History of the Company

Philip Upali Wijewardene (Sinhalese: උපාලි විජේවර්ධන; 17 February 1938 – 13 February 1983) was a Sri
Lankan business magnate. Considered one of the best known entrepreneurs in Sri Lanka, he was the
founder and Chairman of Upali Group, the first multi-national business in Sri Lanka.

The Upali Group which diversified from confectionery to electronics and automobile manufacturing,
publishing, print media, leisure and aviation developed many of its own brands such as Kandos, Delta,
Unic, Upali Air, Upali Mazda and Upali Newspapers which Insight Magazine UK said was achieved
"largely through bravado and wit".

He was presumed dead on 13 February 1983 when his private Learjet disappeared soon after leaving
Malaysia en route to Colombo over the Straits of Malacca.

Contents
1 Early life and education
2 Upali Group
3 Horse racing
4 Government
5 Disappearance
6 Family
7 See also
8 References
9 External links
Early life and education

Upali Wijewardana as a young child

Born to a wealthy family from Kelaniya, he was the only son of Don Walter Tudugalle Wijewardene who
died when he was 18 months old. Upali was brought up by his mother Anula Kalyanawathie Wijewardene
at the family home Sedawatte Walawwe. He had two sisters, Anoja Wijesundera and Kalyani
Attygalle.[1]
He attended Royal College, Colombo and later graduated from Queen's College at Cambridge University
in England.[1] In 1982, he converted to buddhism.[2]

An amateur racing enthusiast, Wijewardene raced his mother's Opel Kapitan at the Katukurunde Races in
the early 1960s.[3]

Upali Group
Returning to Sri Lanka, Upali Wijewardene became a management trainee at Lever Brothers where he
was in charge of soap processing. He left Levers following a disagreement with its Chairman. He
thereafter venture out on his own after his uncle Senator Sarath Chandradasa Wijesinghe gave him
substantial shares of his Ceylon Chocolates Company.[1] Diversifying his holdings, he founded the Upali
Group of Companies during the mid 1960s as he developed a conglomerate of companies.[4][5]

Manufacturing:
Chocolates and confectionery: Kandos, Delta
Soaps: Crystal, Tingle Sikuru
Radios, air-conditioners: Unic.
Automobile: Upali Motor Company (established in the 1970s) which under license assembled UMC
Mazda and Upali Fiat at the Upali industrial complex in Homagama.
Aviation: Upali Air, operating several aircraft for private domestic and international flights.
Investments: Upali Wijewardene made significant investments in Malaysia and Singapore, and was in the
process of opening offices in New York.
Publishing:
Upali Newspapers: newspapers Divaina, The Island and Navaliya.
Comics: Chithra Mithra (February 1981). Within a few months, the magazine reached a circulation of
200,000. Media initially described the magazine as "romance, booze, money, travel, dreams, adventure,
wild women" crammed into 16 pages. It expanded into 32 pages with a different story on every page.
Editor Janaka Ratnayake noted that the publication had "many topics-romance, detective, sci-fi, heroes,
two pages built around movie stars, and almost a page of pen pal" (1993). All the stories were serialised
and in black and white with a spot of one color.[6] The comic magazine fell apart after Wijewardene's
death and ceased publication in 1986 with a circulation of 15,000. Ratnayake cited the failure of the
magazine to Wijewardene's early death, sub-standard printing quality of the paper due to unskilled
mechanics and competition from other magazines.[6]
A British journalist, Matt Miller, described him in Insight Magazine: ‘Largely through bravado and wit,
Philip Upali Wijewardene parlayed a bankrupt confectionery plant into Sri Lanka’s only multi national
business group and one of Asia’s leading cocoa based products conglomerates. Intriguingly he
accomplished his overseas empire-building at a time when his country strictly prohibited the export of
currency. And now the 43-year-old commodity wizard (this was 1981) has started what could be Upali's
Third Plan... He would be willing, he says with uncharacteristic restraint, to become Sri Lanka's president
someday’.

Horse racing
Upali Wijewardene was influential in restarting horse racing at the Nuwara Eliya Race Course. He was
the chairman Board of Stewards of the Sri Lanka Turf Club and was a keen turfite, who raced in Sri
Lanka and England, where he won the "Royal Ascot" with "Rasa Penang" ridden by the world-famous
jockey Lester Piggott.

In 1980 he also won the Singapore Derby at the Bukit Timah Race Course in Singapore and the Perak
Derby at the Perak Turf Club in Malaysia with his horse, named "Vaaron". He raced "General Atty" too
and won many races in England. He flew to all these countries where his horses were racing, in his
private aircraft. He made it a point to fly from Newmarket Racecourse in England to Nuwara Eliya
Racecourse in Sri Lanka to watch his horses and ponies racing there.

