Fabulous! That's all I can say about the conference with NZ Department of Internal Affairs which lasted for five hours today. I went there with another two friends to listen to the problems in Kiwis' community as a whole and NZ Muslim community particularly. The speakers in the conference were composed of experts in their own fields such as psychology, education, politics, ethnics, and Muslims welfare in NZ. There were Dr. Hj. Hanif Qaizi (the first Muslim migrated to NZ), Mr. Abdullah Drury (an Islam convert), Mr. Hassan Hj. Ibrahim (a Somalian refugee), and Dr. Ron Mcintyre (a political science lecturer in UC).
Each and every of the speakers delivered their ideas precisely and confidently. In the beginning of the ocassion, one Muslim man namely Mr. Farid Ahmed recited a duaa, which I found a bit strange because he explained every line of the duaa to the attendees, who comprised of the non-Muslims too. Here I could see that he emphasized more on the understanding of the contents of our duaa, of what we want from Allah.
Next, Dr. Qaizi took the floor and he was very well at delivering a discourse. I found that he likes telling stories, and yeah, he told us about his story of being the first Muslim migrated to NZ and he was one of the masterminds behind the idea of introducing Muslim community in this Kiwis' land. He told us about the hardships he went through to face the challenges in managing the next Muslim migrants especially in cases such as community services, halal foods, and funerals. There was one time when he and the other Muslim community at that time found it hard to manage a funeral of one Muslim guy. They did not know where to bury the corp. The NZ govt declined to give a piece of land for a grave, initially. After a few negotiations, finally the govt approved to verify the application for the grave land, but again, they faced another problem which was the burial way. The govt buried the corp just like a Christian's corp (not in the direction of qiblat). Then, they needed to dig again the soil and buried the corp in Islam way. Apart from the Muslim community thingy, Dr. Qaizi also touched on the matter of meat trade between NZ and the Middle East countries like Egypt. There was a conflict between the governments of those countries about exporting non-halal meats to Middle East from NZ. They even stopped the import-export operations until the delegations from both govts met up and achieved an understanding. At last, the trade collaboration started again and both parties earn umpteen benefits from the MoU up to now. This is attributed to an awareness by NZ govt that their economics collaboration with Middle East countries is highly advantageous, what more because NZ is the primary meat exporter in the world.
On the other hand, Mr. Abdullah who I have met before during one of the talks in uni had covered most of the Muslim community history in Canterbury in his talk today. He, who tied the knots with an Indian Muslimah (I guess so), is a good example of an Islam convert. He is not merely good at doing what Islam fosters its ummah to do, but he's also very active in Islamic activities in Canterbury. He repeatedly made Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) as an example throughout his talk. He added that the number of Muslims in Canterbury is still in a small figure, however, the govt should not take it for granted as the community still needs proper facilities for them to follow Islam way of life comfortably, without any kind of discrimination.
The next speaker, who was Mr. Hassan, an officer at Christchurch Refugee Center, used his expertise in education field to relate it to Muslim community in NZ. He said that the development of Muslim community begins at school. Muslim children should be educated with moral values as they might be confused or trapped in a circumference of Western values, tho' the values that they learned at schools are just fine to be implemented in their daily lives. Nevertheless, as parents we must ensure that we can superimpose the Western values that the kids learn at schools with the Islamic values which ought to be inculcated at homes. In addition, as parents, we should build the acquaintance between our kids and their non-Muslim friends in a very friendly way, despite not forgetting to attach a bond with the kids' parents. With that, our job to exist unity and integrity within NZ community irrespective of backgrounds could be achieved without a hitch.
The last one was Dr. Ron, who talked about his experience in interacting with Muslim students in uni. He is thankful for being able to know many students from different cultures and backgrounds. He did agree that the Muslim students in uni should gain an equal treatment from the authority in order to perform well in their studies. Even though students come from different religions like Islam, Christian, Hindhu, and Buddha, they must accept everybody with open arms and hearts. Plus, people should be sensitive to other religions in which the wrong steps will result in a break of unity.
