St. John's College, Jaffna, Sri Lanka, Speech given at the 'Prize-giving' ceremony, June 21, 2014- Cricket Analogy.

Bernard Sinniah  Managing Director CitiBank London

The Honourable Chairman, Principal Sir, Distinguished Guests, Staff and
Students of St John’s, Ladies and Gentlemen:

Thank you very much for inviting my wife, Anita and me here today, as your
guests of honour. It is indeed an honour and I am deeply humbled to stand in
front of you all.  

St John’s College has a very long history, having been founded some 191
years ago. The education of life that this great institution provides is
never evident when you are a student. It becomes evident only when you go
out into the real world, where one is challenged. St John’s quietly enables
us to face them all, to overcome and go forward. We sing - ‘Johnians always
play the game’. This doesn’t just refer to sports but it refers to the wider
game of life.

Having spent almost all my school days at St John’s, I am eternally grateful
for what I learnt here. The learning was endless and at times painful. The
first few years of hostel life was tough. Forming friendships was
challenging as we came from so many different backgrounds. Sometimes, it was
difficult, to getting used to teachers who were such strict disciplinarians.
But underneath all this, there was something special about St John’s that I
can be very proud of. Today, the first thing I proudly say to anyone is -“I
studied at St John’s, College, Jaffna, Sri Lanka – the best school in the
world!” 

The innocent friendships that we formed some thirty-five years ago have
grown from strength to strength. The fear we had for our teachers has turned
into utmost respect and total loyalty. Most of all, our affection for St
John’s continues to grow in every possible way.

I am not sure how many years have gone by since the first college prize
giving was held, but surely I must be the only Chief guest, who had never
won a prize. Among this audience, I can see some very familiar faces. I see
some of my former teachers who would never have dreamt, that I would be
standing here one day, as the Chief Guest. I would like to say that it feels
like a dream for me, too.

I want to begin by congratulating each and every one of you who has won a
prize. This is a reflection of your hard work and dedication throughout the
past year. Whether you won a prize for academic achievement, for
achievements in sport or in any other field, it is truly great to have your
efforts richly rewarded and recognised.  I am sure you made yourselves, your
parents and family members and all your teachers very proud. Well done and I
wish you all continued success.

When I was a student, we, the non-prize-winners, were always asked to sit at
the back of the hall. As the winners were getting their well-deserved
prizes, the one thing that constantly crossed my mind was – ‘Could I ever be
successful?’

Today I want to speak to all of you- those who won prizes and those who like
me, are wondering whether they could ever be successful.  I would like to
tell you this - it is all up to you. It is you and you alone who can define
your success. I want to really challenge you by asking a simple question “Do
you know how good you are - to be successful?”

I want to tell you a story - a true story where I was present. It happened
on the 24th of April 2007 at Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica. It was a very
hot and humid day when Sri Lanka took on New Zealand in the World cup
Semi-finals. It is the stand out innings of Mahela Jayawardena, which I
would like to share with you.

The scorecard will tell us that Mahela scored one hundred and fifteen runs
in one hundred and nine balls. But, the scorecard will not tell you the hard
work that went into getting there- how his innings was formed, how he was
patient, how he let go of so many opportunities to score and how he built
partnerships. The scorecard will also not tell you how he used his strengths
and used that perfectly to overcome the challenges he faced, to build and
deliver a great innings.

Most importantly, Mahela Jayawardena, the Sri Lankan Captain believed in
himself. He knew he was good enough to deliver a quality innings. That was
the key component of his success and of his beautiful innings that day.

Well, we all can learn a lot from that. We define our success by what is on
the board or by the prizes we win. What success was for Tharanga that day
was different to what it was for Mahela. Tharanga was judged by the
explosive start that he gave to the innings while Mahela was judged for the
calm and steady way he settled for a long innings, accelerating at the end.
Both of them were successful. It is therefore important to understand that
all of us can and will achieve success through different routes.

It is my fundamental belief that every one of us has the capacity and
capability to achieve success. It does not mean that we become over
confident and arrogant about our talents. It is about believing that we can!

When Mahela came to the crease, Tharanga was in full flow. The run rate was
still around five, but Sri Lanka’s batting was vulnerable, which even the
opposing captain Stephen Fleming acknowledged at the toss.

Mahela knew that he too, could join Tharanga and start scoring fast. He
could have done that but he didn’t. He buckled down and scored very slowly,
giving Tharanga the opportunity to score freely. He played carefully so that
he could easily pick-up his run rate later. That was his strength and he was
aware of that.

On the other hand, when I got through my Ordinary Level examination with
much difficulty, I believed that I should try to become a doctor. As you
know, this was a prestigious profession – it was then and, I am sure it is
now! I enrolled my self to the Bio stream; despite the fact that I had
failed Biology. My first class was Zoology where I was given a frog to
dissect and then to draw it. When I finished drawing, my Zoology teacher
told me that my frog looked like a goat. Next day, I spoke to the Principal
and quickly transferred myself out of the Bio stream into Mathematics
stream. I knew my limitations but tried to ignore them. 

Successful people know and acknowledge their limitations. Your limitations
will throw you challenges and obstacles. There is no point fighting them. It
is better to overcome them; otherwise they will hold you back from achieving
success. 
At the end of Fortieth over, Sri Lanka had slowly built their innings to one
hundred and eighty runs for the loss of four wickets. Mahela was not out at
forty runs from seventy-four balls. The commentators were giving him a hard
time. They were accusing him of taking too much time saying that Sri Lanka
had had a decent platform and have now they’ve messed it up.  
This is what happens in real life too, People will judge us by what they
expect from us without realising that all of us have different paths to
achieve success. The world will not know our limitations, the world will not
know our strengths and the world will not know the challenges we face. But
the world will be quick to judge us by what they expect from us.  
That is where your own determination and drive will have to come in. That is
how Mahela built his innings - He got to his fifty in the forty-first over
and in seventy-six balls. What happened from there on was a privilege to
watch – a brutal attack on the New Zealand bowling. He raced to one hundred
in one hundred and four balls. The last fifty came up in twenty-eight balls
and took Sri Lanka to two hundred and eighty nine for the loss of five
wickets.  This was way over what was predicted. It was done solely by his
sheer belief and careful execution. 
As we go on to live our lives outside the school environment, we will have
wickets falling around us. We will have commentators predicting what we
could achieve and commend or condemn the way we bat. The challenge for us is
not to allow these external factors to affect us. Do we allow these external
pressures to stress us or do we build our innings carefully and according to
what we want to achieve and play a Mahela innings?  To achieve success and
bring the best out of you, you will need to withstand these external
pressures and build your own innings. 
One has to look back at Mahela’s innings and admire the way he built it. He
took a long time to lay a good foundation. His, was a slow and steady
innings. Likewise, success doesn’t come overnight. One has to work for it
patiently and build it up slowly. We should run a marathon, not a sprint. 
You will need to take your own time, according to your own plan and ability
and then go and achieve your own success! 
When I was seated at that grounds watching that match and was getting
frustrated by his innings, I never realised how well he was planning it.
Cricinfo, the cricket website, described it as, ‘An innings that has been
worth it’s weight in gold’. Every time the run rate was dropping, he would
slowly squeeze in a four and every time a wicket fell, he took on a slightly
attacking role and then went back to playing a steady innings. He was
reacting to the situation rather than worrying about it.  
This is an incredible attribute that we all need. Every time we face a
crisis or a challenge, we really need to take a step back, analyse the
situation and react. – React positively. As they say ’the reaction to a
challenge is more important than the challenge itself’. There is no point in
worrying about a wicket that falls, but it is important to figure out what
needs to be done next.  There is no point in worrying about not winning a
prize but you should think forward as to how to do better and thereby giving
yourself a chance to win a prize. 
There are so many stories like Mahela’s innings from which we can learn
about life.  Whether you are a prize winner today or not, there are bigger
and better things to look forward to in the future.  
You will and You can achieve success : 
•     By Understanding your strengths and limitations. •     By Reacting
positively to your challenges. •     By Accepting that your path could be
different to that ofothers.•     By Being patient and building your life
over a period of time.And most importantly: By Believing in yourself! 
Before I finish, once again I’d like to thank you all for inviting Anita and
me. As I said at the outset, we are deeply touched and humbled to be here. 
In closing, I would like to say to all of you again – Believe in yourself!
You have so much inside you that will make you very successful! Next time,
don’t ask yourself the question that I asked myself. Assure yourself by
saying ‘Yes, I can be successful’ 
And as the great Boxer Mohammed Ali once said, ‘If my mind can conceive it;
and my heart can believe it; then I can achieve it’ 
THANK YOU VERY MUCH

African Art found in Kayts Island off Jaffna

The Archaeology News Network: 

Click on link below:-

http://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2012/03/african-art-found-in-kayts-island-off.html

Recall of life at St. John's College, Jaffna, Ceylon, 1930-1950s. Part 4.

by Dr. VICTOR A. BENJAMIN, FRCS, Former Consultant Surgeon, Department of Health, Ceylon/Sri Lanka.

