This September
Be prepared to be blown away.
Start off the month with a BLAST
Party like you’ve never before…
Tequila will never taste the same again!!!!

With the hottest line up of DJ’s playing the sexiest music in town..
Tequila Sunrise features DJ’s:

♫ Rizni (FreQuencY 69)
♫ Lil Guru (FreQuencY 69)
♫ Sushan (FreQuencY 69)
♫ Missy Flame (FreQuencY 69)
♫ Romano (The Ingenuity Triangle)

Guest Performance By :
♫ Ayzee (Outburst Entertainment)

The stage is set for the most happening party of the year. The proceeds of which are to go to the future charity projects of the Rotaract club of ANC.

All needs of the eccentric party goes will be catered to and “Tequila Sunrise” is ready to Colombo by Storm.

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║║ Table Deals & Packages (Pre Sold ONLY) ║║

★★ VIP DEALS – TABLES WILL BE ON THE 1st FLOOR ★★

★ ***VVIP*** Package – Rs.35000 (Only 2 VVIP Tables Available)
10 tickets+ Reserved Table (Secured Area) + 2 Black label + 1 Tequila OR 2 Smirnoff + 4 Mega ( Soft drinks) + Chasers.

★ ***VIP**** Package 1 – Rs 30000
10 tickets + Reserved Table (Secured Area) + 3 Tequila + 1 Smirnoff + 4 Mega (Soft drinks) + Chasers.

★ ***VIP**** Package 2 – Rs 30000
10 tickets + Reserved Table ( Secured Area) + 2 Red label + 1 Tequila + 1 Smirnoff 4 Mega ( Soft drinks) + Chasers.

★ ***VIP**** Package 3 – Rs 25000
10 tickets + Reserved Table (Secured Area) + 1 black label + 1 Tequila OR 2 Smirnoff + 3 Mega (Soft drinks) + Chasers

★ HOT PACKAGES ★

► Hot Package 1 – Rs 21000
10 tickets + Reserved Table + 1 Red label + 1 Tequila OR 2 Smirnoff + 3 Mega (Soft drinks) + Chasers

► Hot Package 2 – Rs 20000
10 tickets + Reserved Table + 2 Tequila OR 3 Smirnoff + 3 Mega ( Soft drinks) + Chasers

► Hot Package 3 – Rs 20000
10 tickets + Reserved Table + 1 Bacardi + 1 Tequila + 3 Mega (Soft drinks) + Chasers

► Hot Package 4 – Rs 16000
08 tickets + Reserved Table + 1 black label + 1 Mega (Soft drinks) + Chasers

► Hot Package 5 – Rs 16000
08 tickets + Reserved Table + 1 Red Label OR 1 Tequila + 1 Smirnoff + 2 Mega (Soft drinks) + Chasers

► Hot Package 6 – Rs 14000
08 tickets + Reserved Table + 1 Tequila + 2 Mega (Soft drinks) + Chasers

► Hot Package 7 – Rs 10000
08 tickets + Reserved Table + 1 Smirnoff + 2 Mega (Soft drinks) + Chasers

★ ENERGY DEALS ★

• Energy Package 1 – Rs 17000
08 tickets + Reserved Table + 2 Smirnoff OR 1 Tequila + 2 Mega (Soft drinks) + 6 Red Bull

• Energy Package 2 – Rs 16000
08 tickets + Reserved Table + 1 Tequila + 1 Rockland Rum + 2 Mega (Soft drinks) + 3 Red Bull

• Energy Package 3 – Rs 10000
08 tickets + Reserved Table + 1 Smirnoff + 2 Mega (Soft drinks) + 3 Red Bull
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Free Give Aways
♪ Free Tequila Shots For 1st 100
♪ Free Face Paintings (After 12)
♪ Uv Bands – For 1st 200
♪ Uv Chains – For 1st 200

║║ AWAIT FOR MORE SURPRISES! ║║

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► This is all you have to do to win FREE Tickets for the Party ◄

* Change YOUR Status to: “Tequila Sunrise – September 4th, Mount Breeze Mount Lavania. For More info Call : 0773991885/0777481733/0777952798
Event Link: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=144185998926897&ref=ts”

* Change your Profile Picture to The Tequila Sunrise Event Flyer

* Invite all your friends to the Event & Spread the word about it

* Add up the Administrators of the Event

The first two points are compulsory to enter the competition and the people who have completed the latter three as well has more of an advantage to win.

