Promoting
Sri Lanka
Clarke wrote, spoke and broadcast extensively promoting Sri Lanka. In doing so, he encouraged tourism, foreign aid/investment and technological cooperation to his adopted homeland. He did this entirely voluntarily.
He often used his celebrity status to ‘plug’ Sri Lanka in interviews with major news outlets and other media organizations. On occasion, he wrote articles extolling the richness and diversity that distinguishes Sri Lanka.
“ And always it is the same; the slender palm trees leaning over the white sand, the warm sun sparkling on the waves as they break on the inshore reef, the outrigger fishing boats drawn up high on the beach. This alone is real; the rest is but a dream from which I shall presently awake.. ”
– Arthur C Clarke
“ And always it is the same; the slender palm trees leaning over the white sand, the warm sun sparkling on the waves as they break on the inshore reef, the outrigger fishing boats drawn up high on the beach. This alone is real; the rest is but a dream from which I shall presently awake.. ”
– Arthur C Clarke
During the height of the Lankan civil war, Clarke never abandoned hope of achieving lasting peace. When the Indian Ocean tsunami struck in December 2004, he issued a global appeal to help Sri Lanka recover and rebuild.
The late Lakshman Kadirgamar, foreign minister of Sri Lanka for over a decade, once thanked Clarke for being a ‘one man cheering squad for Sri Lanka’ in good times and bad.
