brigadier (dr) david – our quintessential patricianferdisathi.com/bluewave/volume 2 sydney spc...

PATRICIANS OF JAFFNA - AUSTRALIA

Silver Jubilee Souvenir 1987-2012 41

BRIGADIER (DR) DAVID – OUR QUINTESSENTIAL PATRICIAN

Brigadier (Dr.) H.L.David USP psc DBA (Lon), M.Sc. (DSS – Madras)

MBA, (PIM, Sri J) FIMS (UK)

When I met Brigadier (Dr.) H.L.David, the Military Officer, Lecturer, Motivational speaker, Trainer, for the first time in Bergen, Norway in July 2011, my first impressions of him was of his utter humility. Despite the great office he holds, for which every Patrician - let alone any Tamilian Catholic, would be proud of his achievements in his life. Like his uncle - our famous scholar and linguist, Rev Fr (Dr) H S David, he is also a willing helper. Despite his very busy & hectic schedules he always answered my urgent e-mails promptly, as far as time management is concerned. He is one of the sincere, genuine, passionate Patricians that I have ever come across. Along with our current Rector Fr. Jero Selvanayagam, he was jointly responsible in organizing the Colombo/Jaffna reunion last month. Both of them made it to the Bergen global get together in July 2011 and Brigadier David gave a presentation of the Global Reunion that they were planning in Sri Lanka to an assembly of worldwide Patricians, who attended the Bergen Reunion. Within St. Patrick’s itself, he wore many hats. He is the President of the Colombo OBA, and Colombo OBA’s representative for the Patrician Perpetual Trust Fund. Recently he was the Chief Guest

of the Holy Family Convent’s Prize giving day celebrations, where he was also a past student, prior to joining St. Patrick’s in 1967.

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Like his famous uncle Reverend Father David, the ‘intellectual prowess’ seemed to have been rubbed on to his nephew as well. Brigadier (Dr) Hermanagild Lakshman David holds the unique distinction of being the first Doctorate in Business Administration while in service in the Sri Lanka Army and obtained two Master’s degrees; the Master of Science [MSc] on Defense and Strategic Studies at the University of Madras and the Master of Business Administration [MBA] from Post Graduate Institute of Management, University of Sri Jayewardenepura and a Fellow of the Institute of Management Studies [UK].

He joined St Patrick’s College from our sister convent J/HFC in 1967 and had his education up to O/L at the College. After



completing his A/Ls, he joined the Army on 28th April 1980 as an Officer Cadet had his initial training at the Officers’ Training Academy, India, and at Sri Lanka Military Academy, Diyatelawa and was commissioned to the Corps of Engineers as a 2nd Lieutenant. During his career in the Army he excelled in Rugby and Basketball. Having followed Military Engineering courses in Military College of Engineering Risalpur, Pakistan had the opportunity to work in many field engineering projects during war and peace situations. He had also followed special courses like Combat Engineer Instructor’s course and Combined Bomb Disposal course at the College of Military Engineering, Pune, India. On completion of these professional courses, he was appointed as the Commandant, Sri Lanka School of Military Engineering. Perhaps, the Commandant’s role is one of the most prestigious one, since he is the top brass for the entire school. Presently he holds the appointment of Deputy Commandant of Defence Services Command and Staff College which was established as the Army Command and Staff College (ACSC) with the aim of developing the professional knowledge and understanding of selected Student officers both in command and on the Staff, for the Sri Lankan Army. The ACSC was inaugurated on 17th March 1998 and now it’s the highest learning institute for all three services. Having completed the Defence Services Staff Course at Wellington, India, obtained First Class in MSc (Defence Strategic Studies) from University of Madras (Chennai), and was appointed as the Chief Instructor, Sri Lanka Military Academy then again had tenure as the Commanding Officer, Sri Lanka Military Academy. He was commended for many initiatives and actions taken in the field of engineering and the conduct of operations. He was the first Deputy Vice Chancellor of the Kotelawela Defence University and was actively involved during the revamping the Academy. He is presently a visiting lecturer for the Faculty of Post Graduates Studies at Kotelawela Defence University. He is also a visiting lecturer at the faculty of finance and management studies of the University of Colombo.

I am absolutely certain that everyone who knows the Brigadier holds him in very high esteem. Just to know that we have a Patrician in our midst, who in the present political climate is a source of strength, comfort and safety to us Patricians and Holy Familians, both at home and coming from abroad. We are truly grateful for the yeomen service that he continues to give to all of us. We are, indeed a fortunate lot. Brigadier is/was always available to render his services within the ‘realm of his officialdom’ to both of his Alma Mater, especially during the Global Get together.

