APRIL 1995
Editorial
In our last issue we inadvertently omitted one sentence from Mr H.L.D.Selvaratnam's reminiscences. The sentence should read "Two girls from Chundikuli Girls College came first in the whole island in the Cambridge Senior Exam, Athisayam Sathianathan, later Mrs D. C. Arulanantham, and Dr Miss Leela Candiah" The omission is regretted.
In this issue we publish the memoirs of Rev A.J.C. Selvaratnam I am sure readers who enjoyed Mr H.L.D. Selvaratnam's article will like this also.
We have included a new column "Letters to the Editor" under this we publish 3 letters from some of our members giving their views on the suggestion of a merger between OBA St John's & OGA Chundikuli in Victona
We wish our readers a happy new year as well as Easter.
Vaithi Tissainayagam
Editor
NEWS SNIPPETS
A gathering of past pupils from Jaffna schools took place at Terara Park on 13th of March and was well attended St John's OBA organised this event with Chundikuli OGA helping with the games and providing delicious shorteats
The Evening of Indian ClassicalMusic and Bharatha Natyam jointly by Past pupils of Hartley College and St Johns College OBA and held on Anzac day at Phoenix Theater was a resounding success
THOUGHT FOR THE MONTH
Friends may come and go,
but enemies accumulate!!
Letters to the Editor
TO MERGE OR NOT
RESPONSE TO OGA-CGS CALL FOR MERGER WITH OBA-SJC
TIMING OF THIS CALL SEEMS VERY APPROPRIATE WHEN AMALGAMATlONS. MERGERS AND SALES ARE THE TALK OF EVERYONE IN VICTORIA, THESE DAYS HOWEVER, SJC AND CGS STILL FUNCTION INDEPENDENTLY IN OUR WAR-TORN HOMELAND, WITH NEEDS,ASPlRATlONS AND ACHIEVEMENTS DIRECTED IN DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS TO SUlT THE BIOLOGICAL DIFFERENCES. THEN WHY THE MERGER? SURELY, WE ARE UNDER NO OBLIGATIONS TO FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS OF OUR COUNTERPARTS IN THE UK. AS AUSTRALIANS,WE ARE ALL NOW TALKING ABOUT REPUBLICANISM AND ON THE VERGE OF THROWTNG OUT THE MONARCHY. IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT THE PREVIOUS PRINCIPAL MR DEVASAGAYAM HAS WIDELY CRITIClSED THE MERGER OF THE UK ASSOCIATIONS AS MOST INEFFEClTlVE AND UNSUITABLE TO THE NEEDS OF ST JOHN'S SO THEN,LET US BE BY OURSELVES.
THE OBA-SJC OF VICTORIA HAS WORKED INDEPENDENTLY ON PROJECTS WHICH WERE A RESULT OF PROLONGED NEGOTIATIONS, WITH OUR PATRON AND ONLY OUR PATRON. THESE CANNOT BE CHANGED NOW WHICH OBVIOUSLY WOULD WITH A MERGER, WHILE THIS ASSOCIATION HAS ITS OBLIGATIONS TO FULFIL THOSE AGREEMENTS IN THE FUTURE ALSO. THE PRESTIGlOUS ON GOING PROIECTS ARE UNIQUELY MEANT FOR SJC AND CANNOT BE EXECUTED SUCCESSFULLY UNDER MERGED CONDITIONS. FURTHER, ONLY AN INDEPENDENT SJC MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE, CAN HAVE ANY RIGHTS TO TAKE DECISIONS ON THESE PROJECTS.
IT IS TRUE THAT BOTH SJC AND CGS BOAST OF THE SAME SCHOOL COLOURS. THE TIES OF THESE TWO SISTER COLLEGES CAN BE EASILY MAINTAINED BY THE ANNUAL RED & BLACK BALL AND THE CAROL SERViCE. SO, LET US BE, AS WE ARE TODAY.
IN MY OPINION, THE PROPER TIME FOR SUCH A MERGER, WOULD BE WHEN CGS AND SJC THEMSELVES, DECIDE TO MERGE BACK HOME. (CONCERNED JOHNIAN)
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Independent Association can be More useful to School, Principal and the Old Boys
The suggestion by the President of Chundikuli OGA and some others, as reported in The Johnian of January 1995, that both the associations should merge is an interesting view. No doubt this will save some time for the families who belong to the two associations during committee meetings and the annual general meetings. At other occasions like the Festival of Carols, Old Students of Jaffna Schools Day and the Red and Black Ball, we have been combining with COGA without any major problems.
