Address
SACKOBA HQ,
St. Anthony’s College,
Kandy, Sri Lanka 20000
Email Address
secretary@sackoba.lk
editor@sackoba.lk
His Lordship the Bishop of Kandy, Rev. Fr. Prior, Rev. Fathers and my dear distinguished old boys;
As the general secretary of the St. Anthony’s College Old Boys’ Association let me present a brief of our activities for the past year. The past year was an eventful year for all of us at the OBA and I would highlight our major activities in this report. In addition to the activities done by the OBA Parent Body many of the affiliate groups were busy with their work towards uplifting the College. The activities carried out by our affiliate groups are annexed to report and where required I highlight them in this report as well.
At the very outset let me place on record our sincere appreciation towards His Lordship the Bishop of Kandy and Very Rev. Fr. Prior; who were always welcoming us to discuss matters pertaining to the College.
Under the leadership of Mr. Nath Weerakoon the Central Council had 10 meetings; as some of you would notice we were unable to have the full set of 12 meetings that we usually have. This was a result of the unfortunate security situation of the country after the Easter Sunday (21st April 2019) bombings. Since that incident the CC members had number of meetings with the College authorities to tighten the security of the College and I am happy to note the dedication of CC members who spent number hours, even at night patrolling the perimeter of the College. CC members aiding the college authorities to check the bags of students and helping with other security arrangements was a common sight during the period. On behalf of the OBA fraternity I would like to thank all the members; not just the CC members but all old boys who came forward to help the college in that hour of need.
As I reported at the last meeting together with the College authorities and OBA Colombo Branch we have been developing a master plan for the college; which is affectionately called as vision 2023. The plan covers all aspects of the College from developing education to new infrastructure. The plan was developed with the help of Mr. Ranjan De Silva who is a prominent old boy who is well known for his Leadership specialist. The plan is completed and the College authorities have submitted the relevant parts of this plan to the education ministry for approval. While thanking the Rev. Fr. Principal for this effort we hope that this plan will be officially put into action from next year. I would also like to mark my gratitude towards all the old boys who helped in developing this plan; in particular Mr. Ranjan De Silva.
CDC activities:
As you may recall, the CDC was formed with the intention of forming a forum which consists of all stakeholders of the College; OSB Congregation, OBA, College authorities and School Development Committee (SDC). The SDC is the apex body when it comes to activities of a government school represented by parents, school’s academic staff and the alumni.
As I reported at the last AGM, the OBA signed an MoU with the OSB Congregation to develop the OBA Headquarters. We were able to complete the first phase of this project; that is the development of a canteen and the souvenir shop. Those who visited the College in recently would agree with me that this new construction has added glamor; the new canteen is called the “River Side Café” which should bring nostalgic memories to most of you. The souvenir shop hosts a plethora of memorabilia from T-shirts to books. I would like to invite all of you to visit the newly constructed premises and enjoy what it has to offer. We have also started the second phase of this project which I will report later in this report.
One of the main projects completed by the CDC during the past year is the renovation of the Villa. I should thank the Past Hostellers’ Association for shouldering this project. The project is now completed and the hostellers are enjoying the newly renovated facility.
The CDC met every two months and discussed matters pertaining to the College. The meetings were well attended and there are number of ongoing projects coordinated by the CDC which will bear fruits in the near future. One such project is the construction of the new Rugby ground which got delayed due to number of reasons. With efforts from all the parties involved in this project we now see the light at the end of the tunnel. Hopefully at the next AGM you might hear the good news about opening of this facility.
Another project which the CDC initiated is the construction of a new basketball court. As you are aware the basketball court was removed to facilitate the construction of the new building. The only path to take the heavy equipment required for the pilling work of the new building was via the basketball court which rendered the court useless. Now since the pilling work is completed, we can renovate the courts; in fact, the plan is to make a new and a far better court than what we had. This project is shouldered by the Colombo branch. I would like to thank the newly elected president of the Colombo branch for taking up the challenge. The new court will have a viewing gallery which we did not have in the original court and for this we would need bit more space. We are discussing this matter at the CDC and hopeful that we will be able to come to an agreement with the OSB congregation to use some of the land which belongs to them for this new court.
Colombo Branch:
As always, the Colombo branch is a pillar of strength to the Parent Body. As I mentioned just a while ago the newly elected President of the Colombo Branch and his team is shouldering the new basketball court project. The activities carried out by the Colombo Branch is annexed to this report.
Junior Committee:
The Junior Council (JC), though in its infancy is shouldering a number of projects. The energetic young team headed by the capable Senior Vice President Mr. Mark Stephen has done number of projects. The car parade during the big-match was talk of the town and would like to thank all the members of the JC for organizing it.