He held the post of the President of Sri Lanka Institute of Training and Development, the Alumni Association of St Patrick’s College Colombo Branch, and holds membership of the Sri Lanka Engineer Association, Alumni Association of Post Graduate Institute in Management, and a life member of Royal Aesthetic Society of Sri Lanka. He was in the panel of judges for many recent HR Award ceremonies.

He had participated in Multinational Planning Augmentation Team in June 2002 at Honolulu, Hawaii, USA and represented Sri Lanka at the UN Conference of the Ottawa Convention on Mine Action in 2004 at Nairobi, Kenya. He had also participated in a symposium on ‘National Security and Strategy’ in Beijing, China, held in 2007. His also led the first ever team of Explosive Experts to Pakistan where he conducted a special course and a seminar for the special forces of the Pakistan military personnel.

He chose Subodhini, Solicitor, Attorney-at-Law, LLM, and Lawyer by profession, as his life partner and is sanctified with three children namely; Ajay, Ashwin, and Amrith. On the eve of the Silver Jubilee Anniversary of the Sydney, Australia, OBA, we thank the Brigadier David for his ongoing contribution to us Patricians and send our continued blessings to the entire family.

Compiled by Alfred Arulanandam CMA, ACMA, CGMA, CSC. Note: Some Information was gathered courtesy of Google.



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(Reproduced from the 2000 Sesquicentenary Edition of the Patricians of Jaffna Australia)



SOME REFLECTIONS ON THE LATE THIRTIES AND FORTIES

My mind flashes back to June 1936. Holding my father's hand, I trembled into the hallowed portals of St Patrick's College, Jaffna. Fr. Charles Mathews, a revered Rector of old was handing over the reins of office and the tall, towering Fr. T. M. F. Long was succeeding him. Fr L. J. Augustine was the Principal of the Primary section. After the usual initiation, I walked into Grade I to be greeted by Miss Aseervatham ( later Mrs Lawrence). The first poem that I learnt 'Twinkle, twinkle little star' is still lodged, embedded in my mind. As I progressed into the higher classes, I imbibed the broader culture of the College with DISCIPLINE taking high priority. The staff was adorned by a galaxy of dedicated men and women, some of whom were institutions themselves. The names of P. Saverimuttu, B. R. Motha (later football coaches as well), S F Santhiapillai, Subramaniam Iyer, N. C. Krishnaraja and of course F. N. C. Saverimuttu readily come to mind; some of them ceratinly stood tall. F. N. C. was truly a teacher par excellence. I represented College at Cricket/Soccer from 1944 to 1947. A sad event that marred the great sporting spirit and traditions of yesteryears took place in November 1944. St Patrick's (Second Eleven) was playing against Jaffna Hindu College in one of the final group matches on JSSA grounds and was leading 1-0 with eight minutes to go, when a not unruly element from the crowd threw a stone at one of our players whilst the match was in progress and the match was suspended for a few minutes. I was playing centre forward and was re-entering the ground when someone from nowhere kicked me on my abdomen and I fell unconscious. Amidst pandemonium, play was resumed and with the raucous roar of the Koddady supporters, Jaffna Hindu won 2-1!. At the College assembly the following Monday, Fr Long blushing with anger announced "St Patrick's will not play on J. S. S. A .grounds hereafter": and so it was for the next almost twenty five years, with other Christian Colleges following suit in sympathy with St Patrick's. With the passage of time, in the true Christian spirit everything was forgotten and forgiven and play on J S S A grounds was resumed. I wish to mention two salient facts, perhaps forgotten by the older generation and unknown to the younger ones. St Patrick's was undefeated in Cricket, Athletics and Football for seven years in succession during the late thirties and early forties and were stamped the 'invincibles'. Truly a phenomenal achievement. In 1947, Singarayar and Wilfred opening for St Patrick's against Jaffna Central in a cricket match scored 247 runs not out and the innings was declared closed. Jaffna Central scored about 60 runs in the first innings and following on, folded up again for a paltry sore. St Patrick's won the match by an innings, 10 wickets and over a 100 runs. This was considered a world record then; I am sure, even after 53 years this record remains unsurpassed! After twelve years in Australia as I visited my Alma Mater in April 1999, nostalgic memories ran through my frame. St Patrick's, the one-time educational and sporting giant of the North, stands today a humbler one. The reasons may be many and varied. Perhaps the ex-patriate old boys can find at least one answer. Let us rally to the Rector's clarion call and support the Building Fund. May the great St Patrick's grow greater and greater! Ad multos annos. N C Rajanayagam (Sydney, Australia) 28 7.2000 (Reproduced from the 2000 Sesquicentenary Edition of the Patricians of Jaffna Australia)



