HNB launches Pathum Vimana 2012 on Independence Day

On 4 February 2012, as the winds of a free nation swept across the country on its 64th Independence Day, the HNB Kollupitiya customer centre was a bustle of activity with HNB celebrating the Independence Day in conjunction with its HNB Pathum Vimana 2012 launch.

On 1 February 2012 the bank deployed four HNB mobile floats from Devinuwara, Chilaw, Point Pedro and Batticaloa with four national flags with line drawings mounted on to the trucks. These vehicles then paraded the streets covering all four corners of the country from 1 to 3 February where the general public was encouraged to paint these national flags along the way.

The fully painted trucks reached Colombo on 3 February afternoon, where a ceremonious launch was organised on 4 February 2012 at the HNB Kollupitiya customer centre to commemorate the Pathum Vimana 2012 launch.

The painted flags on board the trucks were parked near the HNB Kollupitiya customer centre on 4 February 2012, the day of the Pathum Vimana 2012 launch. The event was graced by many valued customers from the HNB Kollupitiya customer centre and other adjoining HNB customer centres.

The Chief Guests for the event were the Chairperson of HNB Dr. Ranee Jayamaha and MD/CEO of HNB Rajendra Theagarajah. The event was made more colourful and attractive with a fresh mounting of a line drawing of the National Flag at the location which was painted by customers, school children members of the HNB corporate management and HNB staff. Some of the new Pathum Vimana prizes were unveiled at the event and displayed to the public.

Speaking at the launch, HNB Chairperson Dr. Jayamaha stated that it was a pleasure and a privilege for her to be a part of the 64th Independence Day celebrations and of the HNB Pathum Vimana 2012 launch.

Whilst thanking the organisers for initiating such a novel concept of national importance, she went on to say that there was immense enthusiasm and participation from the general public with a great sense of ownership and belonging for the cause.

The National flag is a symbolic feature and a key element of independence. Stressing on the historic significance of the National Flag, Dr. Jayamaha traced back to the initiation of the National Flag in 1948 where the then Prime Minister D.S. Senanayake instructed an advisory panel to design a flag which should represent all communities, races and religions in the country.

After two years of idea generation, a flag was developed to represent all communities and foster national harmony among them. 3 March 1950 saw the first hoisting of the National Flag of independent Sri Lanka. The four bo leaves, Dr. Jayamaha stated, represented friendliness, kindness, happiness and equanimity. Everyone at HNB upholds these values by being kind and empathetic towards customers and stakeholders at all times.

Through this, the virtues of the four bo leaves are well retained at HNB.

Quoting the President’s 64th Independence Day speech, Dr. Jayamaha said that the President has requested people of all walks of life to join together in building the nation. The HNB Pathum Vimana ‘Rata Hadana Ath’ concept harmonises well with this vision.

Whilst thanking all customers who stood by the bank over the years, Dr. Jayamaha pledged that all staff at HNB is committed to upholding the virtues and values behind the National Flag at all times and even the newcomers to the bank are firmly manoeuvred to adhere to the same values.

Speaking at the occasion, Theagarajah elaborated on the importance of savings. In a post war Sri Lanka he stated, the commercial banks are expected to give leadership to build the nation. Customers can help contribute in the national savings by helping to bridge the gap prevalent between the demand for capital and the supply of money. Hence everyone can help harness savings to build the nation.

National planners believe that savings need to be increased from 27% to 35%. This gap he reiterated can be filled by individual and combined collective efforts to contribute to savings. He further went on to say that HNB is a brand that will deliver security and trust at all time.

The event was also graced by Deputy CEO of Hatton National Bank Jonathan Alles, Senior Deputy General Manager Strategy and Compliance. Nihal Kekulawala, Senior Deputy General Manager Business Development and International Relations Jayantha Perera, AGM Premier and Electronic Banking P. Sridharan, AGM Trade Services Nilam U. Jumat, AGM Emerging Corporates Arjuna Ratnasabapathy, AGM Correspondent Banking and International Operations Reshanka Abeysekara, AGM SME, Metro & Colombo Region Branches R.J. Thambirajah, AGM PFS R.M.P. Dayawansa, AGM HR Chiranthi Cooray and other bank officials and valued customers and well-wishers.