Every organisation needs some renewal and change, and this year's AMBCQ Australia Malaysia Ball was a good opportunity for the organisation to make some positive changes and signal a new direction. We moved away from the previous format that we had used and adopted a more formal and more focused approach that concentrated on our members and our corporate supporters and allies in business and Government. We also had the event at the Stamford Plaza which made for a refreshing change that elevated the event to another level. It really showcased what the AMBCQ is best at.
Our AMBCQ members and assistants on the night, Ben, Shaeed and Sue all looking fabulous
It is always a bit scary but also so gratifying to try something new and challenging and have it work out. All these new factors had me a bit jittery - because it was unfamiliar and new territory, and as the MC or Presiding Officer, I was ultimately accountable for the running of the night. But it all came together so well, thanks to our many great members and those who assisted on the night. It has never before been so much a genuine team effort and I am so proud that we all did it together. It must be all that dragon boating spirit!
Guests in the foyer for pre-dinner drinks.
"How different?" you may ask. Well, how does bagpipes, pre-dinner drinks, formal toasts, and a speech by Professor Clive Palmer sound? Yes, very different from our previous years! It sure lent a gravitas to the night that was very memorable. Formal dining of course began in the early monasteries of Europe, and from there emerged to influence all levels of society, and its rituals were adopted by some of the oldest universities and colleges, by the military and by other institutions. And the formality was also part of us celebrating and acknowledging the very important underlying tie between Australia and Malaysia, and that is our Commonwealth ties. In this year of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, it was very fitting that we acknowledge and celebrate these historical links which give both our nations the foundations and the framework in which our societies have grown up in differing but still recognisable paths. Our Westminster Parliamentary systems, the rule of law, our shared defence ties which continue to this day, the importance of our English language - all these similarities mean that we as Australians or Malaysians, recognise more and understand more in each others' societies than we do in some of our other close neighbours.
We were very pleased at the event to welcome on board our new corporate supporter, QUT. Kiong, being an alumni of QUT, is especially pleased and it is great to have the support of one of Australia's most recognised higher education brands and leading universities.
Professor Clive Palmer speaking at the event - for many guests it was the highlight of the night.
And Professor Clive Palmer and his wife Anna agreed to come on board as AMBCQ co-patrons and mentors. We already have wonderful patrons and mentors in Dr Peter Yeoh OAM and Mrs Alice Yeoh. Now with Professor Palmer and Anna, we have the best of Malaysian business and the best of Australian business, to give us moral support and guide and advise the organisation.
Some of our special guests - I'll do my best to name everybody - from left John Mickel, Alicia Gibson, Cr Norm Wyndham, Cr Steven Huang, Jason Woodforth MP, Tarnya Smith MP, Mark McArdle MP, Lord Mayor Graham Quirk, Lady Mayoress Ann Quirk, David Gibson MP, Cr Vicki Howard , Anthony Shorten MP, my big stomach and I, Katherine Mickel, Ian Berry MP, Judy McArdle, Mark Boothman MP, James Kennett and his wife representing Rob Molhoek MP, Michael Pucci MP and Kiong.
One thing that never changes is that we always have a great line up of special guests. This year the following came along to the Ball:
Kiong with Judy amd Mark McArdle.
Tarnya Smith MP and Cr Angela Owen-Taylor
Dr Peter Yeoh OAM and Mrs
Alice Yeoh,Patrons of AMBCQ
Professor Clive Palmer and Mrs Anna Palmer, Patrons of AMBCQ, and Mentors
The Hon Mark McArdle MP, Minister for Energy and Water
Supply
The Right Hon. Lord Mayor Graham Quirk, Lord
Mayor of Brisbane
Lady Mayoress Ann Quirk
Tarnya Smith MP, State Member for Mt Ommaney and Deputy Whip
David Gibson MP, State Member for Gympie
Anthony Shorten MP, State Member for Algester
Freya Ostapovitch MP, State Member for Stretton
Jason Woodforth MP, State Member for Nudgee
Ian Berry MP, State Member for Ipswich
Michael Pucci MP, State Member for
Logan
Mark Boothman MP, State Member for Albert
Cr Angela Owen-Taylor, Brisbane
City Councillor
for Parkinson Ward, Deputy Chairman of Council, Deputy Chairman of Finance,
Economic Development and Administration Committee, Deputy to Lord Mayor on City
Hall Restoration, and Deputy to Lord Mayor on Multicultural Affairs and
International Relations
Cr Norm Wyndham, Brisbane City Councillor for McDowall, Deputy
Chairman of the Environment, Parks and Sustainability Committee
Cr Kim Marx, Brisbane City Councillor for Karawatha Ward, Chief
Administration Deputy Whip
Cr Vicki Howard, Brisbane City Councillor for Central Ward, Deputy Chairman Neighbourhood
Planning and Development Assessment Committee
Cr Steven Huang, Brisbane City Councillor for MacGregor Ward, Deputy Chairman of the Public & Active
Transport Committee
The Hon. John Mickel (former Trade Minister,
former Transport Minister, former Energy Minister and former Speaker (retired))
Alice Yeoh and I - a small token of thanks to the ladies who do so much behind the scenes.
