12 Thursday 28th July, 2011 The Island Features “That was one of the most memorable of the colourful personalities such as e is a distinguished Royalist. I periods in my life. It was at Royal that Colonel F. C. De Saram, Col. H. T. inquired from him “what is my character was moulded. Premasara, Gunasekera, Gamini Salgado come to HRoyal?” He explained, allow me to quote a few lines from our mind. “Premasara, when you ask this question, college song.” what Royal College is, I remember very School where our fathers learnt the Captained the Mini-Battle well, what the Royal Navy Admiral for- way before us, He played cricket, (Under-12, 14 and mer Sea Lord, the famous, Tait’s com- Learnt of books and learnt of men, 16) and was a member of the Royal A ments. He said, Royal Naval College is Through thee we’ll do the same, team, which he captained in the Mini- not a university, not an institution, it is True to our watchword – ‘Disle Aut Battle of the Blues. He did not play for not a sports place, but it is complete col- Discede’. the First XI. lege, producing citizens. In the same way, I may say my Alma Mater Royal College, At Royal, we learnt to mix with all Regimental Sergeant Major Colombo, is not a university, not an insti- communities in the classroom and even Thisara Samarasinghe was an out- tution, it is a college that produces pro- as a Naval officer I followed this princi- standing cadet, produced by Royal. His ductive citizens who love Sri Lanka and ple. It was a transfer of training, what main focus was cadeting. He had the serves Sri Lanka.” It has a tradition and we learnt at Royal College,” stated proud distinction of leading the 3rd bat- history and above all, teachers, who pro- Samarasinghe. talion and was selected as the duced productive citizens. It’s a great Regimental Sergeant Major (RSM). school.” Principals and some outstanding teachers These sentiments were expressed by He joined Royal College when Dudley God King the newly appointed Sri Lankan High K. G. De Silva was the Principal, fol- “Cadetting was a great experience. It Commissioner in Canberra, Australia. lowed by Bogoda Premaratne, Welikela helped to build our personality. We He is Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe and L. D. H. Peiris. They were dedicated (Rtd) a fine cricketer, sports lover and promoter of sports. He served the Sri Lanka Navy for 37 years, from September 10th 1974 to January 15 July 2011 with dis- tinction and commitment. Parental and family background Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe hails from a highly respectable family. His roots are down south. His father, Francis Samarasinghe, was a highly respected govern- ment servant, who was attached to the Sri Lanka Administrative (SLAS). His mother was Umavati Padmini Samarasinghe, a teacher who served for 35 years. She taught at Rahula College, Matara for a few years and joined Anula Vidyalaya, Nugegoda, one of the leading girls’ schools in the country. Blessed with four children Mr. and Mrs. Samarasinghe were blessed with four chil- dren. The eldest, Sudeepa (Mrs. Lional Jayanetti), Palitha, Thisara and Isuru. They were brought up in the highest Buddhist traditions. From their childhood, they were taught to respect all human beings, sans caste, creed, colour learnt to work according to a plan, First job at Levers Since 1969, the Naval Academy in or religion. They mixed well with all learnt to share work with others; Thisara Samarasinghe was a Prefect Trincomalee has produced all the offi- communities in Sri Lanka and always learnt team work. Routine camps at Royal, an outstanding cadet, cricketer cers. In cricket, under his leadership, the maintained cordial relationships with were fantastic and memorable. and a fine student. When he was in col- team was elevated to play in Division I Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims, Burghers Usually, we went to Diyatalawa, lege and on the recommendation of (Sara Trophy). and Malays. They respected them as Anuradhapura and Mannar. Royal College authorities, five of the top brothers and sisters. Once we went to Mannar. That students were offered job opportunities ADC to Prince Charles Thisara’s father hails from was the time the famous film God at Lever Brothers. They were Ray De Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe was Malimboda, Puhulwella, in the Matara King was being filmed in Mannar. Silva, Michael Muller (Sri Lanka rug- the ADC to Prince Charles, when he vis- district. “The Cadet platoon that I was gerite) Dharmatilaka, Tanga Chelliah ited Sri Lanka in 1998 to attend the 50th “Even as a Naval officer, I always RSM were invited to act as the and myself. We all joined Lever Brothers, Independence Day Celebrations in Sri BY PREMASARA