...Silent Students Achievers. Most students at the college were silent
achievers, who went through student life without being in the limelight or
drawing attention on themselves. Such schoolboys, who successfully
accomplished more in later life than those who were stars and celebrities as
students, were in the majority during my student days. I will name a few who
were my classmates, and contemporaries who were such silent achievers.
Dharmarajah (my classmate) became the General Manager of a leading bank.
J.H. Ariyaratnam, K. Gangadheran, Pulandran Nagamuthu, K. Kunaratnam and B.
R. R. Sinniah, (all my classmates) were excellent in their studies, and
commanded a lot of respect in positions of great responsibility, though out.
their entire working life. The Ambalavanar brothers got enticed into Jaffna
College, halfway during their student life, but I do remember their days at
St. John's with pride. The elder brother, D. R. Ambalavanar (my classmate)
became a clergyman, and is a leading Tamil Scholar, and a Theologian. His
younger brother D. J. Ambalavanar (who was only nine days younger than me)
also joined the clergy, and in 1971 was consecrated as Bishop in the Jaffna
Diocese of the Church of South India.. B. A. Mills (another classmate of
mine) became a leading Obstetrician and Gynaecologist. M. C. Hunt (who was
very quiet at school) became a leading Paediatrician. J G.Asirwatham. whom I
remember as another quiet pupil at school, ended as a high Court Judge of
distinction. Sam Alfred (who was a boarder at St. John's for a few years),
also became a clergyman, and dedicated his life to service of others. He is
well known for his untiring work in Jaffna and the Batticaloa districts.
Even people who are much older than him respectfully call him "Sam Annan",

C. Amirtharajah and A. J. Jeevaratnam are two more quiet students of my
days, who rose to positions of responsibility. Alfred Durayappah (who during
student life, preferred to remain in the background) became a lawyer, and a
well-known and controversial politician on the local and the national scene.
He was the first politician to be assassinated in Jaffna.

V.Sivapragasam (my classmate) played only. volleyball, and excelled in
studies, and was content to become an Excise Inspector; K. Rajasunderam (a
classmate of mine) had only one ambition as a student. He realised this
ambition by joining the Police Department, as a Sub-Inspector. He ended as a
Superintendent of Police. Similarly, RR. Scott, K. Thirunavukarasu, and D.
J. Nathaniel, whose names had been mentioned earlier, also ended as
Superintendents of Police.

Sathasivam, (another clever classmate of mine,), and E. T. Samuel (who was a
little senior) were proud to become Post-Masters. Paul Lewis, and P. T.
Sivapragasam, (who was a Senior Prefect during my time), are outstanding
examples of' quiet students, who entered the mercantile sector, and reached
the very top in Colombo.

Enlargement of the College playground.
When I joined St. John's, the playground was too small for games like
cricket, football or athletics. A need to enlarge it to its present size was
recognized. The new science laboratory had not been built then. Land was
chosen for the Science Laboratory building. There was an old building
dividing the present playground into two unequal halves. The brave decision
to demolish that existing building served two purposes. It enabled the
playground to be enlarged to its present size, It also resulted in the
beauty of the Science Block that was built a few years latter to be seen
from the Old Park Road.

"Office Kanapathipillai".
Mr. Kanapathipillai was a very humble gentleman of sound character, short
stature, and charming personality, who chose to dress a bit differently from
others. He wore a white verti. a white shirt, and a very light brown
coloured traditional western type 'coat. He worked in the college office,
and was always smiling and polite. I do not know what his official
designation was, but on reflection, he seemed to do the work of peon,
cleaner, clerk, bookkeeper, and office assistant, all rolled into one. He
had access to all files and documents in the office. Generations of students
will remember him. Without him, work in the college office would come to a
standstill.

A notable incident of student mischief.
Innocent fun and mischief is part of student life, and my days at St. John's
were no exception. One incident merits inclusion in this article. Boarders
at St. John's were accommodated in three different Hostels. The one close to
the Principal's bungalow housed the junior students. That behind the kitchen
and the science block had the intermediate students. The boarding house
separated only by a cadjan fence from the Old Park Road was for the seniors.
The seniors were involved in the incident. Bathing facilities for them were
provided in a semi-sheltered area, on the college side of the fence along
the road. There was a very large cemented tub, which was filled with water
pumped from a well. Several buckets were provided for use. Some seniors had
no hesitation in sending buckets of water, over the fence, on senior girls
from Chundikuli, going home after games at their school. This was
appreciated by the girls, as evidence that they attracted the attention that
they wanted. One evening, the girls happened to be accompanied by a very
strict senior teacher from the girls' college. She probably had come, having
received complaints from some spoilsport. This teacher too got a good
drenching with water, that evening. She lodged an angry complaint to the
Principal of St. John's, who promised that he would see that such incidents
never happened again. During the investigations that followed, no student
seemed to have any knowledge of this incident. Every student became a
suspect. Rev. Arulanantham solved the situation by immediately transferring.
all the senior boarders to the hostel close to his resident, and the juniors
were sent to the hostel beside Old Park Road. Everybody knew who was
suspected as the ringleader in this episode. It was his strategy that
suppressed all evidence implicating any student. A couple of students who
were Monitors or Prefects and happened to be senior boarders ceased to be
Monitors or Prefects, for lack of knowledge of who the culprits were. The
ringleader became a leading lawyer in Jaffna, in later life. During student
life, being sacked from Prefectship, after this incident, was a greater
honour than being a college Prefect. (End)

Recall of life at St John's College, Jaffna, Ceylon, 1930 - 1950s.Part 3.

by Dr. VICTOR A. BENJAMIN, FRCS, Former Consultant Surgeon, Department of Health, Ceylon/Sri Lanka.

...The Science Laboratory had two full time attendants, Vellaichamy and
Chinniah. They were in charge of the entire science laboratory building with
all the equipment and material contained. They set the stage for all
practical classes, so that teachers and students could commence the
demonstrations and experiments without wasting a single minute. Vellaichamy
was a tough looking sturdy man with a majestic moustache. He looked upon the
science block as his territory. He was a terror inside the Science
Laboratory building, but became a very mild and amiable man outside. Like
most of the teachers. he had a distinct identity for himself, within the
school. Outside attending regular science classes, no student would dare to
enter the science block, without obtaining Vellaichamy's permission first.

Sportsmen among the students. In an article such as this, it is impossible
to name all the students who were great sportsmen, in cricket, soccer,
athletics and volleyball. However, it will be incomplete, if I do not
mention a few of the outstanding sportsmen. Two Van Den Driesen brothers,
Tom and Billy were great cricketers and soccer players.

Without, any risk of being disputed or contradicted, I remember R. R. Scott
as the greatest student sportsman in the whole of Jaffna, during my time at
St. John's. He had style in the way he played. He was a shy and silent man,
who was conscious that he was admired universally for his sportsmanship. His
brother E. T. Scott, too was an excellent cricketer, athlete and a soccer
player. Freddy Ratnesar played excellent cricket and tennis, and was the
chess champion, year after year. The boys who walked from Ariyalai to school
were always very fit, and would excel in all sports. But their priorities
were different, in that they gave greater . importance to studies than
games. Walking to school and then. back home, gave them enough exercise to
keep fit. They competed in sports without much training, and yet played a
winning game.

Tharmalingarn, a classmate of mine was an outstanding example of this
phenomenon.

Albert Rasiah, (another classmate of mine) who travelled daily from Usan,
Mirusuvil, was one of the finest pole-vaulters, in addition to excellence in
several other athletic events. R. S. Peter, (also a classmate of' mine), R.
R (Reggie) Jeyarajah and Lionel Thambyrajah were excellent all-round
sportsmen.