The first five objectives of our association as given in our constitution are: To preserve the high traditions of SJC, to foster and maintain among the Old Boys a sense of loyalty to the college and fellowship with one another, to render all possible assistance to collcge at all timcs, to participate and assist in projects designed to improve the conditions of SJC, to fostcr and promotc relationship between SJC and its Old Boys living in Australia. It will be difficult to achieve these objectives in a merged association as only about half the number of committee members will represent SJC in the merged committee. It may be not be easy to approach all of our Old Boys and the committee need not approach each and every Old Boy as in merged association numbers will not be a problem. The objective of fellowship among Old Boys will be secmingly lost.
The supporters of merger will cite the joint association that is in operation in Britain. Our former Principal, Dr Devasagayam had written to one of our earlier Presidents not to follow the 'British' example and urged our association to be independent. He made this request because of the problems he encountered with the British association. Any Principal will oppose the merger because he or she will not be able to draw funds quickly from the OBA dunng a crisis at the school.
For the British combined association with members located as far as Leeds, Belfast, Edinburgh and Glasgow, the merged model may be convenient. But in Australia, with states such as Victoria and N.S.W, having its own association, and with 99% of the members in Victoria around the greater Melbourne area, independent associations will not be a problem.
Some families who are members of both associations may find it difficult when the 2 associations organise separate fundraising functions. This problem has to be sorted out.
I prefer the separate associations with joint functions than the British example so that both associations can fulfil their objectives and at the same time keep their two respective Principals smiling!. (R. Jeganathan)
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Another point of view............
A great King made a feast and sent messages to all parts of his Kingdom asking his people to come, promising not only food but a share of his wealth. In one town, there was a strong robust man who unfortunately was blind, and he loudly bemoaned the fact that his aMiction would prevent him from accepting the invitation, but then he heard that in the same town there was a lame woman in a wheel chair who was disturbed because she too would be unable to attend the feast unless someone helped her along. The blind man and the lame woman thereupon made an agreement: the blind man would push the woman in the wheel chair. So it happened that the woman who had the sight but could not walk guided the man who could not see but had the strength to push the wheelchair: and the two went together to the King's feast.
A similar plight, though not literally, to that of the above will befall us sooner or later and it is about time we seriously think of helping each other. It is a fact that our membership will not increase by leaps and bounds in the coming years. With stncter immigration controls by Australia and peace talks progressing in the right direction in Sri Lanka, there wont be very many new members swelling our ranks. With the older members not being able to cope with active participation year in and year out, the Association will become smaller and increasingly dependent on fewer and fewer members to manage its affairs. So it will be to the advantage of both Associations to join forces and not only extend the life of the Associations, but to make it more efficient.
We have come a long way from our school days. When we were in school, inter-school rivalry was an art form. Whilst as students and teachers we thrived on such nvalry and independence; behind the scenes, people worked in close harmony so that the sister schools followed the same ideals and goals. There was a cameradene that rose above levels of petty jealousy and suspicion to work together for the mutual benefit of both schools.
Many of us may not be aware that St. John's and Chundikuli Girls come under the same governing body,with representation from the respective schools. Even whilst at school, at the very senior level, classes were combined and there were joint activities such as the Choir, common worship and even fund raising.
To those who say that the combined association cannot be as successful as a separate one, I say, take the examples in Canada and UK. ln both places, there is in fact a larger representation of past pupils from the respective schools than we have here in Australia. Why is it then that they did not think of forming separate Associations. They did,and there was plenty of discussion and deliberation before they arrived at the final and most practical solution, namely a combined Association.
Family connections with both schools is a common phenomenon. Husband and wife, brothers and sisters, uncles and aunts and cousins coming from both sides, either St. John's or Chundikuli will I am sure prefer to have common projects and common functions, rather than be involved in two separate efforts at different times. This was one of the primary reasons, both in Canada and UK which influenced the members to form a combined Association.