THE RICH LIFE OF SWAMI VIPULANANDA. By: Bhagavadas Sriskanthadas

In the latter part of the 19th century Batticaloa was almost cut off from the rest of the main Sri Lankan (then Ceylon) cities because of its location and the large stretch of wild elephant infested jungle one had to traverse before reaching this town. It’s interesting to note that only in 1928 was this eastern town linked by railway to other main towns of the island. To reach the tiny hamlet of Karaitivu south of Batticaloa is a journey of around 35 kilometres. To those from Karaitivu a bullock cart remained the main mode of transport. It was here Mylvaganam was born on March 27, 1892. His father Samithamby was Village Headman, a position given by the colonial rulers to a person who commanded lots of respect in the village. The position also bestowed on the holder certain police powers and authority to conciliate minor disputes between parties, within his jurisdiction. This position basically remained of an ornamental nature and didn’t generate much monetary benefit. Mylvaganam’s mother Kannammai, a compassionate lady, like many women from the village, didn’t aspire to anything other than keeping the husband and children happy. After gaining his primary education in his village school, Mylvaganam moved to other schools not far from his village. In 1906 Mylvaganam was admitted to St. Michael’s College where he was a day student. Here Rev. Fr. Bonnel taught him Mathematics. This French priest who wasn’t inclined to suffer fools gladly marvelled at the way Mylvaganam solved tricky problems. In 1908 Fr. Bonnel rewarded this prodigy with a teaching appointment in the same school on hearing he had successfully completed the Cambridge Senior Examination. At the time Mylvaganam was growing up in Batticaloa there were hardly any locals with outstanding academic achievements. Though he was not living in the lap of luxury Mylvaganam had hitched his wagon to a star and was determined to do a degree in science. As a stepping stone to making this dream a reality in 1915 he got himself admitted to Government Engineering College, Colombo and followed a two year course which led to a Diploma in Science. During the same year he also sat for the examination conducted by the Madurai Tamil Academy, which conferred on him the much coveted title “Pandit.” While in Colombo he also read the writings of Swami Vivekananda which appealed to him greatly. In the mid 1960s when I was living in Trincomalee I frequently used to meet Mr. K. Sivapaln, principal of the local Hindu College. On one occasion Sivapalan told me of two things Mylvaganam witnessed or experienced when he was in Colombo in 1915 that left an indelible mark. One was the tidings coming from the World War battle fronts of death and human misery. The other was the 1915 riots driven by religious intolerance. According to Sivapalan this experience gave Mylvaganam, who was still in his early twenties, insight into the way human relationships worked and their complex nature. Though science and literature remained his area of studies, Mylvaganam kept his ear to the ground in order to acquaint himself with what was taking place nationally and internationally. He also keenly followed political developments in India and Ceylon. One national newspaper he read on a regular basis was Morning Leader edited by Armand De Souza who was blunt and forthright in his comments. Armand De Souza used his newspaper to advocate democratic rights and freedom of expression. In 1917 Mylvaganam went to Jaffna seeking a teaching appointment with his Diploma in Science certificate in hand and a certificate of character given by his former teacher Fr. Bonnel in his pocket. These were tendered to Rev.Fr. Charles Mathews OMI, rector of St. Patrick’s



College, who gladly gave a teaching appointment to this science teacher from Batticaloa. Mylvaganam remained at St. Patrick’s College until he obtained his BSc. certificate from the University of London in 1920.

On graduation he assumed duties as principal of Hindu College, Manipay where he taught science and Latin as the records show. During this period he moved closely with several progressive intellectuals who were to play an active role in the Youth Congress. However in 1922 he took the most important decision in his life by joining the Ramakrishna order of monks as a novice. After completing training at Mylapur, South India he became a fully fledged monk at a simple ceremony and was given the name Vipulananda by the senior monk of the order. During his days at Mylapur, Swami Vipulananda was entrusted with work related to some of the RamaKrishna Mission publications. This was the time Swami cut his editorial teeth as the editor of the Vedanta Kesari, an English periodical of the RamaKrishna Mission. His editorial skills were well recognized by his mentors who entrusted him with the work of several publications, both in English and Tamil.

Swami realized the significance of education and always felt removing illiteracy would pave way for a healthy society. With this intention he worked to open several schools and Shivananda Vidiyalaya, Batticaloa is a living monument to his service in the field of education. In India and Ceylon whenever his advice was sought by the governments or individuals related to education he proffered it readily. In the field of education and literature Swami had dialogue with a wide spectrum of society cutting across race and religion. Muslim intellectual, former Senator Mr. A.M.A. Azeez was a very close friend of his and had referred to the Swami in his writings. When Annamalai University in India was founded, Swami was appointed as the first Professor of Tamil. This gave him an opportunity to engage in research about an extinct string musical instrument known to classical Tamil scholars as ‘Yal.’ ‘Yal’ is believed to be the precursor to Veena which has a vital role as an accompanying instrument in South Indian music performances. His understanding of the Tamil canon and also his knowledge of Physics and Mathematics combined with several discussions he had with leading oriental musicians allowed him to make headway in this research. After several years of hard work finally he was able to physically recreate the ‘Yal’ and got it played by leading Veena exponents before a large audience of music lovers in 1947. This was an emotional moment for the monk! Swami Vipulananda’s research work ‘Yal Nool’ undoubtedly considered his magnum opus, is extremely technical and said by many to be esoteric. Swami also strongly felt no community could live in isolation and emphasized to his students the need to get a broad knowledge of literature that enriched other languages. With this in mind he published ‘Mathangaculamani’ considered to be a treatise on theatre. This amongst others contains several translations of Shakespeare’s plays, probably written with the idea of introducing the bard to ordinary Tamil readers.



