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Newsletter of
AUGUST 2003 ISSUE 3
Message from the President
The school at
It is interesting to reflect that all these sons of
Wesley belong to associations which bind them in “one fraternal band” – a band
of double blue brotherhood. To be present at a typical gathering of these “old
boys”, in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, London, Colombo, or anywhere else they
may meet, is a worthwhile experience. The ages will range from 90 to 25, all
shapes and sizes, various backgrounds and occupations, with a typical sample
showing, motor mechanics, accountants, TV technicians, a hairdresser, an
engineer, a printer, doctors, company executives, musicians, public servants,
university professors, railway drivers and guards, stock brokers, businessmen,
journalists, as well as the retirees. They are as diverse in ethnic and
religious origin as the population of Sri- Lanka is, however they are all as
ONE. This is the one common legacy bestowed upon all of us by our beloved
Wesley.
In a world today where violence in the name of
ethnic freedom or religious fervour is commonplace it
is a wonderful statement on the understanding, tolerance and love of old
Wesleyites to see them in true fellowship and camaraderie, with the only
thought of colour being “double blue”. I fervently hope and pray that we could not
only continue this for many more generations to come but by our example show
the bigots and intolerant ones the true brotherhood of man.
The Annual Double Blue Ball is scheduled for the 18
of October and the Committee hopes to see as many of our “old boys” as possible
make a special effort to attend and to bring their family and friends along to
enjoy the evening.
ORA ET LABORA
Trevor Collette
Editorial….
A couple of months ago Mr Langston Joseph, an old boy of Wesley
College, respected senior member of the O.B.U. in Melbourne, former Editor of
this Bulletin and long time family friend, passed on to me two heavy cartons
marked simply “Wesley College correspondence and archival material”.
The cartons remained unopened in my garage for several weeks until last
Sunday evening when I decided to take a look at what Langston had entrusted to
my care.
I came across lots of old photographs, letters, a Prize Day programme dated 1938, a copy of the Wesley College Magazine
dated September 1935, newspaper cuttings, cricket fixture cards and press
reports on inter collegiate cricket matches, all of which were many years old.
The cartons are like a Time Capsule from another era, which gives us a
glimpse of what life at
I noticed that the sentiments expressed nearly a century ago are
identical with the views we write about and speak of today. Very little has
changed.
I believe that there is an urge within us –
the need to preserve those things that we regard as important – to ensure that
we pass on to future generations something of value which defines what and who
we were.
That is why Langston held on to these
items. He knew what they represent, and
what they meant to boys of Wesley so many years ago.
We all possess this
instinct, to perpetuate ourselves. That
is why I also believe that the human race will survive. We are here for the long haul. We have already survived the Ice Age, Stone
Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age and Space Age.
We are facing a tough time, globally, right now but that also will
pass. There will be hard times ahead,
but we will overcome them.
“Past and present kindly meet,
Each the other proudly greet……”
We are the custodians of a
mighty tradition.

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A
new look at old Books……..

by
“It
was in the month of May, and before either railways or motors had carried their
blessings into the northern plains of Ceylon, that a friend drove me in his pony
trap along a grass road through the forest some twenty miles south of the
buried city…………..”………….. MAGIC!
These
words were first printed in January 1930, when the author’s travels took him
deep into the jungle, looking for the sites of forgotten cities, lost in
history and overrun by a thousand years of tropical growth.
It
is a beautifully written work that has never been out of print. The copy on my shelves, to which I frequently
return, is almost forty years old. John Still’s affection for Ceylon (as it was
then), it’s village people, customs and natural beauty, all as they were before
the onset of WWII, is a delight to read.
It
is rare, almost impossible to discover contemporary works that are so beautifully expressive as the author describes travelling through jungle and plain in an ancient land for
the first time.
This
is an excellent book, so beautifully descriptive of a time that has long gone,
but about places that still exist.
- Strongly recommended…. Get
yourself a copy -
Here
are some U.K. Press opinions:
Illustrated
“Mr
Still combines an exquisite touch in word-painting and a power of vivid
narrative…. …
His
book is, indeed, a work of genius”
“At
describing the jungles of
Times
Literary Supplement
“Both
for the expert knowledge which it contains and for the care and workmanship put
into it, it is a book to be read and returned to:.
- Editor -
“………if one perseveres and works on without
minding the rest, if one tries honestly and freely to fathom nature and does
not lose hold of what one has in mind, whatever people may say, one feels calm
and faces the future quietly. Yes, one
may make mistakes, one may exaggerate here or there, but the thing one makes
will be original”
Vincent Van Gogh
(1853
– 1890)

Caring for the
less-fortunate
Let’s give credit where credit is due.
The Eighty Club Melbourne Inc.,
was founded several years ago to provide financial assistance to folk living in
Over the years, membership has increased
dramatically and, through the efforts of a dedicated committee who consistently
come up with fresh fund raising events, plus generous voluntary contributions
from members, the Eighty Club now regularly assists an increasing number of
persons to meet the financial demands of education for school-age children,
medical expenditure, house rent, provisions, and other various living expenses.
They also operate a programme
of student sponsorship that provides free vocational training to students who
have been successful at G.C.E. or other examinations.
A fund raising luncheon was held on Sunday 13 July,
and it was good to see several members of our own Wesley O.B.U. among those
present, especially as they had also patronized the O.B.U. Curry Night the
previous evening.
We salute the Eighty Club of Melbourne Inc., for
undertaking such a worthy cause and doing it so well.
We can all take lessons from these good folk.
All correspondence should be sent to:
The Editor
Double Blue Bulletin
Dates to Remember:
2003 October 18th - Annual Dinner Dance
November - Trip to NSW
December - Seniors’ Night
2004 February - Club Night
February - Cricket Tournament