Fears may be expressed about the sharing of profits. The main aim of the Association is to foster goodwill and friendship among the past pupils. Fund raising and projects for the school will take second priority. For the purpose of fund raising and projects, both Canada and UK have worked out very satisfactory arrangements which we could do well to copy. With the peace process and reconstruction process already in place in Jaffna, it won't be before long that more funds will be made available to the schools by the Central Government thereby easing the burden of local fundraising by the respective schools.
Fears of domination by a group of individuals or family units should never be entertained when working together. If each one of us in his or her own way can contribute towards working together with a common goal, then I'm sure the more people get together the greater the success. Individualism is a thing of the past, mergers are the order of the day. So come on St. John's OBA let's merge with Chundikuli OGA. (Another Concerned Johnian)
REMINISCENCES OF ST JOHNS JAFFNA
A JOURNEY DOWN THE CORRIDORS OF TIME
By
Rev. A.J.C. SELVARATNAM
My association with St. John's goes back to my first visit to Jaffna from Colombo in 1925. My brother-in-law Samuel Gunaratnam Arulanandhan, along with his brothers the Rev. J. T. Arulanantham and D.C. Arulanantham were all on the staff of the College. With glowing terms, the education at St. John's College was referred to by them and the personal interest the teachers took. Teachers gladly gave of their time to help their pupils. There were no "private tuition fees" in those days!
My first experience of St. John's was joining in a Tamil Service conducted by the then Vicar of the Church, Dr. Isaac Tambyah - a great scholar, in English and Tamil Literature. His comparative study of Christianity, Buddhism and Hinduism in The Foregleams of God as well as his book, Psalms of a Saiva Saint (Tayumanavar) was very useful in my research work later. Incidentally, he mentions in his introduction, information very valuable to Tamils about the raids of the Chola kings from South India.
The dates of the Tamil invasions of Ceylon are 257 B.C.,207 B.C.,103 B.C.In 50 B.C.,a Tamil became the favourite of Queen Anula of Ceylon and was raised to the throne.1
He also mentions that there was much commerce between the West and India and that the Greek words for pepper, rice, ginger, cinnamon, (peperi, oruza, zingiberis, karpeon) preserve the Tamil words.2
The pride of belonging to a great culture - the Dravidian, was sown in those early years. I went back, however, after my holiday, to Colombo and forgot all about Jaffna. But in 1929, my father died and an uncle, in 1930. My brother-in-law and sister, advised us to rent out the house in Colombo and take out residence in Nallur South. "Pleasant Cottage" as it was called by the Johns. Little did I know that we were moving to the intellectual heart of Jaffna, where men like S.J. Gunasegeram, J.C. Handy, K. Nesiah, J.C. Charles, the Arulanathans, Nathaniels and Hensmans lived.
The transition from Colombo to Jaffna was indeed a culture shock. Boys and girls went to school bare-footed. On the second day to school, I abandoned the lovely brown shoes my mother had bought, a few months earlier and tried to be one with my peers. K. Nesiah was a close friend of my brother-in-law and he as well as his sister, the mother of A.W. Rajasekaram, later Principal, St. John's College were very helpful. My close friends were Rajakulasingham and Arul Abraham with whom I went to school.
The morning Assembly in Robert William Hall was always a great occasion. The staff took their places on the platform at 8.45 a.m. The monitors and Prefects saw the orderly seating of the students. The Principal, Rev. Henry Peto, would walk up to the platform and we all would stand up for the morning Service. A hymn was sung; an address given by one of the members of the staff; prayers said and then we trooped out to our classes. Some of the hymns that were sung, old boys still remember. A hymn that made an indelible impression was the hymn "New every morning", especially the verse:
The trivial round, the common task,
Will furnish all we need to ask,
Room to deny ourselves, a road
To bring us daily nearer God.3
The spiritual influence of the College was very great. We had not only a dedicated Christian in Henry Peto, but a very lovable Chaplain in Rev. John Navaretnam who befriended the young and later when he moved to Christ Church, Jaffna as Vicar drew us into his Youth Fellowship. It was he who inspired me to take Holy Orders and when our dear Princeps heard of it, he was overwhelmed with joy. During the Peto era not a few responded to the challenge of the Lord to serve in the Sacred Ministry -especially George Thambapillai and Alfred Thurairajah.