This monk excelled as a great poet. When tidings of the death of a friend who was a great grammarian reached him he composed a poem in the form of a letter. This Tamil poem loosely translated as ‘An epistle left in the Ganges’ is considered to be an example of rich poetic imagery. The poem exceeds twenty five verses and takes the form of a dialogue between Swami and the moon. The monk keeps grilling the moon about death and life after death. He keeps on badgering the moon till he manages to extract word that his friend is quite safe in the company of learned men who predeceased him! To Swami, love towards humanity is an important aspect of life. In a Tamil poem he wrote to children titled ‘Offering that pleases the Lord’ his advice to children was not to entice God by offering beautiful flowers. The poet tells them in simple language that what God expects is pure love and nothing else. In order to give local readers a taste of English verse he translated certain poems by Milton, Shakespeare, Wordsworth and Tennyson into Tamil. With similar intention to give a glimpse of the richness of Tamil language to the outside world he translated into English great works of Hindu Saints Thondar- adip- podi and Tirumangai-Azhvar. Swami was one of the first academics to identify Subramanya Bharathi as a great poet and co-authored an article in 1931 to highlight the beauty and simplicity of his poems. This monk in saffron robes always thought of the ordinary people. The ‘Dictionary of Technical Terms on Chemistry’ was compiled by him to bring science within the reach of the ordinary people. In 1943 he was appointed the first Professor of Tamil in the University of Ceylon a post he held until his untimely death on July 19, 1947. Note by Editor Sri Bhagavadas Solicitor & Barrister, LLM (Sydney), M Inte. Study (Sydney), M A (UNSW), worked for Aboriginal legal services for ten years. As an academic, and a prolific free lance writer, Sri epitomizes the true Patrician spirit in every sense of the word. He is nature’s own gentleman!

_____________________________________________________________________



The God Particle

On Fourth of July, while Americans all over the world celebrated their independence from Great Britain, the world in general and the scientific community at the CERN laboratory in Geneva in particular, celebrated what is believed today to be perhaps the greatest scientific discovery of the 21st century, namely the confirmation of the existence of the Higgs boson subatomic particle or the so called “God particle”. The term “God particle” itself is a corruption of the more colourful and appropriate “Goddamn particle” given by the Nobel prize winning Physicist and former Director of Fermilab, Professor Leon Lederman, as it proved so elusive to find.

It took the scientists 48 years to finally detect it. The possibility of existence of the Higgs boson was first recognized in 1964 by Prof. Peter Higgs. His “eureka” moment came when he was just 34 years old, while he was a lecturer at the Edinburgh University in Scotland. Some of his colleagues were skeptical. One journal rejected his paper. Even Prof. Stephen Hawking, the one time Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University, doubted if such a particle would be found. On 4th July, Hawking lost his bet of $100. The latest subatomic particle is named after two outstanding Physicists, Prof. Peter Higgs from the UK and the late Satyendra Nath Bose from India. There are already calls for Prof. Peter Higgs to be given the Nobel Prize for Physics and a Knighthood but Bose was never honoured by the Nobel Academy.

Satyendra Nath Bose was an intellectual Bengali who was a contemporary of Einstein. As a student at the Hindu High School in Calcutta, he was awarded 110 marks out of 100 since he was able to solve a problem by more than one method! He was Professor of Physics at both Universities of Dhaka and Calcutta. Just as the Indian Mathematical genius, Srinivasa Ramanuan sent his paper to G.H. Hardy in Cambridge, Satyendra Bose sent a paper to Albert Einstein in 1924 describing a statistical model that led to the subsequent discovery of the Bose-Einstein Condensate (BEC) phenomenon. This became the basis for describing two fundamental subatomic particles, namely “boson” after Satyendra Bose and “fermion” after Enrico Fermi. BEC is the fifth state of matter after solid, liquid, gas, and plasma. Gas temperatures are cooled to very near the absolute zero when microscopic properties of quantum mechanics will govern the bahaviour of a macroscopic system. The credit for observing the first elementary particle however goes to the British Physicist and Nobel Laureate J.J. Thomson in 1897.

