CBC Radio's Manjula Selvarajah was awarded this year's award for most outstanding professional by the Canadian Tamil Chamber of Commerce (CTCC).

The organization, which focuses on entrepreneurship in the Tamil community, held its 19th annual awards ceremony on Saturday, and Selvarajah was there to receive her award in person.

The Metro Morning associate producer tells CBC Toronto that the honour means "a tremendous deal" to her.

"Here, business people have chosen to give an award to a journalist, so they have collectively decided that a journalist helps in some way further the cause of their community," she said. "Specifically, to receive [the award] from the Tamil community, too — it's such an honour. I'm really grateful."

Selvarajah says she believes she was chosen for the award in part due to her work on Metro Morning and its commitment to reflect all of Toronto's communities.

"We tell stories of woe. We tell stories of ambition. We share all sorts of stories," she said. "I think it's their way of saying, 'Thank you for sharing these stories from this community.'"

In addition to being an associate producer for CBC Radio for three years, Selvarajah has also appeared on Big City, Small World and Fresh Air. She has also written for TamilCulture.com.