It came as a wonderful surprise to receive a letter from Hon. Andrea Mitchell, Member for Kingsley with the extract of her speech in the Legislative assembly on 15 th May, 2014.We are so grateful to her. In her speech she commended Pakistanis in Australia and its members for their contribution. The letter is reproduced on page 3 and it is perhaps time to thank all of our team, members and patrons for their support. Last week we had privilege to meet Acting High Commissioner of Pakistan in Canberra. An invitation to visit Perth has been extended to Her Excellency. Another highlight for the group this week was that we have now more than 5000 members on our facebook group. It is not an easy task when an open group is managed but thanks to all of the four administrators of the group who are very vigilant to ensure that the group has no ads or irrelevant posts. Next weekend we will be celebrating WA day and a picnic is organized at Kings Park so join us at 12.3pm to meet and greet the community. Finally it is Mango season in Pakistan and opportunity to import mangoes is not something to be missed by prospective importers. Interested? Please contact the Consulate General of Pakistan in Sydney.
25 th May 2014
Contents: Page 1: From the Desk Page 2: In Memory of Turab Hussein Ibrahim Mosque opens its doors Page 3: Letter from Hon. Andrea Mitchell Page 4: Report on Discussion Forum Page 5: Celebrate WA BBQ Harmony in United Ghazal Night Page 6: Beenai Project Consumers Corner Page 7: Adnan Sami in Perth Page 8: MWSC Formal Event Page 9: Multicultural Eid Festival Pakistan Shines
46 Kanangra Crescent, Greenwood WA 6024. Ph. 0434841705, pakistanis.in.australia@gmail.com Office bearers President: Dr. Zarrin Siddiqui Secretary: Ms. Fatima Khushnud piasecretary@hotmail.com Treasurer: Ms. Maria Farooq piatreasurer@hotmail.com https://www.facebook.com/groups/paki stanisinaustralia/ Twitter @piainc
Vol.4 Issue 11 Pakistanis in Australia Inc. is an incorporated group to support students and migrants in their settlement and to initiate projects in Australia and Pakistan that promote mutual collaboration between two countries and promote a positive image of Pakistan and Australia. For membership, please submit your details at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/YM66H9Q
The Pakistani community is in shock by the sad demise of another young student in Perth in a car crash (inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi rajiun). Syed Turab Hussein aged 20 joined our group as soon as he arrived in Perth about 10 months ago. As the mothers around the world were getting ready to celebrate Mothers day, Turabs Mum received the worst news that a mother cannot even think of and we all shared her grief. As the insurance policy did not cover the repatriation costs, the Acting High Commissioner HE Asima Rabbani, immediately initiated the process and all the associated costs were funded through the government of Pakistan. Turab is now laid to rest in his homeland. He left two sisters and a mother behind. This is the second car crash in less than four months and as a group we are concerned by the difference in policies available for overseas students. We are taking this matter as a priority with different stakeholders to ensure there is uniformity in the overseas health insurance cover for international students as well as issues related to drivers fatigue. Will keep you informed.
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On 21 st May, members from Pakistani community joined delegates of other Muslim organisations to raise their concerns against Anti-Islamic Campaign in Perth. Dr. Anne Ally, a research Fellow at Curtin University presented a snapshot of the organisations that were involved in similar campaigns. It came as a shocking surprise to the attendees that many of these organisations have a charitable status. Dr. Zarrin S Siddiqui on behalf of the Ethnic Communities Council of WA expressed that the names like Australian Defence League create an impression as if this organisation has links to Australian Defence Force (ADF) and this has also been quoted by one of the office bearers of this group in a report telecast by ABC TV without any denial from ADF. This also creates a feeling of mistrust among Muslim community and it has been observed that Muslim community members prefer to live in areas which are predominantly occupied by Muslims as a measure of safety. The Acting Director of Office of Multicultural Interests, Ms. Vanessa Harvey apologized on behalf of the Hon. Minister Mike Nahan who could not attend the forum because of commitment at the Parliament and conveyed that the minister is fully aware of the nature of the problem and this has also been discussed in the parliament that very day. There were few incidents reported as well and the representatives from State Security and WA Police assured the community members that they are making all efforts to protect the community. Dr. Rateb Jneid and other delegates from Islamic Council of WA highlighted the need for such interactions. Hon. Liz Behjet also made a very powerful speech in the parliament against religious hatred which can be accessed at http://www.scribd.com/doc/225188137/Hon-Liz-Behjat-Australian-Defence-League 5
Join us for a Picnic cum BBQ at Kings Park starting at 12.30 pm near Synergyland. Bring a plate to share and have fun. At the same time we welcome a new group which has been formed by Samra Khan called Harmony: United by Culture. The first event will be held on 30 th August 2014 and our favourite group TalBees will be preforming with many other performers. More details in next issue.