According to Hindu mythology, the universe creates and destroys itself in an endless cycle. Today, a theory of the early universe widely accepted by astronomers known as the “Big Bang” has become “the standard model” that describes all the particles, forces and interactions that make up our universe. The alternative theory is the so called “steady-state model” of Hermann Bondi, Thomas Gold and Fred Hoyle according to which the universe has always been just about the same as it is now. Fred Hoyle found the concept of the Big Bang distasteful, comparing it to the jumping of a ‘party girl’ out of a cake. When the discoverer of quantum mechanics, Dr Paul Dirac once sat for Michael Noakes, the portrait painter of the British royal family, he casually mentioned that Creation was one vast Bang and dismissed the steady-state as nonsense, Noakes responded by asking: “But if nothing existed beforehand what was there to bang?”

So, about 14 billion years ago, instead of the Word, there was the Bang! As the Nobel Prize winning Physicist Steven Weinberg points out, it was “an explosion which occurred simultaneously everywhere, filling all space from the beginning, with every particle of matter rushing apart from every other particle”. The matter that came rushing out following the big bang was made up of a variety of elementary particles, the building blocks of our universe, of which the Higgs boson is the latest and most expensive. 2,400 people including some of the world’s greatest scientific brains worked as a group 70 m below ground in Geneva at the CERN laboratory using the 27 km long, 6 billion dollar equipment known as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) that straddles the Franco-Swiss border, to find the elusive particle at last. They were able



to smash protons in the LHC at the speed of light and search the debris for traces of particles that sprang into existence just for a fraction of a second before disintegrating. They are 99.999% sure that they have got the Real McCoy. Although it may appear to a layman as if it is a case of “mountain labored and brought forth a mouse”, the scientific community ranks the discovery of the Higgs boson on par with Newton’s Theory of Gravity and Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. It may even rival the discovery of the structure of the DNA by James Watson & Francis Crick in 1953.

The Higgs boson was the missing piece in the jig-saw puzzle of the standard model of Particle Physics. With this in place the theoretical model can predict the forces that control our universe. It is vital to our understanding of how the universe is built. In our universe, some particles have mass while others such as photons of light do not. Higgs field is supposed to fill all space, and as the particles move through the field and interact with it, they acquire mass and bind together into the familiar matter that we observe. It is this subatomic particle that gives all matter its mass. Higgs is perhaps the heaviest of all subatomic particles having a mass of 126 billion electron volts. The mass is a measure of how much stuff the particle contains. The Higgs bosons permeate the universe creating an invisible energy field. If not for the Higgs field, the subatomic particles would be shooting and zipping through the universe at the speed of light and so would never have fused to form our stars, planets, plants, animals and ourselves. Without it, as the Texan saying goes, our universe would be “all hat and no cattle”. The discovery of the Higgs boson is proof that science is progressing in the right direction.

Charles Santiapillai & V. Sivakumar

University of Peradeniya

Editor’s Note:

Profile of Charles Santiapillai: Charles is the eldest son of Mr S.F.Santiapillai who taught Latin to the Seminarists at St Patrick’s College. Charles was a student at SPC from 1953 to 1963 and entered the University of Peradeniya to follow a course in Bio-science and specialized in Zoology. He got his PhD from the University of Southampton (UK) and retuned to Ceylon and worked at University of Peradeniya as a Lecturer in Zoology. His research interest was on wildlife ecology. He retired in 2010.

Profile Charles Santiapillai left St. Patrick's College, Jaffna in 1963 and graduated from the University of Peradeniya in 1969 having specialized in Zoology. He then joined the teaching staff at the Department of Zoology in Peradeniya and proceded to England where he obtained his PhD in Mammalogy in 1975 from the University of Southampton. In 1983, he accepted the offer from the World Wildlife Fund International to work in Indonesia as Senior Scientific Officer in the Asia Program. In 1994 he re-joined the University of Peradeniya and retired in 2010 as Associate Professor of Zoology. His field of research is wildlife ecology with special reference to the Asian elephant. He was a one time Deputy Chairman of the IUCN/SSC Asian Elephant Specialist Group, Editor of its Journal, Gajah, and a co-author of the Action Plan for the Asian Elephant Conservation. For his services in wildlife conservation, he was awarded a Gold Medal & appointed the Knight of the Golden Ark by HRH Prince Bernhard at the Soestdijk Palace in Baarn, The Netherlands in 1990. He lives in Kandy, Ceylon with his wife Anoma and remains active in wildlife conservation and management.



