SELECTED
NEWSPAPER PUBLICATIONS
BY
FIROZE SAMEER - Part II
Daily News Jan
26 2010: Incomparable
master composer
Muthuswamy Master - 22nd
Death Anniversary tomorrow:
http://www.dailynews.lk/2010/
Abridged from a manuscript, The Apsaras
Music Group - The first Thirty Years: 1975-2004 by Firoze
Sameer
Ramaya Asari Muthusamy
was born on January 5, 1926 in the village of Nagerkovil
bordering Kerala in South India. He was the only son of the versatile South
Indian musician called Ramaya Baagawadher.
The father’s attempt at making his son practice music on a baby
violin resulted in young Muthuswamy enjoying the rare
privilege of mastering the violin at the tender age of ten. Muthuswamy
thereafter proceeded to participate in several variety entertainment recitals
in Madres.
On January 21 1947, the first Sinhala motion picture in Ceylon Kadawuna Poronduwa [Broken
Promise] was screened. R Narayana lyer, the music
director of the movie, gave the opportunity for Muthuswamy
to join his orchestra, when recordings were being made in India.
Narayana lyer was quick to recognize Muthuswamy’s talents as a violinist and appointed him as
his assistant. It was at one of these recordings in India that SM Nayagam, the South Indian producer of Kadawunu
Poronduwa, met Muthuswamy. Nayagam encouraged Muthuswamy to
visit Ceylon, where, subsequently, his career as a music director was firmly
established.
On October 20, 1952, Mutuswamy Master
joined the State-owned Radio Ceylon Tamil orchestra as a violinist with a group
of others. They included co-violinist G Shanmugananthan,
the gadam and thambura
player KK Atchuthan, Mirudhangam
players T Ratnam and K Ganapathipillai,
veena player Colendavelu
and E Suppiahpillai on clarinet, all playing under
the leadership of the South Indian music conductor, DS Manibaagawadher.
Music
direction
Sometime in 1953, Muthuswamy Master
resigned from Radio Ceylon, accepting an invitation extended by film producer Nayagam, who had built the Sundara
Murugan Navakala Sound
Studios in Kandana [presently SPM Studio] in Ceylon,
to be in charge of the music section at the studio.
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During this period, business tycoon cum film producer, K Gunaratnam, who considered Muthuswamy
Master as a top Carnatic violinist, sought his services in music direction for
the movies he produced. Incidentally, Gunaratnam,
while travelling in his car was shot dead on August 9, 1989 by unidentified
motorcyclists at Armour Street in Colombo, during the
height of the JVP crisis.
It was in 1953 that Muthuswamy made his
debut as film music director in providing music for the Sinhala movie Prema Tharangaya.
He received the award of a certificate, for the Best Music
director for this achievement, from the South Indian Journalists’ Association
at age 27.
Then followed Pudhuma Laylee [1953], Ahankaara Sthree, Maathalang, Hitha Honda Minihek [1975] in a
series of movies, leading to the road of fame and success.
Muthuswamy who composed the background music for the hit number Pruthugeesukaraya, which was recorded in India, in Lester
James Peries’s [later Dr]
celebrated Sinhala movie Sandeshaya. Muthuswamy gave a break to budding vocalist HR Jothipala to sing this song and thereafter rocket to fame,
at a time when the great Dharmadasa Walpola held sway in the local music field.
The melodies by Sunil Shantha and the
background music for the movie were greatly enriched by Muthuswamy
Master on par with the high South Indian standards of that time. LP record
sales at Cargills topped over Rs
100,000; a comparatively tidy sum in that era.
Sometime in 1966, Muthuswamy Master
played on the first electric Hammond organ imported to Ceylon, at the opening
ceremony of the Sinhala movie, Okkoma Hari, produced by Wijayapala Hettiarachchi. In 1974, Muthuswamy
Master received the Deepasikha award for being
selected as the musician who composed music for the most number of movies.
The OCIC recognized and honoured him for
his valuable contributions to Sinhala movie music. On January 3, 1987 he was
awarded the Layagnanavarudhee by Regional Development
Minister C Rajadurai, while his son, Mohanraj, received the Mellisai Mannan award.
Local
artistes
While several South Indian singers sang under Muthuswamy
Master’s baton, local artistes who were backed by Muthuswamy
Master included the famed Dharmadasa and Lata Walpola [later Kalasuri], HR Jothipala, Mohideen Baig [later Kalasuri], GSB Rani, Sujatha Perera [now Attanayake], Milton Perera, Narada Dissasekera, Angeline Gunatilleka
and others. Notabnle were WD Amaradeva
[violin], Premasiri Khemadasa
[flute] [later Dr], Sarath Dassanayake [sitar], Victor Ratnayake
[violin] and Dharmadasa Walpola
[flute] all reading their respective instruments under Muthuswamy
Master’s direction.
He was instrumental in Nanda Malini’s
entree to music in Daruwa Kageda
in 1960.
In recognition of his contribution to Sinhala music, a directive
was made by Prime Minister Sir John Kotelawala,
consequent upon which Muthuswamy Master was awarded an honourary Ceylon citizenship on
April 12, 1956: a historic day on which Prime Minister SWRD Bandaranaike’s
first Cabinet in the 3rd Parliament of Ceylon was sworn in.
Sometime in 1958, Muthuswamy Master
re-joined Radio Ceylon as a violinist. With the departure of the Tamil
Orchestra Leader Manibaagawadher, who held a
Temporary Residency Permit [TRP] to South India, Muthuswamy
Master rose to that exalted position in the following year.
On December 9, 1961 Muthuswamy Master
played Oya Belma Oya Kelma Nilupul
Nethai, the song in the Sinhala movie Kurulubedde, at the ceremonial opening of the Vijaya Sound Studio in Hendala.
