An article in the Time Magazine or Osservatore Romano is good copy and gives him the line on any controversial international event. That our only international news, photographs, and feature articles come through the Reuter’s London sieve, is of immense help to him. The missionary educated journalists took for their standards those of the West. His system of education fully ensured that. The European missionary, in following his mission, had perforce to look down upon and decry Eastern civilisation. Missionary education was an imperialist device meant to condition the recipient to accept the Graeco – Roman – Christian tradition which goes as European and Western civilisation, as something superior. They not only do most of the writing in the English Press but lay down policy for the Sinhala and Tamil papers as well. Most of them have been educated in Roman Catholic missionary schools some are seminarists, having completed that education in Europe. ‘ In Ceylon many of the Journalists, especially of the English language Press, have other shortcomings. Buddhism and ways of living of the Sinhalese people was described by the Press Commission headed by Justice K.D. The lack of sensitivity of local Journalists attached mainly to English language newspapers, to the traditional culture, national history. Unfortunately though he was a talented Artist he found himself looking at the passing political scene through the eyes of an observer who could not appreciate nor sympathise with the growing public disenchantment with the ‘ Brown Sahib’ approach to governance, press freedom and life styles.Īubrey Collette was not alone in this respect. Notable issues of the moment, the political developments after Sri Lanka’s independence and the far-reaching social and cultural changes in the 1950s found expression in his line-work. His cartoons comprised a sharp, visual comment on the social and political landscape of the time. Aubrey Collette was a well known cartoonist from the mid forties who was virtually a regular contributor to the Times of Ceylon and the Lake House press until the early 1960s when he emigrated to Australia.
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