Good Governance at a glance By: Anton X. Rajinthrakumar

Why a big fuss about Good Governance It’s fair to state at the outset that recently the term “good governance” has been widely used in economic and political arenas. Bad governance is being increasingly regarded as one of the root causes of failures of projects and developmental programmes especially in developing nations. In some cases, bad governance is being regarded as one of the root causes of all evil within our societies. Good Governance has been the buzz word since the early nineties in the development literature. When we look around the world today, the complex relationship between stability, good governance and economic development is abundantly apparent. There is a spectrum of circumstances, ranging from the war-torn and ungovernable to the vibrant and thriving, and everything in between. Over the last couple of decades, a greater importance has been given to both governance and the corruption that arises due to bad governance. Governance can be used in several contexts such as corporate governance, international governance, national governance and local governance. It is important to note that when politicians declare that they are striving to improve governance, they are often using a diplomatic way of saying that reducing corruption is a priority. What is Good Governance Given that the term "governance" means different things to different people , before going any further in elaborating the importance of Good Governance - we have to answer the question “What is exactly meant by Good Governance?” There is no single and exhaustive definition of “good governance” and thus no common assessment tool. However, based on the consensus among various stakeholders , Governance can be defined as the set of processes, policies and laws affecting the way a country, institution, society, etc., is directed, administered or controlled. In other words, governance means the process of decision-making and the process by which decisions are implemented.

Essentially, Good Governance is anti-corruption whereby authority and its institutions are held accountable. Corruption is a universal, historic issue which occurs in both wealthy and poor countries and in public and private sectors as well as both profit and non- profit sectors. Corruption, from petty bribery, nepotism to large-scale larceny, can have a devastating impact and far reaching consequences. Undermining development, destroying public trust and burdening the lives of many, in particular the vulnerable, corruption’s reach is insidious and effect destructive. The debilitating effects of corruption call for a firm action against it and that in fact stresses the importance of Good Governance loud and clear.

Good governance is about good practice and not merely about good structure. In the context of democratically elected entities, people must be diligent in evaluating the performance of the elected officials to ensure that the governance system is working. In order to get things done, elected officials must be able to influence and get agreement with numerous and diverse stakeholders, from constituents to support staff. Good governance can facilitate to effectively influence and foster consensus among people with different needs and viewpoints to ensure ongoing success. Key attributes of Good Governance According to subject matter experts, Good governance has 8 major characteristics. It is participatory, consensus oriented, accountable, transparent, responsive, effective and efficient, equitable and inclusive and follows the rule of law. It assures that corruption is minimized, the views of minorities are taken into account and that the voices of the most vulnerable in society are heard in decision-making. It is also responsive to the present and future needs of society.



Depending on the context and the overriding objective sought, good governance has been said at various times to encompass: full respect of human rights, the rule of law, effective participation, multi-actor partnerships, political pluralism, transparent and accountable processes and institutions, an efficient and effective public sector, legitimacy, access to knowledge, information and education, political empowerment of people, equity, sustainability, and attitudes and values that foster responsibility, caring & sharing , solidarity and tolerance. Good Governance, Human Rights and Development

Number of declaration by International Community stresses the interconnection between good governance, human rights and sustainable development. Good governance and human rights are mutually reinforcing. Human rights principles provide a set of values to guide the work of governments and other political and social actors. They also provide a set of performance standards against which these actors can be held accountable. Moreover, human rights principles inform the content of good governance efforts: they may inform the development of legislative frameworks, policies, programmes, budgetary allocations and other measures.

Civil society is about people contributing to the governing of their country through their participation in the community. It is difficult to participate if you are poor, unemployed, hungry, homeless and uneducated. People who live under these conditions are being denied their economic, social and cultural rights. Good governance cannot truly occur until these rights are guaranteed by a government willing to take responsibility for the social security of its people. At all levels, Governments must set up political and legal frameworks, where good governance can take solid roots for sustained development. The fact that developed countries providing development assistance, along with international organizations such as the IMF or the World Bank are becoming more sensitive to accountability issues is just another reason why better governance is becoming crucial for the success of developing nations. Major donors and international financial institutions are increasingly basing their aid and grants on the condition that reforms that ensure "good governance" are undertaken by the authorities at all levels of government in a holistic manner. Conclusion We are living in a rapidly changing and increasingly interdependent world facing multiple challenges and trends that require coordinated and focused action. It is important to note that general public has a crucial role when it comes to improve local governance. In order to achieve this, though, it has to be well informed, interested, organized, and empowered, actively pursuing it. Just as the dancer cannot be separated from the dance, the organs or actors executing governance in their respective spheres should take front and centre stage. The importance of Good Governance and the disastrous ramifications of poor governance and corruption will surely continue to occupy the central stage in our societies and political arenas. Let’s hope that Good Governance leads to the realization of human rights, including the elimination of poverty and ensuring a satisfactory livelihood for all the people. It’s worthy to strive for the ideal of Good Governance step by step and one after the other to create a society free of corruption that takes great pride in Good Governance for the benefit of all its citizens. Profile of Anton X. Rajinthrakumar Mr. Anton Xavier Rajinthrakumar B.Sc., A.C.I. (U.K.) is an investment finance risk management professional holding senior managerial positions in major Canadian Banks for 15 years and presently working for a leading pension plan in Ontario. Anton has been actively involved in volunteer service and one of the Board of Directors of Society for the Aid of Community Empowerment (SACEM) in Toronto and a recipient of Govt. of Ontario Volunteer Service Award. He was an expatriate Mathematics & Physics Teacher in Lesotho and Johannesburg, South Africa for 5 years before migrating to Canada in 1992. Anton obtained a diploma in Politics and Social Change from Ecumenical Centre in White Field, Bangalore, India. He studied at St. Patrick's College Jaffna for 10 years and the Head Prefect of the College in 1982. Anton has been the General Secretary of the SPC Jaffna Alumni Association Ontario in Toronto, Canada for the past three years.