It was penned by lyricist and broadcaster Karunaratne
Abeysekera.
Apart from being a Carnatic music teacher, Muthuswamy
Master was also a singer.
His rendition of Madhura Yaame with Sujatha Perera [later Attanayake] in the
movie Sithaka Mahima was
popular among the public then.
Decades later, his son Mohanraj’s
identical rendition of the same number with popular female vocalist Nirosha Virajini brought about a
great degree of popularity to Mohanraj among the
Sinhala speaking audience.
During this era, several musicians used to be employed by Radio
Ceylon/CBC/SLBC on casual basis. Notable was the popular violinist MK Rocksamy, a one time Saxophonist,
who, unlike Muthuswamy Master, was not a Carnatic
musician, but later on conducted the music direction for some 20 Sinhala
movies.
The other was Gadam Vidhvaan
Kandraseri Krishnan Atchuthan
[Kalasuri in 1992], the Malayale
from the village of Guruvaayur in Kerala, South
India, who received an honourary Ceylon citizenship
from Prime Minister SWRD Bandaranaike, on November 5, 1958. Morsing
and Gadam recitals were innovations of Muthuswamy Master in Sinhala movies.
Muthuswamy Master continued to serve as the Leader of the Tamil Orchestra
through Radio Ceylon’s conversion into the CBC/SLBC, upto
the time of his retirement at age 55 on January 5, 1981 completing a total of
some 24 years in that state institution. On October 7, 1961 Muthuswamy
Master married BDE Neeliya Perera,
sister to the erstwhile shenai player, violinist and
member of the Ceylon Navy band, now turned vocalist, Victor, who hails from a
known Sinhala family in Kandy.
On September 27, 1962 Muthuswamy Master
and Neeliya were blessed with a son, and they named
him Mohanraj, now the leader of the popular Apsaras Music Group. Thereafter three girls followed in a
row: Chithrangi, Prasannavadhani
and Keerthica.
Sinhala
movie Samaawa
In early 1988, Musthuswamy Master was
approached by Sinhala movie star cum producer, Vijaya
Kumaratunga, to music direct his movie, Samaawa, directed by Shirley P. Wijerathe.
It was the first time father, Muthuswamy
Master and son, Mohanraj, were combinedly
involved in a project of music direction for a Sinhala movie at the Ceylon
Studios in Narahenpita, Colombo.
On February 15,1988 Vijaya
spoke to the Master over the telephone pertaining to arrangements to be made to
voice the last song by the famous Lata Walpola on the 17th. However, come February 16, on the
verandah of his residence, Vijaya was assassinated.
On a Monday evening, June 27, 1988 Muthuswamy
Master passed away peacefully at the age of 62. State television Rupavahini’s evening news telecast carried his obit on June
29, 1988.
At the time of his death, Muthuswamy
Master had composed music for nearly 225 Tamil and Sinhala movies.
13.Oct.2004: A tribute to Gamini Fonseka: Sinhala movie idol & director/Statesman.
[Daily
News: Art Scope: p-vii]
http://www.dailynews.lk/2004/10/13/artscop05.html
A
tribute to Gamini Fonseka
by Firoze Sameer
"In
the latter part of the 1960s
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"...Dr.
Gamini Fonseka's portrayal
of the deadly Mr. Linton Cooray
"Incidentally
*******
We
witnessed the fitting tribute
Gamini's splendid performances range over a
hundred-odd movies with a myriad of stars
Notable
were the politically tinged movies Sagarayak Meda [1981] and his highly professional direction of some
of them
Movieland
The
fine quality of his movies far superseded those that came in cohorts from
Whether
he won the merit award at the Sarasaviya Film
Festival for his part in Gamperaliya in 1964
I
never personally met him
After
Gamini Fonseka had read the
complimentary copy I had autographed and sent him on Ossie
Corea
Godfathers
He
said there was a time Ossie Corea
had fallen out with his erstwhile childhood friend
Sometime
later
It
was then that Corea had appealed to Gamini Fonseka whom he and almost
everyone used to idolize as one's hero in those good old days. Gamini advised Corea to make that
visit much to the reluctance of Corea. Corea complained that he had no car [the famous Sunbeam
Alpine had been smashed up supposedly by Ramakrishna's boys] and he hardly had
any money [Corea was on the decline] So Gamini came forward and volunteered with both
Corea finally made that visit with much
trepidation and uncertainty
In
a world where people found it easy to fall out with each other even on the
flimsiest pretexts
Gentleman
The
other aspect of Gamini Fonseka
was his high degree of self-worth
Gamini's departure evokes a deep sense of
sorrow to everyone who touched him in some small way or otherwise
21.July.2004:
Horror of
Thomas Harris’s complete works/movies: Black Sunday
The Silence of
the Lambs
http://www.dailynews.lk/2004/07/21/artscop07.html
Horror
of
by
Firoze Sameer
American
author Thomas Harris has written four blockbusters within a period of some
twenty-four years! Fans have been patiently waiting for his fifth since year
1999.
