Sri Lanka and the world at large has lost a spear of the print media by the untimely demise of Allaam Ousman, a sports editor whose genius in story presentation set him apart.
His final rites took place on Sunday at 4 p.m. at the Muslim Burial Grounds, Mattegoda He was 60 years
Allaam indeed belonged to a rare genre who instilled a rock solid refined art in writing in making what the Island Newspapers of the Upali Group is today in making it ‘the newspaper’ of the 1990s era since the newspaper broke out in 1981 that by and large made the Daily and Sunday Island the No. 1 in Sri Lanka. He had the distinction of covering Sri Lanka’s famous Cricket World Cup victory final versus Australia at Lahore in 1996.
Knowing Allaam’s mighty contribution to the Island Newspapers, it is a crying shame that the newspaper has not had a word about the man.
He was a sports editor cum writer whose greatest asset was to making a top story so wholesome and compact.
Allaam’s great talent that did not stop at writing, but perfected in editing copy and page layout. Such was his multi flair that The Island could not hold him back when destiny beckoned him to serve in several top newspapers in the Middle East’s UAE including the Khaleej Times and Gulf Today for nearly a quarter century.
If his versatility took him places in serving the Fourth Estate, Allaam won people for his simple and amiable humility. Soft spoken, his uncanny wit was an unifying trait of the team that worked with him. Of course, his seriousness to polishing the work before him was ceaseless in what was a truly passionate marriage to the profession.
Indeed, Allaam who passed away on March 1 following a brief illness has left a lasting flame. His loss is irreparable for the rare silken art he wove primarily as a great writer.
If Allaam was in a summation, truly indispensable as a journalist to where he worked, he was a lovable wholeheartedly endearing human being.
Allaam Ousman’s life did not stop there. He was a sportsman who made a name as a boxer whose passion for the sport having made a name representing Royal College in the Stubb’s Shield was such that he went the distance becoming an officiator.
In later years, he realised a long felt yearning to setting up his own boxing academy where until recently he trained aspiring youngsters in the sport.
Even illness did not put him off. Unfussy, he took it in his easy going stride.
I would tend to call him ‘young man’ in lighter vein to which Allaam would respond with an amused light chuckle.
Allaam Ousman touched hearts and as we realise that lovable charming voice is not be heard anymore, it brings a tear as we miss him. His parting has left a terrible emptiness.
– Srian Obeyesekere