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| Tuesday, 2 September 2003 |
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Niluka Ratnayake achieves more at 22 by Chamitha Kuruppu
Though she never had a definite ambition during her schooldays and strongly believed in sheer luck, prim and proper Niluka Ratnayake has achieved more than she could at the age of 22. Among her many achievements the most recent and memorable one for Niluka is being awarded the 'Young CIMA Star of the Year' for 2003 presented by CIMA Sri Lanka Division. She had just returned home after work for our interview and had to rush back to another meeting in Colombo but she had no complaints and looked perfectly fresh in the middle of a busy day. During one's youth everyone has illusions of holding various key positions in future, says Niluka but added she never belonged to that category. Niluka, didn't have an ambition but her schoolmates and teachers at St. Bridget's Convent, Colombo already had plans for her future. They insisted that she should become a doctor. "I don't know why, but they always said that I should be a doctor one day," she said. As she got through her GCE Ordinary Level examination obtaining eight distinctions Niluka had to take a decision about her future; choose the right field for her further studies. She didn't want to become a doctor as her colleagues insisted but her penchant towards the commercial sector tend to grow especially with the influence from her father who is a professional accountant. I was really good in my mathematics and keen on numbers more than theoretical stuff, so all these factors made me select the commerce stream for the GCE Advanced Level. However, Niluka's mother who saw a newspaper advertisement by the International Association of Book keepers asked her to sit for an examination conducted by them. "I passed the examination and commenced CIMA while doing my A/Ls". Niluka wanted to take a decision whether to get into full time CIMA or to continue her school education. She was selected as the school head prefect in 1998. This was a big responsibility, so I decided to stay in school till I delegate my duties to the next person, and continue my A/Ls. However, in 1999 as she had already planned she left school and dedicated her entire time for CIMA. Niluka obtained associate membership in the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA-UK) in April 2002 and she is the youngest Sri Lankan to date to achieve this. She is also an associate of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM-UK) , which she obtained in June 2002. Niluka also holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Marketing (CIM-UK). Niluka bagged the Sri Lanka Prize for Integrated Marketing Communications of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM-UK) at the Postgraduate Diploma Level in June 2002. She has participated in training programs in specialised areas of prototype carbon credits conducted by the World Bank and general areas of taxation and performance evaluation. Her performances is not only limited to studies but also in sports. Niluka represented the school in swimming and synchronised swimming from 1986-1990 in all national and junior and senior public school, national age group championships, all island national school games championships. She was awarded colours for swimming in 2000. She has also represented the school in the All Island Open Mile Sea Swim meets at Mount Lavinia and Ambalangoda from 91-96 and the third in 1995. Niluka gained her maiden working experience at Ernst and Young Chartered Accountants, where she worked for two and a half years. She joined Aitken Spence at the age of 20 as a Financial Analyst cum Management Accountant. Niluka works as a Management Accountant at Mast Lanka Private Limited at present. A commanding personality, perfect communication skills and a great deal of luck, Niluka shot back when asked what qualities one should have to achieve a professional milestone. It isn't an easy task, not only in the corporate world but also when you take life alone, to gain any achievement it requires commitment and hard work. Though I strongly believe in luck and a lot of it during my entire life I strive hard till I gained what I wanted, Niluka asserted. Lack of soft skills is the main contributor to youth unrest in Sri Lanka. Though the country boasts about its high literacy level the majority of the educated youth cannot even express themselves, which is a major obstacle. Sometimes an average person is able to perform better than a literate person. Being in the right place at the right time is very important. Every individual has some sort of talent, all you got to do is to recognise them. It is equally important to have a goal and strive till you gain it. She has it all-beauty, brains, fame, wealth and so on. What does all these mean to this 22-year-old lass. "It's a long journey and there's more to go," says Niluka adding that she was never complacent and relaxed when she achieved anything. I am happy for all I have achieved, for what I have done and for what I have gained but this is still the beginning, she said. Like every woman Niluka too dreams of a perfect marriage and willing to compromise responsibilities in corporate life to achieve it. "One day I will also take on the responsibilities of a mother and wife and have a combination of family and corporate life," she says confidently. My parents were my tower of strength. Their support and encouragement helped me immensely to make my dreams a reality. Having a tight work schedule Niluka's father had less time to spend with his family but his close friends such as Asite Talwatte, Ranel Wijesinghe, Devan de Mel and the late Parakrama Fernado were right behind Niluka guiding her. She speaks fondly about her school principals, teachers and colleagues. "Whenever I have time I go to school and help them with the work," Niluka says adding that she strongly believes in sharing her knowledge and experience with others specially with those who have helped her to be where she is today. This speaks volumes of why she was awarded the medal presented by the staff of St. Bridget's Convent for service to the school in 1998. Niluka says that she enjoys taking part in social work. She is a member of the Public Relations and Marketing Committee of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants Sri Lanka Division and also a board director of the Lions Club of Colombo Millennium District 306A. Niluka was the Manager, Academy of Business Studies 'HOPE 2003'Library Fund, a dual benefit fund embarked upon for the benefit of those suffering from cancer and the merging community students. Work is challenging, but she enjoys every bit of it. Work demands many hours of my day, therefore there is hardly any time left for me to indulge in hobbies. But I always make sure to go to the gym after work, I find it very interesting, says Niluka. |
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