His
first fantasy
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A
scene from Red Dragon. Courtesy Liberty Cinema |
Flashes
of the modus operandi of sorts of 9/11 come to mind. However
The
trilogy
Lambs
was the Oscar-winner for Best Picture
Adolf Hitler
Apart
from a spate of some superb character roles played by
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Thomas
Harris |
The
Bunker covers the grim history of the Reich Chancellery Group in the last
105-days during the first term of 1945 in the Bunker
Author
Stephen King in the New York Times Book Review compares Harris's Hannibal and
William Peter Blatty's The Exorcist [another
memorable movie by William Friedkin who gave us that
spectacular car chase in The French Connection and an even more terrific one in
To Live and Die in LA] as the two most frightening novels [what about Stanley
Kubrick's adaptation of King's The Shining!] of our time
Special
Agent Jack Crawford in the trilogy is reportedly the inspiration for John
Douglas who served the FBI for twenty-five years
Chilly snow
In
painting a portrait of the horrors of "
In-depth
knowledge of psychiatry and its related drugs and injections
Harris
chronologically positions
Harris's
hundred and three chapters in
Apart
from shooting Garrett Jacob Hobbs
Calm seaside
Graham
is induced from retirement from his calm seaside home and family by Crawford to
hunt the Red Dragon. Harris takes the reader through Lecter's
imprisonment in Dragon
Lecter
Harris
continues with the Lambs
The
sight of the stately Lecter in the movie
Private victim
Finally
Lecter's spine-tingling confrontation with the
avaricious chief investigator of the Questura in
Richard
Schikel
The
Guardian compares popular fiction in the last two decades of the 19th century
dominated by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes while a century on
suspense literature achieved their equals in Thomas Harris and Hannibal Lecter.However
Refer:
30.Jun.2004: Sequel by Rohan Jayawardana: Of the
Aeneid
[Daily News:
Art Scope: p-vi] http://www.dailynews.lk/2004/06/30/artscop07.html
Of
The Aeneid
by
Rohan Jayawardana
The
quite beautiful and informative piece in Artscope on
Wednesday June 9
It
has to do with a purely idiosyncratic personal opinion concerning the origins
of the Roman poet Virgil's epic poem "The Aeneid". This is based upon
the available data concerning the powerful personalities of the times of
Virgil.
Augustus and Christ
As stated by Firoze Sameer
The
poet Virgil was one of the emperor Augustus' favourite
associates and he wrote the epic of Aeneas who is the hero of the AENEID in the
times of Caesar Augustus and of Jesus Christ [B.C. - before Christ] Was Aeneas
based upon the heroic characters of Caesar Augustus and his former associate
Mark Antony? Its left to be seen.
Jesus
It is
also a noted fact of biblical lore that when the King of Judaea
Scipio Africanus
and
It is
a fact that the legend of Aeneas the hero cannot be usually attributed to any
specific Roman of history. Most other heroes of Roman mythology are identified
as counterparts of the earlier Greek heroes of Homerian
epics such as Jupiter for Zeus; Hercules for Heracles; and Venus for Aphrodite
However
It
must be realized that
Therefore
[One
may wonder whether the entire continent of Africa was named after the leader of
the very first invading army
Jesus and Ulysses
In
the circumstances
Then Scipio Africanus
Minor would be Aaeneas according to the information
of his peripatetic exploits! The giant Cyclops might have been of
Cleo
& Dido
The
Phoenician princes Dido [who is opined by Virgil to have founded
The
name Dido easily equates with "Cleo". However
Jesus in
The
actual time of Jesus' stay in
If at
that time of life in the post resplendent era of ancient
Origins of myths upon facts
The conjecture
about the origins of Roman mythology covers around 2 1/2 centuries but that of
The
heroes are out of real events. But
Herein
reigned King Minos "son" of the principal "god" Zeus and of
Europa [from which came
The
Minoan civilization was at 2500 BC. and later; and paralleled
Evolution of earth and humanity?
It is
the legends of
The
first peoples are called the "Hellenes"
09.Jun.2004:
Aeneid/Quintus
of
by
Firoze Sameer
Not
apparently taken into account in the movie is Quintus of Smyrna's Greek classic
written sometime in AD-360
May
14 saw Director Wolfgang Petersen's 160-min. movie
TIME
magazine [May 17] devotes six pages of extensive illustrative reporting on this
adaptation of Homer's Iliad which stars Brad Pitt [Achilles]
Shooting
of the movie reportedly was partly in
The Trojan War
It
all began when Prince Paris made that landmark judgement
on
Herodotus
in The Histories [circa-446BC] learned during his extensive travels in
Hence
The Iliad
Homer's
poems rank foremost in Greek literature to-date. The original epics translated
into English prose
The
tragic theatres of war are all seriously laid out on the arid plains abutting
the seashores of ill-fated
After
Philip of Macedonia was assassinated in 336-BC
The Odyssey
The
Odyssey covers in its twenty-four books the ten-year travails of Laertes' son
Odysseus of the nimble wits on his homecoming from the cindering citadel of
His
wife the virtuous Penelope
The Aeneid
The
Aeneid by Virgil [Publius Vergilius
Maro] in his 12 books portrays the peregrinations of
Prince Aeneas
Virgil
reportedly met his friend Augustus Caesar at Athens while on a trip to Greece
In
view of not being able to finish this monumental work
Quintus of
Quintus
of Smyrna
Quintus
picks up from where Homer ends The Iliad. He includes
The battle at Troy
Homer
painstakingly describes the deaths of over 200 of the Argive [Greek] and Trojan
nobles and their respective allies
The
Troy movie is reported to portray the dramatic man-to-man duels: Paris vs
Menelaus
The
poignant centre-point in the entire epic is toward
the end
Achaeans or Greeks
Homer
and Quintus describe several brief battles in which Greek kings and princes
participate. They include the Boeotian commanders: Peneleos
Trojans and allies
On
the Trojan side we witness Antenor's son
Odysseus and
Descriptions
of the contest for the armour of Achilles are found
in Sophocles' work on
Quintus
vividly describes the contest for Achilles' armour
between
Notwithstanding
Homer describing Odysseus killing a total of 17-nobles; Diomedes
an equal number plus the slaughter of King Rhesus and twelve of his companions
while in their sleep
Quintus
gives prominence to the mighty
Quintus
has
Clytaemnestra and Penelope
Homer
contrasts between the wives of Agamemnon and Odysseus viz. Clytaemnestra
[sister to Helen] and Penelope: one wayward; the other virtuous.