Its simple as that, once your done with that, let us know by posting on our event wall and we will select random winners and inbox the winners personally. If you’re not selected right away don’t worry about it, keep your profiles updated!!! We will be selecting winner’s right up until the event day.
(All of the above points should be carried out until the day of the event)

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Dress Code – Sexy Beach Wear

Tickets
Guys| Rs 1000
Ladies | Entrance Free
Buy your tickets online at: http://www.ticketslk.com/events/view/tequila_sunrise

For More Info Call :
Suhail – 0773991885
Chamath – 0777481733
Lahiru – 0777952798

Official Event Promoters – Trump Entertainment
Online Media – Erbenizer - http://www.erbenizer.com/

Have fun while helping to make a change………………….

Vote for your favourite Teen here…

Click here to take a look at the contestants

A blonde is walking down the street with her blouse open, exposing her self.

A nearby policeman approaches her and remarks, “Ma’am, are you aware that I could cite you for indecent exposure?”

“Why, officer?” asks the blonde.

“Because your blouse is open and you are exposed.”

“Oh my goodness,” exclaims the blonde, “I left my baby on the bus!”

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More on Hotmail

Dear Grandnephew,

1.    When I wrote my first letter to you I was extremely ill. I had a rare infection followed by a knee operation; my knee was extremely painful and swollen and I was generally unwell. I could not walk or sit near a computer. Most of the day I spent in bed. In fact I had to dictate that letter I sent you and Samantha kindly typed it for me. I left out many issues, and perhaps, I could have argued some of the issues I raised in a more cogent manner. Nevertheless, I believe that I was able to get across the essential points I wanted to make. My letter and your response were published widely and there were a large number of comments about its contents. Your response demonstrated that you are a very responsible, intelligent and a compassionate young man and I must say that I am proud to have a grandnephew like you.  In one website alone there were some 138 responses to my letter.  Most of those comments were quite positive but there were some peanut brains that even accused me of being an LTTE supporter. Since you know about my standpoint on the LTTE, my steadfast commitment to democracy, pluralism and human rights and my implacable opposition to militarism and recruitment and deployment of child soldiers, I do not think it is worth responding to such imbeciles. However there were other issues I would have liked to deal with in my first letter and hence my decision to write you this second letter.

Lack of material

2.    It is unfortunate that today, most young people in Sri Lanka have little critical material to read and study about our history and culture. The net result is that there is a lot of misinformation that is peddled by the media. Ultra-nationalists – both Tamil and Sinhala – feed on this misinformation, myth and legend. Rarely are these misconceptions challenged. Take for example the concept of race. Often people in Sri Lanka believe that Tamils and Sinhalese are two different races. I can still remember the day I applied for my first passport. In the application form there was one section where you had to specify your race. Although I guessed the purpose of that question was to ascertain whether I was Sinhala or Tamil, I knew that neither were distinct racial groups. Therefore I filled in that section by writing ‘human’. The clerk, who took the passport application from me, hit the roof. He got hysterical and shouted at me and said what do you mean ‘human’? Are you Sinahlese or Tamil ? Although I tried to reason with him and explain that we are not distinct races, it fell on deaf ears. He took the form, deleted human and wrote ‘ Sinhalese’.  Such lack of scientific and critical outlook permeates all aspect of our society.

