M. Theivendra, R. Raveeendrakumar and P. Kanagadurai were awarded Public Schools Colours. This very successful team was coached by Mr. S.K. Mahalingam. The Secretary of Games during this period was Mr. V. R. Amarasingham.

During this Golden Era of Sports, one name stands out, that of M. Theivendra. He is undoubtedly the finest all round Cricketer St. John's has produced. A gifted left hander, both in batting and bowling, he would have ranked among the best three in either department of those who had represented St. John's during the second half of this century. He played for a record 7 years (equalled only by Perumal in the thirties) and scored 3 centuries and a number of fifties with 134 against Hindu Colleg e as his top score. In this match he also took 10 wickets. Among Cricketers in the North, he was awarded the Cricketer of the Year in 1964 & 65. He won the "Best Batsman" and "Best all rounder" awards in the Daily News contest in 1963 and the "School boy Cricketer of the Year" awarded by the Times of Ceylon also in 1963. At St John's he captained the side in l964 & 1966 and won the Best Bowler's Cup in 1965 & 1966 and the best Fielder's Cup in 1963. He represented the Jaffna Schools XI for 5 years and ultimately captained them, and also played for the Outstation Schools XI as well as the Cey1on Schools XI. In Athletics, he had been Junior, Champion, Intermediate Champion and Senior Champion at St. John's and in 1963 broke 3 records in the Senior Division and was instrumental in another for a relay race, all in one day - shades of Jesse Owens ! He was the outstanding athlete in the Group 11 schools meets winning a number of places between 1961 & 1966. At the Public Schools meets in Colombo, he had been placed 2nd in the Long Jump as a Junior, and as a senior he had come 1st in Hurdles & Triple Jump, 2nd in Long Jump & Triple Jump, 3rd in Hurdles again and helped the College to 3rd place in the 4 x 1 10 Yds relay. He was awarded Public Schools Colours. He was good enough to represent the College at Foot-Ball for 2 years and win its colours All these brought him the Blue Riband for Sports at St. John's - the Thuraisamy Scott Challenge Cup for the All Round Sportsman of the year. He was a good student too arid entered the University to do a Medical Course. While at Peradeniya, he captained the All University team in Cricket and was one of the leading all rounders in the Sara trophy matches where he missed the rare Cricketer's double of 500 runs and 50 wickets in a season by just 7 runs one year. It is a pity that his duties as a doctor left him little time to pursue his prowess in Cricket, otherwise he would certainly have graced the Ceylon side.

The beginning Of 1964 brought lot of sorrow with the passing away ot two loyal Old Boys and Teaches who had contributed much to St. John's - Mr.E. M. Ponnudurai and Mr. S. J. Gunasegram. Both bad been pillars the College in their days and their names will always he associated with St. John's and while Mr. Ponnudurai will be associated mostly with sports, Mr. Gunasegaram will be remembered for his brcvity in English, and for composing the College song. During its first two years as a private school, Mr. Gunasegaram did yeoman service as Manager of St. John's. Such men are rare and come but once in a generation. Six months later. another great name, that of Rev. J.T. Arulanantham was added to those who had passed beyond the veil. After his retirement as Principal at St. John's in 1957, Rev. Arulanantham had served as Manager of St. John's and Chundikuli, Vicar of Christ Church, Galle Face, Director of the Christian Research Institute, Maruthanamadam and Vice-president of the C.M.S. His last work was to complete the renovations of St. John''s Church, Chundikuli and he was happily there when the Church was re-dedicated in March,1964. The renovations had started two years earlier, to mark the centenary of the Church, which because of its slate roof was known as the "Slate Church". The slate roof is no more, but Rev. Aulanantham saw to it that other features of its unique architecture remained. Rev. J. R. Ratnanayagam, in a moving tribute to his one-time Principal wrote thus "Even in this degenerate day, when standards have fallen low and discipline is a thing of the past, St. John's still stands supreme". Therein lies his vindication. His name will carry with it suggestions of conflict and controversy for some days to come, but there shall come a time when it will be the last lingering memory of a glorious day ... On the first day of a week in mid June even as he ill was ready to go to the altar of his God, the God whom he had loved and served all his life; the Master called him to his rest. There was something beautiful and even inspiring about his departure. As he lay in state, in the Church, which he himself helped to restore to its present beauty and dignity, many filed past to pay their last respects. The Archdeacon of Jaffna celebrated at the Requiem in the morning and the Bishop of Colombo presided over the funeral service. As the sun set we commended his soul to his Creator and committed his mortal remains to its final resting place beside the grave of his friend, the late Rev. Henry Peto. We did not realise how much he meant to us until be was no more. How quickly it was all over. To many he had been their teacher and Principal, to more he had been a priest and friend, to not a few he was a man sent from God; and, very strangely, his name too was John".

