Sri Lankan Community in Perth.

Once the new migration programmes began to take root, minority communities were meeting with similar groups (religious and/or language) and forming culturally cohesive groups.

For instance, the early arrivals of Sri Lankan Sinhalese Buddhists in WA were seeking refuge in the only known Buddhist Temple in Perth, which was accommodated in a very small old house at 4, Magnolia Street in North Perth. There were no resident monks at that time. However, the wider Buddhist Community in Western Australia were able to raise funds and with the help of other Australians, it was possible to establish a Buddhist Temple in Nollamar a in 1984.

It appeared that majority of migrants from Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) who had arrived much earlier and settled under the White Australia Policy were Christians and had already made their alliances within their preferre d church groups.

Similar to us Sri Lankans, in the early 1980s, it was noticeable that people of other nationalities began to feel somewh at comfortable living around each other. The writer’s personal experiences with the Indian, Bangladesh and Pakistani groups is a good example, where we had organized musical evenings to get together for a sing- along and a meal. We began to feel more accepted and settled within the larger “European descent Mainstream”.

The newly found interest in promoting multiculturalism made way to social and cultural events and performances combined with food festivals. Multicultur al festivals were the taste of the era and took the center stage. These were sponsored and financed by marketing groups and various organizations, in open air public venues. The aim was to bring people together which created an atmosphere of fun and warmth, and that did help to loosen up the atmosphere and encourage integration.

A whole new sub-culture(s) was developing within a rapidly progressive society.