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ARCHIVES
GOLD FULL
LIFE MEMBERS |
ASSOCIATE GOLD
LIFE MEMBERS |
Mr. Maxwell Rozairo |
Mrs. Yasmin Rozairo |
Mr. Dunstan Kelaart |
Mrs. Dilly Kelaart |
Pastor Brian Pereira |
Mr. Sapphany Pillai Ramesh |
Mrs. Romany Pereira |
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Mr. Trevor Ludowyke |
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Mr. Keith Claesen |
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Mrs. Barbie Claessen |
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Mrs. Arlene Ramesh (Nee Van Heer) |
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Mrs. Pam Weerasinghe (Nee Van Dort) |
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Mrs. Shirlene Chiba |
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Mr. Emil Kronemberg |
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Mr. Leon Daniels |
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Mrs. Yvonne D' Rosario |
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Mr. Steve A. Morrell |
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To apply for Gold Life membership click here...
Past Presidents of the Burgher Association |
2001~2003 |
Maxwel Rozairo |
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2003~2008 |
Dunstan Kelaart |
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2008~2010 |
Trevor Ludowyke |
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2010~2014 |
Hans Beekmeyer |
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2014~2015 |
James Rebert |
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2015~2017 |
Lt. Col.(Retd.) Shane Balthazaar |
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Past Executive Committees
2018/2019
2017/2018
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2015/2016 With Board of Directors
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2014/2015
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2013/2014
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2012/2013
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2011/2012
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2008/2010
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2006/2007
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2005/2006
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2004/2005
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2003/2004
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The Burgher Association Leather Ball Cricket Team 2006
Lenten Charity Project
THE 25 BURGHER CHILDREN RECIPIENTS NAMES AND HOME TOWNS IN UVA
ShenalVyse Badulla
Chris Pereira Diyatalawa
TrimaliThomasz Badulla
KrishaneThomasz Badulla
Shean Arnold Bridge Hali Ella
Trishan Derrick Bridge Hali Ella
Judy Thomasz Badulla
KushaniBerty Bandarawela
Dennis Morrit Bandarawela
Stephan Mathiasz Bandarawela
Kevin Cedric Morley Bandarawela
DeliciaMcShane Bandarawela
Brian ShaneMorrit Bandarawela
Sheryl Pearl Perera Haputale (Mum is A Miss Martyn)
Amenda Bernadette Perera Bandarawela (Mum is a Miss Keil)
JanithVandagert Badulla
ImeshaVandagert Badulla
Dinali B Joseph Wellawaya
YasasDissanayake Badulla (Mum is a Miss Barthelot)
HashiniVyse Badulla
John Charles Erskin Bandarawela
Dilan Shan Dissanayake Badulla (Mum is a Miss Barthelot)
Pravishka Harding Badulla
Maria Nishadi Harding Badulla
Agatha Gamage Badulla. (Mum is a Miss Harding)
List of Donors for the Lenten Charity Project 2013
FROM AUSTRALIA
Noel & Yvonne Werkmeister
Larraine Muller
Raelene Holsinger
George Kelaart
Rita Young
Chris Gonsal
Kevin Van Twest
Brad Van Twest
William Rezel
Rozanne Clark
Chris Kumar
Kingsley Van Twest
Jacqui De Kretser
Sean Clark
Anonymous
Local Donors
Leon Lewis
Corwin Fernando
Jackie Dias
Maureen Pollocks
Nigel Coggins
Tatum Arnolda