THE LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE BY Reuben Canagaratnam Jamaica, West Indies

It is a privilege and honour to contribute to the OBA of Patrician’s of Jaffna, Sydney, Australia's Silver Jubilee Souvenir. First of all let me congratulate the committee and the members on this great milestone. When I think about my childhood and schooling, I always remember the fond memories of my friends, class mates, teachers, rectors who contributed immensely, moulding and shaping my skills, character and my career. It is those opportunities, teachings, advice, atmosphere, including the strict discipline contributed to who I am today. My "Alma Mater" has played a significant role in my success. Out of all those people who played a role in my life, I had the opportunity and distinct pleasure to work closely and to get to know Rev. Fr.G.A. Francis Joseph - then Rector during my days at St.Patrick’s (we affectionately called him Michael Joseph) and J.A.J. Phillips - my English teacher from grade 6 to Advanced Level. These two fine gentlemen were instrumental in bringing out my talents and developing my skills in leadership, communication, teamwork, commitment and attention to details. It will be fitting to dedicate this article in honour and memory of them. I have been in the “leadership role” for quite some time and thought of sharing my views on leadership and its challenges today. You do not need to be in a position of authority to be a leader. Leadership is not what we all think; it is something that most of us can relate to in a day to day environment. I often hear people say that when they become a leader, they will do this and that, including reading leadership books. Such people will never lead and will not become leaders. They will be waiting for that opportunity to come, but that perfect opportunity will never come. In my view, we all lead in some way or other, whether at home, within family, church, clubs why even in sports. Being a leader presents real challenges in today’s world. With the fast pace of change, leadership ability is continuously being challenged both for the individual and the team. In John Maxwell’s book “5 levels of leadership”, he notes Level 1 as ‘positional leadership’ where people follow you because they have to. This is where the leadership title is bestowed upon you by the organisation. By the way, John Maxwell is an evangelical Christian Author, Speaker and Pastor, who has written more than 60 books on Leadership, primarily focusing on Leadership. If you had to rate yourself on a ‘Leadership Scale’ of Levels 1 through 5in the ascending order, where would you be? Many leaders are unfortunately stuck at Level 1. They have the title but are unable to effectively earn the trust of the team. They struggle with defining a clear and compelling vision and sticking to it. The world economy is changing rapidly enough that leaders are reassessing long term vision on a daily basis. This sometimes makes it difficult to rally employees around to hold a unified disciplined line in executing the vision and breaks trust between the leader and the group. It doesn’t help that analysts are quick to pounce on earnings shortfalls and punish share prices accordingly; forcing leaders to constantly take a short/long view to try to determine which deviation is less costly to the firm today. How would your staff rate your leadership today? What is the one thing that would make your contribution more meaningful? When you determine the answer to that question, act on it.