Love of Tamil culture was inculcated by K. Subramanian. He was both proficient in Latin and Tamil. He had gone to Jaffna College, but later realised that his future lay with the Johnians! He was much respected by the staff and students. This led to the love of the subjects he taught - for in Colombo, Tamil and Sinhalese pupils rioted when the Tamil / Sinhalese teacher walked in. In 1932, K. Subramanian went on Study Leave to prepare for the B.A. London as an External student. His place was taken by the most impressive teacher I ever had, A. Kandasamy who later took to Law and became a District Judge. He made the study of Latin, very pleasant and I still remember one of the mnemonics I learnt:
He who panis, piscis spurneth
Soon to pulvis, cinis turneth.
To Johnians who know their Latin and the College motto: "Lux in tenebris lucet" - Light shines in darkness, a translation is not necessary, but to others the translation is given in a footnote.4 One of the great Science teachers who taught us Chemistry and Physics for the Junior Cambridge was T.M. Matthai. He encouraged us to experiment and I remember making a cake of soap, sugar crystals etc. Albert Vethanayagam and I joined in paying a tribute to him, when he died in 1973. He was an inspiration to many students of Science.
In 1932, the Rev. Henry and Mary Peto left for England on furlough. The mantle of Princeps fell on A.M.K. Coomaraswamy, the Vice Principal. He was a brilliant Physicist and Maths graduate. In addition he was a fluent speaker in English and Tamil. He respected the individual and established a personal interest in his charges. He taught us Physics and Religion in the Cambridge Senior. Often we asked him questions on Theology and Metaphysics, Spiritualism and Reincarnation. When he was Acting Principal, some of the great leaders both in Church and State were invited -The Rev. Francis Kingsbury, Lecturer in Tamil at University College, Colombo; Sir Graeme Tyrell, the Finance Secretary and a great Churchman; K.P.S. and Mrs Menon, the High Commissioner for India in Ceylon, a distinguished product of Oxford University and a versatile man.
A.M.K. Coomaraswamy was invited often to speak at different social functions. One of his favourite topics was "Why do men laugh?" (he used "men" as a generic term). He had many anecdotes which he narrated. One is worth repeating:
A.G. Fraser, Principal, Trinity College Kandy, appointed A.M.K. to act as Principal (long before the latter moved on to be Secretary, Diocese of Colombo). He, however, asked him a question, before he handed over his duties. ~What will you do, if a boy slapped a teacher?" A.M.K. promptly replied "I will dismiss the teacher"!!
At College, I was chosen to edit the "Rash Trash". This was a Student Magazine which Bernard Nicholas had edited. When he left College, the mantle fell on my shoulders. P.I. Matthai was the master-in-charge. The magazine was well received. Geof. Cunanayagam acted as manager. Years later, I was surprised to find copies of it treasured by Albert Vethanayagam in his home at Kandy Road.
Teacher
From time to time, I was invited to teach on the Staff of St. John's College, while studying for the London Intermediate in Arts Examination. The transformation from pupil to teacher was very welcome. But this did not last long. In 1938, I left for Bishop's College, Calcutta with a Theological Scholarship offered by the Bishop of Colombo. In 1940, during the summer holidays, I visited Jaffna from India, when K.C. Thurairatnam requested me to act for him, while he was away for the B.A. London examination. I gladly agreed and was happy to join in the Staff Service at the beginning of May 1940, when the Rev. Henry Peto preached on the text: "Launch out into the deep". A few days later the Staff had a Felicitation Dinner on the occasion of the 20th Anniversary of his Principalship. He was very happy and relaxed. But that weekend while out swimming he was drowned. It was a tragic end to a great missionary. "Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" said Jesus. He died in saving another. His cold body dressed in the white cassock, surplice and stole of a priest was brought to l~obert William Hall. Hundreds of students, parents, teachers and citizens of Jaffna filed past to honour him. Bishop Cecil Douglas Horsley went from Colombo to Jaffna for the funeral. He was laid to rest in St. John's Cemetery. Many years later when I met Mrs. Peto, she expressed her thanks to the love and respect bestowed on her husband by the people of Jaffna.
