It was an event that the Mayor of Brisbane, Campbell Newman and Mr. Graham Perrett, Member for Moreton, saw fit to attend not only to heap praises on the initiative but to give it their wholehearted support.

At a function held on Saturday 18 March 2008 to develop friendships between the Muslim and Taiwanese communities of Brisbane, Mr. Wayne Ko, the Secretary General of the Queensland Federation of Taiwanese Associations gave a background to Taiwan and Mr. Ted L. M. Liao, Director of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office Brisbane, spoke on the local Taiwanese community.

In inviting the Queensland Muslim organizations to describe the part they play in the community, Mr. Mustafa Ally, President of Crescents of Brisbane, acknowledged the contribution of the local Taiwanese community through their many charitable works.

"Taiwanese people have a well deserved reputation as successful business people. Through their industriousness and their investment activities, Taiwanese businessmen and women have helped in lifting the living standards of the residents of south-east Queensland. These are well acknowledged facts. Less well acknowledged but no less important is the contribution of the local Taiwanese community to strengthening the fabric of our society," Mr. Ally added.
 

For the Muslim Community, Mr. Suliman Sabdia described the role of the Islamic Council of Queensland, Mrs. Galila Abdelsalam spoke about the various functions within the Islamic Women's Association of Queensland that extended beyond assisting not only Muslim women but which reached members of all other religions and gender; Dr. Mohammed Hanief Khatree summarized the aims and objectives of the Muslim Business Network; Ms Aliyah Deen and Ms Shaima Khan described the respective roles of the Al-Nisa Youth Group and MYServices; the role of AMARAH was articulated very eloquently by Mr. Javed Khatree; and the presentations ended with Ms Mariam Essof describing some of the activities of Crescents of Brisbane.

Both communities acknowledged the efforts of Mr. David Forde of the Kuraby Lions who single-handedly (both literally and figuratively) brokered the meeting of the two communities.

The gourmet sandwiches and refreshments, prepared and presented, in inimitably professional fashion, by the ladies of the Crescents of Brisbane team won as much acclaim by the attendees as did the rest of the afternoon's proceedings.

The meeting ended with the assurance by both communities that this was just the start of greater things to come and both looked forward to collaborative work and joint ventures in the near future.

The Certificate of Friendship, signed and presented by the Muslim organizations present, read:

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