A lavish ICMA graduation ceremony was held at the BMICH, in Colombo, Sri Lanka on September 29, 2015. Over 150 CMAs, AMAs and GMAs graduated, with a packed hall of well-wishes attending. The Chief Guest, Guest of Honour, accompanied by the Chair, Academics and VIPs were escorted with the sound of Kandyan drums. The Lighting of the Traditional Oil Lamp and the National Anthem followed.
After the ceremony was declared open by the Chair, Dr. Nalaka Godahewa, Hon. Chairman, ICMA Sri Lanka Branch had a word of welcome. This was followed by the address by the Chair, Prof Janek Ratnatunga, the Chief Executive Officer, ICMA (Australia). Next, Murali Prakash, the Hon. President of the ICMA Sri Lanka Branch, introduced the Chief Guest, Mr. Eran Wickramaratne, Honourable Deputy Minister, National Enterprise Development. His speech touched many important points such as the importance of detail and the recognition of differences in perspective. The key point he made as a Minister was that professional such as CMAs should resist political pressure.
After the conferment of the awards, the Guest of Honour Mr. Tim Huggins, Deputy High Commissioner at the Australian High Commission in Colombo gave his speech. A high point was how there now was a ‘reverse’ Colombo-plan, with Australian architectural students coming to Sri Lanka to study tropical architecture.
Shown below are some pictures from the graduation ceremony.
There was an 8-page supplement in the Daily News on the morning of the graduation. The ICMA office bearers and Regional Directors sent the following messages to CMA Sri Lanka, that were published in the paper.