The former
The
latter keeps suitors at bay until she finishes her work of weaving a large
shroud for Laertes. She works by day only to stealthily undo her work by night
for three years after being given away by one of her women
Diomedes and Glaucus
The
character of Diomedes
Odysseus
on the other hand is crafty
Diomedes' dialogue
with Glaucus on their respective ancestries
In
this act
Funeral games
The
funeral games described by Homer
Virgil
has Prince Aeneas conducting funeral games amongst the Trojans
The wooden horse
Quintus
has 30-Greek heroes hiding inside the Wooden Horse with courageous Sinon sitting outside it.
A
device
The
Trojans approach the Wooden Horse cautiously at first
They
cut his ears and nose off
Laocoon suggests that
they set fire to it
Perhaps
the Muses of Olympus
03.Mar.2004:
Reading British - Five famous modern authors:Ian
Fleming
John Lé Carre
http://www.dailynews.lk/2004/03/03/artscop10.html
Five
famous modern authors :
by
Firoze Sameer
Five
British authors amass 147 novels!Like Homer's heroes
at
Enter
Commander James Bond
Bond
movies from the sixties saw the dashing debonair spy
A
dry Martini please
Fleming
churned a Bond-book in every year since Jan-52
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Ian Fleming |
Fourteen
serious works on the splendid gallantry of James Bond [decorously declining a
knighthood in The Man with the Golden Gun: 1965] in meticulous English with
very educative background material which Fleming assiduously collected
The
opus that fell within JFK's ten favourite books; the
one which Lady Jacqueline presented to CIA Director Allen Dulles: Fleming's
fifth and his best: From Russia With Love [1957] Fleming's one book for kids
Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang was about a flying car. His two-part Thrilling Cities
gave the reader inside gen on the frisson of some hot spots around the globe
The
reader is steeped into the subjects of baccarat in Casino Royale [1953]
Eight
splendid short stories couched in For Your Eyes Only [1960] and Octopussy [1965] where in its title story Bond is featured
as a third party investigating the suspicious WW2 record of a peer. Fleming did
this kind of thing in The Spy Who Loved Me [1962] bringing Vivienne Michel to centre stage
Fleming's
piece on women drivers in Ch-11 of Thunderball [1961]
vis-…-vis Bond's admiration
for
Commander
Ian Fleming
Fortunately Fleming was not around to witness these tragedies. His untimely demise was decidedly a great loss to Bond buffs.
James Hadley
Chase
The
1960s saw us teenagers at
A
book wholesaler
His
heroes were dynamic
Chase's
dad served as a British officer in the colonial Indian Army. Chase was born
Rene Brabazon Raymond in
His
heroes include the dashing private-eyes Dave Fenner
and Vic Malloy; super insurance sleuths Steve Harmas
Chase
successfully tried his hand at some espionage episodes such as You Have
Yourself a Deal and also Have This One On Me and The Whiff of Money with the
adventurous CIA agent Mark Girland in a
James-Bond-type role with Soviet agent Malik and probably Lu Silk on the
opposite side. His books rarely exceeded 200-pages. He touched mostly on murder
mysteries laced with a good dose of power
With
his death
John le Carre
His
19th and latest opus Absolute Friends featured in TIME magazine last week
Smiley
is played so well by Sir Alec Guinness in many of the TV-episodes
Former
CIA director Allen Dulles however notes in his book
Le
Carre's trilogy The Quest for Karla begins with his
super Tinker
Le
Carre's head at the Circus is the dour-speaking
Control
The
Secret Pilgrim [1991] was a departure of sorts when Le Carre
tried a technique - somewhat of a series of short story episodes linked to each
other - where the retired Smiley addresses the passing-out class on the closing
evening of their entry course in the Nursery at Sarratt
with Ned
Le
Carre has this quality of sometimes getting one of
his central stars to suddenly disappear - Leo Harting
in A Small Town in Germany [1968]
Most
of his book-endings are tragic and unexpected. They hit you like a sledge
hammer leaving you all stunned
Frederick
Forsyth
Frederick
Forsyth's latest hot-seller Avenger released in recent weeks catapults him into
the class of his erstwhile Jackal! His hero this time is the dexterous
ex-Vietnam veteran Cal Dexter in his early fifties.
Forsyth
emerged top with The Day of the Jackal [1971] his masterpiece which took him
six-weeks to write [an idea brooded over for 6-years] after Biafra Story
Jackal
dealt with the brilliant plot arranged by the underground French OAS with an
unknown English mercenary to assassinate Gen. Charles de Gaulle. Forsyth was
probably inspired by Georges Watin the Limp
Notwithstanding
a pardon extended by an amnesty law in 1968
Jackal
was based partly on fact
Forsyth
reportedly mulls over the plot for about 18-months
Forsyth's
heroes are real
Forsyth's
fifteen short stories in No Comebacks [1982] and The Veteran [2001] are
absolute stunners
Forsyth is at his best when treating special subjects such as espionage or assassination. His sequel to The Phantom of the Opera titled The Phantom of Manhattan [1999] is a fine treatment of Gaston Leroux's classic turned musical by Andrew Lloyd-Weber.
Forsyth
teaches the reader via Quinn the crack Negotiator [1989] on the intricacies of
protractedly negotiating with kidnappers on an initial ransom demand of U$5-mn
to close at U$2-mn stabilizing the psychology of the kidnappers to have closed
a good deal. In The Deceiver [1991] he gives us a fine shade of Cold War
realities in Sam MacCready who is head of the DeeDee desk
JK Rowling
Joanne
Kathleen Rowling born 31.07.51 swept the boards in recent publishing history
Children so far have simply enjoyed following Harry Potter through his five grades at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry; the journey on Hogwart's Express chugging out at 11-am from the famous Platform Nine and Three-Quarters at King's Cross station; the Quidditch games; the various spells; the final climax of HP battling and succeeding against the forces of evil amidst a backdrop of fine fantasy and magic.
