Tears At The Pier

What we lost at the pier, we carried for a lifetime.

Tears at the Pier is about my family leaving Ceylon aft er the removal of English as one of major languages of instruction during the country’s troubled transition from colonial rule to independence and our migration to Australia. It is also about the growth of nationalism and the pursuit of one language, one culture and one religion policy in favour of the majority Sinhalese, Buddhist population. This policy was the forerunner to the civil war between the Sinhalese and Tamils from 1983 to 2009.

It describes the mass migration of Burghers to other countries, the brain-drain of talent, and subsequent economic loss, which the country has strugg led to recover from. It also describes how the country is now reliant on ’donor dependency’ loans from China, India and Japan to pay down debt, which has the potential to make the country vulnerable to the loss of sovereignty.

Dedicated to the memory of my Mother and Father.