Unexpected influx of students from Colombo, due to the war. Japan brought
the war to the east, and bombed Colombo and Trincomalee. on O5 April, 1942,
and once again a few weeks later. To add to the minor (or trivial
dislocation), several school buildings in Colombo were taken over by the
British Military as barracks for their troops. School education in Colombo
was severely disrupted. This resulted in a sudden exodus of school children
from Colombo to the provinces. St. Jôhn's responded by generously opening
its doors to vast numbers of displaced students, from different Colombo
schools, despite having very meagre facilities to accommodate all of them.
These students had lived and been educated in environments, where the
values, traditions, codes of conduct, and behaviour patterns were far
removed from what prevailed in Jaffna. The students who. came from Colombo
had a false belief that they were from a superior tribe than the native
students and teachers in Jaffna. These refugees from Colombo always wore
leather shoes. and could never walk barefooted. By contrast, in those days.
all the students in Jaffna. both girls and boys, attended school without any
footwear. They got into shoes. which were often ill fitting, only on special
occasions like the Prize giving, or when they started to wear long trousers.
Generally; the students who came from Colonbo were more interested in being
idolised adored, and admired by the girls, at Chundikuli. They took games
seriously, but forgot the reality that they came to Jaffna to continue their
studies. However by the time these students completed their schooling, they
changed and accepted in later years that all their successes in life was
entirely due to the education they were privileged to receive at St. John
's. They became proud to have transformed into Johnians.

A few great sportsmen came into St. John's, with this group of displaced
students. These included the brothers J. M. Rajaratnam and J. I. ("Jimmy")
Rajaratnam (both of whom eventually settled down in Jaffna). three
Kanagasabay brothers, and a very stylish high-scoring batsman Kanaganayagam.
all of whom enhanced the strength of our various sports teams. These were
many other younger sporting stars in this group.

It is ridiculous to compare the way Colombo became. a deserted city, in
1942, after two brief air raids, and the great courage, determination, and
resilience with which the present residents of Jaffna and other parts of the
Northern Peninsula have been getting on with their life, with the the
ongoing war, over the last 14 years. Aircraft dropping loads of lethal bombs
have failed to intimidate the Jaffna man.

St .John's College continues to provide education, and celebrate the 175th
anniversary now, in 1998. The Principals and teachers who have been faithful
to their calling, and have served with great dedication anti leadership. in
these unthinkably difficult years, since the civil war started, and
escalated, will be remembered for posterity.

Composition of Students. During my time at St. John's, we had a cultural and
Ethnic diversity among the student population. a feature made impossible now
by the actions of politicians and governments that came into power. after
CeyIon won independence from British Colonial Rule in 1946. Apart from the
Tamils from different parts of Jaffna. we had Sinhala students from
Medawachiyaa to Colombo and Kandy. Many students came from the up-country
tea plantation regions, and some from the Eastern Province. We had a few
Muslim students also. When a Sinhalese student came from Colornbo or Kandy.
it usually meant that student had offended his school authorities in his
hometown and had to leave his school. St. John's offered such students "a
second chance to continue studies". Such students always proved a success in
later life, and valued their association with St. John's. Such opportunities
were available during my student days. because the medium of education was
English, throughout the country.

During my latter years at College, girls wishing to study science subjects
in the lower and upper sixth forms, preparing for the University Entrance
Examination were also admitted to St. John's.

When it was envisaged that invasion of Ceylon by the Japanese was imminent,
a big military enlistment drive was started in Ceylon. Among the large
number of citizens who responded to the call to join the army were
schoolboys, including many from St. John's. Even a few from my own class,
and who had reached the age of 18. suddenly left school and joined the army.
When they were on leave, during or after training, many would proudly return
to Jaffna in smart military uniforms. Unfortunately, as this resulted in
their dropping out of the educational stream, and being rendered unfit to
re-enter the discipline of formal studies, joining the army ruined the
future careers of many intelligent and promising contemporaries of mine at
school.

Refugees who arrived in boats, escaping front countries that Japan
conquered. Malaya and Singapore forming the F.M.S. or Federated Malay
States,, fell to the Japs. soon after Japan entered the war. The British
made a hasty evacuation of the white population there. Many Ceylonese in
these countries were able to escape in small-overcrowded boats. with minimum
stocks of food and water, not knowing what their destination would be. A
couple of boats reached the shores of Ceylon with the cargo of persons,
(mainly women and children), with terrified memories. A few of them entered
St. John's. Two of them, Percy Handy and Paul Thambar, became my classmates.
Two of Percy Handy's sisters also joined St. John's. Ranee Handy (as
teacher), and Ranji Handy (as a student, a year or two later)...Ctd.

Recall of life at St. John's College, Jaffna, Ceylon in the 1940 - 1950s.Part 2.

by Dr. VICTOR A. BENJAMIN, FRCS, Former Consultant Surgeon, Department of Health, Ceylon/Sri Lanka.

...Mr. C. H. Gunawardene was specially recruited to teach Sinhala at St.
John's. Apart from the small Sinhala School in Hospital Road, Jaffna, St.
John's was the only school in thë whole of the Northern Province to have a
Sinhala teacher. He was a very young teacher with an extremely bright future
before him. I am sure that his early years at St. John's would have helped
him in later years. He would have gone as an unofficial ambassador from
Jaffna to the Sinhala dominated parts of Ceylon.

All three teachers with the name Mathai taught me. They were better known by
their initials. T. M. Matthai was also the "Scout Master". His son Babu had
his early education at St. John's.

Mr. Balasingh arrived from Madras in 1942 or 1943 , and was the first
Zoology teacher at St. John's. He had a First Class Honours B. Sc. Degree
from Madras, and had done Botany as a subsidiary subject. He would have been
around the age of 22, and was fresh with new ideas on how teaching of these
two subjects should be done. The new Science Laboratory Block had been
dedicated and opened around the time. The task of setting up the Biology
section of the Science Laboratory was assigned to him. Prior to arrival of
Balasingh, Zoology was taught for the Johnians at Chundikuli Girls' College,
by their Principal, Dr (Miss) E. M Thilliampalam. This had been an
unsatisfactory arrangement, particularly where Zoology practicals were
concerned, and clearly even Miss. Thilliampalam wished St. John 's to find
its own full time Zoology teacher. Mr. E. M Ponnudurai who had been the
Botany teacher all these years felt happy to have Balasingh share the
responsibility of teaching Botany also. Balasingh organized the Biology
laboratory with Ponnudurai giving him all the support and help. They jointly
inaugurated the Natural Science Association for the senior Biology Students,
and I was fortunate in being a founder member of that Association. Weekly
meetings were held, soon after school hours. As an incentive for the
students to stay behind, after school, some food in the form of patties, or
vaddai and plantains with a cup of tea was provided from the tuck soap
before the commencement of the meetings. This was paid for from the annual
subscription of One Rupee (Rs. 1.00) paid by the members. Office bearers of
this association were a President, a Secretary, and a Treasurer (all of whom
were students), with teachers Ponnudurai and Balsingh being Patrons. The
cost of the food was subsidized by the College. No one really knew whether
it was considered part of formal teaching of Biology, or if it was
extracurricular activity. Students were encouraged to read papers, arrange
demonstrations (or "practicals"), and even debate on controversial subjects
such as whether life started on Land, or in the sea, whether plants or
animals were more important, etc. Help in preparation in presenting a paper,
a demonstration, or a debate, was freely available from Balasingh. who was
more approachable than Ponnudurai. Early in 1945, Balasingh took up the
position of Assistant Lecturer ship at the University he graduated from,
having sponsored Mr. K. K. John to succeed him at St. John's.

Mr. E. M. Ponnudurai was an excellent teacher in Botany. He was a very
strict disciplinarian, and was generally feared by the students, because he
had powerful unofficial authority outside the classrooms, and even outside
the college compound. He was seen everywhere, walking around even after
school hours, as he lived with his family inside the school campus. He knew
every student in the school by name. He would keenly note how games were
being played, and mistakes any player made. He even seemed to know the
parents of most of the schoolboys. His punishment of students never exceeded
a verbal lashing, but the recipients of a scolding from Ponnudurai knew that
they were guilty of some misdemeanor or misbehaviour that had come to
Ponnudurai's notice. The College was everything that Mr. Ponnudurai toiled
for, and he was fond of proclaiming this fact. Nothing else mattered to him.
Botany was Ponnudurai's scientific interest. When I was the only candidate
in the whole of Ceylon to be awarded a Distinction in Botany, at the Higher
School Certificate examination held in December 1945, Mr. Ponnudurai felt
the proudest man on earth. He justifiably assumed it as proof that he was
undisputedly the best Botany Teacher in the whole of Ceylon. In later years,
he would embarrass me by consulting me on serious medical matters, even when
I was only a third year medical student.

