we trained went to sea with Academy certificates.

Perhaps his greatest achievement was that, he showed the world that our Navy could fully train officers from cadet upwards, who could hold their own with naval officers in any Navy, anywhere.

By this time he had not only toured Royal Navy training schools but had done a further study tour of the US Navy Academies at Annapolis and Washington and the renowned US Naval Western Command School at San Diego. He had been elected a Fellow of the Royal Meteorological Society, Fellow of the Institute of Marine Engineers and a Member of the Institute of Navigation UK. He was eminently qualified to carry out the task of training all types of officers: no longer did we have to ask England or India to train them for us.

MGS himself went further up in his career, becoming the First Instructor Officer to be appointed Naval Officer-in-charge, Trincomalee, (now called Commander, Eastern Naval Area). He was, therefore, the First (and Only) Instructor Officer to have been appointed to command both a shore establishment and a Naval Area. After this, Instructor Commander MGS Perera returned to Colombo, preparing for retirement as the Director, Naval Training. After retirement in June 1972, he was snapped up by the Ceylon Shipping Corporation and appointed Staff Captain to train merchant navy cadets on board their ships. Those cadets are respected Master Mariners sailing the seven seas now.

Early this year, it was a poignant moment for me when the incumbent Commandant invited me to visit, and walk around the Academy with him. I was impressed by what it had evolved into (it is being considered for the grant of University status) and the other training institutions that had sprung from it. There at last, I had the chance to tell them about "The man who created the Academy" .

MGS was a most engaging and enjoyable character. Of moderate height and modest in manner, he could charm anybody with his simplicity and vast fund of stories, anecdotes and tales of the supernatural. His broad smile, bright eyes and informality won him many friends and, in those happy days in Diyatalawa - where there were Army and Air Force camps larger than our own little Rangalla - it was to MGS that people from all Services came for advice and solutions when they were faced with unusual problems, whether they were mechanical or personal. The very fact that, at MGS' funeral, every single retired Navy Commander alive was present, along with a large gathering of his students, is proof enough of how much his contribution had been appreciated.

Today, when the Navy has many training bases, it is proper for us to remember on this golden jubilee year that "MGS was the Academy, and the Academy was MGS". The time has come, I believe, for the Academy and the Navy to hang a portrait of him there. This, I ask of them.

Somasiri Devendra
Instr. Lieut.Cdr. SLN (Rtd.)

Albert Page

He was born in 1921 and named Albert Athisayaratnam Page, an extraordinary combination of names for an extraordinary man. On my last visit to Sri Lanka I interviewed him so that one day I could write a story about his life. He told me then "I came up from scratch and I'm proud of that fact".

At the age of 18 he had travelled from Jaffna to Colombo to accompany his elder sister Irene who was getting married and to find work to support his family. He was one of the best students in college, but circumstances compelled him to seek employment before he was able to complete his college career as his father had lost his eyesight and could not work. As a result the financial burden rested on young Page's shoulders. Originally he had applied to work as a Railway clerk in the government service, but he failed to pass the eye exam. So he shifted course and became an accountant. The rest is history.

Albert Page dealt with every challenge with perseverance and a single-minded focus, yet never compromised his integrity. In the end, the strength of his character and his visionary ideas triumphed. Through his involvement with the local film industry he transformed the business landscape of the country and became a pioneer with his multi-service and entertainment complexes. And he never forgot to give back to his country and its people.

Now what about his strange name? When I asked how he got the very western last name of Page, he explained that his great-grandfather was a pioneer of English education in Jaffna, and the British missionaries had changed his name. Later they named a school after him, Page Memorial College.

Albert Page lived through many changes in Sri Lanka. Of colonial times he said he was appreciative of the infrastructure that the British provided for his country. But he was disturbed by the fact that in those days top official posts were strictly reserved for white men. He recalled a time when tensions between Sinhalese and Tamils were non-existent and when self-discipline was the norm. He was a very private man, but had friendships that transcended all racial ethnic even geographic divides.

His most treasured moments were those spent with his children and grandchildren. His room was the official hangout of all his grandchildren. My most cherished memories of him are the times I would sit opposite him at his desk and chat. I fondly remember how when I was a young boarding school student he travelled all the way to Massachusetts in America to attend Grandparent's Day.

Albert Page was a fine combination of love, compassion, discipline and virtue. To all of us who shall treasure his memory, he was like a ray of light whose brilliance shall never diminish. His contributions to his country and his successes will endure. His only remaining wish was that peace in Sri Lanka will become a reality and hopefully he will be able to witness it from afar in the near future. My lasting sadness will be that I was not with him when he left. We all wish that he didn't have to go but he is at peace now.

