About the President

The current President of the BSWA is Premalal Mirihagalla.

Message from the new President of BSWA

I am Premalal, and I have been with the Buddhist Society of Western Australia assisting with various technical tasks over the past 33 years. I was born in Sri Lanka and qualified as a Civil Engineer. I got married in Sri Lanka and we have a son. Having studied and worked in a number of countries for over 50 years I am now happily retired. The final 8 years of my working life was with the West Australian State Government. I enjoyed my work all along, mostly managing all stages of engineering projects to provide clean water, other essential service infrastructure and housing to rural and disadvantaged communities.    

Having had a Buddhist up bringing, with a mind inclined to volunteering my skills to Buddhist temples and monasteries; my arrival in Perth in 1993 and meeting the Venerable Ajahns and a number of lay Kalyana Mittas was a turning point in my life by appreciation of the original Buddha Dhamma and the value of keeping virtue and the practice of meditation.      

Over the many years I have seen the BSWA grow exponentially in disseminating the Dhamma globally. I consider myself fortunate to be elected to this position where I can look forward to support further growth and spread of the Dhamma globally while being mindful of the wellbeing and safety of our Venerable Ajahns, who are the corner stones of BSWA’s resounding success in the past and hopefully in the future.

I pay respect to the Venerable Sangha for the teachings and look forward to their guidance when required.  I seek forgiveness if I have offended anyone by mistake by body, speech or mind. I also look forward to the support of all members of BSWA, Committee, all volunteers and the staff to maintain the momentum.

Premalal Mirihagalla

11 June, 2026