Burgher Community of Sri Lanka Faces Decline in Numbers
By J.B.Muller
The Burgher Community in Sri Lanka faces extinction. In less than another 50 years the Burghers of Sri Lanka would be found only on the Internet and perhaps in a few books and in the archives of newspapers. Surprised? Shocked to learn that Burghers are on the endangered species list? You may well be.
[A monument bearing VOC logo in Sri Lanka - (Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie or VOC in old-spelling Dutch, literally "United East Indian Company"]
The net birthrate of the Burghers is abysmally low on the one hand and both the net emigration rate and death, on the other hand, is working against Burgher numbers. Whilst the population of Sri Lanka has been growing since the first census in 1871, the numbers of the Burghers has always been below 50,000 souls.
Burgher numbers have not been growing with the rest of the population. Further, Burgher girls have been constantly marrying outside the Community and their offspring have been quietly assimilated into other, non-Burgher ethnic communities. Burgher boys, too, have been marrying outside the Community and the process of assimilation (and eventual extinction) goes on apace.
The leadership of the Burgher Community must take concrete steps to encourage Burghers to marry members of their own community in increasing numbers to ensure that their numbers do not dwindle to the point of extinction!
Indeed, economic factors impinge heavily on this suggestion; however, there is a way out through focused and concentrated education and training to enhance the economic status of the Burghers. It is quite apparent that the Burgher population is ageing rapidly and that few younger Burghers are to be seen in any significant numbers at any gathering.
Economic uplift and development mean that economic status would improve raising living standards to the level that Burghers could afford to have larger families. In my own family, there was a member of the Ceylon Civil Service who had 24 children out of two marriages, 16 + 8. My father was the eldest son out of 15 children. This is not to say that Burghers go for such large families but that they should have at least five children to replace the ageing and those who die every year.
Burgher leaders have also come to an impasse over which to count as part of the Burgher population — a question necessitated by the increasingly porous nature of Sri Lankan society and the Community’s generally high rates of intermarriage.
Are those counted as Burghers only those whose male parent is a Burgher of original European ancestry or whose female parent was of original European ancestry also? For example, should an individual raised in a cultural milieu that is non-Burgher be considered a Burgher if he or she had one Burgher parent?
What if one born with one Burgher parent and raised in a non-Burgher cultural milieu asserts identification with the Burgher Community? What about the increasingly common situation of a non-Burgher not married to but living in the same household with a Burgher man or woman?
What about the children and the grandchildren of intermarried Burghers? If they were not raised as Burghers, should they nevertheless be considered part of the Burgher Community?
If there is any debate within the Burgher Community over absolute numbers, there is far wider agreement on the patterns of behaviour within the Burgher population. Two trends are particularly telling. First, in terms of median age, Burghers are older than other Sri Lankans. Second, even by the most cautious figures, at least half of all marriages involving a Burgher are to non-Burghers. Neither trend suggests demographic vitality.
There is considerable evidence pointing to the relatively advanced age of the Sri Lanka Burgher population. Among Sri Lankans of all kinds Burghers have the fewest number of siblings, the smallest household size, and the lowest number of children under eighteen at home.
Burghers marry later than other Sri Lankans with the greatest disparities occurring in the age group between twenty-five and thirty-four. For Burgher women in particular, late marriage means lower rates of fertility compared with other Sri Lankan women.
The fertility gap is especially enormous among Burgher under the age of thirty-five; even though the gap narrows considerably over the course of the next ten years, at no point do Burgher women attain the fertility levels of their non-Burgher peers or bear children in numbers sufficient to offset population losses from natural causes.
It is true that low fertility rates among Burgher women are not a new phenomenon. Economic advancement, the availability of birth control, and rising educational achievement caused Burgher fertility to start dropping as long ago as the middle of the 20th Century.
Nor, as is well known, is the phenomenon limited to Burghers, or to Sri Lanka. In the U.S.; in contemporary Europe and Japan, it has reached proportions that threaten catastrophe to those nations.
