Sri Lanka Embassy in The Hague celebrated Christmas at the Embassy premises on 18th December 2010. The event was held in keeping with the tradition of celebrating the important festivals of all religions practiced in Sri Lanka in order to promote friendship among the community members.
Ambassador Grace Asirwatham in her welcome address highlighted the significance of Christmas in terms of peace and love and underscored the need to support the efforts of the government towards reconciliation and establishing lasting peace in the country. The Chaplain of the Church of St. Philip and St. John in The Hague, Rev. Tony Roake conducted the sermon and prayers on the occasion. The highlight of the event was the trilingual Christmas carols sung by the staff of the Embassy together with the members of the Sri Lankan community in the Netherlands. Despite the extremely snowy weather the Sri Lankan community members of all ethnic and religious faiths attended the celebrations to show friendship and solidarity with the Christian brethren.
At the end of the programme the guests were treated to traditional Sri Lankan food, Christmas cake and Ceylon tea.
Embassy of Sri Lanka
The Hague
The Netherlands
December 20, 2010