The
Good: Harry Potter
JKR
writes in long hand
American
publishers were able to convince her to amend the word Philosopher's to
Sorcerer's in the title owing to Americans not being too familiar with the
former word. However
JKR
hit the ropes in writing
Apart
from all the fanfare about Potter
She
simply got kids back into reading books
23.Jan.2000:
Mathew Peiris: From Mysticism to Murder.
Observations on AC Alles’s book: Vol.12 Famous
Criminal Cases of
[Colombo
http://lakdiva.com/island/i000123/feature.htm
The Vicarage Murders
Mathew
Peiris: From Mysticism to Murder
Book
by A. C. Alles
Colombo,
Aitken Spence Printing [Pvt] Ltd., Nov. 99: ISBN
955-95203-4-2
2nd reprint soft cover edition. 218-pp. Rs. 650
Available at BOOKLAND
Some
observations by Firoze Sameer
"There is no fire
like passion,
there is no shark like hatred,
there is no snare like folly,
there is no torrent like greed"
-
Gautama Buddha
The
second edition of AC Alles’s account of the Vicarage
murders, in his series of the Famous Criminal Cases of Sri Lanka, has prompted
me to make some relevant observations regarding this remarkable case which is
without parallel in the field of international crime.
Beginning
his writing career on non-fiction crime in 1975 at age 64, Alles
has thereafter published on average a book in every year, and has clocked
twenty-one books in all, fourteen of which fall under his renowned Famous
Criminal Cases of Sri Lanka series. Alles, who
celebrated his 88th b’day on 9.7.99, is still strong
in mind, and occasionally contributes valuable articles to the local newspapers
on important issues affecting the public interest.
In
this Vol. XII, readers familiar with the author’s inimitable style will opine
that he is at his best in recounting the grim episodes of murder in 1978-79 at
the Vicarage. Alles’s erstwhile experience in his
capacity as a Crown prosecutor stands him in good stead in his incisive
analysis of this diabolical double-murder.
SEX
AND MURDER
In
his Famous series, apart from cases which relate to motive of greed and
jealousy, a good number have fallen into the slot of murder with sex in varying
degrees as a backdrop. Vol. XII adds two murders into this range with Delrene Ingram and Fr. Mathew Peiris
playing sex.
Other
such notable instances are Vimala Wijewardene/Ven.
Buddharakkitha in the SWRD Bandaranaike Assassination
[Vol. III}; Yvonne Stephenson/Sathasivam in the Sathasivam murder case, Ariyawathie/Dr.
Daymon Kularatne in Padmini’s pathetic poisoning case, Pauline de Croos/Kirambakande in the
senseless murder of the boy, Gothabaya [All in Vol.
IV]; Adeline Vitharne/Jayalal
Anandagoda in the infamous Wilpattu
murder of Adeline [Vol. VII]; Somawathie/Neil Gunawardene in the Galenbindunuwewa
murder of Somawathie [Vol. VIII]; Rohini
Dias/Nimal Fonseka in the
harrowing homicide of Chandrasekera Dias [Vol. IX];
lesser known Lilian Margaret Perera Punchihewage Sugathadasa in the Wirawila Tank murder case [Vol. I; three such connexions described in Vol. VI and lesser-known ones of
the deadly Dr. Alfred de Zoysa’s case [Vol. V]
REV.
MATHEW PEIRIS
Vol.
XII’s central figure features the Reverend George Frederick Mathew Peiris, vividly described as a man of many parts.
Mathew
Peiris: secondary education at the prestigious
Trinity College, Kandy, and Prince of Wales College in Moratuwa;
qualified in mathematics and engineering at the Technical College in Colombo;
followed a course with the British Institute of Engineering Technology; fellow
member of the Institute of Motor Trade in London; 2-years’ apprenticeship at
Rowlands Ltd; transport officer at the Food Dept;
ground engineer in the Royal Air Force during WWII; vendor of British Army
surplus after the War; licensed auctioneer for the Mt. Lavinia
Urban Council; needlework expert participating in embroidery exhibitions;
priest in the Anglican Church; Lincoln Theological College student in the UK;
ordained deacon at St. Alban’s Abbey; appointed as assistant curate to the
Church of Sir Francis of Assisi at Welwyn Garden
City, Hertfordshire, and later qualifying to be a priest; acclaimed as the
first Anglican exorcist in Sri Lanka; Anglican chaplain to the mental hospitals
at Angoda and Mulleriyawa,
the prisons and remand gaols and the Colombo Group of
Hospitals. He was also assistant to the vicar of St. Pauls’s
Church at Kynsey Road in Borella,
Colombo, and later appointed vicar after the strange collapse and comatose
condition of the incumbent vicar, the Rev. Basil Jayawardene,
who died on 13.7.58; University of Texas degree in psychiatry; qualified in a
2-year course in demonology in the US; 20-years as vicar at St. Paul’s Church.
And finally, prisoner in Death Row at Welikade
prison, awaiting execution, which was later commuted to life imprisonment,
which he served for precisely 18-years and 5-months and securing freedom on
25.10.97. It is ironical that Rev. Peiris visited
Death Row to convert Prime Minister SWRD Bandaranaike’s assassin, Ven. Talduwe Somarama, then 48, to
Christianity and baptised him as Peter before he was
judicially hanged on 6.7.62. Rev. Peiris died at his
home in Moratuwa on 12.5.98 aged 85.
THE
VICTIMS: RUSSEL & EUNICE
Both
victims had been warded earlier at
The
anti-diabetic drug, Euglucon featured prominently in
these ghastly episodes of remorseless and calculated murder. When Russel was removed to the
Poignant
is the instance on 9.6.78: Russel lying in bed
dazedly appealing to his helpless and confused father, Alex, "Daddy, I can
sleep and sleep and sleep." Then again a week later he answers his
sister-in-law, Therese Jackson who relates that, "He does not know but
when he takes the mixture and the tablets given to him he feels drowsy."
