July 17, 2013, 7:08 pm


I have been fortunate to meet some outstanding people. O. M. R. Sirisena is one of them. O. M. R. as we used to call him was a Royalist who spent his formative years (1943-1951) at that great institution of learning.


He worked at the Rubber Research Institute (RRI) from 1958 to 1967.


In 1963 he left for London to follow a course at Polymer Science and Rubber Technology. He was successful in obtaining the licentiate of National College Rubber Technology (LNCRT) London in 1964.


He joined CIC in 1968 as Product Manager and worked as an industrial consultant for 15 years.


He was a member of the Plastics and Rubber Institute (PRI) and was made a life member in 2007 having been given a silver jubilee year merit awards in 1985 for a "very significant contribution made towards the growth of Polymer Industry in Sri Lanka".


He was a fellow and life member of Institute of Materials London. He was also a life member of the Royal Asiatic Society Sri Lanka.


He was a life member of the Numismatic Society of Sri Lanka and was the senior vice president as well.


He published a book, "Medieval Gold Coins of Sri Lanka’ in 2001 which was widely circulated.


Great as all these achievements may be, I will always remember O. M. R. most of all for his very significant achievement as a teacher.


He was a visiting lecturer at Rubber Technology, Rubber Science at the Chemical Engineering Department at the Katubedda University. This to my mind was his crowning achievement.


Above all, O. M. R. was a good friend who stood by you specially when the chips were down and you could depend on him never ever to let you down.


During the final phase of his life he was confined to bed having earlier suffered a heart attack and at this time he was nursed by his wife Malini. He is also survived by his children Aruni, Upendra and Chaithri and his grandchildren Uvini and Chayanka.


S. K. Samaraweera

island.lk