Tanya Selvaratnam

S.B. Ellepola

This August marks the first death anniversary of a distinguished and respected citizen of Kandy, Professor S.B. Ellepola. A doctor by profession, he was an untiring social worker by choice. The University at Peradeniya, Trinity College, the Rotary movement and the Buddhist associations in Kandy were all touched by his efforts.

At the time of his death he was the Professor of Pathology at the Faculty of Medicine at Peradeniya and the consultant Hematologist/ Director Pathology Dept at the Teaching Hospital, Peradeniya.

With the assistance of Rotary Clubs here and abroad he was able to fulfil a long-felt need in the medical sector. He was able to build and equip a three-storied building at Peradeniya for a school for the training of medical laboratory technologists. He was also responsible for the development of many a laboratory at peripheral hospitals.

Prof. Ellepola also had a consummate interest in the original inhabitants of Sri Lanka: the Veddas. He was one of the few people to look into the genetics of this ancient race. Even his thesis for the Degree of Doctor of Medicine was titled "A Genetic study of the Veddas of Sri Lanka". He also presented papers on their physical anthropology, and their Hematological interpretation.

Prof. Ellepola used the many resources of the Rotary movement for the service of others, in true Rotary spirit. In fact in1989 when he was the President of the Rotary Club of Kandy, his club was recognized as the best Rotary club that year. He was also the first chairman of the now highly successful polio plus campaign.

As the Vice president of the Deaf and Blind School in Dodanwela, Kandy, he together with his wife Ranee was able to obtain a grant of $8 per child per month for nearly 90 children from friends in Denmark. He was a founder member of the Centre for Higher Studies in Buddhism and Pali of the Asgiri Maha Vihare. He was also the Treasurer of the International Buddhist Centre in Kandy.

Yet he valued and appreciated all communities and faiths. These were lessons embedded in him during his days at Trinity College where he played rugby football and hockey.

A relative

V. Nanthakumaran

The death of Vimalini Nanthakumaran has removed from our midst a gracious lady, leaving a large circle of friends and relatives to mourn her loss. She was the daughter of Pathma and Wimalaraja, attorney-at-law, and retired president, Labour Tribunal. Vimalini was loved and esteemed as a simple person with a friendly disposition. Many were the people whose hearts she had won with her kind advice and material help in their time of need.

She married Pakianathan Nanthakumaran in a grand ceremony at the Ramadhan Star Hotel.

The couple went abroad and lived happily, enjoying the fruits of wealth. But alas, the greatest gift of a child was denied to them for a number of years, and with great hopes they went to India to perform "Shantis". These were fruitful and soon Vimalini conceived and had the supreme bliss of delivering twins, a boy and a girl. But destiny must take its course and the sorrowful parents lost the son. Soon Vimalini too was snatched from this world, leaving her infant daughter to survive without a mother.

Vimalini departed leaving so many in tears and a void that cannot be filled. But God had a niche for her in heaven, which no doubt she now occupies. The funeral took place in Chennai on July 20.

Nanthakumaran is left to contemplate the cruelty of fate. His infant daughter becomes the foster child of both sets of loving grandparents who cherish her. Vimalini is in new pastures. May she have the supreme bliss of attaining the feet of Lord Shiva.

Thunalai A. Masillamany

Cynthia Weerakone

All of us, parents, teachers and students, were devastated by the sad news that Cynthia Weerakone, one of Trinity's best loved teachers, was no more. She left on a holiday to the United States to visit her children, promising to come back to her teaching post. But, that was not to be as she was tragically struck down by an attack of leukaemia.

Cynthia served in the Junior School of Trinity College with dedication and commitment for well over 40 years. The care, concern and affection she showered on the children under her tutelage was truly extraordinary. During those difficult days of the beginning of their school life at Trinity, she provided them a firm foundation which moulded them in later life to men of stature and character. At a service of thanksgiving held at the Trinity College Chapel, made famous by Paynter's collaborated mural paintings, many warm and eloquent tributes were paid to Cynthia for her life and service at Trinity spanning a period of nearly 40 years. Her children, Shiran, Jeevaka and Anoma paid tribute to their wonderful mother and said that her wish was to return to Sri Lanka and bid a personal farewell to Trinity on her retirement.

She could be a stern disciplinarian when the situation demanded it, though she accomplished much with her personal charm and gentle persuasion. I made my first contact with Cynthia when my grandson was admitted to Trinity Junior. So, it's goodbye to a great teacher and wonderful mother whose precious memory will always be with us and her dear children. We pray that Cynthia will have a joyous re-union with all her loved ones among the mansions of the Lord. May God bless her.

B.S.
Kandy

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