The vital elements in Therese’s evidence for the prosecution, inter alia,
contributed significantly in bringing the accused to book. The medical evidence
elicited by the prosecution through a series of eminent doctors, especially
from the renowned surgeon Dr. AH Sheriffdeen at the
trial, was damning testimony against Mathew and Delrene,
hitting the nail hard on the coffin of the two accused.
Alles deals
exhaustively with the complex murders of Russel
Ingram, aged 32, on 10.8.78 and Eunice Peiris on
19.3.79, where both the unfortunate victims eventually died at the
EUGLUCON
TABLETS
The
main features of the prosecution case was that Euglucon
tablets, a large quantity of which was in Rev. Mathew’s possession, could have
been introduced in crushed form or otherwise into the food, or given directly,
to the unsuspecting victims with a view to drastically reduce their respective
blood sugar levels, resulting in a hypoglycaemic
condition causing irreversible brain damage and eventually pneumonia and death.
Mathew Peiris, who was a diabetic, had read the book
Body, Mind and Sugar, jointly written by Dr. EM Abrahamson and a journalist, AW
Pezet, published in the US in the early l950s. But
Mathew wilfully drew a red herring across the trail by convincing almost
everyone that the patients were suffering from an islet cell tumour or insulinoma, where
insulin is secreted by tumours occurring in the beta
cells of the pancreas: a very rare condition.
A
MASTER OF DECEPTION
What
astounds the readers is the amazing gullibility displayed by simple folk as
well as experienced hospital staff and especially eminent medical men. Mathew’s
strong personality and the power of the cassock swayed them all. Two doctors
had issued letters of admission without even examining the patient, Russel, on the symptoms as described over the telephone by
Mathew!
This
is evident from the several instances of hypoglycaemic
attacks experienced by Russel after Mathew fed him
through the nasal tube: sweating profusely, becoming restless, pulse rate
increasing, quick breathing; all within 15-minutes of such feeding. Even oxygen
had to be given to the patient to help him breathe. The strange instances of
the dextrose and saline drip being clamped, disconnected or loosened after
Mathew left the unconscious patient, and no action being taken on such serious
interference even after doctors were notified. Hospital rules appeared to have
been flagrantly flouted.
Mathew
had established himself well as an exorcist, stigmatist,
faith-healer, and had professed to possess mystical and supernatural powers. He
was in the process of writing a book titled Damn the Bloody Exorcist, which
manuscript Delrene, as his secretary, helped to type.
People
from all walks of life, especially several young married women and young girls
sought Mathew’s powers to heal their varied afflictions. The success of the use
of such powers, however, was a matter of conjecture. In exorcising such women
and girls, "they were to remove their clothes for the purpose of the
exorcist ritual and the crucifix placed on all parts of their naked bodies.
Many of these young women were naturally embarrassed but permitted themselves
to be examined.... " Several of them "never returned for the Services
after their first experience."
COURT
TRIALS
The
3-Judge bench High Court Trial-at-Bar without a jury delivered its 612-page judgement finding both accused guilty on all 4-counts of
the indictment and sentenced them to death on 15.2.84 The death sentences were
commuted to life sentences on 28.6.85.
The
Court of Appeal delivered its 101-page judgement on
12.2.88 after the appeal was argued before a bench of 3-Judges which acquitted Delrene who was on remand since 18.7.79. Finally, the
Supreme Court comprising of 3-Judges sealed Mathew’s fate when they dismissed
his appeal on 3.2.92. It was a long time indeed since Mathew had been arrested
by the CID on 25.5.79 and held in remand custody upto
that time, after which he was sent to Welikada jail.
THE
ACQUITTAL OF DELRENE MILLICENT INGRAM
After
having comprehensively covered the matters relating to the degree of
culpability of Delrene, the author is surprised in
the decision of the Court of Appeal in acquitting the 2nd accused, Delrene, and concludes as follows: "It is therefore
respectfully submitted, with all due deference to the Judges of the Court of
Appeal, that they had misdirected themselves in coming to the conclusion that Delerene did not share a common intention with Mathew Peiris to kill her husband. It is difficult to resist the
conclusion that judicial sympathy appears to have outweighed the judgement of the Judges in acquitting Delrene
in respect of the charges relating to Russel’s
death."
In
this context Alles quotes from his Vol. III in regard
to the association between the Ven. Mapitigama Buddharakkitha and Vimala Wijewardene, where he states: "When two young lovers
sleep on the same bed they do not have the time or inclination to speak of
anything else except of themselves in the happiness of their intimacy; but when
a man sleeps with his mistress it is not the words of love that pass between
them but rather more mundane affairs of everyday life and the secrets hidden in
each other‘s hearts which are freely and openly disclosed. "
CONCLUSION
Alles aptly
concludes the account of this trial in making his observations regarding the
character of Rev. Mathew Peiris by stating that
"he created history not only in
dOSSIEr COREA - A Portfolio on Crime by Firoze Sameer
COMPLETE
WORKS: FIROZE SAMEER
BOOK PUBLICATIONS
[1] June-96: Genealogical Table of Sri Lankan Muslims: Family Tree
Data. Vol.I [with Fazli Sameer] [ISBN
955-9470-00-0:
Colombo: Authors, 1996: Library of Congress Control No. 98917268]:
143pp. Asian Genealogy Website http://www.rootsweb.org/~asiagw
[2] Nov-99: dOSSIEr
COREA: A Portfolio on Crime. [ISBN 955-96740-0-5: Colombo: Author, 1999:
Library of Congress Control No. 99953012]: 103pp.
