Dr. Vijaya Corea counts 60 continuous years with a microphone in hand and continues to enjoy the epithet “Sri Lanka’s Legend as a Broadcaster, Compere, Actor and Media personality “. “The Grand Salute” was organised by the Batch of 2011, S.Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia to pay a tribute to the Grandmaster in Broadcasting. The event was held on Aug 22 at Light House auditorium, Colombo 7
Reverend Marc Billimoria – Warden of S. Thomas’ College; Hudson Samarasinghe, Chairman of the SLBC; Dhammika Attygalle, President, Automobile Association of Ceylon; Nihal Jayawardene PC, Chairman, Hatton National Bank; and Naleen Edirisinghe, Director/ CEO of Pan Asia Bank were among the distinguished persons present to felicitate Dr. Vijaya Corea.
Dhammika Attygalle, President of the Automobile Association of Ceylon presented a Gold medal to honour Dr. Corea for his continuous services rendered to the Radio Ceylon, SLBC and many corporate clients in a span of 60 years behind the microphone.
AA Ceylon joined as the Platinum sponsor of this event; Hatton National Bank PLC and Pan Asia Banking Corporation, too, supported the event as Gold and Silver sponsors respectively. Hudson Samarasinghe, Chairman, Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation; Nihal Jayawardene, Chairman, Hatton National Bank PLC; Naleen Edirisinghe, Director/ CEO, Pan Asia Banking Corporation; a representative of Sujeewa Rajapakse, Chairman, People’s Bank; Rev. Marc Billimoria, Warden of S. Thomas’ College and Gavin Arumugam of STC Batch of nnrr2011 also presented plaques to Dr. Corea.
A philatelic stamp with the Gold medal presented to Dr. Corea, was also launched by Ananda Dangalle, Vice President of AA Ceylon.
Chevaan Daniel, Group Director, Capital Maharaja Group delivered the Keynote address and recalled with gratitude the services Dr. Corea had rendered to his Alma Mater and to the society at large. The Speeches delivered by Chevaan Daniel, Rev. Mark Billimoria and Hudson Samarasinghe not only reminisced the life of Dr. Vijaya Corea, but also recalled the situations in which he performed beyond the call of duty to serve the people of Sri Lanka.
Arun Dias Bandaranaike, another distinguished Thomian, was the Master of Ceremonies at the event.
A group of musicians, some of whom personally attended the event to pay tribute to Dr. Vijaya Corea, presented a tribute song for Dr. Corea to reminisce the yeoman service rendered by him to introduce and groom many popular musicians in Sri Lanka.
The event, held at the Lighthouse Auditorium, Colombo 7, was managed by the Optimum Q Event Management Company. There were many representatives from the media – radio, television and the press, who were also there to pay tribute to Dr. Vijaya Corea, the most respected and sincere media personality.
