Factum LK – Page 2

Factum Special Perspective: Rejuvenating Football in Sri Lanka

History and Culture, Sports DiplomacyAugust 16, 20231KViews 6Likes 1Comment

By Suhas Jayalath Sri Lanka has a growing but relatively small football culture. Widely considered the world’s most famous sport, football has faced its share of challenges in Sri Lanka. The history of Sri Lankan football goes back to the 20th century. Officially it was inaugurated and encouraged by British service members from the Royal…

Factum Perspective: An American in Kandy – Julia Child and Sri Lanka

History and CultureJuly 30, 2023690Views 0Likes 0Comments

By Chandani Kirinde Before Julia Child became the world-renowned chef, she had a less glamorous job working for the US government which brought her to Sri Lanka, to serve at the Headquarters of the Southeast Asia Command of the Allied Forces in Kandy in 1944. Then she was Julia McWilliams, a lanky young woman of…

Factum Special Perspective: Sri Lanka’s trilemma

Belt Road Initiative and Indo-Pacific Policy, Health and Economic Cooperation, Peace and Conflict, Regional GeopoliticsJuly 26, 2023531Views 0Likes 0Comments

By Uditha Devapriya Sri Lanka’s future lies in its ability to balance the three great powers in – and not of – the Indian Ocean: India, China, and the US, and in that order. Its dilemma has something to do with it being a small state, but more importantly with it being a small state…

Factum Perspective: Modi in the White House – The role of China in Indo-US relations

Belt Road Initiative and Indo-Pacific Policy, Peace and Conflict, Regional GeopoliticsJuly 9, 2023431Views 0Likes 0Comments

By P. K. Balachandran China’s aggressive posturing on the Sino-Indian border, its support to Pakistan-based anti-Indian Islamic terrorists, and its bid to encircle India in South Asia, are key factors pushing India into the waiting arms of the United States. But India is not entirely comfortable in the American embrace. And the reason, again, is…

Factum Perspective: Bloodshed averted in Russia

Peace and ConflictJune 26, 2023572Views 0Likes 0Comments

By Rathindra Kuruwita Bloodshed has been averted in Russia, probably to the relief of many who didn’t want further destabilization of the international order. Russia seemed to be on the verge of civil war by Saturday when the leader of the Russian PMC Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, announced that his forces had taken control of…

Factum Perspective: A Sri Lankan Huck Finn – Martin Wickramasinghe’s “Madol Doova”

History and CultureJune 18, 20231KViews 1Like 0Comments

Martin Wickramasinghe By Christine Hill Smith With a human history going back to 500 BCE, Sri Lanka has endured and occasionally benefited from over 450 years of European colonization, starting in 1505 with the Portuguese, the Dutch East India Company in 1640, and finally the British in the 1790s. It was colonized for its gemstones, cinnamon,…

Factum Special Perspective: Politics, economics, and S. B. D. de Silva

Health and Economic Cooperation, International Development, UncategorizedJune 15, 2023939Views 0Likes 0Comments

By Kanishka Goonewardena “Capitalism is nothing if not the displacement of politics by economics.” This provocation by Fredric Jameson, the leading Marxist critic in the US, offers a fine insight with which to aim for some clarity amidst the confusion concerning the present crisis of Sri Lanka – which the Aragalaya has revealed, but…

Factum Perspective: Reflecting on the X-Press Pearl Case

Climate and environment, Health and Economic Cooperation, Maritime SecurityJune 11, 2023822Views 0Likes 0Comments

By Britney Martil The X-Press Pearl disaster, which unfolded on May 20, 2021, near the coast of Sri Lanka, stands as a harrowing event with profound consequences that have reverberated across multiple fronts. This maritime catastrophe has sparked significant developments in recent times, drawing attention to the gravity of the incident and emphasizing the pressing…

Factum Special Perspective: Reflections on Republic Day

History and CultureMay 22, 2023896Views 0Likes 0Comments

Declaration of the 1972 Constitution / Courtesy: Sirimavo Bandaranaike Museum By Chandani Kirinde In an article published in the Ceylon Daily News of Monday, May 22, 1972, titled “The making of the Constitution”, Dr Colvin R. de Silva, Minister of Constitutional Affairs, wrote the following words. “Today, Ceylon will once more become to the world…

Factum Perspective: Fostering innovation in Sri Lanka

International Development, Tech CooperationMay 14, 2023669Views 0Likes 0Comments

By Malidu Mihisara Aluth alut de nothanana jaathiya lowa nonagi Siga kema beri wunu thana lagii gaya mara gii These lines were written by the Sri Lankan poet and author Cumaratunga Munidasa. A nation that does not innovate, he observes, will never prosper, and will eventually have to beg. I would like to go beyond Munidasa’s reading.…

Factum Perspective: The impact of Vesak on international relations

History and Culture, Peace and Conflict, Regional Geopolitics, UncategorizedMay 7, 2023801Views 1Like 1Comment

By Vinod Moonesinghe The festival of Vesak celebrates the birth, enlightenment (nibbana), and demise (Parinibbana) of Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, also known as Sakyamuni Buddha. It may be compared to a combined festival of Christmas, the Theophany, and Easter for Christians, or the Prophet's birthday, Hajj, and Ramazan for Muslims. Also known as Buddha Day,…

Factum Special Perspective: The BRICS Bank and Multipolar Multilateralism

Health and Economic Cooperation, International Development, Peace and ConflictMay 3, 2023915Views 0Likes 0Comments

By Sanja de Silva Jayatilleka South Africa will be hosting the 15th BRICS summit this year from August 22 to 24, under the theme “Partnership for Mutually Accelerated Growth, Sustainable Development and Inclusive Multilateralism.” South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa, addressing his National Assembly in this context, said that a strategic priority for his country was…