As a special tribute to Vernon Corea's father, Reverend Canon Ivan Corea, the Sri Lankan superstar Clarence Wijewardena composed a moving song about a father's love,'Ma Ethi Dedi Kala Piyaneni.' It was an international hit for Clarence Wijewardena and Annesley Malewana. In an interview, Annesley Malewanna recalls: ""When we toured England in 1994 to hold musical shows, Vernon Corea who was in England requested me to sing this particular song. When I got on to the stage and started singing Vernon broke down and all of us were moved by this incident. Wherever we go, most people in foreign countries requested me to sing this song. Now I dedicate that song to my late father," he said. "  Vernon Corea created television history on the island of Sri Lanka when he was invited to present the first ever experimental television broadcast on 15 June 1972 by the "Radio Society of Ceylon." He appeared on television screens in Colombo, in black and white, on a short TV programme, this was history in the making. Seven years later the first regular television transmission was conducted in Sri Lanka and the first TV presenter on that regular transmission was Vernon Corea's cousin, Vijaya Corea – he introduced his cousin to radio by asking him to present 'Kiddies Corner' a popular children's programme on Radio Ceylon in the 1960s. Vijaya Corea was one of many young broadcasters "mentored" by Vernon Corea – he went on to become the Director-General of the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation. Another protégé was Nihal Bhareti who went on to greater height heights in broadcasting and was the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation's Director of English Services. Leon Belleth was another mentee, after a successful career with Radio Ceylon/SLBC he retired in Australia. There are now several television stations operating on the island, a far cry from the early experiments of the Radio Society of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in 1972. The Corea family migrated to England in 1975. Vernon Corea worked for Radio Worldwide based in Upper Norwood, then for BBC Radio London as a presenter for the popular London Sounds Eastern. He interviewed many Asian stars, including Pandit Ravi Shankar and Usha Uthup. The BBC radio programme drew a huge audience in the capital and was even featured in the Radio Times. Vernon Corea soon climbed the management ladder at the BBC – he was appointed Local Radio Asian Programmes Officer in 1978.