spotlight

AI and robots are replacing humans in industries from car-manufacturing to financial services. Could apparel be next? It’s unlikely for Sri Lanka, especially as the island focuses on more complex garments. But recruitment may take a hit.

Sinhalese smut online is flaccid, having lost the emotional complexity of classical and modern erotic literature. Yet audiences are turning to niche subgenres, like Korean-inspired boys’ love and erotica written by women.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s victory marked a high-water point for Sinhalese nationalism. But the NPP’s recent success in the North shows that its power is receding. Reading Rajesh Venugopal’s 2018 economic history suggests that the structural conditions which sustain this ideology are becoming weaker.

Tech layoffs are here, but they aren’t as bad as the rumours suggest. Small outsourcing companies, and specific jobs like tech writers and quality-assurance engineers face the greatest threat. Tech education isn’t keeping up.

Some Malaiyaha Tamils displaced by Cyclone Ditwah wait for transitional shelters in tents. Many need permanent housing. Their wait, prolonged by bureaucratic bottlenecks and plantation companies’ reluctance to let go of profitable land, exposes how disasters disproportionately harm minority groups.

The church knew of sexual abuse allegations against one of their teacher-priests, Gregory Fernando. They transferred him to India for a couple of years, then returned him to classrooms in Kandy, where he continued to molest young children. Faced with their indiscretions, they refuse to repent.

A review of Richard Simon’s Thomia, subtitled ‘the entangled history of Lanka and her greatest public school’. A history of failed promise and a requiem to Anglophone Lanka, Thomia traces the mighty currents, momentous events, and complex men who forged the fate of independent Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka’s Telugu community resents being boxed as the ‘Ahikuntakas’ or gypsies. Most Sri Lankans overlook the diversity within the community, and push them away as social outcasts. To secure a better future, the youth are embracing Sinhalese culture and Christianity.

The Iran war’s fallout is already here, including via higher oil prices and torpedoed ships. Sri Lanka is better placed than in the past to manage the adverse impact, which will depend greatly on the war’s duration. But there are silver linings too.

Sri Lankan food isn’t a monolith. Specific dishes like Jaffna crab curry are associated with particular communities, but regional cuisine isn’t explored. Geography and trade give rise to a distinct culinary tradition beyond the Bentara, and with it delicacies like fish ambulthiyal and kalu dodol.