By CASEY NEILL
NARRE Warren businesses, a Sri Lankan-born comedian and a Cantonese banquet combined this week.
The Narre Warren Region Business Group held a networking evening at Ming Palace in Narre Warren with Dilruk ‘Dil’ Jayasinha as their guest, fresh from a 22-show run at this year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival.
“I only found out 10 months after I arrived here that ‘dill’ is ‘stupid’ in Australia,” Dil said.
Dil spoke about applying for work as an accountant following in the wake of an investigation that found resumes of applicants with foreign names fared better with ‘Aussie’ names attached.
He decided to be as Aussie as possible – quoting classic Aussie movie The Castle without having seen it was the tip of the iceberg.
“I even dropped a ‘strewth’ during an interview,” he said.
“They had such low expectations of me that I looked like a rock star.
“I was Susan Boyle.”
Acting president Ross Neilson said there were 18,000 businesses in Casey but NWRBG had only 35 financial members.
“We are trying to build up our membership,” he said.
“Spread the word and sign up people to come along.
“You do get business out of it.”
NWRBG grew from the Narre Warren Chamber of Commerce and now supports and represents businesses of all shapes and sizes from Narre Warren and surrounds.
Member Ray Keefe from Successful Endeavours in Berwick said the group’s membership was from a diverse range of businesses.
“There are always interesting people in the room,” he said.
“It makes you think about what you’re doing through a different lens.”
Visit www.narrewarrenbusiness.com.au for more information.