The graves of the late Rev. Peto and the late Rev. Arulanantham lie side by side, dignified in their simplicity, fast by the College which they had loved and served so well, as to be considered the modern makers of St. John's.

Others connected with St. John's who died in 1964 included Mr. E. C. A. Navaratnarajah who had once taken a lot of interest in English and Drama at St. John's before taking up the Principalship of St. John's Nugegoda and subsequently Kopay Christian College; Mr. K. P. Muthiah who had been Headmaster of the Lower School, and M. K. S. Manuelpillai who had been a clerk in the Principal's Office for 35 years.

On the happier side of events that year, mention should be made of Mr.S.C. Mahadeva who was elected Mayor of Jaffna, the third Old Johniain to hold that post. Another Old Boy, Hon Dr. Justice Tharnbiah was Chief Guest at the Prize Giving. M. G. Sathiaseelan of St. John's won the Jaffna Chess Championship that year.

The University Entrance (Dec., 1963) results were also satisfactory, 29 entering the varsity including 15 for Medicine, 4 for Engineering, 2 for Arts and the balance for other Science courses-

At the College itself, an Inter-Act Club was formed, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Jaffna, This was the first inter-Act Club to be formed in Ceylon and has fully justified its formation by doing excellent social service. The Dramatic Society acted "Ithaya Osai" to appreciative audiences in Jaffna & Colombo to collect funds for the College. Both branches of 0. B. A. also organised musical entertainment, Fairs etc. to swell the College funds.

But once again, pride of place in achievement belongs to the sports arena. At the Group 11 meet, St John's once again dominated the show, winning 10 first places in the Senior group, including a record in the Putt Shot by C. Gnanabakthan. They won the Diana Cup for Relays for the 4th year in succession At the Public Schools Relay Carnival St. John's came 3rd in the 4x I00 Yds relay. At the Junior A. A. A. meet in Colombo, , M. Theivendra came first in the Hop, Step & Jump, 2nd in the l10 metres Hurdles and 3rd in Long Jump, while R. Raveendrakumar came 2nd in Pole Vault.

At the Public Schools meet in Colombo in 1964, St. John's repeated her triumphs of 1963 by winning the Tarbat Cup for Outstation Schools and the V. B. M. De Silva Cup for field events both for the second successive year. R. Raveendrakumar came first in the Pole Vault, clearing 11 ft and reached Public school, colours standard again. So too did M. Tbeivendra in winning the Hop, Step & Jump with a leap of 44' 10 ½". He also came 2nd in the Long Jump (20'-10 ½") and 3rd in the 110 metres hurdles in a time of 16 Seconds.

The Cricket team were unbeaten that year, winning 3 and drawing 4 matches. This included another mammoth victory over Jaffna College by an innings and 166 runs. Another notable achievement was a superb century by the ubiquitous M. Theivenidra against Nalanda College He was selected to captain the Jaffna Schools that year, which included 3 other Johnians as well. The football team also performed satifactorily, winning six and drawing 2 of 9 matches played. The 2nd XI fared better by remaining unbeaten winning 7 of the 8 matches they played

1965 too deprived St. John's of a number of well loved figures. Rev. J. R. Ratnanayagam. Mr. P. S. Somasundram and Mr, W, T. Gunaratnam each of whom had earned a name as a teacher at St. John's, left the College. Rev. Ratnanayagam left to become the Bishop's Chaplain in Colombo. He will be remembered for his English & Drama activities and above all sorely missed for those short and sweet sermons in the Chapel. Mr. Sornasundram and Mr. Gunaratnam left to take up teaching appointments at Brunei. Mr. Sornasundram will be remembered as a most courteous teacher of Mathematics in the Entrance Classes and as Handy House Master, while Mr. Gunaratnam was known as a strict disciplinarian and also served Johnstone House as Master-in-charge.