Helen Arnolda
Maureen De Soysa
Dileepa Livera
Jean Arnolda
Ramona Pollocks
Sureni Gunawardene
Janet Dias
Warren Solomonsz
Sean Avory
Caryl Sela
Nihal Delpechitra
Dennis De Rosayro
Shane & Jayanthi Balthazaar
Hans & Melissa Beekmeyer
Kenneth & Melina De Motte
Carlo & Dawn De Kretser
Shirlene & Michiko Chiba
Kevin & Sharon Lord
Christopher & Umi Rebert
Winston & Gwendoline Adams
Leon & Judy Daniels
Roy & Roshan Martenstyn
Friends from NKar Travels
Stefan, Warren & Natasha Balthazaar
Marlon and Sarita Oorloof
Maureen Seneviratne
Daphne Raymond
Ramani & Dudley Siriwardene
Roland Barsenbech
Sri Rajan Fernandopulle
Donors who cared to share
TRINCOMALEE Charity PROJECT FOR Lent March 2012
OUR DONORS
Noel Werkmeister )
Rita Young )Australia
Larraine Muller )
Gwennie De Silva & Son )
Ian Lord
Clifford & Doreen Bocks
Carl Fernando
Decima De Crusz
Carryl Rozairo
Ranjith Kodikara
Jerry & Jasmine Anderson
Helen, Roger & Tatum Arnolda
Nihal & Shiromi Delpechitra
Shane & Jayanthi Balthazaar
Dirk & Marlene Williams
Carlo & Dawn De Kretser
Shirlene Chiba
Natasha, Warren & Stefan Balthazaar
Kenneth & Melina De Motte
Hans & Melissa Beekmeyer
Kenneth & Rosetta Beekmeyer
Trevor, Dayan & Idina Georgesz
Mr & Mrs Ranjan De Silva
Mr & Mrs J De Zilwa
Steve & Bernadette Wilson
Ian & Michelle Sylva
Roy Martenstyn
Russel & Sonia De La Motte
Rosemary & Placidus Outschoorn
Monica Ludowyke
Heather & Ray Pompeus
Anabelle & Myrtle Perera
Winston & Gwendoline Adams
Rienzie & Liz Diaz
Loretta & Franklyn Fernando
Jackie Jayasekera
Diane Solomonsz
Janet Munasinghe
Jackie Dias
Dileepa Livera
Ramona Pollocks
Maureen De Souza
Leon & Judy Daniels
Grateful Recipients of the Charity Project in Trincomalee
The Burgher Association CHARITY PROJECT IN TRINCOMALEE during LENT March 2012
THE 50 RECIEPIANTS ... SAMBANTIVU TRINCOMALEE , OF THE FIFTY HAMPERS DONATED BY THE BURGHER ASSPCIATION ON 25th MARCH 2012 AT THE PASTORAL CENTRE UPPUVELI Trincomalee.
1 Lourdes Xavier Ockersz ----
2 Constance Johnston -----
3 Christopher Adams -----
4 Johnston Ockersz ----
5 Mary C Rosairo Nic 801694870 V
6 Hyacinth Barnes ------
7 Alareen Ockersz -----
8 Devasaya Adams Nic 828063588 V
9 Philomena Mary Jonathan Nic 478542402 V
10 Valentine Barthelot Nic 65703291 V
11 Felecian Jansen Nic 855972360 V
12 Sherene Williams Nic 805774886 V
13 B Christy Robin Nic 531912497 V
14 Leslie Thiele Nic 528441866 V
15 Imelda Grace Nic 6062 52323 V
16 Mary Magdalene Nic 407521030 V
17 Aloma Lappen Nic 657212032 V
18 Noeline Anthony Nic 785361777 V
19 S ara Shanthi Nic 821061938 V
20 Magdalene Lappen ------------
21 N Dilukshini Nic 8278295296 V
22 Fiona Alexander Nic718191548V
23 Ronald Rozairo Nic825660515V
24 Tony Jansen ---------
25 Leslie Adeema Nic 855983710V
26 Paul Terrence Nic 713542300V
27 J. Christine Johnson Nic 795914936V
28 Quintine Kiel Nic 775075198V
29 Preenee Lappen Nic 768384797V
30 Sylvester C hryshle Nic 868633085V
31 Dorothy Johnson Nic 548473098V
32 K. Lappen Nic 471660335V
33 Fredrick Keel Nic 668052789V
34 C.P. Virginia Nic 876873702V
35 Patricia Fernando Nic 587462081V
36 Vinode Adams Nic 777413287X
37 Errol Thicle Nic 821243920V
38 Julie Kelly Nic 375470403V
39 W.R. Jonathan Nic 823622716V
40 T.R. Barnes Nic 716352994V
41 D. Andrado Nic 74274711V
42 Bernard Anthony Nic 603480541V
43 H. L Lappen Nic 602172899V
44 Herbert Jansen -----
45 G Brighley Nic 851753648V
46 T. Thangasa Nic 652303560V
47 S Premila Nic 747331375V
48 V Robert -------
49 Royce Williams -------
50 N. Dayani Nic 767261098 V
A few (11)of the above persons did not have ID cards but were recognized by the Catholic Priest at Uppuveli who was a guest of honour at this event. He said that these Burgher people were the deserving cases as they faced extreme hard ship due to the WAR and even lived in refugee camps.