President Trevor Collette
Tel: (03) 9706 1084
Vice
President Bryan Wijeyekoon
Tel: 0409 554 582
Hony Secretary Dayantha
Makalanda
Tel:
(03) 9407 9416
Treasurer Kenneth Mahamooth
Tel:
(03) 8707 2897
Editor George Robertson
Tel:
(03) 9782 4789
Committee Reg Bartholomeusz
Tel:
(03) 9949 3141
Rodney
de Kretser
Tel:
(03) 9848 4623
Daryl
Koch
Tel:
(03) 9408 7300
Keith
Rozairo
Tel: 0419 312 849
Postal Address
Mulgrave 3170
Email obua@wesleycollege.org
Website www.wesleycollege.org
HSAT Peiris-
a dyed in Blue Wesleyite
HSAT Peiris or Shelton Peiris to past and present Wesleyites can boast of a
connection with Wesley spanning nearly 70 years. Perhaps, it was not entirely co-incidental
that he was born on March 2nd, which is also celebrated at Wesley as Founder’s
Day.
During the 2nd World War, Wesley’s Buildings were
commandeered by Military Authorities, and Wesley was literally dis-banded except for a small number of pupils, which
included Edmund Dissanayake and
To many in the mid 1940’s, two persons stood out
from among the students, and that was Shelton Peiris,
standing tall in his clean white starched suit as Senior Prefect, assisted by
Edmund Dissanayake his Lieutenant and Cricket Captain. Many a boy froze with
some fear when they encountered
Upon leaving School Shelton was persuaded by Rev.Cartman to join the College staff. He functioned as the first Secretary of the
Parent Teacher Association. He also initiated students into forming groups that
attended Welikada Prisons and instructed inmates in
English, Sinhala, and Tamil. He took charge as master
in charge of Boxing, Prefect of Games, and functioned as the Chief Librarian.
He was also the Scoutmaster 14th Colombo Group.
On leaving Wesley, his efforts continued unabated.
He was the obvious choice to become the Editor- in- Chief of the Centenary
Souvenir. His efforts in this matter can now be sufficiently appreciated as it
was the time of limited funds, and above all the absence of Computers and Word
Processors which has greatly simplified such work now.
He was always seeking out Wesleyites, to whom honour was due. Ranis Appuhamy the school attendant, who served Wesley for 60
years, was remembered by a plaque placed in his memory at the base of the south
tower of the
He organized the Centenary thanksgiving for the life
and work of Rev. Henry Highfield (1895-1995).
Once again when the 125th College Anniversary was
celebrated,
“From
With regard to Anniversary Souvenirs,
He has been an active member of the Old Boys Union
for several decades as a Vice President, and latterly as a Vice Patron. He has
represented the OBU as a member of the College Governing Board. His most recent
activity was to form the Past Teachers Fellowship of which he is the Founder
President.
For a number of years he was active in the YMCA
membership Secretary, and continues as a preacher to this day. He was an active chaplain and later President
of the Gideons International. He was the Hon
Secretary of the Denipitiya Medical Mission in the
South and helped vigorously in their work.
Yohan’s
Former student of Wesley wins Prestigious International award……….

Twenty-one-year old Yohan Ferreira became the first
Sri Lankan to attend the International Space School (ISS) at the U.S. National
Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Johnson Space Center (JSC) in
In an unrelated event, Yohan beat contestants from
around the world to win the 2002 Hakluyt Prize,
awarded annually by the International Mars Society for the best student letter
to world leaders advocating a manned mission to Mars. Yohan sent his letter via e-mail to 319 world
leaders and deputy leaders, members of the United States Senate Science Sub
Committee, the Council of Europe and the European Parliament. The Hakluyt Prize
is name after Richard Hakluyt, the tireless
pamphleteer whose writings convinced Queen Elizabeth I and the circle around
her to take the policy decisions that made possible the British settlement of
Yohan flew to
Lecturers at the
Shuttle, Apollo, Mercury, Gemini spacecrafts),
managers, and technicians from
Students also worked as members of one of four teams
on a simulated First Human International Mission to Mars. The four teams were: Logistics (Green), Getting
There (Red), Living There (White) and Working There (Blue). Yohan was the Mission Control Prep Officer
for the Logistics (Green) team and also responsible for the mission’s time
line.
The program also involved several tours around the
many facilities at JSC, including the world famous Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory
(NBL) used to train astronauts in a weightless environment, the Advanced Space
Propulsion Laboratory (ASPL) to witness the latest in rocket technology – a
plasma engine in operation, Space Shuttle simulator at the Jake Garn Mission
Simulator and Training Facility, the International Space Station and Space
Shuttle Mock-up Training Facility, the Sonny Carter Training Facility,
Ellington Field where T-38 astronaut training aircrafts are based, Rocket Park,
the Astrobiology and Astromaterials Research &
Exploration Science Institute where meteorites are analysed
, the Moon Lab where lunar rocks are analysed, the Space Shuttle Mission Control Center, the
International Space Station Mission Control Center and the old Apollo Mission
Control Center.
A memorable graduation ceremony was held at the
Yohan has been a NASA volunteer, working as an
Education and Public Outreach Coordinator for NASA Quest and several other NASA
outreach programs via the Internet, since September 2000. NASA Quest is a Kindergarten to Grade 12
(K-12) educational outreach website based at NASA’s