Death removed Mr. P. T. Mathai , Mr. G. S. Chelliah, Mr. S. L. Jansen and Mr. M.Thambiah who had been teacher' at St. John's, and also two loyal Old Boys, Mr. C. S. Barr Kumarakulasinge and Mr. H. C. T. Somasundaram.

That year brought the results of the first G. C. E. Advanced Level Examination (held in Dec. 1964) which had replaced the University Preliminary and H S. C. Examinations. The results were quite satisfactory with 37 out of 118 who sat the examination parsing 3 or 4 subjects. There were 4 distinctions and 55 Credits. Of these 27 were selected for admission to the University, 8 for Medicine, 6 for Engineering, 3 for Arts and the balance to various Science courses. In addition to this, the Jaffna Academy also presented 28 students of whom 13 passed the Advanced Level. This Jaffna Academy was formed by the St. John's College Welfare Association and conducted private classes for G. C. E. (A/L) & O/L students and greatly helped the College financially. The buildings used were the former Peto Hostel (Mahendra Theatre) and some additions in the same compound.

The 1965 Cricket team which represented St. John's has every reason to be considered the finest ever in the history of the College, They played 10 matches and won 9 of them, including a victory against Royal College by 5 wickets. The only match they did not win was against Nalanda when time deprived them of certain victory, 12 runs remaining to be scored with 4 wickets in hand. This team played a combined Batticaloa Schools XI and defeated them by the fantastic margin of an innings and 238 runs! The College team underwent some coaching by Brian Close, a former England Test Captain, who had opined that M.Theivendra was one of the best schoolboy cricketers in Ceylon. Theivendra justified this opinion by a magnificent all round performance against Hindu college when he scored a century and took wickets in both innings. He took 70 wickets for the season, a post war record at that time. 4 Johnians represented Jaffna Schools XI. This Johnian team had great depth in batting, a variety of bowling and most of them were fine physical specimens being close to 6 ft. in height, and looked every inch a Cricketer, every one of them.

In athletics St. John's once again dominated the scene in Jaffna. At the Group 11 schools meet, the College won 9 first places. 7 second and 8 third places and annexed the Diana Relay Cup for the 5th year in succession ! At the Dual meet, where schools belonging to Groups I and 2 participated, St. John's won 6 first places and also the 4 x I 10 Yards and 4 x 440 Yards relays, and the Juniors the 4 x 110 Yards relay. At the Public Schools meet, St. John's came 3rd in the 4x 100 Metres relay and C. Sooriyakumar came 3rd in the Pole Vault.

In football, the lst XI won 6 and drew I out of 9 games while the 2nd XI remained unbeaten, winning 7 of 8 games.

In Basketball, the College senior team won the Van Twest Cup in a tournament conducted for schools and Clubs, and the under 16 team became Junior Champions in the North.

1965 was indeed a year of Triumph for St. John's in Sports.

At the 1965 Dec. A/L. Examination the results of which were out in 1966, 30studei,.ts from St. John's entered the University, 9 for Medicine, 2 for Dental, 4 for Engineering and 15 for Science (the highest in the island). Among other notable achievements in 1966 should be mentioned the two Engineering Scholarships won by Johnians, one by E. J. Jebarajah to West Germany on the 1964 A/L results and the other by Sbantha Somasundaram to Japan. D. P. Moothathamby also brought credit to his College in coming 2nd in the English Essay competition held on the Industrial Exhibition open to all Schools.

Old Boys who died in 1966 included Mr. V. C. Canagaratnam well known for his English, and training students for English Drama and Oratorical contests, and who had composed a Hymn on the occasion of the 125th Anniversary of the College, and Rev. V. B. Muthuvelo. who had served the St. John's Church as Vicar for a long time.

In Cricket, St. John's. did well to inflict a defeat on Nalanda College. Altogether they won 4 matches in 8, but lost to St. Sylvester's College, Kandy by l run and also to Royal College Colombo. 3 boys from St. John's represented the National Schools XI Vs. a visiting English School boys team while 5 Johnians represented a Jaffna Under 20 team to play against South Ceylon Schools Cricket Association.

