Networking Event with Consul Ahmad Khairuddin, Friday 3rd June 2011

The Malaysian Industrial Development Authority is a key strategic ally of AMBCQ. Come and meet Consul Ahmad Khairuddin, head of MIDA in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific in an informal reception and networking event overlooking Brisbane’s historic City Hall. Here are the details:

Venue: Groove Train, King George Square

Time: 7.30 pm – 9:30 pm (or so)
Date: Friday 3^rd June 2011
Cost: $30 pp, $5 for children
Dress: Business Attire

A range of red wine, white wine, sparkling wine, 19 beers and ales, soft drinks and juice and hot beverages will be served, accompanied by a selection of hot and cold canapés and platters.

Numbers are limited. Note that in keeping with AMBCQ tradition, this is a child-friendly event, and parents are welcome to bring their children.

Please direct all RSVPs to our fellow AMBCQ member Sue Davies, sue.primus@gmail.com and 0438 690 608 by COB Tuesday, 31^st May. Sue will be coordinating the function while we are away and she and her partner Bryan will help to host the evening.

Dragonboat Festival coming up!! 4th June

The Parkinson Ward Dragonboat and Multicultural Festival will be held on Saturday 4th June at the lake at Forest Lake.  This is the second time this festival has been held and once again, the AMBCQ has been invited to be on the organising committee. The festival, has been instigated by Cr Angela Owen-Taylor with the support and coordination of the Hakka Association.  The Rotary Club of Forest Lake and the Dragonboat Association are also lending their strong support to the event, as our a number of other community and business councils.  Last year's event attracted several thousand people.

This year the AMBCQ will have a food stall, run by Gomethi Chendi who owns and runs the Blue Gulabi restaurant at Woollongabba. Gomethi has very kindly volunteered to run the stall and donate the profits to the AMBCQ. Gomethi will be offering Indian/Malaysian fare.  As many will recall, it is only about one month ago that a car plunged through the Blue Gulabi with one patron and the driver hurt.  Remarkedly, Gomethi got her restaurant up and running again very quickly and has maintained her commitment to Dragonboat festival. 

We have also combined with the Singapore Business Council to field an amateur Dragonboat team, in the Hakka Association's Amateur Dragonboat Challenge. On the day we will be racing on Forest Lake against other amateur teams.  We have already had one training day - our next day is tomorrow.  The Dragonboat training sessions are at Colmslie on the Brisbane River.

The training has been a magnificent experience, rowing on this beautiful part of the river during the lovely autumn days we are currently having. And I have myself been surprised at how much I have enjoyed the Dragonboat experience. I was a bit sporty throughout my school days, but my sports were often quite individualistic. I find that Dragonboat racing was such a different sport - the prowess of the individual is not as important, it is the individual's ability to row in a way that fits in with the abilities and pace of the rest of the team. Many other team sports, such as basketball, or volleyball, or soccer, are about teamwork, but you will see teams relying on one or two exceptional players.  This sport is very much about the team working together in a very cohesive way. If one tries to display exceptional talent, they will most likely end up clashing paddles with the other rowers!

We still have some room for more rowers!  If you or your friends would like to get involved, please contact me asap!

An update for May

It's been a little while since I have written here in the blog - last time was February, and all of the sudden it's May!  It has been a busy couple of months, and all my very brief updates were going straight on to Facebook.  So if you aren't a member of the Facebook group yet, you better get on board!

We had the Malaysian Prime Minister's visit to Canberra and Melbourne in late February, which was very successful.  It is only in recent days though that we have seen some of the results of that visit with the announcement of the asylum seeker deal.  Whatever the merits or otherwise of that policy, it certainly demonstrates that Australia's relationship with Malaysia is at an entirely different level to what it was in the past.  Kiong attended the luncheon in Canberra, which also gave him the opportunity to meet with a number of Federal MPs to discuss issues relating to trade and other matters.

In early March we had the Shoulder to Shoulder event, raising money for victims of the Queensland floods. The AMBCQ was part of the organising committee for that event which included the Singapore Business Council, the Tamil Association, the Vietnamese Community, and many other groups. A number of our members made significiant contributions including Sue and Bryan Davies, Debra Jarvis, Tamara Foong and Clem Grehan. In all the event raised over $20,000 for flood relief and attracted numerous VIPs and guests.

We have also had the privilege of attending quite a number of consular events with diplomats organised by the Australian Council for Europe.  These were all very interesting, and universally the guests were of excellent calibre.  They have included the Ambassador for Brazil, the High Commissioner of Canada, the High Commissioner of Britain and the Ambassador for the EU.  One particularly interesting guest was His Excellency the Hon Dr Brendan Nelson, former Federal Minister for Defence who is now the Australian Ambassador to the EU, NATO and Luxemborg.  Given Dr Nelson's vast career, spanning medicine, politics and now diplomacy, he was a very interesting speaker.  It was also interesting to hear a different perspective, as an Australian diplomat representing us to the European Union and to NATO.

There have of course been our own meetings, the meetings for Shoulder to Shoulder, and the meetings for the upcoming Dragonboat Festival at Forest Lake.  Again, the AMBCQ has been invited to be involved in the organising committee.  The festival, lead by Cr Angela Owen-Taylor and the Hakka Association, attracted several thousand people.  This year the festival will be held on the 4th June at Forest Lake.  But I'll write another post to let you know more about the Dragonboat Festival shortly.

Well, that about rounds up February through to May this year.  There are a few more exciting events on the horizon, so please stay posted!