Still, Burgher women in Sri Lanka are significantly less fertile than their other Sri Lankan counterparts. This fact is attested to by the significantly better rates of educational achievement among Burgher women, who spend significantly more time than their non-Burgher peers in learning employable skills. For many of them, still more childless years follow as they work to advance their careers.
Add to all this the losses sustained through the high rate of intermarriage. Once upon a time, it was thought by at least some sociologists that intermarriage could prove to be a demographic boon. In the aggregate, said the optimists, it would take fewer intermarried Burghers producing children identifying themselves as Burghers to result in a net gain. But nothing of the sort has happened.
Not only does the birth rate among intermarried Burghers tend to be even lower than among those who marry within the Community. Nearly all of the children raised within intermarried families go on to marry non-Burghers themselves, and only a small percentage of these raise their own children as Burghers.
As for their links with Burgher life, only a minority of children raised by dual-religion parents identify themselves with Christianity or with the institutions of the Burgher Community.
In two generations, the process of assimilation would be complete, erasing the unique ethnic, social and cultural character of the Burghers. Although a number of adult children of intermarriage do express “somewhat” of a connection with the Burgher component of their identity, such feelings are rarely translated into behavior.
Like their parents, most tend not to affiliate with a church, contribute to Burgher causes, or participate in a Burgher event nearly as much as do the adult children of those who have married within the Community.
Advocating larger families would certainly beg the question of how to support a larger family when Burghers are (like everyone else) battling with an ever rising cost-of-living? The answer to that lies in better training for better-paid employment and in being competitive in the sense of doing better things with the resources we already possess.
As mentioned earlier, the key to increasing Burgher numbers is first, education and training. Every support should be given to Burghers to have larger families. The other part lies in the hands of the leaders who should motivate the Burghers to do what needs be done and to pursue education and training with single-minded purpose.
Jay said,
July 19, 2007 @ 9:47 pm
Burgers, my beloved neighbours, who taught us how to enjoy life, how not to depress over the facts of life but enjoy the life for it being short. Had the other comunities, Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims etc embraced this simple theory of practicality, we wouldn’t be killing each other today, but embracing each other with love & compassion.
Alas, this lovely species is going to be extinct from that lovely country, when Sri Lanka wants them most.
wassa said,
July 19, 2007 @ 10:48 pm
It is really a sad thing that we dont see this group of easy going and happy people are declining in numbers.They made Sri lanka more colourful and more happy.I wish and hope one day there will be great numbers of them in our society.They are among the happiest people I met in my life.
DMan said,
July 19, 2007 @ 11:11 pm
Face It.. It’s how the world spins. Same would happen to sinhalese..in 500 years SL will be a Muslim Dominated country minority Tamils. and If exist few sinhalese..
Frank said,
July 19, 2007 @ 11:20 pm
We have to prtect them, they did lot of contrubution to our country.
sarath said,
July 19, 2007 @ 11:38 pm
I love burger community. They do not have jelesy in their mind, no they ask seperate state. but they should know it was their ansestors who ruled this island. Remaining portion of little population, specially the youngs should safe guard the real burgher soprit. Do rally round and enhance your own cultural and social ethics. Good Luck
rk said,
July 19, 2007 @ 11:58 pm
yessir, regrets.
after chasing people out of paradise.
there is a special ‘blues’.a nostalgia blues.
a luso or portuguese song that represents a longing
for something to return but we know will not come
back -like – the unitary state. a united happy sunny LANKA
sans the ’sri or ’shreeek’
“lets have a tot”
Simone Alavi said,
July 20, 2007 @ 12:08 am
Being a Dutch Burgher myself, it has been very difficult in deed, finding our niche; people of the same wave length, in the present day society of Sri Lanka.
