There was no beach for Pau Lian Naulak to swim at when he was a kid.By the time he first stood on the sand, at Wollongong’s City Beach, he was 18 and too scared to get among the waves, but his trepidation didn’t last long.Seven years after he fled his troubled homeland, the 21-year-old Burmese refugee is a regular swimmer and a novice surfer in Illawarra waters.‘‘[At first] I have no confidence, now I love it,’’ Pau said. ‘‘It feels fresh.’’Pau was among three speakers at last night’s Australia Day awards dinner in Wollongong, where the city’s Citizen of the Year, its Young Citizen of the Year and others were honoured.Pau arrived in Wollongong in 2007 with his parents and five brothers.The family fled after Pau’s father was targeted by the Burmese army for forced portering - unpaid labour that usually involves hauling supplies or ammunition. Last year, Pau finished the equivalent of Year 12 at Wollongong TAFE, hoping to study car mechanics and community work this year. ‘‘The living standards, the people, the education, the government, is good [in Australia],’’ he said. ‘‘In my country, the government didn’t provide anything for the people.’’Last night’s awards, at City Beach Function Centre, honoured Citizen of the Year Grant Plecas, who has organised the Relay for Life since 2001, raising $400,000 for cancer research last year alone. Mr Plecas also assists with the Mother’s Day Classic, Pink Ribbon Month and the Great Ocean Pool Crawl.Wollongong’s Young Citizen of the Year is Makenzie Russell, who began a campaign highlighting the education gap between indigenous and non-indigenous children. Makenzie, of Gwynneville, is also involved with fundraising activities Good Sam’s Day and the Op Shop Ball.The Cultural Award winner is El Salvador-born Gerardo Guevara, from Figtree. Mr Guevara arrived in Australia as a young boy and acted as the sole provider for his family after his father passed away.He is now a teacher of special needs students at Keira High and has curated a number of exhibitions featuring his students’ works.The 2012 Community Award winner is the Migration Heritage Project, which works to protect and promote the heritage of different cultural communities in the Illawarra. Wollongong Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery said the award winners had contributed a ‘‘huge amount’’ to the community.