GHAZAL NIGHT
Final tickets are now up for Grab An evening to enjoy melodious ghazals and classics sung by locally renowned singers and professional instrument players. It's sure to be a memorable night! Popular ghazals and songs by Mehdi Hassan, Jagjit Singh, Ghulam Ali & Old Classics to be performed. Tea and Refreshments will be served. Be sure not to miss it. Tickets are $21.50ea and can be booked at http://www.trybooking.com/ERHS A BIG THANK YOU TO THE THEOSOPHICAL ORDER OF SERVICE, PERTH
Last year we launched Beenai project to collect reading glasses for those who cannot afford to buy them in Pakistan. It is my pleasure to announce that only this year we have received 92 pairs so far from TOS. A big thank you to TOS team to join hands with us. It is also a pleasure to inform that these glasses will be sent to Azad Jammu Kashmir Medical College Student for their community service learning project to be delivered free of cost to the patients. We expect these to be delivered in August.
CONSUMERS CORNER
1. From Ist August you will be required to use PIN Number instead of signatures so ensure that you have the pin to avoid any inconvenience. 2. From Ist July 2014, all Transperth parking bays in WA will be charging parking fee. SmartParker will be the easiest and quickest way to pay for parking at our car parks. As you leave the car park simply tag on at the SmartParker machine near the station entrance and continue on your journey. To pay this way, you need to link your vehicle to your SmartRider. You can link upto three vehicles to your SmartRider but will be allowed to use only one at a time.
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PAKISTAN SHINES Australia makes Pakistan Student Math Ambassador Moosa, 13-year old Pakistan student from Phalia District a far-flung area of Punjab, secured the first position in an online World Mathematics Competition held in Australia. He reserved the first spot among 1.4 million students across the world. Source: http://www.thenewstribe.com/2012/03/29/australia-makes-pakistan- student-math-ambassador/ PAKISTAN GOES FIFA 2014 Great honor for Pakistan that the official Adidas Brazuca football for World Cup 2014 are made in Sialkot, Pakistan. Khwaja Masood Akhtar, owner and owner and CEO of Forward Sports in Sialkot, Pakistan has long dreamed of producing the official ball for the FIFA World Cup which has now come true. Forward Sports is one of the major suppliers for Adidas, the official brand sponsor for the 2014 games. Source CNN Report:
LOS ANGELES: The week-long Intel International Science and Education Fair 2014 came to an end over the weekend with the Grand Awards Ceremony held at the Los Angeles Convention Centre. The Special Award winners included recipients from Pakistan. The winning students from Daanish Girls School, Hasilpur, were awarded $1,000 by King Abdul-Aziz and his Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity. The students, Sana Batool, Shazia Bibi and Iqra Irshad were honoured for their project titled working of wind turbine with low air pressure. Their teacher Sara Saeed, also present at the event, was thrilled by this acknowledgement. The Daanish Girls School is a boarding school system that enrolls only those students whose household income is less than six thousand rupees. Fourteen-year-old Iqra Irshad from Ahmedpur prefers mathematics "but my teachers say my physics is quite good". She plans to have a career in electrical engineering. Resident of Vehari and the daughter of a farmer, Shazia Bibi said that this was the first time in her family a girl was obtaining higher education. She intends to become a mechanical engineer. http://www.dawn.com/news/1107105/pakistani-students-win-special-award-at-intel-isef-2014
This is a fortnightly newsletter to keep community informed of whats happening in Pakistan and in Australia with a special focus on Western Australia at this time. We acknowledge that this newsletter is disseminated from Noongar land. The earlier issues can be accessed through web by accessing http://www.scribd.com/PIAInc or through the group Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/groups/pakistanisinaustralia. Our Youtube channel can be accessed at https://www.youtube.com/user/PIAChannel1 . You can also follow our twitter account @PIAInc