Prem said,
July 20, 2007 @ 1:18 am
Why is J.B.Muller associating Burghers only with Christianity? There have been plenty of Burgher Buddhists, one of the most famous being Egerton C Baptist. And he identified himself as Burgher and nothing else. Ditto for the numerous Buddhist monks of Burgher or part Burgher heritage. How is affiliation with a church a sign of being a Burgher? Are there not irreligious Burghers just like there are irreligious Sinhalese, Tamils, Moors and Malays?
Theshara said,
July 20, 2007 @ 1:51 am
We love you guys. Never the less u, guys don’t have to think like some of our “Islamic” community. Also you don’t have to think of increasing numbers artificially then it will create a psychosis among the community and it will become mayhem. I think its important to organize more cultural events to popularize the Burgher way of life it’s a good marketing tool also. And study a bit about contemporary Jew identity and try to come up with a different approach to recognize who is a Burgher …
Anyhow I have to agree that falling numbers in the Burgher community is an issue, which should be, addressed .I love you Brothers and also Sisters!
Navin Ladd said,
July 20, 2007 @ 4:04 am
It is sad to hear that this group of people are on the decline. They were our neighbours when we were small and they are still our neighbours as adults. We have good memories of them and also do respect them very much.
Suresh A.Johnpillai said,
July 20, 2007 @ 4:33 am
It does not matter that Burghers community declining in nummers but total population of Sri Lanka should not increase. Last when I check the actual fertility rate per Sri Lankan women it was at 1.91(Source:CIA world factbook).
People tend to have better life quality if they are having fewer children. Look at difference between South Asia and East Asia? Why China’s economy surging ahead and India’s is somewhat luckluster?
I think the writer of this article is not to think about the whole picture of Sri Lanka but isolate Burghers. But Another truth here many of the Sri Lankan Burghers tend to leave the country and many of them living in countries such as Australia. I wondering the writer like to see the Sri Lankans more fairer skin as most of the Burgers are? In Sri Lanka people assimilated with each other for most of its history so what does it makes if you are 50% Burgher or 25% Burgher.
ZG said,
July 20, 2007 @ 5:08 am
Just like the current ethnic problem, even for the extinct of the Burgher community the foundation was led by the Sinhala state. The only difference was the Tamil community took up arms when the more pragmatic Burgher community decided to migrate or integrate. At least the Burgher people can be proud of one thing, they brought colourfullness and harmoney to their homeland rather than fill it with misery and sorrow. They left a land mark in history which can be celebrated for centureis to come. An achievement that the sinhala nationalist will never be able to gain.
k. arvind said,
July 20, 2007 @ 7:26 am
Our Burgher friends are a wonderful lot who enriched the Sri Lankan family in many ways. Their contribution to Sri Lanka’s good over the decades in many disciplines is far disproportionate to their small numbers.
They are law-abiding, cheerful and are not subject to the rigidities of the very demanding cultural norms of some communities that have deep roots in the distant past. It will be indeed a sad day if this country was to see the last of our good Burgher friends, for whatever reason.
Nihal.Goonetilleke said,
July 20, 2007 @ 9:12 am
It’s a great pleasure to have Burghers as your friends and make the life colourful and glad.Most om friend are Burghers,now living in Aus,Us and UK.Couple of them work for me in SL.I need more of them to help with my business in SL.can anyone tell me as to how I could contact them.do they have a gathering point or association?Srilanka have lost a great wealth by their emigration out to other countries.I wish some of them would come back to Sl,with their valuable pensions SL could be a lot of fun,inspite of gllom created by the narrow minded,stupid and utterly corrupt leaders.
puzzled said,
July 20, 2007 @ 11:28 am
boo hoo poor you!
I’ll admit I’m not too familar with burghers, but by definition, aren’t they the product of european intermarriages with local ethnic groups of sri lanka in the first place? So if it’s good for the ancestors to intermarry, why are you advocating against it for the descendants? Looks like you just want to preserve your ‘european’ ancestory.