Chaplain-cum-Teacher
In 1943, when I was ordained Priest by the Bishop, I was appointed Chaplain, St. John's College. The College had no funds to pay a Chaplain. C.M.S. too had no money to send. Hence I had to become a full-time teacher. English, Latin, Religious Knowledge I taught. I welcomed the opportunity to teach and share the high ideals I had imbibed from Peto, Gunasagaram, Nesiah, V.C. Canagaretnam and T.M. Matthai.
The Student Christian movement became an active organisation bringing young lads together on a Sunday morning after the 7 a.m. Holy Communion to seek a reason for their faith. Often we went to the Ashram and had a quiet morning. My namesake, Sevak Selvaratnam, with his fine sense of humour, welcomed us and made young people realise that christianity was a joyful walk with the man of Galilee on the dusty roads of Jaffna.
The Rev. J.T. Arulanantham, who was appointed Principal in succession to Peto tried to carry on the work that his predecessor had planned. The urgent need of a Science Laboratory to meet the needs of the University of Ceylon, resulted S.C. Samuel the manager of Samuel and Sons, an industrious and loyal Old boy to offer his assistance.
The old Evarts boarding House was demolished and a two storeyed Science block was erected. A new Dining Hall was built and Dr. Rajasingham gladly donated part of the money for the building of Thompson House. Chundikuli Girls' College had already moved out to its new premises on Colombogam Road, and the Girls' School Principal's Bungalow became the quarters of the Vice-Principal, the Chaplain and E.M. Ponnudurai, the House master in charge of the Junior Boarding House - Evarts House. My former class master V.C. Canagaretnam was Headmaster of the Lower School while Patrick Gaussen, the Vice-Principal was charge of the Secondary School - Other teachers on the Staff at that time were J.P. Balasingh, the Zoology Lecturer, P.T. Matthai,P.I. Matthai,T.M.Matthai, D.C.Arulanantham, Athisayam Arulanantham, Lorna van den Driesen, Ranee Handy, K.C. Thurairatnam, E.C.A.Navaretnarajah, K. Nesiah and C.H. Gunawardene.
The College morning and evening services at St Johns Church were conducted by the Principal and Chaplain. Occasionally we had visiting preachers. Dr D.T. Niles, the Rev. S.K. Bunker and the Rev. 5. Selvaratnam were welcome preachers. The Choir was trained by Miss Edith Kelk, the sister-in-law of Rev. Henry Peto, while Mrs. Dorothy Ferdinands presided at the Organ. Our Carol Service attracted many folk from distant parts of Jaffna. Handel's Hallelujah Chorus was often sung by the choir on these occasions.
In addition to my Chaplaincy duties, I became House master of Fleming House - the Senior Boarding House. Here were some of the future leaders of the country P.T. Sivapragasam, K.Nagamuttu, Victor Benjamin (later Dr.) were Senior Prefects. Other students at that time were R.C. Amirtharajah, P.C.A. Handy, S.C. Karunananthan, K.Jeyarajah, A. Abdul Cader, A. Kulugamana, G de Silva, and S. Elagupillai.
There were two innings as Chaplain, St. John's College - 1943-45 and 1948-50. In between I moved to St. Paul's, Kandy and Colombo, where I worked for the London B.A. as an External Student. The Rev. David Wilson, J.V.C. Nathaniel, who became a leading Advocate and I worked together for the examination and were successful. In 1948, St. John's was badly in need of a Chaplain and the Rev. J.T. Arulanantham and Archdeacon John Navaretnam wanted me to return North. It was during this Second Phase of my Chaplaincy that there was the violent clash between the supporters of St. Patrick's College and our lads in Soccer. The mob with poles wrenched from the grounds tried to attack our boys who had won the match. The football players ran into the dining hall and hid themselves. Many of us from the Staff moved into the grounds and the crowd, angry only with those who wore the red and black guernsey quietly moved out. Fr. Long, the Rector of St. Patrick's was keen that matches between our two schools be resumed the next year. But the Staff was against this. The matter was however happily resolved after a few years.
One of the highlights in the Second Phase was the production of the play "The Inspector General" by Gogol. To produce the play in addition to my other duties was not easy, but I had the support of many teachers - E.M. Ponnudurai, C.J. Eliathamby, and the Sinhalese Teacher, D. S. Navaratna who later moved on to Kingswood College, Kandy. The play was a great box office success on both nights - one for the schools; the other for the general public. C.E. Anandarajan, A.W. Yogarajah,Meena Thamotheram, Saraswathy Arulanandhan,and Sakuntala Rajendra were some of the actors.
