A magician these days usually charges anywhere between Rs. He says the magician’s job is to entertain – to captivate an audience with his slight of hand and gift of the gab, and that showmanship and stage-craft are top priorities in a performance. Ronald de Alwis considers himself an artist and an entertainer. Apparently magicians take a very serious oath of secrecy once they become SLMC members.
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3000 – they talk to you and see if you’re serious about magic and really want to learn, and you’re not just joining to reveal their secrets. 1000, while ordinary adult membership is Rs. Terry Amarasekera, heart surgeon Dr Rajiva Pieris, and surgeon Dr Keerthi Weerawardena of Polannaruwa Hospital – there have also been women magicians like Lilani De Mel and Thusitha Jayasekara. Members have included Colombo Toastmasters members Mohan Lal Grero and Haleem Ghouse, Surveyor Nihal Weerasinghe, former D.I.G. Ronald himself teaches aspiring magicians, one-on-one (you can call him up for personal tutorials on 723 399 874). The institute has 92 members right now, they have a large Library of magicians’ books that has been there since the 1920s, and they’re always looking for new members to train. The Magic Circle has its headquarters in Mount Lavinia, where members all have a regular meeting on the last Sunday of every month. Now, we still have contests for magicians and there is still some support by the Ministry of Cultural Affairs (like the Kala Bhushana Award which was given recently), but the state does not support this art as much as it does artists of other sectors – says Ronald – he says it should, given that the Sri Lanka Magic Circle is one of the country’s oldest cultural institutions. The Sri Lanka Magic Circle enjoyed prominence in the ’50s because the Cultural Minister of the time, the Municipality and the Governor General Gunatilake, were all patrons of magic.
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Street magic also gradually popularized the art of magic, where the magician got up close and personal with his audience – ‘David the Devil, of Marawela’ was one of the street magicians that Ronald fondly remembers. This was a time when magic was in the reigns of greats like his father Lindon, T.C.P. Ronald recalls the golden days of magic in the ’50s, when once they performed in 1954 at a great 7 days & 7 nights magic festival with more than 5,000 people in the audience. Lindon De Alwis performed during World War II in war-charity tours – from Jaffna to Dondra, Colombo to Batticoloa. Here’s a paper cutout of Lindon performing with Ronald by his right side. Ronald’s main inspiration as a child – he was 10 when he first learnt magic – was his father, Lindon De Alwis, a renowned magician of the early 20th century. He told us more about the history of magic in Sri Lanka, and about how the Magic Circle continues to help budding magicians. We sat down for a chat with veteran magician Ronald De Alwis, who still performs at 80 years of age and has been in the industry for almost seven decades.
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Back in the ’50s, they formed troupes and performed islandwide and members have since won local and international awards. Moreover, Japanese investors have a high level of recognition for security token, with 9% of the security token media platform STM's subscription customers coming from Japan and the Japanese community of the US security token exchange INX having nearly 3,000 members.The Sri Lanka Magic Circle is a state-recognized institute of magicians that has been around since the 1920s. In addition, SBI revealed that it plans to cooperate with Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group(SMFG) to launch a security token exchange (Osaka Digital Exchange - ODX) in Osaka in 2023, to connect the issuance and secondary trading of the Japanese security token market and solve the problems of issuance efficiency and secondary liquidity. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust Bank announced that it will make its current security token issuance and management platform "Progmat" interface publicly available in mid-2022, enabling existing securities firms and banking institutions to access it directly for automated processing. In April 2021, SBI Securities launched the first Japanese STO for general investors, and in November, a security token based on Japanese real estate income was listed and traded on the Singapore-licensed exchange ADDX, the first overseas listing of a Japanese security tokens.
#THE MAGIC CIRCLE MEMBERS REGISTRATION#
In 2020, Japan clarified that security token are regulated under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act (FIEA), and that the interests represented by security token are called " electronically recorded transferable rights"(ERTRs) and need to comply with the relevant regulations, as well as clarifying the registration license, transaction transfer and disclosure requirements. Japan is a global leader in the field of security token in terms of regulations, technology and practice.