Unfortunately for you, the world today is a melting pot. In many parts of the developed world, it is looked upon as a good thing. By advocating sticking to your own breed, what you are really advocating is rascism.
dingiri said,
July 20, 2007 @ 11:44 am
I am alarmed that there are still people who believe that having 5 or more children can be the solution to any of our problems.
Cant you see that all the global evils of poverty, carbon emmisions, land hunger, loss of forests, shortage of resources, ethnic and religious conflict etc. etc. have but one root cause? Human overpopulation.
I would support the “captive breeding program” to save Burghurs from “extinction” if it is counterbalanced with the compulsary neutering of 5 or more pre-fertile Sinhalese/Tamil/Moslem teenagers for each baby burgher born. That way we can ensure that there is no net growth in our already large population.
Personally, I am all for exogamy among our communites. Ethnic and and Religious over identification is the biggest obstacle to co-existance. I am certain we will learn to live together much more harmoniously if none of us was sure what our ancestry was.
dingiri said,
July 20, 2007 @ 12:21 pm
Can I also reassure Mr. Muller that all may not be lost with respect to the extinction or irrevocable dilution of Burgher blood. Once you buggers (pardon the pun) are long gone someone could still come along and recreate a burgher by putting together a few Portugese, a handfull of Dutch, a sprinkling of English together with some Sinhalese on a dessert island, return a few generations later and find the island populated by burghers! Then give the inhabitants a compulsory course in preparing Lump Rice and make them call each other “child” instead of by their proper names and we have the genuine article!
The only community that cannot be brought back from the dead are the pure Veddas who are gone forever. One has to turn to another Burgher R.L. Spttel another to give us an insight into the lives and times of this unique primary race who once roamed the forrests of the now much faught after Thoppigala (Baron]’s Cap) and Dimbulagala (Gunners Qoin).
Thiru K said,
July 20, 2007 @ 1:22 pm
Am reminded of ‘Nana’, our neighbor. Her niece Toni was my elocution teacher attached to Yolande Abeywickrama’s school.
‘Nana’ was fond of Manoges from Chava & my mom made Thosais. She made lots of goodies for us, I liked her strawbery jam made with what little strawberries she could find in Colombo those days, mixed with mostly wood apple cream.
May her soul rest in peace!
Lirik said,
July 21, 2007 @ 3:59 am
J.B.Muller may mean well, but what a dumb idea to try and get families to have more kids. Sri Lanka is already overpopulated as it is – and so is the rest of South Asia. The less population the better, and the higher the quality of life.
MJ said,
July 21, 2007 @ 6:08 pm
Overpopulation is not a good idea in life, The world suffers enough poverty without bringing in more. The Burghers are alive and well in the rest of the world, they know who they are and they know how to live and intigrate with ohter cultures of this world .
We have to move on as everyone else does and make a life in other countries so that we may Progress and fit oin with others. If we say we are burghers and nothing else then we are a sad lot as we are of mixed races and we should therefore be tolerant of those who are not of the same clase creed or colour as ourlseves.
Remember this ” do unto others as you would like them to do unto you !!!!!” and the other one What you do to others will come back to you three fold good or bad. But here is where I bade farewell to you all and wish you all the bst of health and happiness.
Much Love MaryJane , Sunny Bank Cotts, Herringfleet, UK
Norm said,
July 22, 2007 @ 8:34 pm
Yes, let’s all have more kids and make Sri Lanka the most overpopulated country in the world! Let’s stop all family planning and bring forth child after child and then enjoy the famines and the overcrowding! What a wonderful idea!
Kyle Joustra said,
July 24, 2007 @ 3:01 am
I thinks its sad that we tend to use the term Dutch Burghers or Burgher, when it was a derogitory term used by the British. And the fact that in the main the population referred to were of European extract under Dutch Rule, should therefore be looked at in terms of European influence. further to this, lineage of British, Scottish and Irish families were blended into this, for essentially what was second best to being British. The fact there is actually no, for want of a better word, pure European lines as those first waves that came in married the local population- lets face it there were no female soldiers in those days. Its time to see people on paper, we are all black and white and its our cultural differences that can make us interesting, unique. There is no doubt that the ‘Dutch Burghers’ were and will stand in history for the unique situation created both during the VOC rule and under the British rule of devide and conquer, now its time to treasure what was and move forward with knowledge and accpetance of all people.