In the Management book titled “Good to Great”, its author Jim Collins outlines how companies move from ‘Good to Great’. He notes, ‘First who, then what’. The ‘First who’ is about ensuring that you have the right people in your bus and I would go further to say having the right people in the right roles. Matching the right people to the right roles is also now proving to be a great challenge. The seasoned workforce who have the experience and people skills sometimes struggle with the ‘pace of change’ and are becoming costly for employers, as their health declines. The 28-35 age group workforce population has significant salary and promotion expectations that often cannot be met as the older employees are not moving on fast enough and the under 28 workforce is different in terms of expectations and communication. The younger generation is motivated greatly by purpose than pay and many organisations are finding it challenging to connect with these employees to motivate them to give their best. There also comes the logistical challenge of a different way of being. Picture this example. A Department Manager, who is 45 years old, has come up through the ranks, worked long hours to get ahead and believes that a 100% commitment to the organisation is required. Now picture the 25 year old MBA graduate who sits at his desk listening to music with a headset, occasionally answers BBM and Face book and has every expectation that if he delivers the task at hand he will be rewarded even if he walks out of the office at exactly at 5pm. It creates an interesting leadership dynamic, as employers struggle to define the ‘right’ employee and then ensure that all the ‘right’ employees can work as a team. Social Media also presents a changing and challenging dynamic. How much time is Social Media costing employers and is there an opportunity to leverage this medium for the good of the Firm? There is no doubt that this camaraderie has expanded from bars to the social media world and this makes the connectivity web far more expansive. The power of an ill spoken word on Twitter is instantaneous and punished by the public swiftly. Leaders have to tread carefully here in ensuring that employees feel free to ‘network’ but are not irresponsible with time spent at work or trade secrets for that matter. Furthermore what is the social media footprint of the leader? Is it open to employees or private? Is it appropriate and how will the employees perceiving the leader? A Social Media presence that is different from the leader at work may also lead to employee mistrust. Many leaders are opting not to have a social media ID identifiable by staff but that may be a missed opportunity to humanise the leader and motivate employees. A ‘results focus’ is the mark of any good leader. But what constitutes ‘good’ results in this environment? For years the economy of most countries expanded and particular sectors just went up and up and up. Despite a realisation that the global economy is fragile, expectations continue to be that companies can continue to profit even facing soft demand. This can only realistically be achieved by squeezing the expense line. In most expense statements, remuneration and benefits account for 30-60% of expenses thus the easiest way to control expenses is through staff attrition, deliberate or voluntary. Leaders are now facing tough decisions about which staff should be laid off and whether vacancies should be filled even when workload may not have shrunk commensurate with demand. This fosters a sense of uncertainty and at its extreme, mistrust within the department. No doubt this is harmful not just for the organisation but for society, as a whole as stressed out wives and husbands carry the consequences of this into the home and young adults loaded with student debt wonder what’s coming next. To what extent are leaders now called upon to ‘fight’ for employees, to challenge stakeholders to ensure there is a balance and profit does not come at the complete expense of employees? Surely this is a tough and unpopular conversation. Financial success is important but it is relative. For instance if a company manages moderate growth or a moderate decline, we have to be willing as leaders to contextualise this for shareholders and have the courage of our conviction, if the company is on the right path. Remember you know more than the shareholders do. ‘Personal’ and ‘Team Development’ must continue even in the face of cost cutting. Training and Development are typically some of the first budgets to be cut, yet it could be argued that in



challenging times, the opposite should be done. Research has shown that employee development and training improves employee effectiveness, engagement, quality of work and profitability, but the investment must be made for the results to come. Employees should be equipping themselves with the skill to tide over the difficult times and be positioned for future opportunities. The rewards of ‘effective leadership’ are many. Great pay, motivating a team, seeing top talent rise to their full potential, shaping young careers, but this only happens with individuals committing to daily growth in their leadership abilities. In the end, we must remember that we are a quilt. No decision is isolated. The decision of one affects the whole and there is a societal impact to everything we do. As leaders, we do not have to be perfect but we have to strive to be, to look at decisions from every angle before they are taken and to ensure we build trust. We must ensure our legacy has a positive impact. If you were out of the door tomorrow, how would your employees define your legacy? Before I conclude, let me give you the 5 levels of leadership according to John Maxwell. Reflect on your leadership style and you can be your own judge in assessing to see where you are today and where you want to be tomorrow. Once you know where you want to be then put a SMART action plan and work on your week areas, so that you can move upwards in your leadership journey. If you need to read more about the 5 levels, I strongly recommend that every Patrician and non Patrician alike reading this article, to get hold a copy of John Maxwell’s “The 5 Levels of Leadership” and relish it. You will enjoy it immensely. Level 1 - Position - People follow you because they have to Level 2 - Permission - People follow you because they want to Level 3 - Production - People follow because of what you have done for the organization Level 4 - People Development - People follow you because of what you have done for them Level 5 - Pinnacle - People follow you because of what you are and what you represent Author’s Profile: Reuben Canagaratnam is a Regional Vice President for one of the leading banks in Canada. He has been with the organization for over 23 years. He has held progressively senior roles in Canadian Branch Banking & Contact Centres, Sales & Service, and Non Branch Channels within International Banking Division. Currently he is posted in Jamaica and has been there for the last 5 years. He heads a large unit within the bank and has led his team to win many international awards. He had his primary education at St.Michael's College, Batticaloa before his parents moved to Jaffna. He hails from Chundikulli, Jaffna and studied at St.Patrick's for 11 years. He is married with two children. He has a passion for photography and travel.

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Do not make second mistake, to rectify the first mistake

An important lesson is not to worry too much if something did go wrong and specifically

not to make another mistake to rectify the first mistake. This concept was reinforced

with the story of the dog that sat too close to the railway track and a train came and cut

off its tail. The dog tried to bite the train and in the process got its head cut off. The

moral of the story is, “Don’t lose your head over a piece of tail”.

brigadier (dr) david – our quintessential patricianferdisathi.com/bluewave/volume 2 sydney spc...

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