While I was Chaplain at St. John's, I was elected Secretary ofthe Jaffna Y.M.C.A. The Y.M.C.A. was always very near to my heart and in 1948 I attended the all India, Burma, Ceylon Y.M.C.A. Conference in Allahabad. On my return I was anxious to make the Y.M.C.A. the centre of activity, where the youth of the town could join in activities and develop a "mens sana in corpore sano" - a healthy mind in a healthy body. With this in mind, we decided to shift the Y.M.C.A. from Second Cross Street, Jaffna to Chundikuli. R.O. Buell, the General Secretary, Y.M.C.A. was very encouraging. R.J. Hudson, the Government agent agreed to give us the Tennis Court that had been used earlier by the Ladies Club on the Kachcheri-Nallur Road. In 1949, the Tennis Court was opened and many of the officers from the Kachcheri and teachers from St. John's joined us. Later, my successor Reginald Thambapillai succeeded in selling the old premises and erecting the great building, which has been an hive of activity for the youth of Jaffna. God rest his soul.
Vicar-St.John's Church
In 1971, I was invited by the Wardens of St. John the Baptist Church to become its Vicar. Canon Victor Satthianadhan had left and the Rev. Lemuel Anulpragasam was both Chaplain and acting Priest in charge. He moved on later to Batticaloa.
Bishop Harold de Soysa felt that the Vicar should be in charge of the religious activities of the whole parish within which the two schools functioned. Principal Pooranampillai agreed to this - thus the dichotomy between Schools and Parish was abolished. I was responsible for the School Services on Wednesdays when the Girls School and Boys School would join in worship. On Sundays the school children attended the parish services. This was a happy resolution of the conflict that had gone on for a long time.
Members on the Staff at that time were C.E. Anandarajan - a fine student of mine who later became Principal, T. Gunaseelan, another student of mine who succeeded him; and S. Thanapalan, the present Principal, A. Thambirajah, A.P. Perinpanayagam, R.J.Sethukavalar, Y. Edwin, J.T. Chelliah (the Vice Principal), A. Manuelpillai, Sulochana Selvaratnam were all on the Staff.
Education in 1960 was at the cross-roads. The Government decided to withdraw its grant to denominational schools and St. John's had to decide whether it would be a private non-fee levying school, paying its teachers from donations that parents and benefactors would give. J.C. Handy and M. Vairamuttu who managed the St. John's College Welfare Association together with the Old Boys from near and far will be remembered always as the "saviours" of St. John's. Their indefatigable zeal and dedication helped St. John's to survive.
1 Tambyah, T.l., Psalms of Saiva Saint Luzac Co,London,1925, p. ii. footnote 3.
2 Ibid,p.v.
3 J.Keble, New every morning is the love.Eng. Hymnal;ll.Ox.Press
4 He who spurns bread and fish
Soon turns to dust and ashes
- a statement which the vegetarian K.S would have questioned.
SPORTS ROUNDUP
St John's Old Boys Vs St Thomas's Old Boys Cricket match played at Cavaliers grounds in Clayton on 26th Of February 1995
St Thomas won the toss, elected to bat and scored 166 for 5 wickets in the alloted 40 overs. The bowling was steady without being very exceptional.
St John's started very well and at one stage were 120 for 2 wickets after 25 overs. With the fall of Andrew Manokaran's and Jito Vyravipillai's wickets for 59 and 3 l runs repectively, wickets tumbled and finally were all out for 162 in 34.5 overs. Ashton Alfred 20 and Pradeep Joganathan 21 helped to swell the score.
St John's Old Boys Vs Vic Tamils Cricket match played at Princess Hwy Reserve in Clayton on l9th Of February 1995
Vic Tamils batted first and scored l9l runs for 8 wickets in the alloted 40 overs. St John's batted steadily through the 40 overs and scored l 85 for 9 wickets. Main scorers were Jito Vyravipillai 48 runs, Pradeep Joganathan 31 runs and Peter Selvaratnam 28 runs.
Obituaries
Mr A.R. Ratnarajah died in Melbourne.