treated Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims King’s Army in the film. It was a one of the leading Mercantile firms, but Lanka. EPASINGHE as my brothers and sisters. Even as the big challenge. Our cadets had a after a short stint at Levers, Thisara Commander of the Navy, I always tough assignment, working in joined the Navy. The family looked into the welfare of the people in lagoons, sand dunes and they went There were 12 recruits with Thisara Admiral Samarasinghe is married to the North and East” stated and wonderful teachers. They were great through this process under trying condi- Samrasinghe in their batch which Malathi, a school teacher and they are Samarasinghe. principals. tions. For seven days, I slept in an army included seven outstanding cricketers, blessed with two children. The daughter, Thisara’s elder brother Palitha “You cannot talk about Royal with- truck and it was a great experience. One among them Nalanda cricket captain Nadeesha, is an undergraduate in a for- entered Royal College in 1958. Thisara out mentioning the names of Viji thing I learnt from it was not to expect Dhammika Samarawickrama. eign university and the son is a student entered the portals of Royal College in Weerasinghe and E. C. Gunasekera. They ideal conditions always in life. It helped Thisara Samarasinghe was first at Royal College. He too is a fine crick- 1960 after passing the Grade 1, competi- were pillars. Then, Cadet masters during my career in the Navy. I worked trained at the Naval Academy in eter who captained the Under-13 and tive examination like his elder brother Auypala, Dharmatilake, Ernest under very trying conditions during my Trincomalee. Later, as he received pro- Under-15 teams and is vying for a place Palitha. Thus began a very distinguished Amarasekara, H. Nanayakkara and our Naval career,” stated Samarasinghe. motions, he was sent for training to the in the Royal College First XI team. He is career. Thisara Samarasinghe was at master-in-charge of cricket, John De UK, USA and at the Defence College, a fine left-arm spinner. Royal from 1960-1974. Saram. Then in the field of cricket, some New Delhi. Good news for our readers from the north: you are likely to have a bigger brain than your southern Man Booker Prize 2011: counterparts. to take in more light, while a bigger BY NICK COLLINS, SCIENCE retina is able to distinguish more detail, Twitter 'stopping children CORRESPONDENT producing a higher-resolution image. A larger optic nerve and a more size- nfortunately, that doesn’t neces- able area of the brain dedicated to pro- sarily mean you are more intelli- cessing sight are also needed for north- reading', says judge Dame Ugent than people from the south – ern populations to see to the same level just that you have evolved to cope with of detail as people from further south. the longer winters and greyer skies in Researchers from Oxford University Stella Rimington northern climes. examined the volume of eye sockets A study of popula- and brain cavities in the skulls and tions across both hemi- found a direct link Children spend so much spheres has shown peo- to the latitude of their country of ori- time on Twitter and mobile ple from countries fur- ther from the equator gin. phones that they are losing Northerners' While English have more grey matter their love of novels and read- and larger eyes than people had an aver- those from sunnier age brain size of ing fewer, the chair of the 1,416ml, the figure Man Booker Prize for Fiction parts. This is because liv- brains are in Micronesia, has warned. ing in low light condi- which lies very near tions means the eyes the equator, was just ame Stella Rimington, the former 1,200ml. Dame Stella Rimington and brain need to work head of MI5, said she was con- harder in order to bigger, In contrast Dcerned that pupils were missing process images to a Scandinavians, the out on the pleasure of books as elec- although electronic “reader” devices opinion,” she said. “It’s for that reason good level of detail, or most northerly pop- tronic communications increasingly that can store hundreds of books and that there is such a good range of “high resolution”. ulation tested, had a dominate their lives. newspapers, such as the Amazon books.” Researchers said the brain capacity of Kindle, “could help turn the tide”. The longlist ranges from post-Cold scientists find 1,484ml - more than The judges yesterday announced this findings could theoreti- year’s longlist of 13 novels, including The panel of five judges, who have War thrillers to “high” literary fiction. cally even apply to dif- 20 per cent higher one of the shortest books ever selected read 138 novels since Christmas, were Julian Barnes, who has been shortlist- ferent communities within a particular than Micronesia.