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| Tuesday, 11 November 2003 |
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by Sarath Malalasekera To mark the four hundred years of relations between The Netherlands and Ceylon/Sri Lanka a book titled 'The Netherlands-Ceylon Heritage by Evert Jongens was presented to Ms. Susan Th. Blankhart, The Netherlands Ambassador in Sri Lanka, by Netherlands Alumni Association of Sri Lanka, President S. P. C. Kumarasinghe at a special ceremony held in Colombo recently. Ambassador Ms. Susan Blankhart addressing the distinguished gathering at the prtesentation ceremony said that as the founder and director of the Netherlands-Sri Lanka Foundation Mr. Jongens has exerted himself for the promotion of cultural relations between the two countries for almost 30 years. Among his many activities, the Ambassador said, special mention should be made of the initiation of contacts with Sri Lankans who studied in the Netherlands by uniting them under the Netherlands Alumni Association of Lanka, his interest in the Dutch cultural heritage and his contribution to the twinning of the cities Velsen and Galle. It is remarkable that his heritage, first Sri Lanka, but now also by the Netherlands, is considered to be of duel parentage, The Netherlands Ambassador said. Ambassador Susan Blankhart paid a glowing tribute to Association President Kumarasinghe and the other members of the association for their kind gesture in organising the presentation ceremony of the booklet. Addressing the presentation ceremony Mr.Kumarasinghe said that this book was initially written in Dutch for readers in the Netherlands. It contains a list of publications valuable for those who are interested in gaining further knowledge about a special subject of The Netherlands/Ceylon heritage. Sri Lanka's points of view are explained in a publication by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) which contains the text of the lectures delivered during the symposium on 400 year relations organised by the IPS in Colombo last year, Mr. Kumarasinghe said. The author Jongens first visited Sri Lanka 30 years ago. Ever since then he has visited the country more than twenty five times. Jongens initiated a new era of relations between the two countries by establishing the Netherlands Alumni Association of Lanka (NAAL), which is celebrating its 32nd anniversary this year, Mr. Kumarasinghe added. The booklet was translated in to English by K. D. Paranavitana. |
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