The College kept her leading place in Athletics in Jaffna winning nine Ist places, seven 2nd places and five 3rd places which included records by the 4x100 metres relay team and also the 100 metres sprint by M. Surendra. The
Diana Relay Cup was theirs for the 6th time running. In the Dual Meet (groups I & 2 Schools), St. John's had eight 1st places, and broke 3 records, in both relay & and the 100 Metres event by Surendra.

At the Public Schools meet, St. John's missed the Tarbat Cup for outstation Schools by just a point ! T. Vipulananda came Ist in the Long Jump, clearing 21'-6 ¾"and winning the Public School Colours while A. D. S. Rajaratnam came 3rd in the High Jump and the College relay team was placed 3rd in the 4 x 100 M. race. T. Vipulananda was a fine all-round Sportsman and once in a match against Nalanda had a superb performance of scoring a half-century & taking 12 wickets in the match.

The Basketball team became the Northern Province Schools Champions and annexed the Subramaniam shield. In Badminton St. John's were runners-up. At football, the Ist XI lost only I match while winning 6 whereas the 2nd XI won 6 matches and drew I and remained unbeaten. Two other sportsmen who brought credit were C. Ambihaipalan who represented the Jaffna Schools Hockey team and W. N. Guhananthan who won 3 titles in Table Tennis at the Y.M. C. A. Tournament.

At the end of 1966, Mr. Rajasegaram retired. He had not been in the best of health for the last year or so and Mr. J.T Chelliah had been called upon to bear the brunt of the work which he did manfully. It is too early yet to review and assess Mr. Rajasegaram's contribution to St. John's as Principal. He could not achieve much in the way of buildings as the College could not afford it at that time. No principal before, and it is to be hoped, no Principal in future, will be called upon to perform such a heavy task as Mr. Rajasegaram asked to do. Within 2 years of his assumption of office as Principal, St. John's opted to be a private, non-fee levying school and the Principal had to
find the money every month even to pay teachers' salaries. He had to find the funds not knowing from where it will come and also to maintain the high standards of the school. It was like asking a person to make bricks without straw while balancing on a tight rope! Mr. Rajasegaram did his best, but at the cost of his health. He was the second Old Boy to become Principal of St. John's, where he had been a brilliant student, and then an exemplary Latin Teacher. He was an intellectual, as can be judged from his well thought-out addresses at Prize Givings and other functions. He was a humble man and it was not in his personality to lord it over anybody. When St. John's became private, not all teachers were for it, and some disunity crept in. it was not in Mr.Rajasegararn to quell. such indiscipline and the impression is that the College suffered, and history may well relegate Mr. Rajasegaram to the position of a "Neville Chamberlain". But that will be an injustice, because during his term of office, the College maintained its high academic standards and did brilliantly well in games, the most successful period of sports being under Mr. Rajasegaram and continuing for a few Years after.

When 1967 dawned, a new Principal had not been appointed, and Mr. J. T. Chelliah continued to be acting Principal. Change had become the accepted pattern in the College in the last few years, and this year saw the retirement of Mrs Thambithurai, Mrs. Eliathamby and Mrs.Jehoratnarn, Two former Presidents of the 0. B. A., Mr. J.T.R. Perinpanayagam and Mr.V.Sathianathan died and also Canon Somasundaram, who had at one time taught Mathematics at the College. Mr. J. T. R. Perinpanayagam was one of the most loyal Old Boys St. John's ever had, and the Colombo 0. B. A. commemorated his memory by donating the Prizes for General Excellence in the Middle School and Primary School.

In March 1967, Mr. K. Pooranampillai was appointed Principal. A man of proven ability, he had been a highly successful Principal at Hartley College for more than 23 years, and St. John's could not have found a better man, especially at that juncture, to lead its destinies.

In the 1966 A/L Examination, 40 students from St. John's were successful in 3 or 4 subjects, a worthy performance. Of these 27 entered the varsity, 8 for Medicine, 5 for Engineering, 2 for Arts and the others for Science courses.

