He left lasting impressions in people’s minds

It is hard to believe that 30 years have passed since the cruel hand of death had taken him from our midst forever. Sri Lanka lost a versatile engineer when Siripala Jayasinghe passed away 30 years ago after a brief illness. His untimely death was an irreparable loss to the construction industry in the country and to Link (Engineering) Ltd, in particular.

He was the affable managing director of Link (Engineering) Ltd, and its associated companies and had the distinction of being one of the first few Sri Lankans to have a post - graduate degree in construction management from the Loughborough University of Technology at that time in the 1970s. It was due to his unfailing efforts and dedication that ICTAD awarded the construction excellence prize to Link (Eng) Ltd., for the first time in 1984. Two years later this was repeated.

After his demise in 1988 it was not the same.

Siripala Jayasinghe had a wide circle of friends in whose company he was happy. Barriers of race and religion did not affect his friendship. His pleasant personality, exceptional fluency in expression, general knowledge and common sense, unrivalled experience in the subject matter, dedication and hard work were the hallmarks of his success, during his short span of life. He was religious and respecting of human relationships, traditions and authority.

Though his approach to people was always one of cordiality, he maintained a distance for sometime until he had studied the person and was able to make am assessment of their qualities.

After he formed his judgment which was generally correct and if it was favourable, he would place implicit trust on those on whom he could rely. This sort of reliance naturally imposed heavy responsibilities on them and they were very faithful to him.

One of his most outstanding qualities was his humility for he never considered himself infallible. It was here that the writer received a training that he would never have had from another head of his stature. Particular mention of this quality in Siripala Jayasinghe has to be made because experience has shown it is very rare. As a general rule, when there is a great disparity in ability and experience or even without that when there is a considerable difference in position, people are generally stubborn and self opinionated to the extent of resenting advice. Siripala was diametrically the opposite. This admirable quality in him made a deep impression on me as to have been almost assimilated into my system.

Such rare qualities made him very popular with all who knew him. He has left lasting impressions in the minds of people with whom he had worked and associated.

C.A.A. Gunaratne