Sarath said,
July 24, 2007 @ 5:01 am
Being a burgher: The reality
Ramona T. Fernando
REPLY: I refer to J. B. Muller’s article on extinction of the Sri Lanka Burgher community.
I am officially written as a Burgher in my birth certificate, on basis of a paternal grandmother, and maternal grandfather being Burgher. I have been raised as a Burgher and Christian, but growing up with such an identity has not been easy for me.
Burghers were the name given to the Dutch families which first arrived in Sri Lanka in the 1700’s – when whole families of Europeans came to our shores and settled permanently in our land.
The Portuguese, who came a century earlier, were mostly men who settled in our land, and the community which ensued was a mixture of the Portuguese men and the local women.
As decades passed since the arrival of the Dutch, the Dutch and Portuguese descendents intermarried, and this created a newer community of Burghers. Eventually, we mixed with the British. Right throughout, but more especially within the last one-hundred years, we have been mixing also with the Sinhalese and Tamil races.
Should Burghers call themselves Burghers in this day and age, following the term given to the original Europeans who came to our shores? A better name could be Sri Lankan Eurasians. Could we, or should we identify as a socio-economic group and given status equal of that of the other minority races?
We cannot be termed a race as race defines a group which has been in existence for thousand years. It cannot be created or forced upon society. It follows a natural assimilation of groups based on time, numbers and identifying physical features – the Muslim community being an exception, because although it is made up of different races, it is unified by one religion.
Being known as the Sri Lankan Eurasian community will greatly enrich and enhance the morale of our community. Growing up being known as a Burgher has left some negative marks on me. From the scornfulness of the other races and communities?
Scornfulness because many of us do not look very European, to the condescension of the minute segment of the purer and whiter Burghers on their darker brethren, to the asinine insistence that some of us are dark skinned because we have been so burned in the sun, to the discussions and proving of how high the fractional part of European one is constituted of, to the many social attempts of trying to decide on who is a Burger based on the percentages of European-blood constitution, to the instance one is a Burgher based on just one European great-grandfather(many, many times removed), contributing to the European surname and the list goes on.
Most Burghers have emigrated to English speaking countries, and there is, as Muller points out, only a handful left. In these countries, I am chagrined to note, there is an attempt to preserve the community with even greater intensity than even in Sri Lanka, thus adversely influencing our community back home.
I am ashamed to see that in this day and age, such disgraceful and humiliating racial profiling has to be endured. We have to be realistic about our situation in Sri Lanka( and also around the world), and bring up our children to face reality and place emphasis on being Sri Lankan, contributing to society in general; giving and accepting the respect of the original races of Sri Lanka and assimilating with them.
I hope our older Burgher leaders will gracefully accept that our numbers are indeed dwindling, and rather than trying to preserve that which is unnecessary and redundant, contribute to our culture and that which is positive of our community to the betterment of Sri Lanka and the other lands we are in.
Louise said,
July 24, 2007 @ 2:03 pm
Congratulations Sarah!!
For your candid comment.You took the words out of my mouth.
Louise said,
July 24, 2007 @ 2:19 pm
I’am a Sri Lankan Eurasian,married to a a non Sri Lankan.My two children have adapted very well to both parents cultures.