The Cricket team had another triumphant year, remaining unbeaten, with 6 wins in 8 matches. They put up some
massive scores like 344 for 3, 345 for 4, 291 for 5, 287 for 9 and 281 for 8 resulting in 4 innings and one 10 Wkt. victorv. C. Sooriyakumar scored three centuries this season, and equalled R.R. Scott's record of 4 centuries for St. John's altogether. Sooriyakumar created a ground record by scoring a monumental 181 against Hartley College, the highest score made by a Johnian in school cricket. He also made another epic score of 154 Vs. Jaffina College. He ended the season with a total of 599 runs with a Don Bradman like average of 85.6. The previous year he totalled 614 runs. Five of this team played for Jaffna Schools XI this year and C. Sooriyakumar captained the side. The consensus of opinion is that Sooriyakurnar is the best batsman produced by St. John's since the war, probably the best ever. He went on to play Saravanamuttu Trophy Cricket for Tamil Union and ultimately captained them. In addition to his right band batting, Sooriyakumar was also a more than useful fast bowler.

The football team of 1967 captained by S. M. Mootatamby was one of the best to represent St. John's. They had a clean sweep, winning all 7 matches played, the first time St. John's achieved this since 1931, during the halcyon days of Mills & Thiagarajah. The 2nd XI also did well, winning 5 matches, drawing I and losing 1.

At Hockey, the College senior team won the Championship while the Junior team were runners-up.

At Basketball, the St. John's seniors were runners-up. In athletics St. John's again maintained their position at the head and won the Diana Relay Cup for the 7th year in succession ! They also broke 2 records at their Group II meet. At the Public Schools meet, M. Surendra brought credit by winning the I10 metres hurdles and coming 3rd in the 100 metres. He thus emulatad his brother M. Theivendra, who had also won the Public Schools Hurdles event. At the 1967 Ceylon National Athletics meet where some Indian athletes also participated, two Old Johnians, R. Raveendrakumar & 8. Shanmugarajah were placed 2nd and 3rd respectively in the Pole Vault & Putt Shot events.

It was in Badminton that St. John's showed overwhelming superiority. They entered three teams, "A", "B" & .,C" for the Inter-Collegiate Tournament in the North and the "A" team became Champions, while "B" & "C' w ere placed 3rd & 4th. At the Y. M. C. A and Jaffna District tournaments, St. John's boys won a heap of cups

The Old Boys also were not keeping quiet. They organised an Agricultural and Industrial Fun Fair in August, which was opened by Hon. M. D. H. Jayawardena, Minister of Health, and the proceeds brought a profit of Rs. 35,000,!-. This was a very successful venture well in keeping with the stupendous success achieved by the present boys on the sports field.

An important decision which the Board of Governors for Educational Institutions of the C. M.S. took towards the end of 1967 was to set up a Joint Committee to advise the Governing Body in matters concerning the College with the proviso that the Joint Committee in due course develops into a Governing body for St. John's College and the Jaffna Academy. The years 1968 & 1969 brought to a close the eventful sixties. The sporting prowess of St. John's continued ' in those two years. The cricket team remained unbeaten in 1968, winning six of seven matches played, including an innings win in the Big Match, where Johnian speedster Vamadevan captured 12 for 66. This team was coached by Mr. J. I. Rajaratnam and captained by S. M. Mootatamby, one of the finest captains St. John's has produced. It is interesting to note that in 1967 he had captained the unbeaten football side and the previous year had captained the Basketball team which won the Championship, a truly commendable hat-trick. A man for a crisis , his part in the dramatic win over St. Patricks in 1968 needs mention. The St. John's-St, Patricks match has always been a needle one, and 1968 was no exception. When the ist innings of both sides were completed St Patrick's led by 22 runs. By close to lunch time on second day, St. John's bad lost six of their best wickets and were only 2 runs ahead. It was at this stage that Skipper Mootatamby took charge and the
glorious uncertainties of cricket were revealed. The 7th wicket partnership yielded 98 runs and when St. John's were all out for 136, St. Patricks had to make I 1 5 to win with plenty of time. But the Johnians' tails were up arid Surendra bowling like a Trojan, skittled out the Patricians for 50 runs. Mootatamby's 58 in the 2nd innings was worth many a century in other circumstances, and once again showed the fighting qualities of St. John's when fighting back to the wall. Moolatamby later joined the Army as an officer and captained their cricket team in the Sara Trophy.

