SAMAA'S ANNUAL EVENT
South Asian Muslim Association of Australia (SAMAA) celebrated its annual event Jashne Buzurg 2010 on 20 February at Auburn Town Hall. A number of dignitaries, representatives from government agencies, community leaders alongwith a large number of elderly & their families, volunteers and well wishers attended the event.
The evening began with recitation of verses from holy quran by Maulana Nazir ul Hasan Thanvi and a Naat recited by Mr Riyaz Shah. Mrs Ayesha Ahmad, the MC for the first half conducted the whole program with enthusiasm and kept the audience engaged.
Hon Laurie Ferguson, Parliamentary secretary for Multi-Cultural affairs applauded SAMAA's stand of not promoting its officials at a public platform and assured his support to SAMAA at the federal level. Mr Ferguson was requested to draw attention of the Minister of Health and Ageing Hon Justine Elliot to the issues relating to South Asian Muslims so that SAMAA's CPP application may get more favourable hearing in the next round.
NSW Minister for ageing Hon Paul Lynch reported alarming statistics of growth of the ageing population which would demand much higher resources even at state level. Due to the multicultural nature of NSW society, he assured SAMAA of his support for provision of culturally appropriate care to South Asian Muslims.
The guest speaker Dr Gideon Caplan, head of Geriatric medicine at Prince of Wales hospital delivered a captivating talk, highlighting the need for both medical and psychological therapies for aged. A friendly, social approach fosters a suitable environment for keeping good health during old age and thus culturally and religiously appropriate care is necessary for a multicultural society such as ours.
Auburn MP and Minister for Mental Health Hon Barbara Perry was pleased to see the progress, SAMAA has made by involving various aged care agencies and asked the community to support SAMAA in its efforts.
SAMAA official Mr Zahid Jamil briefed the audience about various SAMAA programmes and its efforts in accessing facilities for South Asian Muslims from various government departments. He requested the Department of health and ageing to take into consideration the complexities relating to South Asain Mulims during next round of Community Partners programme funding. The people of South Asian ethnicity do not only come from the subcontinent (i.e. India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan) but also from countries such as Fiji, South Africa, Malaysia, Singapore etc. Their ancestors had migrated to these countries from the subcontinent over past couple of hundred years, yet they maintained their cultural and religious traditions in their new homelands. Many of them have migrated to Australia over past few decades. They all share strong cultural values which is evident in their family customs and lifestyle, religious practices, the food they eat, the music they listen etc. SAMAA is trying to meet religious and cultural specific needs of these elderly. Zahid Jamil briefed the audience about various grants SAMAA is seeking from government agencies which would help SAMAA in running its programmes effectively.
A skit entitled "Why am I Scared" featuring Saba Hussain and Zareen Hussain thrilled the crowd depicting challenges of old age in a humorous manner.
The gathering also enjoyed delicious sub-continental cuisine. SAMAA distributed gifts to all the elderly sponsored by Huma Khan and Sefal Khan of Mosmania, the gift shop at Mosman.
After the dinner SAMAA officials and representatives from Trans Cultural Aged Care Service(TACS) and Home and Community Care (HACC) answered the queries of audience in an open forum conducted by Mr Syed Afzal Hussain. TACS representative Mr Mile Vilevski briefed the audience about the role of TACS and about its cooperation with SAMAA over past year. HACC representative Caroline Romeo emphasized the need of the efforts made towards providing culturally appropriate home care to the elderly. Mr Kazim Hussain of SAMAA spoke of the challenges faced by SAMAA in fulfilling the needs of various programmes. Syed Afzal Hussain described the issues relating to the building of an aged care facility in long run. Zahid Jamil appealed to the community for the support as it was vital in making SAMAA a success.
Mr Fasiuddin Khan, the MC for the second half repeatedly appealed to the audience for considering donations to SAMAA's Benevolent Services fund and Elderly Home fund. He told the audience that a donor, who wishes to remain anonymous, has promised to match dollar to dollar, the funds raised during this event. Dr Mohamad Ali Khan could not attend the event due to personal reasons, however his contribution needs to be acknowledged.
Mrs Mona Zahid led a team of dedicated volunteers in facilitating various tasks to ensure that all guests felt comfortable throughout the programme.
The evening concluded with some thrilling entertainment of songs and ghazals by famous Sydney artists Riyaz Shah, Sania Saeed, Madan and Beetha.
SAMAA wishes to thank all the volunteers and friends for their great support. In particular SAMAA wishes to thank Mrs Sultana Hussein, Mr Ajaz Ahmad, Mrs Shaheen Afzal, Mr Faiz Ahmad, Mrs Shaheen Aleemullah, Mrs Muzna Ahmad, Mr Mohamad Aleem, Dr Syed Samiuddin, Mrs Sarwat Samiuddin, Mr Syed Faisal, Mrs Uzma Husseini, Mr Adnan Husseini, Mr Danish Aleem, Mr Sharjeel Aleem, Mrs Mahjabeen Khan, Miss Mehnaz Khan, Mrs Nuzhat Ajaz, Miss Simmi Zahid, Mr Sahir Syed, Mr Aamir Khan, Mr Raziuddin, Mrs Naaz Razi, Mr Fazal Fariwala, Dr Mansoor Ahmad, Miss Aaminah Ahmad and Ali Ahmad, Aalia and Syed Adel.
The above list represents people from the three generations. SAMAA in particular applauds the effort of the young volunteers whose service to the elderly was a fine example of community service and evidence of the Islamic spirit of love, compassion and charity.
It was a great effort by SAMAA members, volunteers and friends who made Jashne Buzurg 2010 an asotounding success.