Government
In 1978, Upali Wijewardene was appointed by President J. R. Jayewardene as the first chairman/Director
General of the Greater Colombo Economic Commission (GCEC) (now known as the Board of
Investment) of Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan political gotha did not favor his arrival in politics.[7]

In this position Wijewardene worked to attract foreign investment to develop local industries in the new
open economy. He formed Free Trade Zones in Katunayake, Biyagama and Koggala.

In 1980, he traveled to the Silicon Valley and signed five agreements there, including one with Motorola.
The construction of chip plants started in 1983, but the war brought bombing over the country, killed
some of the engineers assigned to the construction of the plants, which led the chip manufacturers to leave
Sri Lanka for Malaysia.[7]

Disappearance

Learjet 35A
On 13 February 1983, his private jet, a Learjet 35A, took off from Kuala Lumpur at 8:41 pm, bound for
Colombo. On board with him were his Malaysian lawyer S.M. Ratnam, Upali Group Director Ananda
Peli Muhandiram, pilot Capt. Noel Anandappa, co-pilot Sydney Soysa, and steward S. Senenakye. Fifteen
minutes later, the aircraft disappeared while flying over the Straits of Malacca. Extensive search operation
 by air and naval units of Sri Lanka, India, United States, Soviet Union, Australia, Indonesia, and Malaysia
failed to locate any evidence of a crash.[8][9]

A wheel suspected to be part of the disappeared plane was found on Pandang Island led the authority to
conclude to a mid-air explosion. Later investigaions revealed that this wheel was not manufactured by the
manufacturer of the plane.[10] According to K. Godage, former Malaysian High Commissioner, the
government of Sri Lanka did not show interest in further investigating the disappearance.[7]

Family
Upali Wijewardene was a cousin of President J. R. Jayewardene[1] and scientist Ray Wijewardene.[11] In
1975, he married Lakmini Ratwatte, daughter of Dr Seevali Ratwatte. She is the granddaughter of Barnes
Ratwatte Dissawa and niece of Sirimavo Bandaranaike.

He was the basnayake nilame (chief lay custodian) of the Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihara which had been
supported by his family.[1]

See alsoPhilip Upali Wijewardene (Sinhalese: උපාලි විජේවර්ධන; 17 February 1938 – 13 February 1983)
was a Sri Lankan business magnate. Considered one of the best known entrepreneurs in Sri Lanka, he was the
founder and Chairman of Upali Group, the first multi-national business in Sri Lanka.
The Upali Group which diversified from confectionery to electronics and automobile manufacturing,
publishing, print media, leisure and aviation developed many of its own brands such as Kandos, Delta,
Unic, Upali Air, Upali Mazda and Upali Newspapers which Insight Magazine UK said was achieved "largely
through bravado and wit".
He was presumed dead on 13 February 1983 when his private Learjet disappeared soon after leaving Malaysia
en route to Colombo over the Straits of Malacca.

Contents

 1Early life and education

 2Upali Group
 3Horse racing
 4Government
 5Disappearance
 6Family
 7See also
 8References
 9External links

Early life and education[edit]

Upali Wijewardana as a young child

Born to a wealthy family from Kelaniya, he was the only son of Don Walter Tudugalle Wijewardene who died
when he was 18 months old. Upali was brought up by his mother Anula Kalyanawathie Wijewardene at the
family home Sedawatte Walawwe. He had two sisters, Anoja Wijesundera and Kalyani Attygalle.[1]
He attended Royal College, Colombo and later graduated from Queen's College at Cambridge University in
England.[1] In 1982, he converted to buddhism.[2]
An amateur racing enthusiast, Wijewardene raced his mother's Opel Kapitan at the Katukurunde Races in the
early 1960s.[3]

Upali Group[edit]
Returning to Sri Lanka, Upali Wijewardene became a management trainee at Lever Brothers where he was in
charge of soap processing. He left Levers following a disagreement with its Chairman. He thereafter venture
out on his own after his uncle Senator Sarath Chandradasa Wijesinghe gave him substantial shares of his
Ceylon Chocolates Company.[1] Diversifying his holdings, he founded the Upali Group of Companies during
the mid 1960s as he developed a conglomerate of companies.[4][5]