DNA profiles

3.    Recently, in England, a researcher interviewed a number of people who believed that they were of pure English or of Caucasian origins. Thereafter he carried out DNA tests on them. Most of these people assumed that they were either from good Anglo-Saxon or Norman stock or at least had North European ancestry. Surprisingly, in most cases their DNA indicated that they were not from North Europe. They had Mongolian, Moroccan and Turkish DNA. You will probably find the same if we carry out DNA profiles of some of the most upbeat chauvinists of Sri Lanka in order to determine which part of India or some other part of the globe his or her ancestors originated from.  People in Sri Lanka are quite mixed. For instance the Karawas (caste) are descendants of South Indian mercenaries who were brought to our shores by Sri Lankan kings. They later settled on the western coastal belt. The same is true of Salagamas and the Durawas. They all have their origins in South India. If you think Kandyans are pure Sinhalese, you will be disappointed. A number of our later kings and queens were from South India. Although the King had an official wife (Queen) he could sleep with any woman he found attractive. That was his privilege. Those days there was no birth control and the illegitimate children of the king were called ‘Bandaras’. There are an awful lot of Bandaras about. That is not all. During the British period, a Kaffir Regiment was brought from South Africa. They gradually settled and married local people and became a part the population. Later on, Malays from Malaya (now Malaysia) settled in our country. There were also Malayalee Toddy tappers from Kerala who came and settled and inter-married the locals.  We are also mixed with Portuguese, Dutch, British, etc. The same is true of Tamils. Amongst them is caste called the ‘Koviyars’. They were in fact Sinhalese prisoners (goviyas) captured in war and later became integrated into the Northern community. Moreover, the repression of the 1848 rebellion was quite ferocious. The British raj killed many people who rebelled against their rule. Thousands of others who escaped repression, fled to Wanni and settled there. Thus some of the people who later came to settle in the Wanni are most probably descendants of the Sinhalese who fled the 1848 repression.

Buddhagosha was a Tamil

4.    It is equally stupid to argue that the existence of archaeological evidence of Buddhist temples in the North and East indicates that these areas were always inhabited by the Sinhalese. During those early years of our history, Buddhism was the religion of not only the Sinhalese but also the Tamils. For instance, one of the greatest Buddhist theoreticians, Buddhagosha, was a Tamil.

5.    Obviously, there are linguistic and some cultural differences between the Sinhala and Tamil. But here too we must not exaggerate. There are lot of words that are common to both languages. In reality Sinhalese and Tamils have many more common features than differences. Ultra-nationalist on both sides of the divide want to exaggerate these differences and does so for ulterior motives. That is why remarks of some people to the effect that ‘all Tamils are from South India and they should return there’ are extremely stupid. And how would these charlatans treat Lord Buddha ? He was not a Sinhalese – He was from Varanasi in northern India.

Sinhala Buddhism is a contradiction in terms

6.    Equally the concept of ‘Sinhala Buddhism’ is a contradiction in terms. Buddhism is a universal philosophy and cannot be confined to a particular group of human beings. Buddha did not recognise a ‘chosen race’ or a ‘chosen ethnic group’. To the extent one attempts to ‘Sinhalise’ it, Buddhism loses its validity and its rationale. Such a tribal ideology has nothing in common with Buddhism. This corruption of Buddhism has not stopped there. It has further degenerated into a division along caste lines. Thus we have the Siyam Nikaya for the Goigamas, Ramnnaya Nikaya for the Salagamas and the Amaapura Nikaya for the Karawas. Such provincialism and tribalism has nothing in common with the tenets of this great philosophy. In Britain Christianity in the form of the Anglican Church became a tool of the rulers. Buddhism has also been corrupted as ‘Sinhala Buddhism’ to serve the needs of the dominant ruling class and in doing so has robbed it of its core values. It is unnecessary dwell on these matters at length because you are conversant with my antipathy towards the parasites that live off hard working people in the land. Yet try to dictate to the world how we should behave and even what we should think.

