Julie Owens (Parramatta, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Small Business) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

  This Saturday I will have the pleasure of attending the 10th anniversary celebration of the Kamban Literary Festival.    The festival which is being held at the Cumberland Council Hall in Wentworthville is run by Kamban Kazhagam Australia, an organisation named after the legendary Tamil poet, Kambrr, known for his epic Kambrr Ramaya. Founder and Chairman, Jeiram Jegathesan, along with President, Mrs Maitherejee Sivasubramaniam, and Vice President, Mr Sugalan Sabesan are dedicated to the development of the three components of Tamil—literature in prose and verse, music and drama. In Tamil this is known as Iyal Isai Naadakam.

Over 1,000 people have attended the two-day event for each of the past three years to celebrate one of the oldest spoken languages in the world. I hope to be 1,001. The choice of Wentworthville as the suburb hosting the event recognises the large Tamil community residing in the Parramatta area and their desire to engage the broader community through the arts. I am really looking forward to attending. I will not understand the Tamil language—so I am going to miss out severely on some extraordinary literature, poetry and drama from one of the oldest languages—but I will appreciate and understand my Tamil community's love for their language and culture, and I look forward to it.