Mr. J. R. Thambyaiah taught me Chemistry in the higher forms. He too felt
equally proud of himself, as the best Chemistry Teacher, when I obtained
Distinctions in Chemistry too, at the same H.S.C Examination. But he had to
share that honour with the Chemistry Teacher at Jaffna Central College, for
Kathiravel Reviraj of Central, and I happened to be the only two students in
the whole of Ceylon to be awarded Distinctions in Chemistry that year. It
was a very sad moment for me, about 25 years later. when I was suddenly
summoned to see him at his home. He had severe chest pain of very brief
duration. He died while describing his chest pain to me. 1 was the very last
person he spoke to.

Mr. S. Sivapragasam was a very amiable and lovable science teacher who
introduced Chemistry as a subject to students beginning to learn Science. He
taught the subject from the Chemistry laboratory (in the old block, and
before the new Science Laboratory had been built). He had the ability to
have the whole class involved in spontaneous and simultaneous bursts of
laughter,. even when teaching a dry and uninteresting subject like
Chemistry. His jokes were always new, and were strictly and appropriately
applicable to some situation or event that had taken place only moments
earlier. He was always very calm and serene. Any students or class that
tried any practical joke on Mr. Sivapragasam would instantly be made to look
fools by his instant response. Sivapragasam was a common name, and
therefore, he had to be identified by an appropriate nickname. His two sons.
D.R. Sivapragasam and P. T Sivapragasam studied at St. John's during my
tune. They were little senior to me.

MR. J. T. Solomons was the "ARTS MASTER' who taught drawing, sketching, and
painting with water colours. He was a very simple and pleasant man. He knew
that no student of his would ever equal his skills, even in later life, as
an artist. He was a contented man, having an "Arts Class Room" which he did
not have to share with any other teacher. He knew that during the days when
Ceylon was part of the British Empire, teaching of "ARTS" was held in very
low priority by the British rulers. Artistic skills never helped anyone to
secure any form of employment, and was a neglected subject. The class
timetables allowed students to choose between LATIN and ART, as their
preferred subject. The British Educational Policy for the Colonies in their
Empire placed some importance in learning a second language, and learning
the dead language. Latin was considered more important than learning the
native languages, Tamil or Sinhala. In this context, I chose to be an Art
Student than study Latin. I found that both the teacher of Latin. and the
subject, to be equally boring. .W. J. Solomons, son of Art Master Solomons.
was a few years senior to me at college. He had the same satisfied attitude
to life, as his father. He worked in the Forest Department after leaving
school.

Mr. L. W. D. Nalliah succeeded Mr. Solomons as the "Art Master"

Mr. D. H. Chinniah was a longstanding teacher in the lower forms. He was a
thin, dark. bachelor, who had the unique ability to suppress a smile, even
when inwardly, he was smiling or laughing with others, over some funny or
laugh provoking incident. He always wore white suite and white hat, and
would pedal to school on his rusty old bicycle. He taught with a seriously
monotonous loud voice. and there was no room for any fun, pranks, or jokes
during his classes. He would bring a thin stick with him, the presence of
which served as a deterrent to any student tempted to some minor mischief,
such as throwing paper rolled into a ball at him, when his face was turned
away from the students. If provoked by some fun at his expense, the next
student who failed to give a correct answer to some question from him,
earned a few strokes with the stick that Chinniah carried

Chinniah was a common name in Jaffna. and there were several students with
the name Chinniah, (which sometimes got spelled Sinniah). Students solved
the problem by giving Mr. Chinniah, an appropriate nickname, by which he was
always referred to.

Mr. K. C. Thurairatnam was the only teacher who rode to College on a
majestic motorbike. He was an excellent English teacher, and a handsome and
keen sportsman, and he played better soccer than the students did. He got
married, while working as a teacher at St. John's. He advanced his career a
few years later, by joining the staff of Jaffna College.

Mr. V. C. Canagaratnam was a teacher whom no one forgot. He taught with
great enthusiasm and with a loud voice. He looked equally smart, whether in
National dress or in a Western Lounge Suit. During my time at St. John's, a
cane about a meter in length. was kept in the college office, and was
available to any teacher who required it. Mr. Canagaratnam would send for
the cane with greater regularity than any other teacher. When teachers used
the cane, they had to make written entries on the "cane register" which
always had to be taken with the cane. The names of students who received
strokes with the cane, and other details including the offences that merited
the caning had to be entered by the teacher. Canagaratnam was fair in that
every student had an equal chance to be at the receiving end of the cane.
And every student got that chance. Strangely, the students did not take
offence at his resourcefulness in using the cane as an aid in education. He
was forgiven. and referred to. most affectionately. by the nickname
'crake-en ", (the first part of the nickname "crake" being understood in
English and the "en" which followed being borrowed from Tamil). Canagaratnam
liked the nickname by which he was known, and felt obliged to act that part.
He carried no grudges.

Mr. Param Selvarajah was both cricket coach, and a commissioned officer in
the Ceylon Cadet Battalion. St. John's had cadet platoons, both for senior
cadets and for junior cadets. Later on he joined the regular army, and rose
to the rank of a major.
Mr. E. C. A. Navaratnarajah was another keen teacher of English. and
produced several English Plays. These were so successful. and some of these
were staged in Kandy too. During the period January to June 1946, 1 remained
in
school, even though I had no class to attend as a student. It was just after
my H.S.C and University Entrance Examinations held in December 1945. I was
Senior Prefect at that time, and had a single room in the college boarding
house. I would be asked to act for any teacher who was absent. During this
period, Mr. Navaratnarajah trained students for one of the best plays that
St. John's produced. I attended the training of students, very regularly,
after school hours, not having anything else to do. I did not know that Mr.
Navaratnarajah greatly appreciated my presence as an uninvited observer.
Very soon, I knew the parts of every actor, including what they had to say,
by memory. When Mr. Navaratnarajah knew this, he would ask me to deputise
for any actor who was absent, or who turned up late. He also invited me to
sit near the stage and prompt what had to be said, when an actor got stuck,
forgetting his part. I soon became a voluntary "sub-assistant" to Mr.
Navaratnarajah. He rewarded me in the most unexpected way, by including me
in his group, when the play was staged in Kandy. It was my first visit to
the hill capital.

Mr. P. E.Rajendra, an excellent athlete, had been the Assistant Athletic
Coach at St. Patrick's College for several years, during which years, St.
Patrick's remained the unbeatable Athletic Champions. After some dispute at
St. Patrick's, he joined the staff at St. John's, vowing to train a team
from St. John's that would defeat St. Patrick's. He worked very hard towards
this goal, and transformed ordinary students who were idle in the evenings,
into top grade athletes. Within two or three years, he achieved his aim.
when St. John's became the Athletic Champions. It was a moment of great
triumph for everyone at St. John's. Soon afterwards, he entered the
University. of Ceylon as an undergraduate, and a few years later became the
Director of Physical Education at the University...ctd.

Recall of life at St.John,s College, Jaffna, Ceylon, 1940/1950s - Part 1.

by Dr. VICTOR A. BENJAMIN, FRCS, Former Consultant Surgeon, Department of Health, Ceylon.



In January 1937, I entered St. John's College, Jaffna, as a Fourth Standard
student, after studying at Chundikuli Girls' College. Miss. M. E. Van Den
Driesen was my first class teacher. She was called Lorna, a shortened
version of her name Eleanor. She was beautiful, intelligent, and very kind.
She is the only person who taught me at St. John's, who is still alive. She
leads a very active life in Australia at present.

I found the new environment at St. John's very exciting and different.
Ceylon was then a Crown Colony in the British Empire. St. John's was run by
the Church Missionary Society (or C.M.S) from Britain. Chundikuli Girls'
College, the school at Kopay, and a small school in Nallur also belonged to
the C.MS <http://c.ms/>. These were smaller schools, created long after St.
John 's had been recognized as a success. We were being educated to be the
discipline men of the future, on whom the country would depend. The status
in life which each of us would attain in later years was not important.
Whether in a humble, or in an exalted position, our conduct had to be
exemplary and honourable, at all times, so that others would identify us as
"Old Johnians" wherever we went. We were to be sportsmen, to whom winning or
losing did not matter, as long as we "played the game".