Today, you will witness another project completed by the JC; the SACKOBA Parent Body website. In today’s information driven society a website is a must for any association. The younger generation is well geared and expect all information to be available via the web. The SACKOBA Parent Body did not have an official website; though there were few sites here and there no official site was maintained. The JC came forward to bridge this gap and developed a website for the SACKOBA Parent Body. Today we will be launching this new website which can be accessed via sackoba.lk. In the future we hope to keep our membership updated about our activities via this site.
OBA Projects:
Over the cause of last year, the Parent Body completed or started number of projects to uplift the college and the general wellbeing of the members. I list some of the important projects here;
OBA Headquarters development
As I mentioned previously in this report the OBA went into an MoU with the OSB to develop the area where the current OBA Headquarters is located. The first phase of this project is completed where a new souvenir shop and a canteen was added. The premises were declared open by the President Mr. Nath Weerakoon on the day of the Big-match. At this point I should report the untiring efforts of Mr. Arunda Ranasinghe that made sure the project was completed on time for the match. The souvenir shop and the canteen was operating during the match and it was praised by all who visited the College. I should thank Mr. Chamila Samarajeewa for looking after the souvenir shop.
Now the OBA is planning on the second stage where three rooms and a meeting room will be added to the headquarters. The rooms, once completed will be available for the members; in particular ones who visit Kandy from outstations or from overseas. The current OBA meeting room is heavily used. Not just the OBA members, but also the College staff use the meeting room for conducting meetings coaching activities for players etc. With the introduction of the new meeting room some of these meetings can be moved to the new meeting room.
We solicit your support for making this project a reality. I would like to place on record our sincere gratitude towards all the members who supported the construction of the first phase. With your kind donations we were able to complete the first phase and expect the same support for the next phase as well.
Sing-along with Kings
The SACKOBA Parent Body has organized a sing-along with Kings in aid of the headquarters development project. The event will be held on the 28th of September at Mahaweli Reach where you will be treated to a night of music with the popular band Kings. At the time of writing this report we have about 60 more tickets to be sold. I humbly request all of you to attend the event and support this worthy course, and of cause have some fun. I would like to thank Mr. Samiddha and Dimuth Bandara for their efforts in organizing this show.
Members information system
Over the years the SACKOBA Parent Body kept the membership information written in a book. This caused number of logistic issues; most members had out dated information and tracking the members was difficult. During the past year, we introduced a computerized system for handling membership details. The project is now completed and we urge you to provide us with updated information so that we can be in touch with you. Just to illustrate we found 1000 inactive members – that is members whose postal addresses are no longer valid. We will share the names of these members via WhatsApp or Facebook. If you have the details of any members in that list, please share it with us so that we can update our records. I should thank Mr. Dhammika Samarasekara for handling this project.
The annual family get together
As usual, the annual family get together was organized under the capable guidance of Mr. Chandra Mahawattage and was held at Hotel Thilanka. The event was well attended and organized. I should thank Mr. Mahawattage and Mr. Paldano of Hotel Thilanka for putting up a nice show.
Reintroduction of tennis
St. Anthony’s was one of the very few schools who had a tennis court. However, though the court was consumed by the construction of the new building the OBA had hopes of reintroducing the sport to the College. Thanks to the efforts of Mr. Manjula Amarathunge we managed to start a tennis club for school children. For now, the practices are held in the Mahaweli Reach courts and it seems to be gaining popularity with the kids. I would like to thank Mr. Amarathunge for his efforts on this regards.
Felicitation of Mr. Dappula De Livera
Mr. Dappula De Livera, a prominent old boys, was appointed as the Attorney General of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. The SACKOBA Parent Body arranged a felicitation ceremony to honor newly appointed AG. The event was held on the 27th July at Mahaweli Reach with the participation of over 100 old boys. The glamorous occasion was graded by Rev. Fr. Stephen and was very well attend. I should thank Mr. Dhammika Samarasekara and his team for arranging a splendid event.
Affiliated groups:
We have managed to build a very close relationship with the OBA affiliated groups. All affiliated groups are well represented within the Central Council and are highly involved in the OBA activities. Since the reports of these groups are in the annex I take the liberty not to narrate their activities, but thank them for all the hard work.
Concluding remark:
Let me thank all the members who assisted me in many ways to compile this Annual report by sending necessary information in time. Also, I wish to thank Mr. Dhammika Samarasekara and Mr. Amodha Galgamuwa for all the support given to me to compile and print this report. Note of thanks goes to M/s JS Creations for printing this report within a very short period of time.
Let us be united, let walk with patients towards our end goal of making St. Anthony’s great!!!
Long live St. Anthony’s College!
Thank you,
Dr.Dhammika Elkaduwe
General Secretary 2017/18 SACKOBA (Parent Body)