Colombo’s glitter and gutter, casino politics and toilet tax economics, and May Day Honours to Bala Tampoe 

May 3, 2014, 5:43 pm

Bala Tampoe (Phillips) was a brilliant "Upper Second" (either top of the list or close second) in Botany Honours, a pioneer recruit to the then fledgling Department of Agriculture in Peradeniya, and a founder Member of the Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) Association for the Advancement of Science. He then took to revolutionary politics and to the independence of law practice, and never looked back. True to his manner of being born with a melodramatic spoon in his mouth he went on become a leading criminal and jury lawyer this country has seen.

　Rajan Philips

Colombo’s Glitter and Gutter, Casino Politics and Toilet Tax Economics, And May Day Honours to Bala Tampoe by Thavam Ratna