Reverend Henry Peto, M.A. was our Principal. He was proud of us, and we were
inspired by him. He had been Principal at .St John's from 1920, until his
tragic death by drowning in 1940, while sea bathing at Thondaimanaru, in the
company of two other teachers residing in Chundikuli. Henry Peto was a very
learned, energetic, benign looking, thin handsome man of average height, and
who was a very strict disciplinarian. He had a small dark brown coloured
Austin Seven car, a model that was referred to as the "Baby Austin ". We
referred to it as the "match box car". He was the Chaplain to St. John's,
and to Chundikuli Girls' College, when there was no other ordained clergyman
on the college staff to take this responsibility for the spiritual care of
the staff and the students. Sunday Church services in English were conducted
by the Principal, and the Chaplain (if one was available). There was a Holy
Communion service, early in the mornings, and an evening service (or
Evensong). Prefects and monitors felt very important, when their turn came
to read a lesson, and collect the offering at the Evensong. After the Sunday
evening service, it was customary for the boarders at both schools to walk
in an orderly fashion, in different processions separated by a safe
distance, to the beach beside the Jaffna lagoon. The distance separating the
procession of the girls, and that of the boys who followed, had an
unexplained tendency to diminish. This trip to the beach was quite popular
with many day scholars too, who would attend the evening service regularly,
in order to join in the march to the beach. Opportunities to communicate
with the girls by verbal, non-verbal, and body languages were great. It was
considered vulgar to go to the beach with the other students, unless one had
attended the church service preceding the excursion. Hence, many Hindu boys
eagerly came to church on Sunday evenings, and thereafter to the beach.

Mrs. Peto took upon herself to teach English singing to the students at St.
John's. These singing classes were held, during school hours, at the
Principal's bungalow. She would play the piano, and would lead in the
singing. These classes were part of the education at St. John's. Thus, the
boys at St. John's became good in many old and popular English Ballads.
Miss. Athisayam Sathianathan, who also was a good pianist and could sing
well, would assist Mrs. Peto. Miss. Sathianathan changed the life of another
teacher Mr. D. C. Arulanantham, who had returned in 1938, after
post-graduate studies in Britain, by getting married to him. They left St.
John's a few years later, when D. C. Arulanantham took up a senior staff job
in the Education Department in Colombo. When World War Two began in Europe
in 1939, Mrs. Peto was in England, where their children lived.

Rev. Peto enjoyed a regular swim in the sea off the North coast of the
Jaffna Peninsula. He. was an expert swimmer, and went further into the sea
than the others who accompanied him. On the fatal day when he got drowned,
he had got into difficulty by going too far into the sea. His body was
interred in St. John's Church Cemetery. His death was the saddest event that
I remember. A few years later, Rev. Peto 's son, Captain Morton Peto came to
St. John 's soon after the World War ended He was in his army uniform, and
was introduced to the students at a special college assembly, after which
there was a brief service at the grave side, when. wreaths were placed by
Captain Peto and our Principal.

The C.M.S. was unable to send another Missionary from Britain, to succeed
Peto as Principal of St. John's, because of the war. Their inability to send
an Englishman from Britain resulted in the very best choice being made in
the appointment of the next Principal. Our Vice-Principal, Rev. J. T.
Arulanantham became the new Principal of St. John's College. He proved an
extremely successful Principal. During his tenure as Principal, a number of
far reaching changes took place in the country in general, and specifically
in the field of education and in matters concerning schools, particularly
after I left the college. Changes and challenges that occurred after I left
St. John' s, fall outside the scope of this article.

During my time at St. John's, Rev. Arulanantham continued to teach
Scripture, even after becoming the Principal. He introduced ethics as an
alternate subject to cater for Non-Christian boys who did not wish to learn
Scripture as a subject. He made good use of the school assembly in the
mornings, to be an occasion to communicate his thoughts to the entire school
population. These included his reflections on moral, historical,
contemporary, local, and other issues, presented in a brief and very casual
talk, which did not have any of the features of a sermon, or class-room
teaching. A lot of preparation would have gone into making his message brief
and understandable to all the students, from the juniors to the seniors. He
never monopolized the assembly time, and allowed other teachers, and
occasional guests, the opportunity to talk to the students.

He had the capacity to rebuke students in the most inoffensive way, and with
a kind smile. He was capable of being stern, when the occasion merited it.
He was a deeply God-fearing man. He was always conscious of the demands of
the leadership role and responsibility, placed on him, when with unexpected
suddenness, he had to abruptly take over the Principalship of the College,
in succession to Rev. Peto, who had been Principal for twenty years.

Soon after Japan's entry into war, and the capture of almost every country
that Japan invaded, a severe shortage of food occurred in Ceylon. Therefore,
every bit of available ground in the college, as well as Jaffna homes, had
to be used to cultivate food crops, yams (such as manioc), and vegetables,
in addition to providing Air Raid Shelters in the form of trenches. Students
helped in the food production drive. The war ended in 1945, but the problems
did not cease immediately.

Free Education was introduced in 1945. Until then, students had to pay
school fees. If there were two brothers from the same family, the younger
brother paid only half the fee. If there were three brothers from the same
family, the youngest studied free. Two or three brothers from the same
family studying at the same time at school were not uncommon. But for four,
or more brothers to be in school together was exceptional. I distinctly
remember four brothers studying at the same time. It was from the Arnold
family. They were Marcus, Anton, Stanley and Earnest. Anton and Stanley were
my classmates. I believe that the Lewis family also had at least four, (and
possibly five) brothers studying at the same time at St. John's, during my
student days.

A new cinema theatre got built very close to the college and the church,
almost diagonally, across the road, and opposite the church cemetery. All
opposition from the college, the church, and the Chundikuli community had
been ignored. Music and drama from this new cinema theatre could be heard
over the loud speakers outside the cinema theatre, from even beyond the
Principal's residence and every boarding house in the college. A tea
boutique opened up for business, beside this cinema theatre. Undesirable
persons would loiter on the road, in front of these unwelcome intrusions
into the Chundikulj environment. The College responded by shifting its main
gate from Columbuthurai Road, to the road between the Old Park and the
College playgrounds. In the space of a few years, that offending cinema
theatre became a financial disaster, and was put for sale. There were no
buyers. This happened sometime after I had left St. John's. Eventually, St.
John's College purchased it, raising a loan to pay for this unwanted new
acquisition. It was the price to pay for being able to preserve the
neighbourhood for expansion of the educational activities of the college,
and meet the bigger challenges that followed in subsequent years.

Teachers during my time at school were unique. Until Japan entered the war,
and imported cloth became scarce, all the male teachers who chose the
western attire wore lounge suits made of imported cotton drill, hats (which
often looked like white helmets, with a strap going under the chin), socks
and polished lacing shoes. The lounge suites comprised of long trousers and
a matching traditional western coat, a shirt and tie. Those who opted to be
in National Attire were in immaculate white verti and long sleeved
collarless banian, complete with a white shawl. and less cumbersome
footwear. Mr. K. Nesiah, Mr. K. ("Kadavul") Subramaniam, Mr. M. S.
Thambithurai Mr. A. W. Rajasekaram and his brother Mr. A.Rajendram were
consistent in always being in the National Dress. Mr. Nesiah went further in
using 'KHADAR" or cloth made on a handloom, as a "cottage industry" for his
national dress. It was less dressy, but more durable. (Khadar was an
inspiration from the Great Mahatma Gandhi of India, and its usage was to
show to the rest of the world that he was an ardent follower of Gandhian
principles and teachings).

Mr. Nesiah had a M. A degree, and was a great intellect. He left St. John's
in 1945, to join the staff of St. Thomas' College, Mt. Lavinia. From there,
he joined the University of Ceylon when a Department of Education was
inaugurated at the University. He served for many years as Head of the
Department, in the University. "Kadavul" Subramaniam was the only Hindu
among the teachers at St. John's, during my time as a student. He was a
Tamil Scholar, and was always smiling and pleasant. I have never seen him
getting angry, and rebuking any student. He commanded the respect of all
students, with his personality, simplicity, and subtle sense of humour.