[2.1] Apr 3-4, 1999: Report of the 1998 Gratiaen
Prize Committee for Creative Writing: Reference to dOSSIEr
COREA [Weekend Express p-23]
[2.2] 22.12.99: Insights into Criminality: Review by AC Alles,
former Actg Chief Justice on dOSSIEr
COREA [Daily News p-17]
[2.3] 20.02.00: That Journalism Course at the ‘Poly’ by Kirthie
Abeyesekera.
Reference to dOSSIEr COREA [The Island p-6]
[3] 08.01.05: Mohanraj’s
Apsaras Music Group - A Profile. Vol. 1: The First Thirty
Years: 1975-2004 [16,322-words: Unpublished]
DIRECTORIES
[1]
01.05.97: Sam’s Directory 97: Royal College English Medium1961-Group/Royal
Primary School 1955-60.
[2] 10.03.00: Royal College 61-Group Directory [Millennium Reunion]
[3] 11.01.06: Royal College English Medium 61-Group Email/Mobile Phone
Directory.
[4] 12.04.06: Royal College 61-Group Email Directory.
[5] 03.05.11:
Royal College Tamil Medium 61-Group Email/Mobile Phone Directory.
NEWSPAPER PUBLICATIONS
[1]
21.01.75: KPS Menon: The American Language [Daily News back-page]
[2] 05.05.79: Death of Double-O Seven: The Life of Ian Fleming, Creator of
James Bond [Observer: Saturday Magazine p-9]
[3] 20.05.79: Getting Away from it all Forever: Studies in Suicide [WEEKEND
p-?]
[4] 10.04.80: The Jackal and the July Plot: Assassination Attempts on Gen.
Charles de Gaulle and Adolf Hitler [with Qureisha Nizar] [Honey p-13]
[5] 23.03.84: Stoning to Death and Islamic Law: Death or Lashing? [OP-ED: Sun
p-6]
[6] 28.08.87: A Poser for Future Security: Grenades Blast in New Parliament
[Sun p-6]
[7] 26.09.87: Recollections of the SWRD Assassination [Daily News p-30]
[8] 28.01.88: ’62 Coup and Upsurge of Indiscipline: Officers’ Plot to Overthrow
the Ceylon Govt [OP-ED: Sun p-6]
[9] 04.02.88: JR- The Last Man In: Cabinet of The Rt
Hon. DS Senanayake, PC [Daily News p-4]
[10] 27.03.88: The T-56: A Terrorist’s Best Friend [WEEKEND p-9]
[11] 22.05.88: A Day at the Montessori: How Nabila and the Tiny Tots Learn
Their Basics [WEEKEND p-20]
[12] 04.06.89: Lanka’s Indo-China Syndrome: The Difficult Task to Achieve Peace
[WEEKEND p-6]
[13]09.07.89: Sri Lanka’s Deadly July: Fateful Month in a Nation’s Calendar
[WEEKEND p-8]
[14]12.03.90: The Wizard of Scoutcraft: Royal
College’s Brevet Lt-Col. MKJ Cantlay, e.d., JP. Letters from Laki Dissanayaka [DN p-15]
[15] 06.05.90: Innovative Style in le Carre’s
Espionage: John le Carre’s 12th Best Seller, The
Russia House. [Sunday Times p-15]
[16] 14.07.91: At 80, it’s Travel, Typewriter & Tennis for AC Alles: The Complete Works of a Former Judge of the Supreme
Court & Actg Chief Justice [Sunday Times p-13]
[17] 22.09.91: Apsaras Takes Wing: Music Prodigy Muthuswamy Mohanraj’s Tamil
Orchestra. [Sunday Observer p-12]
[18] 13.03.93: Lieut Col. Cantlay
turns 80 [Daily News p-7]
[19] 22.05.94: The Origin of Tips: Former Hotelier Bert F Cramer Speaks to AF
Sameer [Sunday Times p2]
[20] 23.01.00: Mathew Peiris: From
Mysticism to Murder. Observations on AC Alles’s book:
Vol.12 Famous Criminal Cases of Sri Lanka series [Colombo, Aitken Spence, 1999
2nd Ed: ISBN 955-95203-4-2] [The Island p-12]
[20.1] 26.07.92?: Doctors and the Law by AC Alles:
Commenting on a section of the review [The Sunday Island p-6]
[21] 03.03.04: Reading British - Five famous modern authors: Ian Fleming/ James
Hadley Chase/John le Carré/ Frederick Forsyth/JK
Rowling [Daily News: Art Scope: p-vi]
[22] 09.06.04: Hollywood movie springs from Homer’s epics: The Iliad/The
Odyssey/Virgil’s The Aeneid/Quintus of Smyrna’s The War at Troy. [Daily News:
Art Scope: pp-v & vi]
[22.1] 30.06.04: Sequel on Homer’s Epics by Rohan Jayawardana:
Of the Aeneid, Caesar Augustus, Jesus and Zeus [Daily News: Art Scope: p-vi]
[23] 21.07.04: Horror of Hannibal Lecter. Thomas
Harris’s complete works/movies: Black Sunday/Red Dragon/The Silence of the
Lambs/Hannibal [Daily News: Art Scope: p-vii]
[24] 13.10.04: A tribute to Gamini Fonseka: Sinhala movie idol & director/Statesman. [Daily
News: Art Scope: p-vii]
[25] 27.10.04: Brando’s Godfather revisited: Francis Ford Coppola’s The
Godfather trilogy. [Daily News: Art Scope: p-iii]
[26] 24.11.04: Mohanraj sustains music tradition: Apsaras moves into third decade. [Daily News: Art Scope:
p-viii]
[27] 27.08.06: The Other Side of the Sathasivam
Case. A review on A Murder in Ceylon by Prof. Ravindra
Fernando, MBBS, MD, FCCP, FCGP, FRCP[Lond],
FRCP[Glasgow], FRCP[Edin.], FRCPath[UK],
DMJ[Lond], Senior Professor of Forensic Medicine and
Toxicology, Faculty of medicine, University of Colombo. [Colombo, Vijitha Yapa Publications, June-2006: ISBN 955-1266-20-X: First Edition, Hardcover
480pp] [The Sunday Times, p4 [Books]]
[27.1] 29.07.06: Expert Testimony in Sensational Murder Case Analysed: [Daily News p12]
Review by CR de Silva, PC, Solicitor General [Attorney General since 07.04.07]
[27.2] 25.07.07: Courtesy The Sri Lankan Anchorman, Toronto Canada, June, 2007:
[http://thesrilankananchorman.com/client/NewsDetails.aspx?ID=532] Fascinating
Book on Sensational Trial: Review by Sir Christopher Ondaatje, OC, CBE. [Daily
News p41]
[28] 30.06.07: JonBenet Ramsey – A Heartbreaking Tragedy. A review
on The Death of Innocence: The Untold Story of JonBenet’s
Murder and How its Exploitation Compromised the
Pursuit of Truth by John and Patsy Ramsey [U.S., Thomas Nelson, Inc., Mar-2000.