Denying the grievances of Tamils

7.    Hiding behind these erroneous and patently illogical concepts of race and religion, ‘Sinhala’ Ultra-nationalists assert that the Tamils in Sri Lanka are aliens or recent immigrants and that their grievances all imaginary or concocted complaints to preserve their privileges. Like the holocaust deniers they try to minimise the impact of pogroms of 1977, 1981 and 1983, the widespread torture, murder and disappearances of Tamil youths between 1978 and 2009 and the repression and discrimination some of them have suffered on a daily basis. They ignore or minimise the impact of the Sinhala only policy, which Tamils perceived as an attempt to deprive them of their fundamental rights.

Tamil nationalists also fail to see the reality

8.    On the other hand Tamil ultra-nationalists erroneously consider that it is only the Tamils in the North and East who have suffered repression, discrimination and marginalisation. They ignore the repression and exploitation the rural poor in Sri Lanka have had to endure over decades. For instance in 1988-89 over 60,000 mainly Sinhala youths were ‘disappeared’ by the Premadasa government. (The irony is that one of the leading members of that government – Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe – is now one the most vociferous ‘defenders of human rights’ ! However, to date he has not apologised or show any remorse for the vile and abominable crimes his government committed in 1988-89 ).   Tamil nationalists fail to recognise that the majority of Sinhala villagers in Sri Lanka live in dire poverty and have much more restricted educational opportunities than most Tamils who live in Colombo or Jaffna.   Tamil nationalists also ignore the numerous problems that Tamil plantation workers have to endure. It would not be an exaggeration to say that in fact, the most disadvantaged people in Sri Lanka are the plantation workers the rural poor (Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim) and women. They have always had a raw deal. In 1958, I went to Karandeniya Central School to teach. I was appalled by the fact that most teachers in this school felt that the children of this (so called low caste) locality should not be taught because if they get educated they will become uppity. Even today the situation is not very different in many rural areas. In Pussellawa there are Sinhala and Tamil children who do not go to school because they cannot afford to buy a pair of shoes. Recently the organisation I work with, gave some money to a local welfare organisation in Pussellawa to buy shoes and school bags for a few children in that area. The help we gave was a drop in the ocean. There are tens of thousands of Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim children who are malnourished; they are lucky to have two meals a day.  That is not all. People who live in rural areas suffer other disadvantages. For instance they can rarely get justice from the police or the courts. There are about 100,000 plantation workers who do not have birth certificates or have birth certificates that provide wrong information. Fort that reason they cannot obtain an identity card and if they are caught walking around without an ID card they get arrested and locked up. Equally many women in our society suffer discrimination, domestic and sexual violence. The days when a lone woman could ‘walk from Hambantatota to Point Pedro 
unmolested’ are gone for ever.

Identity and culture

9.    Ultra-nationalists – both Sinhala and Tamil have a jaundiced view of the reality. Each in their own way distorts and misrepresent the reality. In doing so they fail to see that there are many sections of the population that suffer exploitation, repression and discrimination. They compel us to see everything from the narrow prism of ethnicity. Apart from our ‘ethnic’ origins we have many identities and interests.  We are not merely people who speak Tamil or Sinahala. We are also scientists or economists or lawyers, students or factory workers, musicians or cricket or football enthusiasts, archaeologists etc. Amratya Sen, the Noble prize winning Indian Economist, in his book Identity and Culture, rightly points out that we have several identities and we do not look at the world merely from the narrow framework of ethnicity or religion.