The teachers at St. John's, during my time as a student , comprised of a
harmonious multicultural group from several different ethnic origins. Apart
from the Tamils, we had a Dutch Burgher in Miss. M. E. Van Den Driesen.
Portuguese Burghers were represented in Mr.C.C. Jell, Mr. S. L. Jansen, and
Mr. A. G. Charles.

We had MaIayalees from Kerala with three different persons having the same
surname; they were P. I. Matthai, P. T. Matthai and T.M.Matthai. There were
referred to by their initials. Later arrivals from Kerala were Mr.K.K. John
and Miss. Abraham.

Another Indian was Mr. Bhlasingh, an academic who came from Madras.
Englishmen on the staff were Rev. Peto, (until his death), and followed
later on by Mr. P. C. Gaussen.

The Sinhalese teacher was Mr. C. H. Gunawardene.

This produced a "cultural and ethnic diversity" among the teachers at St.
John's. During that era, this was not, considered unique. It was part of
normal life in Ceylon.

Mr. C. C. Jell took it in good humour, when students chanted "C. C. Jell, Go
to Hell" His sudden death in 1937 or 1938 made us very sad. We had been
trying to dispatch him to "hell", when he was alive and well. We were sure
that there was a better place prepared for him in HEAVEN, and that he never
went to hell. Mr. A. G. Charles was the greatest storyteller we knew. He
enjoyed boasting about himself, his accomplishments, achievements,
adventures, exploits, and his versatility. His stories were very original,
and were invented by him. It was easy to divert his attention from the
formal teaching, by tempting him with a question for which the answer was
irrelevant. He would immediately invent an interesting new story, with
fascinating imaginary details and gestures that were spontaneous and
appropriate. It was superb education to be taught by Mr. Charles. It was
great fun to imitate Mr. Charles' story telling, and every class had a clown
who could mimic Mr. Charles. His punishment for any student who got caught
imitating him, or showing gestures of disbelief, or playful mockery, during
his story telling diversions, were two or three hard strokes with a thin
length of tamarind stick, which he always carried with him. Students would
invent all sorts of amusing tales (not founded on facts, and which were not
very complimentary), about Mr. Charles. Based on these tales, he earned a
unique nickname in Tamil, alleging mischievously that he considered as a
delicacy in food, an item, which no one else ever ate. He was loved and
feared at the same time. It was dangerous to incur his wrath. It was easy to
please him, by being part of a very appreciative audience listening to his
creative story telling. One of Mr. Charles' sons, and one of Mr. Jansen's
sons were my classmates.

Those of Portuguese descent in Jaffna used to converse with each other, both
within their homes, as well as outside, iii their own Portuguese language.
They were very industrious.

Digressing, during that era, there was a group of Protuguese Burgher men who
formed an impressive musical band in Jaffna town. They had several different
types of brass instruments like the trumpet, and bugle, and they had drums
of various sizes, ~trapped in front of them. They all wore white suits and a
peak-cap, and looked like admirals in their uniforms. They proudly marched
in front of funeral processions, playing appropriately solemn funeral music
and suitable hymns (such as "Nearer my God, to thee" of "Rock of ages, cleft
for me'). It was customary that apart from their fee, a generous amount of
arrack was also given to them. After the funeral was over, and they returned
from the graveyard to their homes, the band would change their musical
rhythm to livelier tunes, (such as "He's a jolly good fellow ", and even
Baila Hits of that era).

It is a pity that the Burgher community has disappeared completely from
Jaffna. Those of Dutch origin moved towards Colombo, after Ceylon got
independence in 1948, and then emigrated mainly to Australia after English
ceased to be the Official Language in 1956. The Portuguese Burghers slowly
integrated with the natives of Ceylon, by marrying the locals, and got
assimilated as Tamils, in Tamil areas, and lost their separate identity.

Mr. P. C. Gaussen was a handsome, tall, refined, bachelor, who went about on
a scooter. I think that he was the first person to introduce a motor scooter
to Jaffna. He had been a teacher in Espahan in Persia (or Iran), prior to
coming to St. John's as Vice-Principal, sometime after Rev. Arulanantham
became the principal. Gaussen taught me physics. Gaussen had an Oxford M. A
degree, and his main academic interest was in Architecture. The Science
Laboratory Building at St. John's was designed by Gaussen, as the architect.
Its original roof was beautiful and elegant, but had been more suitable for
the British climate. Many years later, the roof had to be redesigned and
altered to suit local Jaffna conditions. It was paradoxical in that while he
was a very friendly and polite man, he chose to be a bit aloof and
cultivated very little friendships with anyone in Jaffna. He was an idealist
and a perfectionist, who took his teaching seriously and was a good teacher.

I am not sure as to what happened to him in 1945, because Physics, the
subject he taught me; was taken over, initially by Mr. Peter Somasunderam,
and later by Miss. Abraham, who came from India. Gaussen probably went away
on Home Leave...Ctd.

Journey to Manipay, Jaffna, Sri Lanka, on the 20th December 2013.

I did a road trip by van to Jaffna on the 20th December 2013. I have broken up the collection of pictures I took on this journey into the following five parts. Please click on each of the web-links to get a grand-stand view of the journey. I used a Nikon D90 to take the pictures.

1. Mihinthale to Vavuniya:-

http://youtu.be/Tc_Oqy-_Vx4

2. Vavuniya to Mankulam:-

http://youtu.be/wNl4Z0S9jeY

3. Mankulam to Murikandy:-

http://youtu.be/9imAkTN4kJ4

4. Murikandy to Kaithady:-

http://youtu.be/Mgf1Ejv0t7k

5. Kaithady to Manipay:-

http://youtu.be/_Mgp9S9KHuI

Sinhala Youth From Australia Who Taught English to Tamil Schoolchildren in Jaffna - email from jksw

Old Boys of St John's College Jaffna] - 

The parents of this young boy should be commended.

Please refer attachment . It's worth circulating to our Alumni .

I received this just now from my friend in Sydney . I don't know why Rev Gnanaponrajah did not make any mention of this good natured young man during his visit recently.

Tuline

 
Sinhala Youth From Australia Who Taught English to Tamil Schoolchildren in Jaffna
  

Sinhala Youth.docx 52K   View   Download

Prof. Canagaraja and aims of education at St. Johns, Jaffna, Sri Lanka.

---

From: "Arjuna Ponnambalam" <bingyraj@gmail.com>
Sent: Sunday, July 14, 2013 9:27:06 AM
Subject: Fwd: The Story Of Johnians And The Controversial Practice In Our Teaching In Sri Lanka

This chap’s father was Rasan Hitchcock Canagarajah a teacher. He married a Cynthia Thevathasan also a teacher at the girls’ school. They had three boys and a girl. Two boys are now professors at US universities and the third is with the IMF in Washington. The girl was a teacher at Methodist College, Colombo and died a few years back of Dengue fever.  This boy is the eldest child.

Nice speech.  Enjoy.

Subject: The Story Of Johnians And The Controversial Practice In Our Teaching In Sri Lanka

The Story Of Johnians And The Controversial Practice In Our Teaching In Sri Lanka

July 10, 2013 | Filed under: Colombo Telegraph,Opinion | Posted by: COLOMBO_TELEGRAPH

By Suresh Canagarajah -

Suresh Canagarajah

It is a pleasure to be back in my alma mater on its 190th anniversary. All old boys will agree that we owe a lot to St John’s College for all that we have achieved here in Sri Lanka and abroad in our personal and professional lives. I want to start with two brief stories to demonstrate how the foundation provided by St John’s has helped me in my academic career. I hope that these stories show our students how a strong and meaningful early education is important for our success.

When I went to the US for graduate education from University of Jaffna, I was worried that the knowledge there would be so advanced that I won’t be able to follow the courses. For one particular course, I thought I should talk to the professor before the class to see if he would recommend that I delay following that course. Professor John Baugh spoke with me for about ten minutes and asked me what books I had read in my field and which scholars I knew. Half way through the conversation, his eyes widened, and he said, “Do you realize that you are one of the most widely read students in this department? You obviously have good reading skills and academic training. Where did you get this educational foundation?”