What attracted me most during the conference is that, many speakers had iteratedly said 'Malaysia' in their discourses. Me and a few other Malaysians in the room felt very proud to be an example of Muslim society. It is because Malaysia muslims were among those who firstly migrated to NZ. With the increasing number of the Muslims in NZ, therefore, the govt had taken prompt actions to provide many facilities suit to them, which portrayed how concern the govt was. The panels also stressed on the importance of Muslim students to make a move in uni in order to expose Islam cultures to the public. There are yet a few people who do not have the foggiest idea about Islam and Muslims. This is a worrying sign to everyone in our aim or purpose to develop unity and integrity among us. It is undoubtedly true that communication between the Muslim community and the govt is substantial so that the govt may understand what the Muslims want, hence, can improve any weaknesses they could identify.
After the conference, we had very delicious dinner. For the appetizer, we were served Egyptians' traditional foods made of wine leaves, prata breads, and salads. I thought that was all for our dinner, but I was wrong. There were more to come. My table was the first one to be allowed to take our main course. Whoa... I loved this one. We had nasi minyak, rendang ayam and daging, kebab, nasi Afghan, caramel pudding, currypuffs, etc. Malaysian foods are always in my heart and always the best one! :) Geramnyer... Arghhhh... Nak makan lagi!
Before I went back, one of the guys in the room approached me and asked me to think about the upcoming Islam Awareness Week (IAW) which will be held in August. He reminded me to get some of the ideas from the talk today. I know what he meant. He wanted me to take an action on Muslim integrity in uni. I don't mean that I have given up in this kind of stuff. It's just that that is really a strain for me as he was asking a 'girl' to do that job. It's really, really, really a heavy responsibility. I've been carried this responsibility on my shoulder for quite long and again, it strucked me. He said I'm a good thinker. Whoa, in your dream... I felt like I wanted to throw that phrase on his face.
At the final moment before I went out from the room, I apologized from Ara (the DIA officer) for my inability to help him out with the management stuff during the conference. He replied to me, "That's all right. It was my fault for not informing you of what to do. Please keep in touch with me." Oh yeah, I'll do that, but for the purpose of achieving MUSA objectives especially getting a proper prayer room for the Muslim society in UC. InsyaAllah. May Allah ease our way to make the dream come true.
Each and every of the speakers delivered their ideas precisely and confidently. In the beginning of the ocassion, one Muslim man namely Mr. Farid Ahmed recited a duaa, which I found a bit strange because he explained every line of the duaa to the attendees, who comprised of the non-Muslims too. Here I could see that he emphasized more on the understanding of the contents of our duaa, of what we want from Allah.
Next, Dr. Qaizi took the floor and he was very well at delivering a discourse. I found that he likes telling stories, and yeah, he told us about his story of being the first Muslim migrated to NZ and he was one of the masterminds behind the idea of introducing Muslim community in this Kiwis' land. He told us about the hardships he went through to face the challenges in managing the next Muslim migrants especially in cases such as community services, halal foods, and funerals. There was one time when he and the other Muslim community at that time found it hard to manage a funeral of one Muslim guy. They did not know where to bury the corp. The NZ govt declined to give a piece of land for a grave, initially. After a few negotiations, finally the govt approved to verify the application for the grave land, but again, they faced another problem which was the burial way. The govt buried the corp just like a Christian's corp (not in the direction of qiblat). Then, they needed to dig again the soil and buried the corp in Islam way. Apart from the Muslim community thingy, Dr. Qaizi also touched on the matter of meat trade between NZ and the Middle East countries like Egypt. There was a conflict between the governments of those countries about exporting non-halal meats to Middle East from NZ. They even stopped the import-export operations until the delegations from both govts met up and achieved an understanding. At last, the trade collaboration started again and both parties earn umpteen benefits from the MoU up to now. This is attributed to an awareness by NZ govt that their economics collaboration with Middle East countries is highly advantageous, what more because NZ is the primary meat exporter in the world.
