| Plus |
|
|||
|
Appreciations He held three
important jobs at the same time. He was a Civil Servant and served
as AGA in Galle, Hambantota and Kandy and was Secretary to the Ministry
of Defence. He was one of the officials who initiated the Maldive
Islands Independence. He met Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in
New Delhi and attended several international conferences in Geneva. He was the
GA, Kegalle and his last job was Controller of Imports-Exports.
He was also the Secretary to the Board of Control for Cricket in
Ceylon for five consecutive years when Robert Senanayake was the
board president. We did not have test status then, but we had lots
of cricket matches. All the international teams going to and from
Australia made it a point to land here and play cricket. I remember
as a child going for these matches and watching the West Indies
team of Rohan Kanhai, Collin Cowdry's England team and even a woman's
cricket team. I must say there were no disagreements and squabbles
on our Cricket Board then. He was also
a volunteer officer in the Army and held the position of Major in
the Ceylon Artillery Regiment. I remember my dad at the parades
at Galle Face Green. He was tall and outstanding. I remember when
they were mobilized and called to control the racial riots in 1958.
They were sent to Jaffna too. It was after the Military Coup of
1962 that the light in the candle he had lit at both ends began
to dim. But soon after he took on the best job of his life -- that
of being a grandpa. He had eight grandsons and two granddaughters,
all of whom loved him so much, and many a leisure time he spent
with them at his home. The sport, he spent his time on in his retirement,
was archery. He built his
own house in Bambalapitiya and lived quietly surrounded by his wife
and family until he had a stroke in late life and that broke his
heart because he could not have fun any more. So, the memories
of you, my father, are all happy ones and I will not forget to keep
the one request you made of me, and that was to look after my mum
after you are gone. This I have done and will continue to do, all
my life. I know you
are safe in the arms of Jesus as I saw you in one of my dreams surrounded
by God's angels in heaven. A goddess in
human form She was a second
mother to me I pen these
few words because I love her as my own mother. She was a staunch
Catholic and although I was the only Buddhist of her five daughters-in-law
she never had any discrimination. She possessed hundred and one
admirable qualities such as patience, understanding and integrity.
She was highly talented in cooking, flower making and cake-icing.
She conducted classes for the needy girls because she believed that
it would help them earn some income. During the
school vacation I used to go to Moratuwa with my children to spend
few days with her. With a sense of humble pride I am happy to say
during that short period I was able to learn a lot of cookery. She
was a second mother to me. I had neither seen her hot tempered or
heard her speaking harshly to anyone. She stood by us in adversity.
She loved her husband, the late Sebastian Mendis, her sons, daughters
and in-laws in same way. May she rest in peace. A judge and
author Mr. Alles was
born at Matale in 1911. After his early education under the Jesuit
fathers at St. Aloysius College, Galle (where he passed his Cambridge
Senior with honours) and later at the Ceylon University, he joined
the Ceylon Law College. After obtaining First Class Honours in his
Law final, he was enrolled as an Advocate of the Supreme Court in
1939. He obtained his law degree from the London University in 1942.
In the same year, he joined the Attorney-General's Department as
a Crown Counsel and served the Department for over two decades.
In 1962, as Solicitor-General, he led evidence before the Bandaranaike
Assassination Commission. In 1964, he
was appointed a Judge of the Supreme Court. In 1972, while still
being a Judge of the Supreme Court, he was appointed a member of
the Criminal Justice Commissions that probed the 1971 insurgency
and continued to function as Commissioner even after his retirement
in July 1974. Shortly before his retirement, he functioned as Chief
Justice. He was also
a member of the International Commission of Jurists and Pax Romana
(the Association of Catholic Jurists) and was President of the Ceylon
Branch of the World Peace through Law in 1970. Since his retirement
Mr. Alles spent most of his time in writing on criminal cases and
authored several volumes on the famous criminal cases of Sri Lanka,
including the assassination of Prime Minister S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike.
He is also the author of a comprehensive treatise, recently updated,
of the JVP in Sri Lanka, in addition to other books of legal interest. A man of many
friends I knew Noel
from 1954 when I joined our alma mater in Kotahena. We became close
friends and I was his bestman at his wedding. Thus his death due
to a heart ailment, came as a shock to me. Noel's wit
brought out laughter in any crowd. He could make any serious person
laugh, something his friends now miss. Noel had many
friends, both in the Telecommunication Department where he worked
and elsewhere, for none could reject his company. He made any topic
of conversation, however dreary, interesting. Only those
who had the good fortune of knowing and associating with him, knew
what a wonderful person he was. His wife and
son are not the only losers due to his demise. Everyone who knew
him feels the void. We can only pray and ask the Good Lord to grant
eternal rest to Noel until we meet him on that beautiful shore.
|
||||
Copyright © 2001 Wijeya Newspapers
Ltd. All rights reserved. |
