Bradman W- 'A CEO for All Seasons'

Several tributes have already appeared in the media regarding Bradman. This subtitle is taken from an upcoming book by Carolyn Dewar, Scott Keller, Vikram (Vik) Malhotra and Kurt Strovink. Besides being the Secretary to no less than nine Presidents and Prime Ministers, he also came to play the role more of a ‘de facto’ CEO of the nation advising them on trouble shooting and steering the ship in muddy and rough waters. My piece reflects on a different aspect of his life and times, not touched upon by others.

- Dr. DAYANATH JAYASURIYA, PRESIDENT’S COUNSEL

In the mid-1970s I was fairly active as a volunteer in the affairs of the Family Planning Association of Sri Lanka and had the privilege of chairing its Silver Jubilee Congress attended by Rafael Salas, the then Executive Director of UNFPA and other dignitaries. For several years I served as the Chairman of its Environmental and Population Law Committee. When Desamanya Mrs. Siva Obeysekera was the Minister of Health, she requested me to organize a national conference on Family Health and Population Growth.

One agenda item was on the sociological aspects of family life in Sri Lanka. My main choice for the guest speaker on this topic was Bradman as he had studied sociology as a subject at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. The only issue was he was then based in Ampara. It was generally assumed that he was on a sort of punishment transfer having fallen into the bad books of Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike. The Health Minister had no objection to extending him an invitation provided I did so in my personal capacity. Bradman was delighted to attend.