But the College cricket team was due for a slump and in 1969 lost 2 matches, one to Hartley College for the first time in their history. St. John's gained the comfort from the fact that their captain Surendra was selected to captain the Jaffna Schools in 1968. However, the juniors made amends, the 2nd XI winning 2 and drawing I match of 3 played and the 3rd XI winning all 4 matches they played in 1969.

At football, St. John's won 6, drew I and lost I match in 1968, but were not so successful in 1969.

In athletics, the St. John's Inter-House sports meet was organised on lines similar to Ceylon School Athletic Association (C. S. A. A.) with groups of under 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 & 19 with an extra group of over 19. In 1968, the Jaffna Schools Central Zone Sports Meet was held on similar lines and St. John's had 18 first places, 12 second places, and 8 third places. In addition they won the Relay Cup for Under 16, Under 17 and Under 19. In 1969 the Senior & Junior meets were held separately and again the College performed splendidly. At the 1968 C. S. A. A. (Public Schools) meet, Johnian R. Sivakumar came 3rd in the Long Jump clearing 21'-3 1/2" and winning the C.S.A.A. Colours. He was selected to represent the C.S. A. A. against Indian Schools and came 2nd in long jump, winning a Silver Medal.

The Basketball team wool the Championship in 1968 being unbeaten. The Badminton players again covered themselves with glory. The A. B. & C teams triumphed as in 1967, the A team winning ,he Championship while the B. & C. teams were placed 3rd & 4th at the Northern Province Schools Tournament, both in 1968 & 1969. In 1969, in addition they became runners-up in the All island Schools competition. At Hockey, the senior team were runners-up in 1968 and Champions in 1969 while the Juniors finished as runners-up in 1969. Four Seniors played for the Jaffna Schools team in Hockey.

Academically too, the College fared well. At the Dec., 1967, A/L. Examination, 41 students passed 3 or 4 subjects and altogether 30 entered the Varsity, including Katubedde.

Mr, A. W. Rajasegaram, the former Principal died in August 1969, after a brief illness. Mr. P.James and Mrs. B. T. Ponnudurai were two other retired teachers who died in 1969.

The 0. B. A. which was fully geared to raising funds for maintaining the College, organised a successful week of Music, Dance and Drama in April, 1968, which netted a profit of about Rs. 19,000/-. A play that was much appreciated was "Veeramainthan" which was produced by Mr.James, whose life was tragically cut short a few months later. The 0. B. A. also organised the play "Fifty-Fifty" in 1969.

When the sixties are reviewed, it will be noted that while maintaining the high academical standards, St. John's had excelled in sports, not only in the North but islandwide, especially in athletics. Old Johnians when they entered the University performed well enough to produce many University Captains. T.Kirubaitilahan captained Peradeniya at Cricket and Hockey in 1963 & 1964 . V. Sivananthan also captained the University of Peradeniya at cricket and won his colours, and was a member of the All University team that won the Sara-Trophy. Others who captained the Varsity were V.Kunasingam (Athletics), C. Ramanathan (Basketball), C. Balakrishnan (Tennis) and K. Vijendran who captained Peradeniya and All Varsity teams in Badminton. M. Theivendra, D. J. N. Selvadurai and M. Surendra also captained the University cricket teams in Sara Trophy cricket.

The end of the sixties saw the College on a firm financial footing. The decade which had started with an uphill struggle for existence as a private school, thus ended on a happy note. The decision to remain private was firmly vindicated when it was seen that in several Government Schools discipline was disappearing, and Principals and teachers were being transferred haphazardly, resulting in absenteeism and deterioration of academic performances. This was one of the major causes which has to-day resulted in the curse of compulsive private tuition. Well wishers of St. John's should be thankful that the College was spared all this. No doubt it had been a tremendous struggle at the early stages for everybody concerned with the College, but never has the adage "say not the struggle naught availeth" been more justified. The Schools take over crisis was one of the gravest faced and overcome by St. John's and if the College were to last a 1000 years, men will still say, "This was their finest Hour!"