My mind immediately went to my training at St John’s. From my early grades here, St John’s has always reserved time for the library. Students were taken to the Handy Library for a whole class period, to learn how to search for books, get familiar with the cataloguing system, and read quietly without talking to others in the silence of the library. That experience trained me in many things. It developed an appreciation for books, it disciplined me to focus on the reading, and it inculcated patience to read without distractions. It is this training that helped me to cultivate my reading habit. When I went to the US, I found that I was not only ready for my graduate education, I could also overcome the new academic challenges I faced there because of the reading skills St John’s had developed in me.

My second story relates to the skills of public speaking and memory. The college has always reserved time for literary associations, speech competitions, and concerts. Particularly challenging to me was the Tamil Oratory competition in upper school. We were provided a choice of topics, given a few hours to prepare, and then expected to stand before three judges and the audience to deliver the speech. This competition required good skills of thinking, planning, memory, and spontaneous delivery. This is because the time given was not enough to write a whole speech and read it. The skills I developed from this experience still remain with me. I still prepare the outline of my talk mentally, organize the points effectively, and speak without writing down the whole speech. This skill sometimes surprises my listeners. Recently, a senior professor from the US took me aside after I gave the keynote in a major professional conference and whispered: “That was a great talk. But tell me the truth: you wrote the talk and then memorized it, right?” She was surprised by my memory (that I can speak for an hour without notes), organization skills (that the talk was still very coherent), and delivery (that it was done with confidence). I had to explain that the talk wasn’t written or memorized. I had developed all the skills she mentioned during my early education at St John’s.

What is interesting about both examples is that these skills of reading, speaking, thinking, and planning cannot be developed on a single day or in a short time. You can’t develop them simply before an examination or a lecture. They take time to develop. It is for this reason that a solid educational foundation is important. The habits and practices we develop in childhood support us in the challenges we face later in life. They develop further and help us achieve even more complex and demanding tasks. Many scholars think that some of these skills are dying today. Young people are losing the discipline of reading consistently for a long period of time because technology offers them instant and disconnected messages from multiple media. Memory is impoverished as students depend on readymade sources for information and are not expected to remember them for future use. I would suggest that the skills St John’s developed in me are still valuable and have helped countless former students succeed in their education and professions.

These skills are part of the tradition of St John’s. From its very beginning, the college has given a high place for these skills. The first school library association was started in 1890. There are other Johnian traditions everyone in Jaffna and even in Sri Lanka talks about. The college is well known for developing a solid background in English, cultivating a good discipline, and providing a balanced education that includes spirituality, sports, and extracurricular activities. However, we cannot remain satisfied with these traditions. When we have profound social changes around us, both locally and globally, we have to reconsider what new traditions we have to develop to serve our students and communities better. So, I want to focus in this talk on five changes we need in education to respond to the changes around us. To make it easier for students to remember them, each of the changes I propose starts with the letter C. Let me see if you can remember them after this talk!

The first change to consider is orientating to learning as creative. We have to focus on creating new knowledge rather than repeating old knowledge. There has been an observation that while western communities are good in inventing new things, eastern communities are good in applying and implementing them. Is there something in the culture of the western people that values novelty, while eastern people value tradition and orthodoxy? This attitude to knowledge could also be because we in Asia give so much importance to examinations, which cultivate a focus on established knowledge and the ability to repeat it. However, learning involves more than passing an examination. Our students have to also produce new findings, discover new knowledge, and invent new technology. If not, we will always be followers of other communities rather than leaders. We will also not be able to develop our own communities in the ways that are relevant for us.

Consider how students are encouraged to be creative in the United States. Every year, there are nationwide science competitions for school students to display their new inventions. One of the winners in this year’s competition was Eesha Khare from California, whose parents come from India. She produced a supercapacitator, a gadget that will fully charge cell phones in 20 seconds, in extremely short time. She won a prize of 50,000 dollars, which she is going to use to attend Harvard. These inventions are not playful. They actually lead to industrial production and make real changes in people’s lives. Eesha is already courted by major high tech companies. They say “Necessity is the mother of invention.” In our community now, we have a lot of need. We have experienced a lot of destruction during the war. You can invent things that make a difference in the lives of our people.

Change number two: learning should be critical. By critical, I mean that we should have a questioning attitude towards knowledge and facts. This is connected to the previous change. We cannot be creative without questioning old knowledge. Asian communities don’t always encourage a questioning attitude because they believe that authorities such as parents, teachers, and leaders know what is right for everyone. Questioning is discouraged because it is considered a challenge to those in authority. I think the tragedies of our community in our recent history have resulted from our inability to question our leaders. Eventually, such an unquestioning attitude led to destructive policies and actions.

However, questioning doesn’t mean rejecting everything that our community holds as important. A critical learning can actually help us understand and appreciate our traditions and values. It can also help us understand our limitations and work towards formulating new values and traditions. Questioning can start from what goes in our schools and go all the way to what goes in our country and even in the world. Consider how students in a school in the United States, Wilcox County High School in Georgia, engaged in critical thinking. Their school had a tradition of holding two year-end parties—one for white students, the other for colored students. This April, some students thought this tradition was flawed. They wanted to establish a new tradition in which students from all the races can have one unified party. A group of four students from different racial backgrounds organized a committee to plan this party. There was considerable opposition from their town. There was talk that these students will be punished or ostracized. However, these students didn’t give up. Eventually, when they held a successful party for all the racial groups, their story was in the national news media. They were applauded by the whole country for inventing a new tradition for their school.

Change number three: learning as civic. Civic means relating to the community we live in and being good citizens. Do we see our learning connected to making a better living condition for our community? Or do we engage only in learning for the sake of learning? If our only objective in going to school is to get all A’s in the AL examinations, learning is not civic. It is selfish. Our competitive examinations have made us focus only on displaying our own mastery of knowledge, rather than considering how this knowledge can be used in the service of our community. The civic attitude can enhance learning rather than distracting students from education.

Consider the example of civic learning from a school in the United States. In the city of Madison some years back, teachers in a high school divided their students into small groups and gave them projects relating to some burning issues in their community. Students had to study the problem and write a report on how to solve it. One group focused on the increasing rates of asthma in their town. The four students divided the responsibilities among themselves. One student visited local communities and talked to parents and leaders about their view that pollution was causing asthma. Another student interviewed the municipal authorities in the town on sanitary conditions. The third student did library research on news reports and scholarly research on the connection between asthma and environmental pollution. The fourth student interviewed scientists in the local university to understand how pollution caused asthma. As they conducted this project, the students were sharpening their learning skills—they were reading advanced research and news material; they were developing interviewing skills; they were writing reports on what they observed and learned. Their motivation to solve the problem in their community made all this learning interesting and engaging. Eventually, they wrote a combined final report on their recommendations on how reducing environmental pollution can reduce the rate of asthma and submitted it to the mayor. When they connected their education to solving a problem in their community, the students found learning motivating, meaningful, and enjoyable.

That example also illustrates the fourth change I wish to propose: learning as collaborative. What we see in the Madison example is how students work together, pool their collective strengths, and collaborate in solving a problem. There is more strength and more knowledge when four people put their heads together. More importantly, collaborative learning develops a new attitude and value towards learning, based on cooperation. The examination-based learning in our community has developed in us a lot of selfishness. Each student for himself or herself, seems to be the guiding principle. We are expected to show how we can outsmart the other students. However, in the adult world of work, we need to collaborate with others to solve problems or implement changes.

While collaboration between students is important, another sort of collaboration now involves teachers and students. Even teachers are adopting the attitude that they are not there to lecture to students, pretend they are the sole authorities on all kinds of knowledge, or give the right answers that have to be accepted uncritically. Teachers now think of themselves as facilitators of learning. They arrange the class, texts, and assignments in such a way that students can collaborate with each other and with teachers to learn creatively and critically. In my teaching in the US, I am always open to the possibility that some students might know more about certain areas or topics than me. When I am asked a question for which I don’t know the answer, I immediately confess that and promise to find it out in the next class rather than giving students a false answer simply to save my honor. I am open to being challenged by students on some of my positions, and engage in a dialogue with them to move to a higher understanding. Rather than portraying me as a weak teacher, this collaborative attitude actually shows that I am strong and confident. I know what I know that I can be humble about my limitations and be open to learning new knowledge from others.

