'Share correct story about motherland'

Sri Lanka is increasingly receiving positive attention that it richly deserves but there are audiences that still need to be apprised of its true picture, Ambassador Jaliya Wickramasuriya told the Sri Lankan community in the United States.

He said so delivering the keynote address at the 7th Annual Sri Lanka Foundation Awards held at Millennium Biltmore Hotel, Los Angeles, USA recently.

He noted that the paramount service that the nation expects from its sons and daughters living in the United States and elsewhere is to share the correct story about the motherland.

"We have such a strong and patriotic Sri Lankan community here in the United States and I am always proud to see your efforts to promote our country," Ambassador Wickramasuriya told the audience of over 400 Sri Lankan professionals.

Further, the ambassador urged the Sri Lankan community to share the true picture of Sri Lanka with their respective congressional representatives .

Founded in 2003 by Dr. Walter Jayasinghe, a well-known Sri Lankan- American physician, the Sri Lanka Foundation is a non-profit organisation dedicated to promote Sri Lankan culture in the US. The Sri Lanka Foundation Awards is an annual event held by the organization to recognise deserving Sri Lankan expatriates who have excelled in all fields of human discipline.

This year's awards recognized 10 outstanding Sri Lankan Americans under five categories. Dr. Dudley Halpe won the award for Sriamerican for the year 2012. Prof A.G. Unil Perera, Dr. Jay Sarath Gunasekara, Prof. Saman Warnakulasuriya and Dr. Nandi Wijesinghe were awarded the 2012 Lifetime Achievement Awards.

The President's Award for the year went to Munir Akbar for his exceptional philanthropy to the community. Two young professionals, Dr. Nishad Jayasundara and Melony Mahaaracchi won awards for the Outstanding Performance by Young Professionals. Professor Kusuma Cooray and Dr. Sumudu Atapattu won awards for Exceptional Achievements in 2012.