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Message: <blockquote data-quote="AtulaSiriwardane" data-source="post: 4204066" data-attributes="member: 120286"> Native son with a world vision Dr. Sivali  H. Ratwatte  Chairman,Upali Group of Companies.  Looking back  over the last ten years which seems like only yesterday I remember most vividly  my last conversation with Upali. I was then on a UN assignment in Nepal, that  most beautiful but remote of Himalayan outposts, but was in Colombo when he rang  from Kuala Lumpur. It was 9 p.m. and the day was Saturday, February 12. "Will you be  my campaign manager if I contest Kamburupitiya or Devinuwara", asked Upali. He  was referring to the by-elections which were in the offing, the Members of  Parliament of these seats among several others having resigned following their  defeats at the Referendum the previous year. I had no  hesitation in answering "Yes". Then our  conversation on the long distance telephone went like this: "Will the UN  agree to give you leave?" "I shall take  no pay leave". "If the UNP  denies me nomination again I shall contest as an Independent. Would you still be  willing?" "In whatever  way you hand in your nominations I will be there with you, Upali". Then came a  characteristic parting shot. "If the UN gives you the sack you can take over  Upali Newspapers". By 9 p.m. the  next day, February 13, a day after to the hour, Upali was gone. In the course  of the same conversation he also asked me whether on Sunday morning I could meet  the President and ‘Pandit’ (UNP Chairman N. G. P. Panditharatne) and see what  prospects there were for him obtaining UNP nomination. But Pandit was on circuit  in Uda Walawe (he was Chairman of the Mahaveli Authority) while President  Jayewardene was at his country home at Kumbalwela. Upali’s last  words were on index of how deeply politics had attracted him. The political bug  had bitten him. JRJ was largely responsible for getting him interested in  politics. Upali had always stood by ‘Dickie Aiyyo’ through thick and thin. In  the lead up to the UNP’s and JRJ’s landslide victory in 1977 Upali’s assistance  was considerable. Politics  changed Upali completely. The Upali I knew in the sixties and early seventies  cared little for Sri Lankan politics. His only contact with politicians was to  obtain an import licence or seek approval for a new industry. There was no other  way in that era of controls. I am not sure whether he knew of the intrigues and  manipulation that goes with politics and deliberately kept away or whether he by  instinct was not interested in this profession. His interest  was mainly business both locally and internationally. He had visions which were  global in scale — a trading office in New York, presiding over board meetings in  London and producing commodities in Malaysia. He had a  human side to his personality. Even in his business dealings the human side  dominated. And initial grim determination to effect a deal was often tempered on  hearing of how adversely it would affect some person or other. One story  related to me by Upatissa Hulugalle concerns the take-over of Ceylon Chocolates  Ltd., which he acquired in 1970 from his maternal uncle Sarath Wijesinghe. The  G. M. of the factory of Kundasale was a Burgher gentleman. This person coming to  know of Upali’s interest in CCL resented a "puppy" coming into to be his boss.  He had remarked that he would buy Ceylon Sugar Co. (Upali’s first industrial  venture) "before that fellow could touch CCL". Of course there was no question  as to who took over which. After the  purchase of CCL shares was completed Upali sent Murugiah and Upatissa to take  charge of the factory and dispense with the services of the General Manager  speedily, paying him what was statutorily required to be given only. However  Upali received on emotional appeal in writing from the wife of the G.M. This  moved him so much that he asked Murugiah to pay the man whatever he wanted and  also to give him a car so that he could maintain his life-style as before. He built two  houses for two of his faithful who had worked with him in the difficult early  days of business. These were built on land in an exclusive residential area  gifted to him by his grandmother. Of these two, Peter Kudupitiya helped Upali to  fit up the machinery for the production of sugar candy in his ancestral home at  Sedawatte, his first business venture. Upali read the manual in English and  translated into Sinhala and Peter, the first time he had set his eyes on such a  machine, fitted up slowly but surely. He ran his  companies with a small staff but treated each and everyone like a family member.  A wedding or a death of a relative of an employee saw him help lavishly. In the late  sixties and early seventies Upali was a frequent visitor at our home in Borella.  He was reaching new heights in the international world of business. In Sri Lanka  although it was an era of controls he had assembled a Japanese car until the  government stopped it. Rodios were assembled and commodity trading in rubber was  very remunerative. He had a small circle of friends who he associated with  frequently while avoiding the cocktail circuit. At least  three times a week he would telephone us and ask whether he could drop in at  home on his way home after office. He would normally work till late in office  with a small staff. On days he dropped in at our residence he would leave office  at 5.00 p.m. This was well known amongst his office staff too. My wife knew  what he liked to eat. A plate of sandwiches and a plate of cheese toast, or an  oven-hot love cake would vanish in a few minutes. Talking with him was an  experience. He would tell us how he handled his business problems. A solution  seemed inevitable although the problem looked insurmountable at the beginning. In those days  and even much later Upali had a simple guideline. "To spend one rupee you must  earn to rupees". In the early days he always travelled economy and stayed in  cheap hotels. It was much later that he graduated to first class and the Hilton  chain. This was long after he became Chairman of Grand Central Investment  Holdings Ltd., a sterling company that owned 29,000 acres of tea and rubber land  in Ceylon, as this country was known then. He enjoyed visiting estates and  admiring the beautiful scenery from the luxury planters’ bungalows. On one  occasion I was holidaying with my family in the Castlereagh circuit bungalow  when he paid a surprise visit from Colombo to take us to Adam’s Peak Estate and  admire the view of Sri Pada. He liked to  live comfortably but not in opulent luxury. He never drank alcohol but smoked  incessantly puffing harder when he was thinking over a problem. His  contribution to the Greater Colombo Economic Commission as its virtual creator  together with JRJ and Gamini Dissanayake are inestimable. JRJ made the correct  decision in putting him at the helm because he was a businessman and knew how to  talk to investors in the kind of language they understood. It is no secret that  Motorola decided to pull out, after buying two acres of land in Katunayake for a  project that would have given employment to 2,000 initially, because Upali had  by then resigned as head of the G.C.E.C. I regretted  his entering into the foul game of politics because I knew of the opposition in  his own party to him. He was feared by a few but wanted by many. On one  occasion when I was on a visit to Colombo he requested me to ask JRJ why he was  delaying his appointment to the working committee of the party. JRJ told me,  "let him disassociate himself from the newspapers and then I will appoint him".  This Upali was not prepared to do and so it was. I sometimes  wonder whether it was not the frustration resulting from the denial of  nomination of contest two by-elections at Kamburupitiya and Kalawana that pushed  him into starting Upali Newspapers. Whatever that may be it was a very  courageous step in the teeth of Opposition. He acknowledged the assistance given  by Anandatissa de Alwis and Sarath Amunugama with of course JRJ’s blessings. The  latter obviously later regretted this decision. The "Divaina"  and "The Island" are his finest contributions to this country and it is upto  those left behind to carry on these two independent dailies, so dearly loved by  the right-thinking fair-minded people of this country. Perhaps if he  had not launched these newspapers he would still be amongst us. "May he  attain Nibbana"  This article first appeared in The Island of February 13, 1993</blockquote>

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