Living in the past

10.    Furthermore, both Sinhala and Tamil nationalists live in the distant past. They hark back to an imaginary golden age in the ancient or medieval history. They seek to idealise a non-existent golden age of the yester years. For this very reason their ideology is backward and retrogressive. They are like frogs in the well that have little understanding of the enormous scientific and technological progress that are being made in the world. They ignore the massive struggles working people all over the world have made in order to win even limited rights we enjoy today. People are no longer tied to the land of the feudal overlords or have to work 14 to 16 hours a day. Through struggles the toilers of the world have broken some of the chains. It is the inward looking ideology of the ultra-nationalists that resulted in 30 years of death and destruction. Although the Sinhala chauvinists  are now dancing in the street in a frenzy of triumphalism, they fail to recognise that the rise of separatism is a direct consequence of the failure of our ruling elite to build a Sri Lankan nation. In 1989 I was called to chair the funeral of an EPRLF Member of Parliament, Mr. Yogasangari, who was murdered by the LTTE in Madras. Since his wife and family lived in the UK, his funeral took place in London. One of the persons invited to speak at his funeral was an important political leader who later became the President of Sri Lanka. She sought to commiserate the wife of Yogasangari by saying “madam, your people and my people have both suffered from terrorist violence”. Although the speaker and Mrs. Yogasangari were both Sri Lankans, she found it necessary to make a distinction between Sinhalese and Tamils. That was quite inappropriate and unnecessary. On the other hand, in neighbouring India, the ruling elite has successfully built an Indian nation. That is a unique achievement in a country where there are many ethnic groups and over 300 languages and dialects. Inhabitants of India, whether they are from Kerala, or Bengal, Punjab or Maharashtra will always call themselves, first and foremost, Indians and not as Malayalees, Sikhs, Bengalis or Maratis. Until recently the President of India was a Muslim. Today the Prime Minister is a Sikh, the Interior Minister is a Dravidian, the Speaker of the Parliament is a Harijan and the leader of the ruling party is an Italian. They have achieved a unity in diversity which we can only dream of. We have failed because of the narrow and provincial outlook of our ruling elite.

11.    Ultra-nationalists want us to dwell on traditions that have outlived their usefulness. They fail to understand the need to adapt ourselves to the needs of the 21st century. It is not by accident that the constitution of one of these ultra nationalist ‘Sinhala’ parties debars women form holding office. They think women are only good to bear children and do household chores even though, from the point of view of academic excellence, Sri Lankan women have proved that they are as good or better than their male counterparts. In reality most of these ‘ultra nationalists’ are hypocrites. While preaching Sinhala only to the masses, many send their children to universities in USA, UK and Australia. Their real objective is to perpetuate their elite status.

12.     We must combat these backward and outdated ideologies and look to the future and not the past. Today we are witnessing a massive shift of economic power from the West to the East. China and India have become the new power houses of economic growth. In the next 10 to 15 years, the two most affluent countries in the world would be China and India. Within the next few years China will replace Japan as the second largest economy and by 2020 it is expected to overtake USA.  India too is following closely behind and today some Indian firms are major players in the global economy. India has also taken a bold step to abolish the rural debt, provide a minimum of 100 days work per year to the rural workers and has consistently achieved growth rates of 7% or over.

13.    We could either equip ourselves to benefit from this “eastern economic miracle” or be left behind dreaming about the ‘golden age’ of yesteryears while engaging in more internecine violence and ethnic conflicts.  In one sense we are better placed to modernise and achieve a high level of prosperity than our neighbours because our literacy rate is much higher than theirs. The literacy rate of Sri Lanka is nearly 95% as opposed to 55 to 66% in Pakistan and India. Our greatest wealth is human capital. Yet we do not make optimum use of our literate and educated youth. Today, after 62 years of independence we are not able to provide university education even for 10% of those who qualify to gain entry to a university. Although some of those who do not gain entry into the universities may enrol on accountancy and other professional courses, nevertheless the number of students who are capable of pursuing higher studies but unable to find places in institutions of higher education is extremely high. This is a criminal waste of our human capital.

