The man who was larger than life and so down to earth is no more
The hotelier Christopher Weeratunga (74), passed away on January 1, in Sydney, Australia.
It is almost 50 years ago that I met young Christopher at the hostel (Sefton House) of the Ceylon Hotel School in October 1967. We were the 2nd batch of student intake to the Ceylon Hotel School, an institute at the heart of the hospitality industry, so important for the fast-developing tourism sector in then Ceylon. Young students from Jaffna to Dondra converged on Colombo to make their dreams come true in the hotel industry. Christopher, who studied at St. Aloysius Galle, hailed from a respectable family in Baddegama down South.
At the end of the first academic year, Christopher and another student were good enough to win scholarships offered by the Lebanese government to further studies at the Hotel School in Beirut, Lebanon. On completion of his studies in Lebanon, Christopher took up a position at the luxury Intercontinental Hotel in Geneva and this is where I bumped into him again on my way to Hamburg, West Germany. While in Switzerland, he was one of the few Sri Lankans who graduated in Hotel management from the world-renowned Ecole Hoteliere in Lausanne, the picturesque city by the Lake Geneva. By now, Christopher was equally fluent in French, German and English, a proficiency so important when working in European hotels. We drifted apart as it is not unusual in the hotel industry to work in different countries to gain international experience.
Back home, tourism had taken off in Sri Lanka with the construction of several 5-star hotels. As a true Sri Lankan, he returned home in 1974 and held several key positions in the hospitality industry until 1991 when he migrated with his young family to Sydney, Australia. I too brought my family to Australia the following year thus re-establishing a friendship with a man so Sri Lankan even whilst living Down Under. He worked in several organisations in Sydney before retiring.
His family was his one and only obsession. He with his wife, Upeksha have brought up three wonderful and responsible sons. Their children were educated to meet the current socio environment based on Buddhist principles. He adored his grandchildren.
Christopher was very talented in areas beyond his profession. If anyone had a problem electrical or mechanical, he was the ‘go to guy’ among our friends. His love for playing the tabla exemplifies how he enjoyed Sinhala music. Not that he did not enjoy Hindi and French classics either. There was never a dull moment when Christopher took the microphone at ‘home parties’. He entertained us all in the same way he did so many friends around the world. His love for music was such, that in retirement, he joined the New South Wales Seniors’ Club of Sri Lankans to be an entertainer.
The man who was larger than life and so down to earth is no more but will remain in our memories for many years to come.
May he attain Nibbana.