DUBAI: The inaugural Sri Lankan Day event that was held to commemorate Sri Lanka’s 70th anniversary of independence, as well as 25th Anniversary of establishing the Sri Lanka Consulate General in Dubai, was a huge success with more than 25,000 Sri Lankan expatriates descending on Zabeel Park in Dubai on Friday, 9 February to enjoy an experience like never before.
This family-oriented event, which was open to Sri Lankans, Emiratis and people from all other nationalities, comprised a number of activities such as UAE-Sri Lanka friendship walk, a cultural show, food stalls serving authentic Sri Lankan food, free spectacle donations, a blood donation camp, a mega musical show, and much more.
Sri Lankan Day 2018 witnessed one of the largest gathering of Sri Lankans outside Sri Lanka, as a sea of solidarity among compriots from all ethnic groups prevailed from 10am to 11pm on Friday, a public holiday in the UAE.
The event commenced with the blessings of religious leaders, representing the four main religions of Sri Lanka. A moment of silence was observed to remember and honour all national heroes who devoted and sacrificed their lives for the independence and sovereignty of Sri Lanka.
Authentic Sri Lankan cuisine
Five Sri Lankan restaurants offered unique Sri Lankan delicacies such as, plain hoppers and egg hoppers, kotthu roti, lunu miris, rice and curry to the Sri Lankan and international crowd at the event, fulfilling their taste buds.
In addition, a Sri Lankan food photographic competition called “Suupachaya” was held with the aim of promoting the Sri Lankan food/cuisine among the international crowd and thereby to popularize such food/cuisine globally.
Stalls showcased and sold a variety of Sri Lankan items such as tea, handicrafts and batik while experts representing Sri Lankan property developers participated in the event and provided tailor-made property solutions to Sri Lankan expatriates. Providing much needed services, especially focusing on the blue-collar workers, such as opening up an NRFC account, local banks in Sri Lanka including National Savings Bank, Bank of Ceylon and Commercial Bank, also participated in the first Sri Lankan Day of its kind in the Middle East.
Medical camps
The free medical camps established in the park were one of the most distinctive features, as many Sri Lankan and international doctors joined hands with the event organisers to provide much needed medical assistance to those visiting the event. Over 20 doctors representing six different nationalities volunteered to offer their services to participants on a free of charge, first come first served basis.
Moreover, a donation of over 380 free spectacles along with lenses to the needy people were distributed in parallel to the services offered by medical camps set up at the venue. This donation was given based on eye-testing, and earned a lot of accolades from many low-income workers who couldn’t afford the same.
The blood donation camp , another highlight, intrinsically symbolized the friendship of the Sri Lankans towards the people and the Government of the UAE, which is considered as a ‘second-home’ by many Sri Lankan expatriates in the UAE.
A free mobile dental camp was also established on site by the University of Sharjah, which provided an immense service to Sri Lankans in the low-income group, as dental check-ups are usually not covered under their insurance schemes. Throughout the day, the mobile dental camp provided a service worth thousands of Dirhams to the crowd on a complimentary basis.
In keeping with the family-oriented nature of the event, a special entertainment program was arranged for local talents to showcase their singing skills. During this specific segment, more than 10 upcoming singers had the opportunity to display their singing skills to the massive crowd, supported by two UAE-based musical groups, Acoustica and Seven Notes. Children also had plenty to choose from including bouncy-castles and an arts competition.
Memorable walk symbolises strong UAE-Sri Lankan friendship
The main highlight of the event was the UAE-Sri Lanka friendship walk, which reflected the strong ties between the two countries. Visitors to the event enjoyed an unforgettable experience when over 2500 Sri Lankans representing various groups, associations, organizations and alumni associations of Sri Lankan schools marched into the park as part of the “UAE- Sri Lanka friendship walk” that was filled with pomp and pageantry, which was highly praised by people of other nationalities who attended the event.
The walk was filled with distinctive items portraying the cultural diversity of Sri Lanka consisting of performances representing Sinhalese, Tamil and Malay culture. The various segments of the walk such as “Kasa Karuwo”, the band of the old girls of Holy Family Convent and the children wearing colorful costumes in their traditional dances, enthralled the onlookers.
The conclusion of the UAE- Sri Lanka friendship walk kicked off the formal national day celebrations that included a cultural show, organized by leading artist guilds across the UAE, and enriched with spectacular “up country” and “low country” traditional dances together with Tamil and Malay dances. An opera type of drama portryaing the whole history of Sri Lanka starting from King Vijaya to the present times was staged, sustaining the enthusiasm of the gathering at the event until its end.
Wonder of Asia
With a view to promoting Sri Lanka as a much sought-after destination among the foreigners present at the event, a special wall, portraying the history and tourism attractions of Sri Lanka was also set up at the location in addition to a huge welcoming arch decorated with historical symbols and two lion statues, inspired by the Yapahuwa sculpture. Just beside these attractions, a photo booth providing instant photos enabled the participants to have a memorable souvenir of their visit to Sri Lankan Day 2018.
Delivering the official address at the event, the Consul General Charitha Yattogoda said: ”The foreign remittances from Sri Lankan expatriates still constitutes the number one foreign exchange source for the Sri Lankan economy and we respect and value your continuing contribution towards the economic development of our motherland. Let me use this occasion to place on record my sincere appreciation and gratitude, on behalf of the Government of Sri Lanka, to the Sri Lankan community based in Dubai and the Northern Emirates, for the immense support they rendered throughout the year, shoulder to shoulder, in all of our endeavours.”
“It is my strong desire to see my countrymen projecting and representing our land in this region as goodwill ambassadors of Sri Lanka. As a person who strongly believes in solidarity, which will usher us into a better future, let me invite all my fellow countrymen to join hands as a one nation in promoting Sri Lanka’s rich values in this part of the world and to make our motherland proud.”
The final part of the event was the grand musical show featuring the Sri Lankan artists specially flown in from Sri Lanka including the leading Sri Lankan band “Naadha”, Edward Jayakody, Keerthi Pasqual, Athma Liyanage and Nirosha Virajini. Dumal Warnakoolasooriya from “Naadha” band entertained the gathering with his repertoire of songs in Tamil, Hindi and English songs.
Happy Holidays company, a renowned travel and leisure company based in the UAE, LuLu Hypermarkets, one of the leading hypermarket chains in the Middle East and RAK Bank, a prominent bank in the UAE were the main sponsors. In addition, Sri Lankan Air Lines, leading exchange houses and the universities based in the UAE supported the event as co-sponsors.