 Manufacturing:
 Chocolates and confectionery: Kandos, Delta
 Soaps: Crystal, Tingle Sikuru
 Radios, air-conditioners: Unic.
 Automobile: Upali Motor Company (established in the 1970s) which under license assembled UMC
Mazda and Upali Fiat at the Upali industrial complex in Homagama.
 Aviation: Upali Air, operating several aircraft for private domestic and international flights.
 Investments: Upali Wijewardene made significant investments in Malaysia and Singapore, and was in the
process of opening offices in New York.
 Publishing:
 Upali Newspapers: newspapers Divaina, The Island and Navaliya.
  Comics: Chithra Mithra (February 1981). Within a few months, the magazine reached a circulation of
200,000. Media initially described the magazine as "romance, booze, money, travel, dreams,
adventure, wild women" crammed into 16 pages. It expanded into 32 pages with a different story on
every page. Editor Janaka Ratnayake noted that the publication had "many topics-romance, detective,
sci-fi, heroes, two pages built around movie stars, and almost a page of pen pal" (1993). All the
stories were serialised and in black and white with a spot of one color.[6] The comic magazine fell
apart after Wijewardene's death and ceased publication in 1986 with a circulation of 15,000.
Ratnayake cited the failure of the magazine to Wijewardene's early death, sub-standard printing
quality of the paper due to unskilled mechanics and competition from other magazines.[6]
A British journalist, Matt Miller, described him in Insight Magazine: ‘Largely through bravado and wit, Philip
Upali Wijewardene parlayed a bankrupt confectionery plant into Sri Lanka’s only multi national business
group and one of Asia’s leading cocoa based products conglomerates. Intriguingly he accomplished his
overseas empire-building at a time when his country strictly prohibited the export of currency. And now the
43-year-old commodity wizard (this was 1981) has started what could be Upali's Third Plan... He would be
willing, he says with uncharacteristic restraint, to become Sri Lanka's president someday’.

Horse racing[edit]
Upali Wijewardene was influential in restarting horse racing at the Nuwara Eliya Race Course. He was the
chairman Board of Stewards of the Sri Lanka Turf Club and was a keen turfite, who raced in Sri Lanka and
England, where he won the "Royal Ascot" with "Rasa Penang" ridden by the world-famous jockey Lester
Piggott.
In 1980 he also won the Singapore Derby at the Bukit Timah Race Course in Singapore and the Perak Derby at
the Perak Turf Club in Malaysia with his horse, named "Vaaron". He raced "General Atty" too and won many
races in England. He flew to all these countries where his horses were racing, in his private aircraft. He made it
a point to fly from Newmarket Racecourse in England to Nuwara Eliya Racecourse in Sri Lanka to watch his
horses and ponies racing there.

Government[edit]
In 1978, Upali Wijewardene was appointed by President J. R. Jayewardene as the first chairman/Director
General of the Greater Colombo Economic Commission (GCEC) (now known as the Board of Investment) of
Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan political gotha did not favor his arrival in politics.[7]
In this position Wijewardene worked to attract foreign investment to develop local industries in the new open
economy. He formed Free Trade Zones in Katunayake, Biyagama and Koggala.
In 1980, he traveled to the Silicon Valley and signed five agreements there, including one with Motorola. The
construction of chip plants started in 1983, but the war brought bombing over the country, killed some of the
engineers assigned to the construction of the plants, which led the chip manufacturers to leave Sri Lanka for
Malaysia.[7]

Disappearance[edit]
Learjet 35A

On 13 February 1983, his private jet, a Learjet 35A, took off from Kuala Lumpur at 8:41 pm, bound for
Colombo. On board with him were his Malaysian lawyer S.M. Ratnam, Upali Group Director Ananda Peli
Muhandiram, pilot Capt. Noel Anandappa, co-pilot Sydney Soysa, and steward S. Senenakye. Fifteen minutes
later, the aircraft disappeared while flying over the Straits of Malacca. Extensive search operation by air and
naval units of Sri Lanka, India, United States, Soviet Union, Australia, Indonesia, and Malaysia failed to locate
any evidence of a crash.[8][9]
A wheel suspected to be part of the disappeared plane was found on Pandang Island led the authority to
conclude to a mid-air explosion. Later investigaions revealed that this wheel was not manufactured by the
manufacturer of the plane.[10] According to K. Godage, former Malaysian High Commissioner, the government
of Sri Lanka did not show interest in further investigating the disappearance.[7]

Family[edit]
Upali Wijewardene was a cousin of President J. R. Jayewardene[1] and scientist Ray Wijewardene.[11] In 1975,
he married Lakmini Ratwatte, daughter of Dr Seevali Ratwatte. She is the granddaughter of Barnes Ratwatte
Dissawa and niece of Sirimavo Bandaranaike.
He was the basnayake nilame (chief lay custodian) of the Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihara which had been
supported by his family.[1]