ISBN 0-7852-6816-2: Hardcover 396pp]] [Daily News, p23 [Book Reviews]
[29] 25.05.08: He Lit a Flame That Thrilled Audiences Through the
Ages: Ian Fleming Birth Centenary - 28.05.08. [ST, p4]
[30] 26.05.08: Continuing the WWII Saga: [Daily
News]
[30.1] 10.05.08: Decisive day in World War II:
May 10, 1940: by Ravi Perera [Daily News]
[31]
20.07.08: Hollywood Plots Hitler Thriller: The 20 July Plot. [The Sunday Times,
p4]
[32] 27.07.08: That Massacre Upon Massacre: Black July, 1983, 25th Anniversary.
[The Sunday Times, p4]
[33]
31.07.09: Arthur Dias - A Man For All Seasons by Nalin
Fernando and Firoze Sameer [Daily News, p8]
[33.1] 08.08.09: Honouring Arthur V. Dias by Edward Gunawardena, ex-DIG [Daily News, 08.08.09]
[34] 26/27.09.09: SWRD Bandaranaike - The Assassination Aspect [Daily News
Magazine, p13 & Daily News, p9]
[35] 21.10.09: Reactivating the Gallows [Daily News, p9]
[36] 26.06.10: Incomparable master
composer - Muthuswamy Master: 22nd Death Anniversary
[Daily News, p9]
[37] 03.04.11:
Royal College ’61-Group celebrates golden jubilee: 08.03.11 [Sunday Island]
[38] 31.01.12: The coup d’etat of January 27,
1962 [Daily News]
[38.1] 01.02.12: A response by Maj. Gen (Retd) Lalin Fernando [Daily News]
[38.2] 29.01.12: Two prime ministers and the governor-general – did they have a role? by KKS Perera [ST]
[39] 12.02.12: Siri Kotha was an Abdul Caffoor property called ‘Icicle Hall.” [Sunday times]
[39.1] 19.02.12: Another clarification by Omar Kamil,
President, Moors’ Islamic Cultural Home, Inc. [ST]
[40] 28.03.12: Masjid Al-Cassimiyya – The legacy of a Colombo Philanthropist – The Wellawatte Jumu’ah Masjid [DM P-A18]
[40.1] 26.04.12: A note by Mohamed Nazer Nowfell [Daily mirror p-A15]
[41] 06.05.12: Teach yourself more knots…(Government
of India Civil Defence Dept
guide) [Funday Times]
[41.1] 27.11.11: Teach yourself some common knots…[Funday Times]
[42] 27.05.12: Ahmed Sheriff Noordeen
celebrates 100-years [Sunday Times]
[43] 04.02.13: Colonialism, freedom and self-rule [Daily Mirror]
[44] 03.03.13: The Royal College English Medium 1961-Group [Sunday
Island]
[45] 16.07.13: Death of MYM Nizar, JP, Attorney-at-Law & NP: 09.07.13 [Daily News]
[45.1] (News report by the Hon. AHM Azwer, MP, Member – Parliamentary Council.)
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
[1]
15.01.98: Flesh-eating [Daily News p-20]
[2] 28.01.98: Street names [Daily News p-20]
[3] 20.02.98: Vehicle Registration Nos [Daily News
p-18]
[4] 29.12.99: Chandrika’s golden chance [Daily News
p-14]
[5] 11.01.13: Rizana’s tragedy [Daily Mirror
Web comment]
APPRECIATIONS
[1]
05.09.87: Abdul Wahab Mohamed Ghouse
[Daily News p-12]
[2] 13.09.88: R Muthuswamy [The Island p-7]
[3] 23.02.89: Mohamed Noor Deen [Daily News p-10]
[4] 11.09.91: MIM Sahill [Daily News p-11]
[5] 13.01.02: Rohan Hapugalle [The Sunday Island
p-13]
[6] 13.01.03: AC Alles [Daily News p-6]
[7] 31.05.06: Nihal
de Silva - A keen naturalist with interest in avifauna [Daily Mirror, p11]
[8] 03.01.10: Hospitable Uncle Bert was
like one of the illustrious knights of Camelot. [Sunday Times, p8]
[9] 19.12.10: Ranil
Mendis - A man of integrity and flair [The Sunday
Leader, p-30: Sunday Times Online 10.12.10]
[10]
14.10.11: Imtiaz Hamid [Daily News, p-11]
MENTIONS IN
HANSARD
[1] 02.12.10:
Vol. 196 No. 3: p.755-756.
[2] 20.10.11:
Vol. 203 No. 4: p.617-618.
[3] 18.07.12:
Vol. 210 No. 2: p.298-300.