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by N. U. Abdul Razzak

The Sri Lankan expatriate workers of the Sinhala and Tamil communities in the Maldives marked the Sinhala and Tamil New Year day with traditional games and a musical evening after a lapse of four years on Friday, April 19th at Thajuddeen School in Male, the capital of the Maldives. Hundreds of Sri Lankans who work in Male and the nearby atolls attended the festivities held throughout the day.

The festivities started with the beating of the Magul Bera followed by the hoisting of the National Flag of Sri Lanka by High Commissioner, Zarook A. Samsudeen.

Dr. Nimal Samarasundara, Chairman of the Ayurvedic Drugs Corporation who was the guest of honour spoke on the significance of the day and about the efforts of Prime Minister, Ranil Wickremesinghe to bring peace to our Motherland. Dr. R. A. Jegatheeson, a legal consultant in Maldives speaking at the ceremony wished that the meaningful steps that were being taken by the Prime Minister would bring about peace and normalcy to Sri Lanka.

Several traditional games of amusement were held throughout the rest of the day and prizes given away to the winners. A musical show with popular Sri Lanka singer Naradha Dissasekera was held in the evening along with the final round of the singing competition which was attended by one of the largest gatherings of the Sri Lankan expatriates community seen for years. A highlight of this evening was that the music orchestra was mainly drawn from the local expatriates under the direction of a Chemistry Teacher, Mr. Gamini Hettiarachchi assisted by Mr. Baddagama Somasiri in tabla, who was flown from Colombo for the occasion with Mr. Naradha Dissasekera. The evening program also featured dances performed by the Sama Lanka Group led by artiste Sama Samarasekera, who entertains the tourist resorts here with her troupe of professional dances from Sri Lanka.

Mr. A. K. Hettiarachchi emerged the winner of the singing competition and among other prizes won a return air ticket to Colombo.

There are nearly 8000 Sri Lankans working in the Maldives. Of them, a little over a quarter work in the garment factories located in the Addu Atoll in the South. Another over a quarter work in tourist resorts spread in 85 islands and the rest work in Male as teachers and executive and other senior office workers.

The festivities were organised by the Sri Lanka High Commission in the Maldives with the active sponsorship of Bank of Ceylon in Maldives, SriLankan Airlines, Emirates Airlines and the Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation.

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