On the other hand, Mr. Abdullah who I have met before during one of the talks in uni had covered most of the Muslim community history in Canterbury in his talk today. He, who tied the knots with an Indian Muslimah (I guess so), is a good example of an Islam convert. He is not merely good at doing what Islam fosters its ummah to do, but he's also very active in Islamic activities in Canterbury. He repeatedly made Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) as an example throughout his talk. He added that the number of Muslims in Canterbury is still in a small figure, however, the govt should not take it for granted as the community still needs proper facilities for them to follow Islam way of life comfortably, without any kind of discrimination.
The next speaker, who was Mr. Hassan, an officer at Christchurch Refugee Center, used his expertise in education field to relate it to Muslim community in NZ. He said that the development of Muslim community begins at school. Muslim children should be educated with moral values as they might be confused or trapped in a circumference of Western values, tho' the values that they learned at schools are just fine to be implemented in their daily lives. Nevertheless, as parents we must ensure that we can superimpose the Western values that the kids learn at schools with the Islamic values which ought to be inculcated at homes. In addition, as parents, we should build the acquaintance between our kids and their non-Muslim friends in a very friendly way, despite not forgetting to attach a bond with the kids' parents. With that, our job to exist unity and integrity within NZ community irrespective of backgrounds could be achieved without a hitch.
The last one was Dr. Ron, who talked about his experience in interacting with Muslim students in uni. He is thankful for being able to know many students from different cultures and backgrounds. He did agree that the Muslim students in uni should gain an equal treatment from the authority in order to perform well in their studies. Even though students come from different religions like Islam, Christian, Hindhu, and Buddha, they must accept everybody with open arms and hearts. Plus, people should be sensitive to other religions in which the wrong steps will result in a break of unity.
What attracted me most during the conference is that, many speakers had iteratedly said 'Malaysia' in their discourses. Me and a few other Malaysians in the room felt very proud to be an example of Muslim society. It is because Malaysia muslims were among those who firstly migrated to NZ. With the increasing number of the Muslims in NZ, therefore, the govt had taken prompt actions to provide many facilities suit to them, which portrayed how concern the govt was. The panels also stressed on the importance of Muslim students to make a move in uni in order to expose Islam cultures to the public. There are yet a few people who do not have the foggiest idea about Islam and Muslims. This is a worrying sign to everyone in our aim or purpose to develop unity and integrity among us. It is undoubtedly true that communication between the Muslim community and the govt is substantial so that the govt may understand what the Muslims want, hence, can improve any weaknesses they could identify.
After the conference, we had very delicious dinner. For the appetizer, we were served Egyptians' traditional foods made of wine leaves, prata breads, and salads. I thought that was all for our dinner, but I was wrong. There were more to come. My table was the first one to be allowed to take our main course. Whoa... I loved this one. We had nasi minyak, rendang ayam and daging, kebab, nasi Afghan, caramel pudding, currypuffs, etc. Malaysian foods are always in my heart and always the best one! :) Geramnyer... Arghhhh... Nak makan lagi!
Before I went back, one of the guys in the room approached me and asked me to think about the upcoming Islam Awareness Week (IAW) which will be held in August. He reminded me to get some of the ideas from the talk today. I know what he meant. He wanted me to take an action on Muslim integrity in uni. I don't mean that I have given up in this kind of stuff. It's just that that is really a strain for me as he was asking a 'girl' to do that job. It's really, really, really a heavy responsibility. I've been carried this responsibility on my shoulder for quite long and again, it strucked me. He said I'm a good thinker. Whoa, in your dream... I felt like I wanted to throw that phrase on his face.
At the final moment before I went out from the room, I apologized from Ara (the DIA officer) for my inability to help him out with the management stuff during the conference. He replied to me, "That's all right. It was my fault for not informing you of what to do. Please keep in touch with me." Oh yeah, I'll do that, but for the purpose of achieving MUSA objectives especially getting a proper prayer room for the Muslim society in UC. InsyaAllah. May Allah ease our way to make the dream come true.
