Chamara Lakshan’s funeral today

The funeral of Resa and Silumina Editor-in-Chief Chamara Lakshan Kumara (39), will be held at the Indigodatenna cemetery in Mathugama at 5.00 p.m. today. Cortege leaves residence No:05 Athulathmudaligama, Mathugama at 4.00 pm.

Hundreds of journalists from ANCL and other print and electronic media houses paid their last respects over the last two days to Chamara, who revolutionised local print journalism with his innovative ideas. Among those who visited his residence to pay their last respects were ministers, politicians, artistes, academics and professionals. President Maithripala Sirisena, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera had expressed their condolences.

Chamara had a circle of friends within an outside journalism who admired his down-to-earth attitude and easygoing personality. Chamara was the founder Editor of the nascent Resa newspaper, the latest venture of the Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited.

Before joining the ANCL a couple of years ago, Chamara had worked for Lakbima and Rivira newspapers, where the respective managements noticed his innate journalistic brilliance. Chamara was given the reins of Resa after a brief stint with ANCL flagships Silumina and Dinamina.

Just a few months into his tenure at Resa, Chamara was appointed as Editor in Chief of Silumina, which went through a revolutionary change under his command. There was positive feedback from the readers to the redesigned and launched newspaper and surveys revealed that he had managed to attract young new readers to the Silumina for the first time in many years. Resa too carved a new niche in the local journalism arena, having given the other morning newspapers a run for their money with 16 pages of informative and entraining reading material. Chamara had a way with words which permeated to the two newspapers and he encouraged the young journalists working under him to explore new frontiers and go boldly in search of the truth. He was a perfectionist who demanded and got the best out of his young teams at Resa and Silumina.

Chamara not only had a way with words – he had a way with pictures, though he was not a photographer per se. He turned even the most mundane of news pictures into extraordinary revelations simply through his brilliant captions and picture headings. This was one of the Unique Selling Propositions (USP) of Resa and Silumina under his editorship. These incisive captions drew the reader to the (bigger) picture and the story.

Chamara was a repository of knowledge on politics, arts and sports, in no particular order. He had a remarkable memory for people, places and events, a fact that was not lost on his fellow journalists. He could describe historical incidents in detail without missing a beat. This surprised even many academics well versed in these subjects. He was not an avid note taker at press events, but when it came writing the story, he could often write from memory before the other journalists did. He had many plans to further develop Silumina and Resa newspapers.

Chamara will be missed by all at Lake House and other media houses. It will not be easy to find a replacement for Chamara, a man of many abilities. Chamara is survived by his wife Dinupa Dilhani and their son.

Post a Comment

Previous Post Next Post