A BIG THANKYOU to all our DONORS ....without whose support this Charity Project would not have been possible. The names of the donors would be on our web site too. May God Bless them all.
Certified as correct
Lt. Col. (retd) D G Shane Balthazaar
Committee Member B A and Charity Project In charge
The ‘Whys’ and the ‘Wherefores’ of Sri Lanka
One ‘Son of the Soil’s’ reading of the
past and the present
By the Late J.B. Müller
The Sri Lankan Diaspora overseas (mainly in Australia, Britain, Canada, New Zealand and the USA) eagerly and indiscriminately absorbs everything appearing about their Motherland in the international print and electronic media. All what is done is done in the naïve belief that there isn’t a spin on the news and that it is completely unbiased and objective. Nothing could be further from the truth! Of course, expatriates would like to believe that the BBC, VOA, Deutsche Welle, CNN, Al Jazeera and others are feeding their hungry and even curious minds with the unadulterated truth.
It might be useful for those in the Diaspora to know, understand and acknowledge that Sri Lankans are no longer Eurocentric Anglophiles having at long last seen through the various Anglo-Saxon-Celtic ploys to continue their domination and exploitation by other, indirect means. No longer are Sri Lankans willing to regard their erstwhile masters as ‘superior’ beings with a ‘higher’ civilization to which they should slavishly defer. Those ‘good old days’ are gone and good riddance!
Sri Lanka is a very old country with a long history of civilization and a matured polity unlike some ‘Johnny-come-lately’ countries with hardly 500 years of history. The latter period of its history was marred by 443 years of European exploitation, each European power building on its predecessors to refine its instruments of exploitation. The British were the worst and the bloodiest when it came to merciless brutality as is evidenced by the manner in which it quelled the uprising of the Kandyans between 1818 and 1822. It committed genocide before that word was coined by slaughtering every man, woman, and child (including babes suckling at the breast!) in the Uva Province. That province comprised of the present Badulla and Moneragala Districts is yet to recover and is just now being developed by government. The Colonial Office 54 series of documents available at the Public Records Office in London holds all the General Orders issued by Lt. Gen. Sir Robert Brownrigg, governor and c-in-c, to Maj. General Hay McDowall and the correspondence with the Colonial Secretary, the Earl of Bathurst. (The Great Rebellion of 1818 by Prof. Tennekoon Vimalananda, Five Volumes, Gunasena Historical Series, Colombo, 1970)
In 1823 the British began selling Crown Land at two shillings an acre to British entrepreneurs—first, to cultivate cinchona [from which quinine is obtained], then coffee, then tea and rubber—from which they made huge profits for 149 years—and Mincing Lane and the members of the London Stock Exchange prospered beyond the dreams of avarice. (Land Reform Commission Report by Colvin R. de Silva, tabled in Parliament)
They created a huge ethnic and social problem by transporting indentured labour from the Ramnad district of Madras Presidency (present day Tamil Nadu). These helpless people were auctioned off at Matale like the African slaves at Charleston, SC, and families were cruelly torn apart. They reached Matale walking over 100 miles from Talaimannar along a route that came to be known as the ‘Skeleton Road’ because of the numbers that had perished by the wayside from hunger, thirst, snakebite, attack by wild beasts, cholera, dysentery, and what-have-you. Their tragedy has been carefully documented by Donovan Moldrich in his ‘Bitter Berry Bondage’—the story of the 19th century coffee workers in Sri Lanka. Another Burgher author, Lorna Ruth Wright, OAM, wrote “Just another shade of Brown” which graphically details the sexual exploitation of the women plantation workers and the creation of the Eurasian Community (disowned by their very prim and proper British fathers!) Many authors domestic and foreign have written about what colonialism did to Sri Lanka (Ceylon up to 1972) and it is a wonder that the people of this country tolerated what was done to them for so long, so patiently. (‘Bitter Berry Bondage’ by Donovan R. Moldrich and ‘Just another shade of brown’ by Lorna R. Wright)