Lagging behind our neighbors

14.    While India and China is developing rapidly we are lagging behind. Most professions – lawyers, doctors, teachers etc – have not modernized in order to meet the challenges of the 21st century. For instance the legal system of Sri Lanka today is more akin to the state affairs that Charles Dickens described in Bleak House (Jarndyce vs Jarndyce) than a system suitable for a modern democracy. Legal disputes that can be resolved in six months or a year, drag on for years or even decades. The only beneficiaries of this system are the lawyers. Most doctors are only interested in amassing wealth rather than ensuring the well being of patients. Often, even after paying a hefty fee, most doctors would compel patients to queue outside their surgeries like cattle, hours on end. There is no effective regulatory system of these professions and there is no effective statutory body, which supervise their conduct. Teachers do not regularly update their knowledge or adopt more modern methods of teaching. There is an urgent need to regulate these public services, increase their efficiency and ensure that they serve the interests of the public and not merely those of the service providers. We can study the provision of medical services in a small country like Cuba and observe the difference.  Cuba, with a population of 11 million educates over 5000 medical students each year. Cuba has eliminated diseases such as malaria, diphtheria, chicken pox, measles, whooping cough and dengue. In Sri Lanka while there has been a proliferation of private hospitals and clinics, mostly money-making enterprises, the medical care in government hospitals have deteriorated very substantially. We must modernize our transport system and make it more environmentally friendly. We must outlaw the prevailing ‘tuition’ racket where teachers mint money by giving private tuition to the very children they should be teaching during school hours.  We must insist that the license to practice their profession, be they lawyers, teachers or doctors, will depend on their readiness to update their knowledge through a programme of continuing education. The list of what we have to accomplish is endless because our ruling elite have been both lackadaisical and incompetent.

  
Men without a vision

15.    Unfortunately, the older generation, including most of our political leaders lacks foresight and vision. They fail to recognize that the riches that can be made by modernizing our country, is hundred times greater than the crumbs they are now able to exact by engaging in petty corrupt practices. They have little interest or inclination to modernize our country. For instance while many middle class young men and women are able to communicate through the internet ( chat, blog and twitter), most of our lawmakers, teachers, public servants and lawyers are totally computer illiterate. They have miserably failed to adopt the vast array of modern technological facilities to improve their service or provide better living conditions, or to create new job opportunities.

Modernity and prosperity

16.    There is little doubt that with our literate and educated population, we are best placed of all the South Asian countries to benefit from the ‘Asian Miracle’. However, mediocre leaders and outdated ideologies are holding us back. We must sweep away all the hurdles that are holding us back. We must overhaul over system of governance and make it more accountable and transparent. We must sweep away feudal attitudes and practices. The president of the United States is usually addressed as Mr. President. It is the same in France and Russia. However, in Sri Lanka even the Ministers of the State address the Sri Lanka President as ‘His Excellency’. Presidents, Ministers and members of Parliament are servants of the people and are maintained by taxpayers. There is no earthly reason why we should deify them or treat them like demi-gods. Such sycophantic practices are inimical to good governance because those who wield power often fall victims to the flattery of such sycophants and lose touch with the ordinary people who have elected them.

17.    Good governance and transparency apart we have to modernise every aspect of our daily life. In a short letter of this nature I cannot detail all the measures we should adopt in order to modernise our society and utilise the full potential of the people. I could give a few examples of some of the steps we could adopt in order to meet the needs of the 21st century. For instance it is obvious that the modernisation of our system of education is long overdue. It is imperative that we must raise our standards so that our graduates are able to compete with those who pass out of the best universities in the world.  Firstly, this would involve training all teachers in computer skills, teaching computer skills to all students beginning with nursery school children, the establishment of computer centres in every rural school and making competency in IT skills a compulsory subject in all institutions of higher education. Secondly, we must ensure that every university graduate should have a high level of proficiency in at least one foreign language – either English, Chinese, Hindi, Spanish or Russian. Thirdly, we must rapidly expand the training and education of doctors, engineers, accountants, linguists etc so that in future we will send abroad highly skilled migrants and not housemaids. If a small country like Cuba could educate more than 5,000 medical students a year, it is difficult to see why Sri Lanka cannot educate even one fifth of that number.  Similarly it is impossible for a society to be modernised without overhauling the legal system. Legal procedures should be changed to prevent interminable postponement of cases and the abuse of process involved in lawyers asking for dates at a drop of a hat or engaging in long and irrelevant cross-examination of witnesses. In criminal cases the procedure rules should be amended to compel the accused to specify the nature of his defence once he is in possession of the prosecution evidence. The police should be trained and equipped to adopt scientific methods of investigation rather than resorting to third degree interrogation, exacting ‘confessions’ under duress and staging false encounters leading to the death of suspects ‘trying to escape’ from police custody. 
The need for a new movement

