Looking back at the life of a man of many parts

We celebrate the 100th birth anniversary of our father Arananda Rajamini Piyasena Wijeyesekera tomorrow, November 22. He grew up among eight siblings and seven elephants including the Maligawa tusker. The family also owned a rubber estate and though they faced hard times during the depression when rubber prices plummeted, dairy helped them to survive.

ARP’s secondary education was at Royal College. After leaving school, he enrolled in the Auxiliary Fire Service. One day he was late to work only to find that his office building had been wiped out by a bomb!

Thereafter he worked in a number of private and government institutions. Among them were Ceylon Government Railway, Unilever, Lanka Sugar Corporation, State Hardware and Richard Peiris Co. Ltd

His engineering training began at the CGR workshops at Ratmalana. He spent time in England while studying for his IMechE exams and undergoing further training. He was also trained in diesel electric locomotives in Canada. The Queen visited Ceylon at this time and he was proud to say that he was in charge of the train that took her to Kandy.

ARP had several stints at the CTB, first as Chief Engineer. In 1968 he was appointed Chairman, CTB. He standardized the fleet to Fiat, Ashok Leyland and Tata Benz. They were used in the up country region. This minimised the need for spare parts. He wanted centralised control.

Not only did we get to travel with him around Sri Lanka but we also got an insight on the influence of politicians on those holding senior posts in the government service. Our father refused to bow down to politicians and resigned from the post of Chairman within a short time of assuming the office a second time.

He tried his hand at entrepreneurship, starting Tractors and Roadways Pvt Ltd.

He had pride in Walauwewatte Industries and nurtured the family coconut property, Walahena Estate. He started a dairy on this property. Then as an out-grower he tried his hand growing foliage plants.

He also shared his wide experience on a number of professional bodies. He was President of the Institution of Engineers Sri Lanka in 1980 and organised a course for students to gain a professional degree. He was also President of the Chamber of Commerce and Chairman of the National Chamber of Industries.

A loyal UNPer, he was the joint secretary of the first draft of the 1977 UNP manifesto which included a section on the protection of local industry.

His interest in the protection of local industry was also reflected in his work as a Member of the Board of Directors at IDB. He was also appointed as a member of the Presidential Commission of Tariffs.

He was a man of many parts; a golfer, keen wild life enthusiast who filmed with a 8mm cine camera and a still camera, radio enthusiast and also a keen cricketer.

He was a fearless journalist par excellence and simplified the complicated, working across disciplines. He wrote to a number of magazines and news papers.

His cry was “do not ask what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country.”