Father Paul Caspersz, SJ, head of Satyodaya, Kandy, has been labouring amongst the Tamil plantation workers of Indian origin for decades and has written extensively about how these human beings have been mercilessly exploited. They have lived in sub-human conditions for over one hundred years and their emancipation has been a long and hard struggle to restore to them their intric dignity as human beings. (Satyodaya Centre, Kandy, sri Lanka)
When I was working at the then Ceylon Broadcasting Corporation as a Relief Announcer on the Commercial Service I distinctly remember reading a sign affixed to the gate of a British Club facing the Dutch Burgher Union headquarters which said: “Natives and dogs NOT allowed.” This was in 1969! I phoned friends working on the ‘Ceylon Daily News’ and they sent a photographer round to snap a picture. It was published and shortly thereafter the Government ordered the Club to take down the offending notice. Do any self-respecting people endowed with inherent dignity have to tolerate such barefaced arrogance?
Britain was one of the most ‘successful’ imperial powers on earth and they created a worldwide empire (on which the sun never set because it was everywhere on the globe) and bled its colonies. London is such a magnificent city despite its foul weather because it has risen, literally, on the blood, sweat and tears of countless millions in Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Australia. In their imperial schema of things Australia produced the wool, New Zealand the milk, Malaya the rubber, Ceylon the tea, Rhodesia the tobacco, South Africa the diamonds and gold, Mauritius the sugar, West Africa the cocoa and so on—to the great delight of those who sat in London and counted their pounds, shillings and pence. They didn’t mind exploiting their own in the textile mills of Lancashire and the coal mines of Scotland. [Charles Dickens]. The exported their poor Scots, Irish, and Welsh to all these colonies to supervise the black, brown and yellow natives [and the ‘half-caste’ Eurasian offspring known as Burghers, Anglos and even bastards]. The slightest rumble from their workers and the Redcoats (now Khakied) were there to shoot their b***s off!
Look at the Burghers. The British looked down on them with great disdain classifying them as ‘half-castes’ and included them amongst the indigenous population. In 1796 they issued the Burghers an ultimatum—learn English or leave. Many who had the means went to Batavia (modern Jakarta). The others stayed and learned the new tongue. Very soon, these Burghers knew better English than the British themselves and were therefore enlisted in that great corps of clerks that they employed. These Burghers also learned how to play cricket and challenged the British to a one-day on Galle Face Green. They were superciliously asked what the name of their ‘club’ was to which a Burgher sharply retorted: “Nondescripts Cricket Club, Sir!” The name stuck. The club still exists (from 1889). So do the ‘nondescript’ Burghers. The entire British establishment including the ‘shoppies’ turned out one fine Sunday morning to watch these half-caste upstarts being licked. The imperial governor himself came and occupied the clubhouse that now stands before the Taj Samudra Hotel. Well, to cut a long story short, the Burgher ‘nondescripts’ beat the British who were ‘hoist with their own petard!’ They were learning, ever so painfully, that other people were not only their equals but could also better them in many spheres and they learned this lesson on this Island.(People Inbetween by Michael Roberts, Ismeth Raheem, Percy Colin-Thômé, Sarvodaya, Ratmalana, 1989).