We had incredibly strong attendance from elected representatives despite the Premier and his LNP cabinet ministers having a community cabinet in Cairns, the ALP having their National Conference in Brisbane, and the National Party having their National Conference in Canberra.
For those of you who couldn't make it, here's a quick recap. We started the night with pre-dinner drinks in the foyer of the Grand Ballroom. Our piper, Grant Agnew of City of Brisbane Pipes, sounded the quarter call, and later the five minute call. Once all guests were inside, he then piped in the official guests. We began the formal dinner with introductions and the National Anthems of Australia and Malaysia, and the Commonwealth Anthem, 'God Save the Queen'. We began dinner and during dinner had speeches by myself as Presiding Officer at the Ball, Kiong as AMBCQ President, Lord Mayor Graham Quirk, Minister Mark McArdle, and Professor Clive Palmer. All the speeches were very well received.
Toasting the Stamford staff - from left Clive Palmer, Kiong, Ray Kelly from QUT, Trieu from Stamford representing the staff, and Lord Mayor Graham Quirk.
After the main course, we had a short intermission so everyone could chat and have a chance to mingle, after which the Piper called us back. We then enjoyed a series of toasts where we were able to thank all those who have helped us and all those who hold the foundation of what we do, and many of our members contributed to the toasting.
We also toasted our wonderful Piper, and the Stamford staff for their service. Tea and coffee and petit fours were served and we concluded our night with the draw of our raffle, with Air Asia again providing return tickets for two people to Kuala Lumpur, and our silent auction. And to signal the end of the formalities for night, our Piper played Auld Lang Syne.
The following video shot by our wonderful friend and Brisbane City Council Student Ambassador for Singapore, Leong Ming En, has some of the highlights. You may want to start with it turned down because those bagpipes start straight away!
From left back, Joel, Ivan, Jason a friend; and from front, Robin, Debbie, Jocelyn, Jeen Sern and Keith
The night would not have been the success it was without the many assistants who gave their time and effort to put everything together. I sent quite a few SOSs out to members during the week leading up to the night asking for assistance with IT matters, or sourcing various items, and our members always came through! Thank you to Sue and Bryan who are always an enormous help on the night and who also helped with some of those last minute items I just described. To Ben, Danny, Ivan, and Joel, who did much of the set up and organising on the night (as well as helping me with my IT woes), and also acted as assistants during the toasts, a very big thank you. As well as to Rahmat who took on the task of liaising with our Piper and myself and keeping an eye on timings. And to Keith and Ming who undertook the task of photography that night - there were a lot of great photos taken and both did an excellent job (and hopefully had something to eat!). And to Shaeed for helping with the raffle ticket sales - actually Sue and Ben also helped out with that as well, and the front desk. And to all those AMBCQ members who hosted our guests so well, and who also made toasts on the night - it was done in a very stately and dignified manner. I hope I haven't missed anyone... there was a lot going on and I may not have seen all that everyone helped with.
Just some of our guests - at the back Michael Pucci MP, Yang Du, Sean, Maxwell and Vincent, at the front Rita, David, Freya Ostapovitch MP, Wan and Imee.
Toasting the Piper - from left Stu from Air Asia, Grant, Lord Mayor Graham. Quirk, Ann Quirk, Alice Yeoh and Dr Peter Yeoh OAM
Finally, I would like to thank our President and my partner Kiong Chan. I was very skeptical about some of his ideas for the night, but I really think the whole event could hardly have gone better. It does take some courage to try something different, especially when your partner's giving you sideway looks, but it was a very worthwhile challenge and I believe it has definitely moved the AMBCQ in the right direction. Next year can only be bigger and better.
Ian Berry MP receiving a raffle prize donated by Lyna Chen - he and his wife Karen cleaned up at the auction as well!
Anita, Lord Mayor Graham Quirk, and Rahmat
Anthony Shorten MP with AMBCQ member Ivan Tan - Anthony bought this piece which is a reproduction of a view of Brisbane from 1888 made using authentic printing techniques.
Keith, Danny and Ming - yes, after all your hard work all night, you deserve a hard drink!
There are many more great photos in our Facebook Group and on Google +. Haven't seen them - well you better join up!
Last week we had the opportunity to meet with Darren McCosker from Nielson Properties. Nielson is a property investment business that specialises in commercial office properties and Darren showed us around one of their showcase properties, Santos Place. Santos Place is home of Petronas in Brisbane and owned by Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB), a Malaysian based fund. Not only that, it has a 6 star energy efficiency rating (it was the largest 6 star building in Australia until recently).
Given the Australia-Malaysia links between Nielson and PNB, Darren invited us along as the AMBCQ to be the 3,000th visitors to have the corporate tour of the building (technically, Kiong was the 3,000th, I suppose I was 3,001st). And Kiong also had the opportunity to speak to Chris from the Courier Mail and we had a photographer, Adam, join us on the tour. The article, which appeared in the property section of last Thursday's Courier Mail, was about the public's interest in our local architecture. However, Kiong still managed to sneak in an AMBCQ mention!
