All Ceylon Buddhist Congress Election to be held tomorrow

• Presidential candidate – Prof. Lakshman R. Watawala

Prof. Lakshman R. Watawala

The All Ceylon Buddhist Congress Election will be held on 3 April with Prof. Lakshman R. Watawala as a Presidential candidate. 

Prof. Lakshman R. Watawala was awarded the Honorary Membership (Sammana Samajika) of the All Ceylon Buddhist Congress (ACBC) on 17 January 2015 at the 95th anniversary of the All Ceylon Buddhist Congress by its President Jagath Sumathipala. He was elected as a Vice President of the ACBC in the year 2018 and was appointed as the Chairman National Council for International Affairs ACBC. 

His nomination for the post of President was proposed by All Ceylon Buddhist Congress past President Kalasuri Prof. Praneeth Abeyasundera. 

He also serves as the President Sri Jayawardenaramaya Temple Dayaka Sabha, Cotta Road Colombo 5, and associated with the temple is the BJF Dhamma School, which is one of the leading dhamma schools in Sri Lanka, currently with more than 2,500 students and the school has won ‘Sri Lanka’s Best Dhamma School’ award three times.

He is a Vice President Colombo Sasana Sevaka Society, Narada Dharmayathanaya Colombo 7 and serves as a Board Member of Servants of the Buddha, Maitriya Hall, Lauries Road Colombo 4. 

He is a Fellow Member Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka, Fellow Member Chartered Management Accountants of UK, Chartered Global Management Accountants, Fellow Member Institute of Certified Management Accountants of Sri Lanka, Fellow Member Chartered Professional Managers Sri Lanka.

He served as President Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka (CA Sri Lanka), South Asian Federation of Accountants (SAFA), Association of Management Development Institutes in South Asia (AMDISA), Organisation of Professional Associations of Sri Lanka (OPA), Founder President CMA Sri Lanka and Founder President AAT Sri Lanka.

He is a proud receiver of the National Honours Sri Lanka Sikhamani conferred for distinguished services of a general nature by the President of Sri Lanka in 2019. 

Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) honoured Prof. Lakshman R. Watawala with an award for the support and contribution to strengthen sustainability reporting in Sri Lanka in 2019. 

For his outstanding services to the accounting profession Prof. Watawala was installed to the Hall of Fame of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka in 2013. 

In 2018 he was awarded the Life Time Achievement Award by CMA Sri Lanka. He was appointed by the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka as the Senior Member of the three-member committee to assist the Supreme Court in the repayment of depositors of failed deposit-taking institutions.

He has served as Chairman and Director General of the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka on two occasions, Chairman of People’s Bank, People’s Merchant Bank and Chairman and Managing Director of State Mining and Mineral Development Corporation, Ceylon Leather Products Corporation and National Insurance Trust Fund. With a total of over 20 years dedicated service to the public sector, he has been able to turn loss-making state corporations into profit-making viable institutions and winning Presidential Export Awards for excellence in exports. 

He was appointed by the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka as the Senior Member of the three-member committee to assist the Supreme Court in the repayment of depositors of failed deposit taking institutions.

He has served on the Councils of the University of Kelaniya, Open University of Sri Lanka and the Board of the Institute of Computer Studies of the Colombo University. 

In January 2020 he was appointed Adjunct Professor in the Deakin Business School, Department of Accounting, Faculty of Business and Law at Deakin University Melbourne, Australia.

He has also served as an Adjunct Professor of the Swinburne Graduate School of Management, Melbourne Australia and Curtin University of Technology, Western Australia.

As the Chairman of the National Council for International Affairs he conducted the First Buddhist Business Forum 2018 on the theme ‘Buddhist Leadership Practices in Business’. The theme of the conference focused on the Buddhist values in business encompassing ethics, Buddhist economics practicing the middle path with special reference to the Sigalovada Sutta to achieve maximum wellbeing for all. 

With the COVID-19 pandemic which caused considerable damage to the economy and social wellbeing of Buddhists, the National Council for International Affairs of the ACBC commenced a series of dhamma programs on Full Moon Poya days to provide courage and strength to Buddhists in Sri Lanka and the world and to spread the message of Lord Buddha with the use of the digital technology and Zoom a web-based video conferencing tool that allows users to meet online, even using mobile phones.

The online Dhamma programs were continued uninterrupted with the Dhamma sermons delivered both by leading local and foreign monks. This also enabled ACBC to set up many foreign linkages with leading Buddhist monks and temples in the Asian, European, American and Australian countries. This led to organising of the International Buddhist Conference 2020 on the theme ‘Buddhism’s Response to COVID-19 Pandemic’ organised by National Council for International Affairs All Ceylon Buddhist Congress on 7 and 8 November 2020 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. (Sri Lanka Time (IST) via zoom).

The two-day program had 250 participants from 21 countries attending online each day. 

The conference had 26 erudite Buddhist priests and lay persons from local and overseas addressing the conference as keynote speakers, technical session speakers, valedictory address, chairmen, moderators and panellists at the conference.

Prof. Lakshman R. Watawala with his wide experience has decided to provide his services for the development of the All Ceylon Buddhist Congress in the achievement of its objectives and goals and to serve the Buddhists in Sri Lanka and also to spread Buddha’s teachings worldwide. 

He has pledged to dedicate himself to religious and cultural affairs, social services, child welfare, education, youth activities, membership development, publications, research and international affairs. The matters highlighted in the Buddhist Commission Report will be given the highest priority for its implementation for the Buddhist society. 

Measures will also be taken to build on the foundations laid by the great leaders who led the All Ceylon Buddhist Congress and to consult the membership and work with the Executive and Working Committee to take the ACBC forward as the leading Buddhist organisation in the country, to immensely contribute to promote and protect the rights of the Buddhists as done during the past 100 years. 

His 10 point plan to provide services to Buddhists will include: 

1. Conservation and protection of Buddhist archaeological sites and reserves.

2. Assistance to temples and dhamma schools in difficult areas and to low income families.

3. Provide scholarships for needy Buddhist children to undertake school and higher education.

4. With the increase in the number of elderly population to provide elderly care and a friendly environment to live in.

5. To provide drinking water to needy villages.

6. To improve the health condition of those in the rural villages by the conduct of health camps.

7. Development of Buddhist cultural affairs and events, strengthen Buddhist management and Buddhist ethics.

8. To conduct an annual International Buddhist Conference.

9. To alleviate the poverty of Buddhist families.

10. To uplift Buddhist education started by Henry Steel Olcott.