Humanity 5 - Yohan Perera

A black and white, close-up shot captures a person with long, dark hair, whose face is largely obscured as their right hand covers their eyes and forehead. Their arm, adorned with what appears to be a hair tie or wristband, is bent, and they are wearing a light-colored, possibly ribbed, long-sleeved top. The background is completely dark, emphasizing the figure and creating a sense of isolation or distress.

How to Defend Yourself against Revenge Porn?

Revenge porn is a criminal offense that entails disclosing a person’s private sexual photographs or films without their consent to distress them. Blackmail is frequently used as a precursor to revenge porn (where the perpetrator threatens to release private sexual footage unless their demands are met). Revenge porn can be communicated in a variety of…

A medium eye-level shot features two men standing side-by-side against a dimly lit, blurred background with some faint lettering. The man on the left has light skin, dark hair neatly combed back, and is wearing a dark, possibly black, collared shirt. He is smiling warmly at the camera. The man on the right has darker skin, short dark hair, and is wearing a yellow polo shirt with an unbuttoned collar. He has a more neutral expression, looking directly at the camera. The lighting highlights their faces and upper torsos.

Nostalgia: Remembering Mark Rathnayake

I first met Mark fourteen years ago while I was serving as an Assistant Pastor with the Assemblies of God of Ceylon at a church in Colombo. At that time, Mark was a Lieutenant Commander in the Sri Lanka Navy. Although we came from vastly different backgrounds, we quickly developed a meaningful friendship that transcended…

A close-up, warm-toned photo of Sri Lankan singer Yohani De Silva wearing a dark beret and a dark shirt, holding a microphone and smiling while performing on stage.

My thoughts on Yohani and මැණිකේ මගේ හිතේ

The year 2021 is known for two landmark events in the Sri Lankan entertainment industry. The number one event was the departure of Sunil Perera, the nation’s larger-than-life music legend. The second event was Yohani Diloka De Silva’s ascend to the international platform with the song මැණිකේ මගේ හිතේ (translates to “babe in my mind”)…

Alt Image Description: A medium eye-level shot features a smiling, middle-aged Sunil Perera with a beard and curly hair, wearing a blue fedora, a blue shirt, and a red and black striped vest. He is seated on a dark leather couch, looking directly at the camera with a wide, joyful smile. To his left, another person's arm is visible, gesturing. The background is a bright blue wall with a framed picture, a white coffee machine, and white shelves. The scene is well-lit.

A Beautiful Mind: My Tribute to Sunil Perera

I loved listening to songs since I was a pre-school kid. Not nursery songs, I didn’t like them at all, but I liked songs enjoyed by grownups. Songs such as දෑස පියා ගත් කල (When I close my eyes…) and දේවතාවන් සිතන දේවල් (Things the gods think…) from the teledrama සුසීමා (Suseema: a women’s name…

A black and white historical photo of Adolf Hitler in a trench coat and tie, walking forward while surrounded by men in uniform giving the Nazi salute. Hitler is holding a hat in his left hand.

The 4 Ds of Racism

Yacinda Ardern’s statement after the terror attack on September 3rd was indeed a slap across the face of racism. The Prime Minister said, “What happened today was despicable. It was hateful. It was wrong. It was carried out by an individual – not a faith, not a culture, not an ethnicity – but an individual…

A close-up, eye-level shot captures the word "HELP" typed or stamped in bold, blocky, distressed black letters on a plain, light grey or off-white background. Each letter appears to be individually stamped, with slightly uneven edges and some ink smudges, particularly around the "P". The spacing between the letters is consistent.

The Unseen Rewards of Helping Others

Someone said “One of the most beautiful things we can do is to help one another. Kindness doesn’t cost anything.” Well, I disagree, wholeheartedly! Help is not free because it has a price. Although it’s free for the person on the receiving end it’s not so for the person on the offering end. Consider calling…

A group of four individuals are seated or crouching against a solid blue background, each wearing a makeshift face covering. From left to right: a person with dark skin wears a brown paper bag over their head with cutouts for eyes and mouth; a person with light skin has the top half of a clear plastic water bottle fitted over their face; a person with dark skin has a clear, rectangular plastic container over their head; and a person with light skin wears a bright yellow, spherical mask over their nose and mouth. All four are wearing white t-shirts, and the two individuals on the left are also wearing dark pants.

6 Other Safeguards against COVID 19

It’s been two years and nine months since COVID-19 dawned upon us. At the time of this writing, the death toll in Sri Lanka rests at 9,185 while 440,302 new patients have been discovered and 374,156 patients have recovered. Globally these numbers rest at 218,560,832 deaths, 4,534,054 new patients and 195,396,563 recovered patients. Virologists have…

A slightly elevated eye-level shot captures a middle-aged man pushing an elderly woman in a wheelchair on the right side of a paved road. The man, on the left, is wearing a striped short-sleeved shirt, light-colored pants, and a cap, looking slightly upwards and to the left. The woman, on the right, is seated in a light green wheelchair, wearing a dark green top, patterned pants, and a dark scarf wrapped around her head and neck. She looks upwards with a serene expression. The road is clear, with a low, well-maintained hedge and a sidewalk on the right side, separating it from houses and what appear to be power poles and trees. In the background, on the road, a person on a motorcycle is visible. The scene is brightly lit by natural light.

Honour Your Parents: Why and How?

On October 13, 2015, the police rescued a father aged 73 who had been imprisoned in a dog cage by his daughter. According to that report, the woman’s dogs slept on a bed inside the house [source: Daily News]. In Sri Lankan culture, treating our parents with love and care is a core principle and…

A close-up of a detailed anatomical model of a human heart resting on an open medical textbook. The pages of the book are visible, showing text and diagrams of ECG heart rhythms.

Five Signs of an Uneducated Heart

Socrates said, “Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.” It means education that doesn’t bring behavioural change is useless. Socrates believed an individual’s behaviour was driven by his heart. Therefore, according to Socratic philosophy, an uneducated heart is as bad as no education at all. Sri Lanka’s population had an…

A low-angle view from across a bed showing the silhouette of a woman's figure standing in front of a bright window. She is holding a sheer curtain in a dimly lit, blue-toned room.

Don’t Fall Prey to Online Sexploitation

The day I read “Porn and Nudes: Delving into Cyber Exploitation in Sri Lanka” by Ms Piyumi Fonseka, on Daily Mirror Online was the day I got the shock of a lifetime! I know revenge porn and home-brewed pornography have been around since the inception of the internet in Sri Lanka. However, I didn’t know…