When the flats were first occupied by people who did not know how to live in a housing community, since they had come from separate houses situated far from each other, they disturbed everybody with loud music, loud singing and dancing right through the night almost every now and then.

A birthday party was enough of an occasion for rowdy behaviour; like during the cricket match or football match boys would climb the balcony of upper floors with what they use at matches to celebrate a run or a goal (that wooden instrument one turns till the ear-drums hurt) and shout; "Nobody is sleeping tonight!"

Christmas was an occasion for liquor, liquor and more liquor and drunken boys and girls would roam the entire premises of 300 flats at the Bambalapitiya housing scheme singing two lines of ‘Silent Night Holy Night’ followed by two lines of Bambalapitiya filth!

Fights at night among drunken boys was common. Once there was a body-builder whose intestines came out when another boy broke an empty bottle on the mudguard of a car and ripped his belly.

The victim, strong as he was pressed his intestines tightly until the Accident Ward was reached.

That was the time when PASCO pasteurised bottled milk was delivered at the door. The rowdy boys would roam in the early hours of the morning drinking the milk!

Christmas was not only the noisiest night at the Bambalapitiya Flats but also the most dangerous. Sky rockets were directed at open windows; and pedestrians and cars even along Galle Road by the flats were not safe.

There was no loudspeaker ban like today at that time. The police were helpless. Anybody in the flats was free to have even a bali ceremony in the flats with tom- tom beating till dawn. Actually when a village family came into occupation they had a full ‘Daha Ata Sanniya’ to chase the evil spirits! That was in the late fifties, when flats were real ‘gamayata’ magic!

Ultimately the Housing Commissioner issued a warning; "Behave or leave the flats" and added an extra clause to the agreement signed by the tenant. Any flat-dweller who disturbed a neighbour would be given three months notice for eviction. The press was very cooperative and gradually some sanity prevailed in the housing scheme.