18.    All this, of course, means sweeping away the corrupt and inept political structures and building a new movement that could campaign for a better Sri Lanka and a better world. The leaders of yester years and the nationalists of all hues have failed to resolve any of the major issues facing our people. The ultra-nationalism and militarism of the LTTE was a costly and wasteful detour. In many ways the militarism of the LTTE had a negative impact on the struggle of the oppressed. It led to the enactment of draconian laws and imposition of massive restrictions on human and democratic rights. The LTTE and it backers erroneously believed that they were invincible and that the Sri Lankan army could never defeat them. The disastrous strategy of the LTTE not only disenfranchised and politically disarmed the Tamils but it also strengthened the chauvinist and obscurantist elements amongst the Sinhalese. They turned their guns not on the ruling class but ordinary working people. Equally, On the other hand, even after living through 30 years of ethnic conflict, the ruling elite has not recognised the need to take any meaningful and decisive steps to address the grievances of Tamils. Even today they offer only the same failed policy – i.e. placing total reliance on a few string-puppets who will dance to the tune of the southern ruling elite. That is their ‘home grown solution’. The APRC was mere eyewash designed to fool the naïve liberals. It is highly unlikely that the Rajapakse regime ever intended to offer anything other than the  familiar ‘puppet show’ that we have witnessed since the days of the D.S.Senanayake regime. 
We need a new movement

19.    We must break decisively with those failed policies of the LTTE as well as those of the Sri Lankan ruling elite. Instead we must build a new and a bold movement that could unite all those who have been exploited, disadvantaged and marginalized. Like the Suriya Mal Movement and the LSSP, which spearheaded the fight against caste oppression and British imperialism in the 1930’s, today we need a new movement to spearhead the struggle for modernity and to drag our country from the economic and political quagmire that the failed prophets of the yester years have led us into. Unfortunately, the LSSP lost its clout and its mass base by entering into an opportunist alliance with the SLFP. We must learn the lessons of that debacle and make sure that the poor and the oppressed will always maintain its political and organizational independence. It is important to remember that nowhere in the world have the poor, the oppressed and the exploited ever won anything by begging, pleading and imploring the ruling elite to do the right thing. It is futile to ask the ruling class to serve the people, plead that they behave like gentlemen or appeal to their good sense. Those who advocate that we must appeal to the good sense of the ruling elite in order to protect the rights of the oppressed or the minorities are like good old village priests who preach morality to brothel keepers and implore that they give up their sinful habits and lead godly lives. The poor, the oppressed and the minorities can win their rights only if they are able to build a strong and a united movement that can challenge the bankrupt politicians of yester years. We need not be intimidated or bedazzled by the power of the ruling elite. Even the most powerful men and governments on earth have been brought to their knees by the united action of the people. It is the disunity of the poor and the oppressed that creates the impression that the ruling elite is invincible. Time and again history has shown that the seemingly invincible and powerful rulers can be defeated when the people unite. Of course, the task of uniting the people is no easy undertaking. Although I cannot compel you to join me in this onerous task, I am hopeful that there will be many young men and women who will recognize the need to break with the backward and reactionary policies of past and dare to dream and have the courage to build a new society based on modernity, prosperity equality and justice. The history of social progress in the world is the history of the struggle of the poor and the dispossessed for equality and justice. That is why, with Bob Marley, we must say in unison ‘Get up stand up, stand up for your rights, don’t give up the fight, stand up for your rights’ !.
Yours affectionately

Upali Cooray
Podi Seeya
(Grand Uncle)
14th July 2009

Mr. Upali Cooray’s professional qualifications included a BSc (Hons) in Economics (London), LLB Hons (London) and MA in Business Law at London Guildhall University.

We, all at THE ERBENIZER family are gathered here today to remember, pay tribute and bid farewell to our comrade, Upali Cooray, whose untimely death on 21st August 2009 has grieved us all.