There is no land on the globe that the British touched that has not been left with a wholly untenable legacy of problems: India with Pakistan have Kashmir; the Holy land has Jewish Israel contending with Arab Palestine; the Cypriots are divided between the Greeks and the Turks; Africa is an indescribable mess. Glaring problems were created on the North American continent with the marginalization of the native Amerindian and Inuit peoples not to mention the stand-off between Blacks and Whites. In Australia the original inhabitants, the aborigines were decimated and then marginalized whilst their land was robbed from them by white colonists. It is a despicable record of man’s inhumanity to man carried forward on the specious premise that ‘White is Right’ and because they had a head-start in the practice of barbarism! What is even more despicable is that their so-called ‘Christianity’ condoned their barefaced discrimination and unfettered brutality.
Today, these Anglo-Saxon-Celts pontificate o the whole world about human rights—yes, fundamental human rights which they denied millions from the 16th to the 20th centuries of the Common Era. They sanctimoniously presume to interfere in the internal affairs of countries that attempt to stand-up to their bullying (amply exposed by Wiki-Leaks). The ongoing bloodletting in Afghanistan and Iraq demonstrate their manifest hypocrisy.
They left behind what were basically alien concepts, structures, systems, and constitutions that have confused and confuted the peoples they formerly ruled. They uprooted and deliberately destroyed indigenous systems that had endured for millennia and which the indigenous people were comfortable with. Today, the peoples of these lands are divided into innumerable factions and cliques contending bloodily for command and control in the name of the ‘democracy’ they left behind. They are happy with what they see because it is a continuation of their ‘divide et imperia’ or ‘divide and rule’ policy. It is easy to manipulate and exploit those who are divided!
Sri Lanka’s problems which some expatriates gleefully point out (as a justification for their living overseas) is a damaging inheritance bequeathed by the departing British to a class of indigenous people brainwashed and nurtured by them in their own image: the English-speaking Middle Classes represented by several leading families of Low-country upstarts and Up-country traitors. These families have lick-spittle hangers-on who have attained some upward social mobility and the privileges that go with that mobility and occupy the second and third tiers of governance. Whether they inhabit the governing party or the Opposition or their sundry and various coalition cohorts they have become the ‘corrupt of the earth.’
The decent and law-abiding majority are a patient, tolerant and hospitable people (sometimes referred to as the ‘broad masses’) who have taken much abuse. If you believe the many travellers who passed through, they are a giving and forgiving people. If we are to trust the historical record, these gentle, hard-working people have been driven to and fro by the Pandyans, Cholas, Cheras, Pallavas and Javakas; then, by the Portuguese, the Dutch and the British—each, in turn, more subtly brutal than the previous. Ever since 1186, when the indigenous polity began disintegrating with the breakdown of central authority [and fissiparous tendencies manifested themselves], there has been a traumatic crisis that is yet to come to a conclusion. We know that history works in cycles and that that conclusion will come, perhaps unobtrusively or dramatically to sweep away the detritus of several centuries.
True civilization does not consist of the worship of science & technology or the tinsel and glitter of modernity or of roads, railways, harbours, airports, and the frenzied rush one might be bemused by. It consists of the maturity and wisdom gained through the practice of virtue, the development of good moral character, to decent family life and values, the unswerving commitment to social justice and equity. This also means and implies the practice and active pursuit of harmlessness and a belief in the sacredness of all life—all mankind is of one blood. The serene tranquility of spirit thus attained is a universal norm that needs no sectarian labels. This is the civilization that grew and was nurtured on this Island for centuries until rudely and repeatedly disturbed. It is yet the goal of those who appreciate the intrinsic beauty of Nature rather than that of soulless concrete, glass and steel.
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