Below are the three main Rules, strictly laid down in the Grant Application Form:

1. A group must show that it is a bonafide, a committed group, i.e. a genuine group with similar and/or shared interests.

The above required the support, agree m e n t and commitment of each and every community member who was actively involved in the idea. If there were strong opposition or disagreement within us, then the chance of making a case could have been very meagre. As there was a genuine interest within the group, there was sufficient support to initiate action.

2. A group has to be a mem b e r of an already established “Umbrella Organization”, with proven membership credentials.

The Rule 2 put us in a catch 22 situation, in that we were neither an ‘officially formed’ group nor a member of any such umbrella organization.

The whole point of the exercise was to “officially establish” as a group.

We had no such ability to become members of any such umbrella organization for multiple reasons. 1. We were not yet a group for all ‘legitimate’ reasons, and we were trying to become one. 2. A group had to become a financial member of a recognized umbrella organization for such a Body to support any such request to receive a Grant from the Government. This would require a ‘fee to be paid’ to an existing recognized organization. So, who would pay this money on whose behalf? For all ethical reasons, a group was non- existing, it was only an unofficial group!

The writer felt that Rule no. 1 could be fulfilled. But Rule no. 2 was a little harder to comply with. The writer set up a meeting with the President of the Australian Asian Association of WA, Mr Naga Narayan a n, who was working as an economics lecture r at UWA. The AAA had been established in 1956 to serve Asian migrant communities with the vision to promote mutual understanding, respect and acceptance between the Australian people, regional neighbours and people from across the globe. With Mr Narayan a n’s assistance, a well- known personality among ethnic communities even today, a Grant Application was submitted through the AAA.

Before the application was filled in, there was, at that juncture, a necessity to create an official Title – a Name to identify the group. The writer took upon herself the task and coined the name the Sri Lankan Cultural Society of Western Australia (ශ්‍රීරිලංකා සංස්ක්‍රතික සංගමය, බටහිර ඔස්ටේලියාව.).

The Membership Fee of $75 was required to be paid to the AAA. Just for the record; rather than asking for any contributions from community members, during those early stages, the writer was happy to pay a cheque to AAA for it. It was considered a gift for a worthwhile cause as it helped to establish SLCSWA.

It must be noted for posterity here, that though a handful of community members showed interest, a few others were hesitant to take a step to formalize as a ‘new’ group for various reasons.