Kyle Joustra said,
July 24, 2007 @ 10:39 pm
The VOC only used the term Burgher for the classification of Vrij Burgher or Free Citzen. The term Dutch Burgher was created by the British which effectively devided the community into groups and further expanded with many other groups getting ‘named’ in order to devide an conquer, so while everyone was competing with each other they would not unify against the British. This being understood the Dutch Burgher communtiy devided itself between elitist, job classification etc. It must not be forgotten that an employ of the Dutch East India Company could start as a cadet and be promoted based on input, ability and desire. For history we need to recognise these different groups and not so much hold onto but understand, record and look at the positives each group brought to a country once known as Ceylon. The country Sri Lanka, like many countries, needs to unify and look at a persons ability rather than their skin colour or race defined group. Understanding and respect must also be paid to those whom were brought up under the British Social System, and rather than attack- understand in the context of what they were taught. My own Great Aunts could easily have been considered racist, yet they were the most kind and caring people, there atitude to certain people was purely born on what they were taught, though i did not agree with the views on this to tell them how wrong they were would only alienate me and possibly have made the last years of their life lonely. They were Burgher Girls yet due to their surname and colour of their skin they were more accepted into the British Realms (to some the pretend British) of influence while others were shunned away from certain events and seen ‘unofficially’. the people they married lost their jobs because ultimately they were seen as Burghers. The plight of the Dutch Burghers was a product of dislike for the British and the suitability for the Briitsh to give preference to the Dutch Burghers in terms of jobs and roles. Remember the British set the tone when they took over the Island of Ceylon by striking a deal in Switzerland with the de Meuron Regiment, this effectively halved the VOC’s strength and fortifcation details were also given to the British thus devide and conquer. Lets be proud of everyone’s achievements and tech the new generations about the mistakes made!
Manju said,
July 26, 2007 @ 12:21 am
admire the Burghers than the Tamils.The Burghers feel living Sri Lanka is diifficult to them and lots of Burghers left Sri Lanka. They didnt resort to violent rebellian aganist the state like Tamils
Edward Kuruppu (nee de Vos) said,
July 26, 2007 @ 3:31 pm
My ancestors arrived on 13 Februay 1673 from Bruges to Ceylon in a ship called Wapen vander Goes. The Dutch burghers from Netherland, the Portuguese and the British were the first people to build the infrastructure in Ceylon. Since independence, 95% of the Burghers left Ceylon due to the minority being oppressed by the majority. We were holding the top jobs in Ceylon. Since we left Ceylon, the politicians introduced corruption, bribery, ethnic cleansing and human rights and civil rights abuses. During that period, all communities lived in harmony. But today it is a country falling apart. I am proud to be a member of The Dutch Burghers Union.
God Bless the Dutch Burghers and Long may they live
Jerry Hughes said,
July 27, 2007 @ 1:49 am
I suppose the logical extension to this proposition is, the remaining few Ceylonese Burgers have C B printed front and back of their t-shirts, in recognition of a past and never to be replaced era. C’est la vie…
ilaya seran senguttuvan said,
July 27, 2007 @ 4:34 am
Idiots like Manju (27) should stick to reading as a process to learn and gather some rudimentary knowledge. Please don’t dare make foolish comments that only give away your ignorance. Even an 8th year student knows the reasons why Burghers left Sri Lanka and why Tamils chose to wage battle to regain their part of their Homeland in the event the Sinhala |Govts unwilling to share power with them. For starters, try and learn something about the APRC
and work connected around it.
Martin Dunstan said,
July 31, 2007 @ 7:18 pm
I was fascinated by Ramona Fernando’s response.
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.
Ramona T. Fernando said,
August 7, 2007 @ 11:30 am
I refer to Martin Dunstan’s comments on July 31st, 2007.
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.
Ramona T. Fernando said,
August 7, 2007 @ 1:36 pm
I forgot to mention that I was born in Sri Lanka.
romanie jaitly said,
September 16, 2007 @ 9:14 am
my father is indian and my mother srilankan-burgher and her name vivienne vonhagt.
i have been trying to trace my aunt and my mothers sister whose name is heather vonhagt who married a srilankan and was based in colombo.
if anyone has any news at all please get in touch…………..
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……