Back home and showing his work in the Melbourne International Arts Festival, Matthew Sleeth talks to Louisa Whitehead about countering chaos with his camera.

You ooze into the seat, listening to Sinhalese laughter and not an Aussie in sight.

Leaving Colombo airport in a three hour taxi to Hikkaduwa, you're lost in early morning darkness, careering along the coast, looming upon late night roti stands and overgrown jungle. The spicy air is sticky. The driver, peering over the steering wheel, sits on the white line and drives forty kilometres over the speed limit. You have three near misses and are pulled over by police four times, not counting all the stops at army checkpoints.

No, I’m not suggesting a summer on the dole in Torquay. I’m talking about Sri Lanka, the civil-war torn ‘tear-drop’ in the Indian Ocean.

After spending three months in the South-West coast surf town of Hikkaduwa, I can think of no better place to kick start your surfing career.

Here are three reasons why Sri Lanka is the best place for a surfing holiday…

I am smug this morning. I am saving the environment and getting fit at the same time!

Cycling to work is wonderful for my fitness and the state of pollution in my city, but these fabulous effects are not actually the reason why I cycle every day. The reason is a lot less worthy: I cannot afford it.

As I peddle from Camberwell to Carlton , I realise that the soaring price of petrol could be just the answer to the pressing problems of obesity and global warming.

With TV Rock spinning tunes across the park, it felt like no matter what the State Government wants, us Melbournites will retain our right to freedom of choice. 

 We rallied against the proposed 2am lockout.

 We rallied for out right to choose where we go and when.

Violence from binge drinking is a problem that we must fix, but a 2am lockout is simply not the solution.

‘Eelam War IV’ kicked off on Wednesday 15 January 2008 with the collapse of the five-year long Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) between the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL).

The government is calling this the ‘war to end the war’.

Almost every day since we arrived two months ago, civilian lives have been lost in this conflict that ravages the beautiful island of Sri Lanka.

We found the speech on a page of newspaper that our lunch was wrapped up in, purchased in the hill country of Sri Lanka in a town called Hatton.

Having discovered this little piece of gold, we cannot help but to share it with you.

The newspaper, we think is called Sat Mag, published by Upali Newspapers Ltd on Saturday December 1, 2007.

We found this speech fascinating, and are sure, if anyone is reading this, that they will appreciate this incredible insight into the civil war in Sri Lanka, terrorist organisations, and in particular the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

The crowd, half Sri Lankans standing on the grass and half barmy army in the stands, danced, sang and cheered to the beat of steel drums and trumpets. While a giant Buddha quietly overlooked from the hillcrest on one side, a crew of bright orange monks spied from the jungle above.

One Englishman missed the point completely, remarking upon arrival, “I heard this ground was very beautiful, I expected more than just a tin shed and a school pavilion.”

Yet the setting so breathtaking and far removed from the ‘real world’ was just a hint of the magic to come in the first official England-Sri Lanka encounter.