A Greek and an Italian were drinking coffee one day discussing who had the superior culture.

Over triple lattes the Greek guy says, “Well, we have the Parthenon”.

Arching his eyebrows the Italian replies, “We have the Coliseum.”

The Greek retorts, “We Greeks gave birth to advanced mathematics.” The Italian, nodding in agreement, says, “But we built the Roman Empire.”

And so on and so on until the Greek comes up with what he thinks will end the discussion.

With a flourish of finality he says, “We invented making love”

The Italian replies, “That is true, but it was the Italians who introduced it to women.”

Her name is Katie Kirkpatrick, 21 yrs old. Next to her is her fiancé, Nick, 23.

This picture was taken prior to their wedding January 11th, 2005.

Katie has terminal cancer and spends hours in chemotherapy.

Here Nick awaits while she finishes one of the sessions…

Even in pain and dealing with her organs shutting down, with the help of morphine,

Katie took care of every single part of the wedding planning.

Her dress had to be adjusted several times due to Katie’s constant weight loss.

An expected guest was her oxygen tank. Katie had to use it during the ceremony and reception.The other couple in this picture is Nick’s parents, very emotional with the wedding and to see their son marrying the girl he fell in love when he was an adolescent.

Katie , in a wheel chair listening to her husband and friends singing to her.

In the middle of the party, Katie had to rest for a bit and catch her breath.The pain does not allow her to stand for long period of time.

Katie died 5 days after her wedding. To see a fragile woman dress as bride with a beautiful smile makes you think… happiness is always there within reach, no matter how long it lasts….. lets enjoy life and don’t live a complicated life. Life is too short. Work as if it was your first day. Forgive as soon as possible. Love without boundaries… Laugh without control and never stop smiling.

In the weeks following, the end of the Rugger season being eminent, most youngsters were seen running around the Royal college sports complex and St. Thomas’ grounds attending various Rugger matches between leading schools in the country.

Also, amidst jazz and all the Rugger, an array of international cricket matches were held around the country beginning with the Asia cup which was held in Dambulla.

The unbearable Heatwaves that hit Colombo however, did not stop the festivities. Many parties hit the clubs of Colombo such as Must glow, Flirtylicious, Jerry Ropero live and many many more.

As we all met up with friends and ran around and about Colombo, one of the summer’s biggest events was the FIFA world cup. Matches were telecast live at many venues, and many groups of friends gathered at various venues to witness the excitement and staunchly support their respective teams.

The beach is also a hotspot for teens to cool off from the heat.

Speaking of beaches, the next big event that made our summer, as always, was Hikka Beach Fest. A widely known fact is that Hikkaduwa has the best beaches in the island. Known as “Hikka” for short, it has become a household name associated with the beach. Lying about a 100 km south of Colombo on the West coast, Hikka is always prepared for the hundreds of guests that arrive daily to enjoy the wonderful beaches with many beachside hotels and restaurants. The famous beach festival takes place in the last week of July annually, where thousands of party-goers flock from around the country to the beaches of Hikka for an ongoing party on the beach. Hikka has never failed to deliver!

With an ongoing summer, and an array of new movies out at the cinemas such as Karate Kid and the Last Airbender, and the new summer styles and fashions out; Summer 2010 is out to be one of the best summers yet!

By: Arushka Theagarajah

A polish man is sitting at a bar having a few drinks when he notices a very attractive lady sit down at the other end of the bar and order a drink.

The polish guy calls the bartender over and says “whatever she is drinking give her another one and tell her it is on me.”

The bartender replies “I don’t think you want to do that.”

“What do you mean?” yells the polish guy, “Send her the drink!”
“O.K.” the bartender replies, “but I don’t think it is a good idea.”
“And why not?” asks the polish guy.
The bartender leans over the bar and very softly says “because she’s a lesbian.”
“I don’t care, send her the drink.” says the polish guy.
So after the lady gets her drink the polish guy very casually strolls down to the other end of the bar and sits down next to her and says, “so what part of Lesbia are you from?”