President at Trinity College prize giving:

Live as members of single family

Asela Kuruluwansa

People in this country should live in unity like members of a single family. We should all eschew petty differences as to community, religion, party or region and consider ourselves proud Sri Lankans, said President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

The President made this observation as Chief Guest, at the annual prize day of Trinity College, Kandy, at the college hall yesterday.

The President said Trinity College which had a student population representing the Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim communities belonging to all religious denominations could be described as a valuable nursery promoting national unity.

He said a child who enjoyed the beauty of the gifts of environment without restricting himself to the classroom only reading books would be a most useful citizen to the country. If a student who gained a specialized knowledge in one sector or stream tried to gain an overall knowledge of other sectors as well he or she would become a successful individual. Recalling that well known war heroes like late Gen Denzil Kobbekaduwa and Parami Kulatunga were products of Trinity he said the school had been able to bequeath such great personalities to the motherland because it laid equal emphasis on education and extra curricular activities.

The standard or quality of a school could not be decided merely on the percentage of examination successes.

The President said mere preaching about religious teachers who ministered to the sick would not help to discipline the child population unless they are given a practical training in such duties. In that respect it should be recalled that students of Trinity College ministered to the sick by running a dispensary in Mahaiyawa in the recent past.

“This country belongs to children on all counts. Therefore we should protect and safeguard the country for the future benefit of the children,he said. Recalling that Trinity maintained an agricultural farm in 1925 he said a well tended home garden would help to give children a training in community life. He said former Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara, Olympic medalist Duncan White, illustrious late Ministers Lakshman Kadirgamar, Gamini Dissanayake and Gen Anuruddha Ratwatte were all Trinitians. At present there are 11 Members of Parliament who had been Trinitians.