A great father figure and a remarkable Christian witness

Alston Perera, or Ally as we called him, has earned handsome tributes from his friends, and justifiably so. He and I, with some others, joined the Department of Income Tax, Estate Duty and Stamps on the same day, way back in 1956. At the time he was a professionally qualified chartered accountant. It was clear that he was not intent on a permanent career in the department. So it was not surprising that after a short stint to gain some tax experience, he left to practise in partnership with the late Cecil Arsecularatne until he retired from the firm.

Though work-wise our ways parted, my friendship and highest regard for him, his late wife Leonie and their four sons have endured through the years. His humility and warm personality attracted me from the beginning. I recall with nostalgia the quiet evenings I spent with him on my way home at his flat. Nachito ( Jehan, the eldest) child would perform somersaults on the carpeted floor, much to my delight. Alston and his wife were great and caring parents who nurtured their children in Christ’s way of love and humility.

Alston’s insights into who and what Christ was were deep and original. His son Hiran also partook of his father’s deep sense of religion. I have stuck to the Living Jesus in the parables and the letters of St. Paul, and that is sufficient for the believer who yearns for salvation. To close this tribute to the memory of Alston, I cannot do better than quote the concluding lines of T. S. Eliot’s “What Is A Classic.” Ally was a rare, classic and unforgettable Christian friend: Son, the temporal fire and the eternal, hast thou seen, and art come to a place where I, of myself, discern no further.