i have been fascinated by the history of the burghers but unfortunately change is inevitable. i think it is more important to celebrate the lives and the contribution of the burghers in ways that are creative and inspiring……

My paternal grandfather was a Tamil, and my maternal grandmother was a Sinhalese. It was thus decided that as the common denominator was Burgher, that I should be Burgher. This was a bit unusual for Sri Lanka, as the rule in our country is that one’s ethnicity should follow that of one’s father’s father, but by some flux, some of us fell through because of the difficulty in defining such a system. My parents did have to produce their birth certificates before mine was issued.
I lived most of my youth in South East Asia- Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore and mostly in Brunei. Unlike these countries, and mostly Singapore, Sri Lanka has an ancient culture spanning 3,000 years. The Sinhalese which are in the majority, and the Tamil which are the second in majority, but yet in the minority, have very rigid cultures and religions which we are very proud of. Singapore is a new nation made up of immigrants from all parts of the world. It would be therefore quite useless for Singapore to begin races and cultures like that which began a few millennia ago, which would not suit its smallness and newness as a nation and so they will do best by terming all citizens as simply Singaporean.
Compared to Sri Lanka, S.E.Asia’s economies have been “jumped-started” on petroleum reserves with Singapore the controlling hub. My country Sri Lanka has not been blessed with such oil reserves, but we are still proud of our ancient history and cultural heritage. We strive to preserve our traditions and aspirations, and even if we are not a wealthy nation.
No, there is no racism intended here at my mention of the word Eurasian. In my country, the Sinhalese and Tamil races are quite distinct from each other in both their ethnicities, languages and religions; both equally proud of their heritages. Unfortunately those of mixed origins sometimes find it difficult to find acceptance and assimilate into the two groups. I believe that this is the reason Mr. Muller is trying to build up the community so the few remaining will have an identity, but he is going about it the wrong way. More emphasis should be given to striving to find acceptances into these two majority races and thus building up our nation. We should not, or could not be a socio-economic group as we are too small in numbers, but could be a community of some sort of historical and cultural interest contributing our positives aspects to our country.
I wish we could be all called simply Sri Lankan, but we are too old and proud a county for that.

Ramona T. Fernando U.S.A.

I don’t know when or where Ramona was born but my birth certificate issued in Sri Lanka simply says both my parents were Burghers. It says nothing about my grandparents.

She says she was ‘officially written as a Burgher on basis of a paternal grandmother, and maternal grandfather being Burgher’. I wonder what her maternal grandmother and paternal grandfather were? And why does she says that the opposite combination to was used to determine that she was a Burgher?

If she wonders why Burghers should call themselves Burghers in this day and age why does she suggest they should call themselves Sri Lankan Eurasians? Why not simply Sri Lankans? Do I detect an element of racism here in the introduction of the term Eurasian?

Ultimately one is what one thinks and feels one is and I would commend to her the Singaporean motto “Nation before community and self”. Ramona is a Sri Lankan: end of story and dilemma. Move on lady.

God Bless the Dutch Burghers and Long may they live