THE VISIONARY WHO LAID THE FOUNDATION OF CIMA

Appreciation on Tissa Mannakkara

- By Upali Ratnayake

In 1985, ICMA London (which is now CIMA) had a competition for all the branches. At that time, the prominent branches were the ones in Ireland, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Sydney, Melbourne, Dhaka, Mumbai, New Delhi, Calcutta, Madras and Colombo. There was an office in Toronto and, of course, several branches in England. The branches were asked to courier an illustrated report of the work it was doing together with a note on finance.

The Sri Lanka Branch accepted the request and put together a report. Remember, at this time, there were no computers, mobile phones or photocopiers. However, they had a capable person, Reggie Candappa of Grants Advertising. He helped ICMA to arrange the report, the graphs and the photographs. This was then couriered to London. After a month, the result came on the fax machine. The Sri Lanka Branch was adjudged the best among all the branches for their member activity, student support, and professional support. Tissa Manakkara was President of the Sri Lanka Branch. He had the honour of visiting London to accept the award.