The tour is very impressive. Every manner of energy saving, water saving, energy producing, environmentally friendly measure that one can think of is part of the design of this building. Natural gas supplies most of the building's base energy needs, there was a whole stack of water tanks, and the roof was lined with solar tubes. I probably have missed half of the features out. There were a lot of smaller innovations too which complemented these bigger energy efficiency measures.
The views are astonishing - the building is situated on Turbot Street and the views from the 36th floor (and from the roof) are just amazing. From the 36th floor you can see out over the Art Gallery, GOMA and Convention Centre at South Bank. From the roof you can see the whole city, and right out to Stradbroke Island. And with the river snaking below, the City just looks so charming.
We got to walk across a small walkway between the two sides of Level 36, which was great. And right up to the roof with all the solar tubes. What a great privilege. No wonder the building is also used as a showcase of Brisbane itself, as well as a showcase of energy efficient building techniques.
On the way out, we had the chance to see another aspect of the building's design. If you know where Santos Place is, you'll know that the Kurilpa Bridge, the pedestrian bridge across to South Brisbane, is almost at its base. This facet has also been incorporated into the design of the building and the bridge almost straight into the building, down into the lower level which has room for 300 bikes. There are lockers, showers, a dry cleaning service, and a bike guy who comes in regularly to make repairs. And it wasn't one of those ideas that seems smart but no one actually uses it - it was about 3 pm in the afternoon when we were down there and the place was full of bikes!!
We always seem to be busy with AMBCQ developments, but suddenly we're very very busy. Firstly of course is the AMBCQ Australia Malaysia Ball which is coming up on 15th September, so just around the corner. That always requires a lot of time to organise and being our first year at the Stamford, makes it a very exciting project for all members. So if you're interested in coming along, you better contact me soon, hint hint!
Quite recently, we hosted Immediate Past President of AMBC and Chairman of the Royal Exchange, Justin Howden.We also hosted the then President of AMBC Vic and President of the Australian Arab Chamber of Commerce Mike Anderson. We also hosted two corporate figures from Malaysia, and a director of a large Australian operation (Malaysian owned).
Last week, we spent a day in Sydney at the invitation of the AMBC NSW chapter. The chapter is in a position now to rebrand and revitalise with a strong team behind it. As Queensland has experienced good growth over the last few years and has an existing strong relationship with AMBC NSW, Kiong and I have been asked to come on board as AMBC NSW executive committee members. We are very honoured to be asked to participate in AMBC NSW - Bill Wilkinson, the current President, has always been very collaborative and we look forward to continuing this productive partnership. In the evening we also had a small gathering to celebrate Merdeka in Sydney. While we were in Sydney, we also had a chance to catch up with the staff from MIDA, as the meeting and evening drinks were held in their office in Spring Street at the harbour end of town. It was good to catch up with and wish the hard working staff, including Consul Khairuddin, the Investment Consul, his Deputy Gulam, and all staff, all the best for Hari Raya Puasa as well.
When we arrived back in Brisbane we had a quick meeting with incoming AMBC Victoria President Joe Perri. Joe was just elected to the position (literally, just the night before) and we're very much looking forward to collaborating with him as well. The distances between the various State Chapters of the AMBC sometimes mean that meeting face to face is quite rare so it is always really good to have the opportunity to meet our peers from interstate. Makes a nice change from the usual email exchange.
On Friday it was time for another AMBCQ meeting and it happened to coincide with Merdeka, so we had a light meal and drinks as well. We finalised and discussed some of the last details of the Ball and then enjoyed a simple light meal, along with some teh tarik made by Rahmat, and some apple and coffee layer cake that Anita had generously brought along. Considering the late notice, we had a very good turnout and it was great a casual catch up.
Saturday we were invited along to the Malaysian student Hari Raya Puasa event at University of Queensland next to the Lakes. We weren't able to stay too long - walking and standing aren't so easy for me at the moment, and although there were mats so everyone could sit on the floor communally, I knew I wouldn't be able to get up again after that! The students put on a good show and there was a very strong turnout. Satay, ketupaqt and kuah kacang, nasi kuning, ayam masak merah, rendang daging, cendol, were all on offer and everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves. It was a lovely first day of Spring and lovely company too.
Tomorrow we have meetings lined up with two potential corporate supporters, plus a meeting with a media outlet.
For those of you who couldn't make it, here's a quick recap. We started the night with pre-dinner drinks in the foyer of the Grand Ballroom. Our piper, Grant Agnew of City of Brisbane Pipes, sounded the quarter call, and later the five minute call. Once all guests were inside, he then piped in the official guests. We began the formal dinner with introductions and the National Anthems of Australia and Malaysia, and the Commonwealth Anthem, 'God Save the Queen'. We began dinner and during dinner had speeches by myself as Presiding Officer at the Ball, Kiong as AMBCQ President, Lord Mayor Graham Quirk, Minister Mark McArdle, and Professor Clive Palmer. All the speeches were very well received. 
