The death occurred on Thursday of veteran journalist Jayampathy Jayasinghe (73), formerly attached to the Sunday Observer, after a brief illness.
Jayampathy, who was affectionately called “JJ” by his colleagues after his name, hailed from a hamlet in Badulla and completed his secondary education there. Afterwards, he joined the Sri Lanka Police as a Sub Inspector (SI) on a direct intake. He served several Police stations in various parts of the country. His last posting was to the Chavakachcheri Police Station and he was among the last Sinhalese Police personnel serving the Northern region at the height of the conflict. He was also attached to the security detail of the late Prime Minister Sir John Kotelawala following the latter’s retirement from politics.
JJ retired from the Police Service in the early 1980s upon returning to Colombo and made the rather unlikely career choice of journalism, beginning with the now-defunct The Sun. This decision may have been prompted by the many friends he already had in the media, who used to get exclusive crime stories from JJ. JJ had the ability to give the stories in journalistic story form, which required minimal editing on the part of journalists. It is said that some of them suggested to JJ to take up journalism as a career.
After The Sun folded, JJ joined the Daily Observer (no longer in publication) and the Sunday Observer in 1987, from where he retired in 2013 after 26 years’ service. Naturally, JJ mainly covered the Police beat for the Daily Observer and the Sunday Observer, regularly talking to top Police contacts to get exclusive stories.
He also covered the tourism, travel, aviation and hospitality sectors. He excelled both as a news and feature writer. JJ also covered several foreign assignments. Upon retirement from Lake House, JJ contributed feature articles to The Sunday Times on the same ‘beats’. He also occasionally contributed news and articles to our sister paper the Daily News.
Ever smiling, JJ never wilted under the pressure of deadlines and always delivered solid lead stories for his news editors. A livewire in the Sunday Observer, he was an inspiring figure for young journalists. He enjoyed the company of friends and colleagues and often took them out for lunch and dinner. He was also an avid reader of books and magazines and a follower of global affairs.
A lifelong bachelor, JJ was also a fitness buff who walked several kilometres per day and he also had a reputation as an animal lover who fed the stray dogs and cats in Mount Lavinia and Madiwela, where he lived after retirement. JJ is survived by his brother. Funeral arrangements will be notified later.