Dr G. R. Handy died in Colombo.
Dr Raju Senathirajah in U.K
Some tributes will appear in the next edition.
LATE MR A. R. RATNARAJAH B.Sc., B.Sc Eng., M.l.C.E, M.l.E.C
Retired Assistant Director Highways Department, Sri Lanka
AN APPRECIATION
The death occurred suddenly of Mr Ackland Rasiah Ratnarajah in the early hours of Sunday, l9 February 1995. It came to me as a rude shock when his son Vasikaran telephoned me that Sunday morning to inform me about this very sad event, which is a great loss to his family and to me and my family as well.
I had known Mr Ratnarajah closely from 1951, when he took up appointment as an engineer in the P.W.D. He was fondly remembered by his colleagues as "Rats". Rats was quiet and gentle in his ways. We both worked in the same office - a temporary site office, exposed to all the vagaries of the weather on the construction of the New Kelani Bridge in Colombo, Sri Lanka in 1955/56. This was the largest bndge under construction in the,world at that time. The design, specifications and construction were done by a foreign firm managed by well qualified and experienced engineers.
We were posted to supervise the work although we had never seen even the smallest of bridges constructed in Sri Lanka. We, including a few other engineers were placed in a rather difficult and ridiculous position as some of our seniors at head office felt that the foreign contractors/engineers were always right in whatever they did. We then decided that we will do a combined study and master all the design aspects, the specifications and contract clauses. Rats did a wonderful job in making himself thorough on the design side and held the whip hand. By this joint effort we were able to exercise an excellent control thereafter and get a proper job done. Rats had a flair for structural designs.
After some time he married Chandra Sanders and moved out to a more congenial station for a young couple in the hill country in Sri Lanka. During his courtship, he suddenly told me one day that he wants to visit his fiancee in Jaffna and whether I could join him, as he was not happy about driving alone from Colombo to Jaffna. I readily agreed. When we got to Jaffna he left me with his brother Aras in his house and I never saw him again till about an hour before returning to Colombo!
I have never known him to get angry or lose his temper. Nothing disturbed him. He took things as they came. He and his family were our immediate neighbours in Colombo for about ten years and later joined us in Nigeria to work with me in the same firm. The family continued to be our neighbours again. Rats was well liked and respected by the Nigerian and other Co-workers there. The family had made friends with many families there and were very much liked by them. Rats was a very knowledgeable, competent and capable engineer. He was verr responsible and conscientious.
After a short break in Sri Lanka he accepted another assignment in Nigeria in a firm of consulting engineers. Although his appointment was in a different State, we met as often as possible and continued our good relationship. We always consulted each other on all matters of importance to the family. Later when we migrated to Australia we were extremely happy when they too migrated to Australia and decided to live in Melbourne. We met very often. Our children meet them and their children and visit each other. Our children had a very high respect for "Uncle" Ratnarajah and they too were shocked and sad when tt-ey heard of the sudden passing away of Rats.
I have never known or heard of Rats as being sick except for two minor operations a few years back, in Melbourne. Even a few days before he passed away we dropped in at his house without any warning or notice, to have a chat with him and his wife Chandra. Rats always kept in touch with the professional and other activities back home in Sri Lanka and gave me news whenever we met. Rats was a very fine gentleman and everyone who has known him over the years will, I am sure, endorse this and miss him.
Rats leaves behind an ailing wife Chandra, a daughter Sharmini who is married to Mahen Nalliah, an active and lively grand daughter Rachel and a son Vasikaran. Vasikaran had recently completed a Masters Degree in Engineering. Rats was looking forward to the son continuing the same profession as his and attaining even greater success than him. But unfortunately he could not live to see this. I hope
Vasikaran will soon achieve his fathers ambitions.
Our family will always miss Ratnarajah It is hard to find such a sincere and loving friend who is gentle, kind hearted and always concerned about others.
Our deepest sympathies go to his wife Chandra, children Sharmini and Vasikaran, Son-in-law Mahen and grand daughter Rachel.
Rats was an old boy of St. John's College, Jaffna. Besides his family he leaves behind a number of relatives and friends in Australia and in other parts of the world.
MAY HIS SOUL REST IN PERFECT PEACE.
K.A. Rasaratnam (Rasa)
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