This attitude is going to be difficult for Sri Lankan teachers who are treated like Gods. I want to discuss a particularly controversial practice in our teaching in this country that is drawing a lot of attention these days: Caning, or corporal punishment. Recently, I have received many email messages from Tamil people living abroad. They tell me: Teachers in Sri Lanka seem to have no limits on how they can use either the cane or their own hands in hitting their students. In some cases, this goes beyond punishment to physical abuse. Students end up with marks all over their body. We have to start a discussion in our community on the relative effectiveness of caning versus non-physical punishment.

Physical punishment has been banned in many countries. It has been absent from French schools since the 19th century. In 2008 a teacher was fined for slapping a student in France. In UK, in state-run schools, and also in private schools where at least part of the funding came from government, corporal punishment was outlawed by Parliament with effect from 1987. The Supreme Court of Canada outlawed caning in 2004. In the US, it is left to each state to develop a policy for schooling. Majority of the states have banned caning in public schools. New Jersey was the earliest to ban it in 1867. Physical punishment has also been banned from many socialist countries because they believe that it is contrary to socialist values. From the 1917 revolution onwards, corporal punishment was outlawed in Russia and the Soviet Union. Other socialist countries have followed this practice. In all these countries, if a teacher hits a student, he or she will be taken to the courts.

However, not caning or hitting the student doesn’t mean not punishing. Punishment is important for cultivating discipline. But certain non-corporal forms of punishment can be more effective. For example, my 11 year old son is very talkative in the class. He is very naughty and gets punished a lot. But he has never been slapped or caned. Teachers have many other good options. They can detain him after school or keep him in the class while others are playing during the interval. When other students earn reward points for being good, he will lose his points. These points are used at the end of the school year to buy things donated by parents. In the worst case, the parents can be called up (which my wife and I did once) or he can be suspended from school (which hasn’t happened to him yet: Thank God!). Some of these forms of punishment are very effective because they motivate my son to be good on his own recognition. He has the choice of either earning points or losing them, and suffer the consequences at the end of the year. So, caning motivates students negatively through fear and pain, rather than positively by encouraging students to do better.

I know that many parents and teachers in our community feel “aTiyaata maaTu paTiyaatu” ( The bull/cow which is not whipped will not learn) and feel that caning is the only form of effective punishment. But soon we have to come to terms with the changing orientations to punishment and schooling around the world. We are living in a connected world where events and practices in one community are relayed to others in a matter of minutes. If a student in Jaffna gets beaten this morning, his uncles, aunts, and cousins in UK, Canada, Australia, and the US know within minutes how many times he was beaten, how many marks he has on his body, and which doctor he was taken to. So many Tamil people abroad have started asking: “Why is this primitive practice still continuing in our community? Why are teachers so abusive, angry, and out of control with their students? Are teachers taking out their own frustrations on their students? Is caning a legalized form of cruelty in our community? Is caning a reflection of how our community has become comfortable with violence after many years of war?”

That brings me to the final point: learning as cosmopolitan. Cosmopolitan means being a global citizen. Today we cannot separate ourselves from developments in other communities. As I just mentioned, we cannot think anymore that what we do in Jaffna will remain isolated in Jaffna. Within minutes it is known all over the world. More broadly, our fate is interconnected with the fate of other communities. Think of the global economic crisis, climate change, nuclear arms, and environmental pollution. What one community does affects all of us. So, it is important for our students to develop the attitudes, values, and orientations to consider other cultures and people. However, being cosmopolitan doesn’t mean losing our own values and identity. A better approach is to be proud of who we are, as we engage with other cultures. This is a two-way process. We can evaluate the things we learn from others from the point of view of our own culture and society. But we should also be open-minded so that we can be self-critical and change our values and traditions. In fact, when we engage with other cultures and learn new perspectives, we might in fact rediscover the secrets and wisdom of our communities that we may have forgotten over time.

Let me apply cosmopolitanism to my talk this morning. Are the new traditions of learning I am proposing influenced by my engagement with other cultures? To some extent they are. I am now a teacher educator—that means a person who trains others to be teachers. What I have shared with you are the principles that guide my teaching philosophy when I teach students from US and many other countries to become good teachers. However, remember that I started this talk by appreciating some of the traditions St John’s shaped me with—i.e., reading, speaking, thinking, and planning. I criticized many trends in the western world—such as instant communication and multi-tasking—that are leading young people to losing these important skills. St John’s should continue to develop the positive traditions in its history. However, there are other ways in which St John’s should develop a new educational tradition—namely,learning as creative, critical, civic, collaborative, and cosmopolitan. Even these are not new to our culture. My engagement with other cultures helps me rediscover elements in our culture that we may have forgotten. So think about Auvayaar’s saying “kaTRatu kai maNNaLavu kallaatatu uLakaLavu” (i.e., What we know is a fistful, what we don’t know is a world full.) This verse reminds us why we have to think of learning as creative, collaborative, and critical. No one can be satisfied with what we already know. We have to constantly critique what we accept as truths. Or think of Puranaanuuru: “yaatum ooree yaavarum keeLir” (i.e., Every place is our village, every person our kin). This verse reminds us of the importance of cosmopolitanism and engaging in civic learning that is useful to all people.

The changes that I spell out this morning have also been present in the missionary history of our school. Just think of the founder of our school Joseph Knight. When he came to Sri Lanka in July 1818, he was a representative of the Church Missionary Society. This society opposed the practice of treating Africans as slaves. They thus displayed critical thinking. Before he started classes for local students in Nallur, he first learnt Tamil language with the help of a local Hindu priest. It must have been difficult for both parties to engage in such learning. Knight would have thought of the Hindu priest as a heathen, and the priest would have thought of Knight as unclean. It is said that the Hindu priest used to stop by at a village well after these classes to cleanse himself before he went home. Despite their cultural differences, both people collaborated in learning from each other. That was not only collaborative learning, it was also cosmopolitanism. Both didn’t change their own systems of belief; but that didn’t prevent them from cooperating and learning from each other and enriching their world view. Knight went on to lay the foundation for the first Tamil/English bilingual dictionary. When the Winslow’s Comprehensive Tamil and English Dictionary was published in Madras in 1862, the preface acknowledges how Rev. Knight had started and contributed to this project. That was civic learning—i.e., knowledge that was useful to other people. There is also creativity, because Knight sought new knowledge. He started a comparative exploration of Tamil and English that we are still continuing today. Knight went on to start lessons for 7 students in his house in March 1823, before renovating the decaying Old Dutch Church at Nallur and getting permission from the government to start a school there. Motivated by a vision and sprit of service, Knight established a new institution and invented new traditions that have gone on to be a blessing to thousands of youth in our town.

Today there is a similar challenge for all of us to be missionaries, path breakers, tradition-builders in our community. With one history of our community coming to an end, we are in the beginning of another. We are almost starting from scratch. Buildings have been demolished, community leaders killed, families displaced, students orphaned. The question for our school is: what kind of education is going to address the changes around us. The task of slowly rebuilding our community is starting. Old boys have been sending money to St John’s to put up new buildings and support displaced and orphaned students. But an important question everyone is asking now is this: St John’s is proud of the new buildings it has put up; but is it paying enough attention to building the moral, spiritual, and intellectual life of its students? Should the school be more interested in building up the quality of education needed for the new age?

This is the time to initiate new traditions of learning and education for St John’s College. Though we may be materially disadvantaged, we are still culturally, spiritually, and intellectually rich. Buildings may be destroyed; but nothing can destroy our mind and soul. Nothing can stop someone’s mind from growing, influencing others, shaping the environment around us, conquering disadvantages, and achieving great things. This is the story of Johnians from the past. We grew up in a disadvantaged community, with less buildings than you have now. But that didn’t stop us from achieving impressive things on the global stage. It was not about what material resources we had. It was about what cultural, spiritual, and intellectual resources we developed in our community. You students can still achieve all that. You can develop to be powerful inventors, thinkers, and leaders, though now you may not have a house over your heads, family to care for you, or enough things to provide a comfortable life.

Remember our school motto: “Light shineth in darkness”. It is precisely at this time in our history that we are called upon to shine. And the only thing light can do, something that comes naturally to it, is shine! I wish the staff of St John’s college, the parents, the local community, and especially the students the very best as they work towards building more meaningful educational traditions for the future.

Speech by Prof. Suresh Canagarajah,Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Applied Linguistics and English, Pennsylvania State University, USA, at the THE ANNUAL PRIZE GIVING was held on Saturday 6^th July, 2013, at St.John’s college Jaffna in Sri Lanka