Calling all Queensland businesses. A limited number of spots for company logos on the CresWalk2005 T-shirt are still available for grabs. If you too want to leave an indelible impression of your business here (and internationally) you won't get better value than to have your company promoted through this event. But time is fast running out. So don't miss out this year. E-mail your theteam@crescentsofbrisbane.org or call 04 38 786 786 for more details.
You can find a list of our very community minded CresWalk2005
sponsors here.
Help Raise Australia's IQ
The Mission of Hope will be holding its inaugural Conference for Health Professionals in Liverpool, New South Wales from 6-8 July 2005. The academic program will feature national and international speakers from various health and welfare related professions.
The general theme of the conference is Lifting your IQ (Islamic Quotient): Sensitising Health and Welfare Professionals to Muslims in Australia.
The objective of the conference is to provide a national and international forum for academics, clinicians, and health professionals, to engage in meaningful dialogue regarding the issues of health and welfare issues as it applies to the diverse Australian Muslim community.
One of the main aims of the conference is to raise awareness and cultural sensitivity towards Muslims and their beliefs and practices in Australia, one of Mission of Hope’s objectives. Source: Raising_your_IQ.pdf
About Mission Of Hope
Mission of Hope (MoH) is a not-for-profit organization with a focus on community health and community welfare. MoH's aim is about creating a community health and welfare service that caters to the unique and culturally sensitive needs of the Muslim population. It was developed, and is currently managed, by Muslim health and welfare professionals who are dedicated to increasing harmony in a culturally diverse community through community health and welfare education seminars and projects, and service provision. Visit their website http://www.missionofhope.org.au/ for more information.
On a Wing and A Prayer
(by our Man-on-the Mussallah - flying, as is his custom, by the seat of his pants)
Not too far removed from the type of role played by the famous Royal Doctor Flying Service, Brisbane's Darul Uloom provides a flying service of its own with classes for regional and remote Muslim communities in need of Islamic education. The first beneficiary of this service is the coastal town of Makay, some 670km north of Brisbane. Mackay stretches from the Great Barrier Reef over tropical lowlands, across green mountain ranges and west into the Outback.
Where the similarity between the RDFS and our very unique FIS (Flying Imaam Service) ends is that in lieu of a fully equipped, specialized airplane, Imaam Yusuf Peer gets onto an early morning discount VirginBlue or JetStart flight at 6 every alternate Sunday morning and jets out to Mackay where an hour and a half later he is picked up at the Makay airport and driven to the local Masjid where his class of 20 young boys and girls are eagerly awaiting his arrival. After a relatively full day of Fiqh, Dinyaat, Quran, History and other Madressa subjects Imaam Peer leaves his charges with homework to see them though the fortnight during which he maintains contact with them via e-mail and fax.
Imaam Peer is then driven back to the airport and boards his flight back to Brisbane where he arrives at 7pm to the start of a new week at the Brisbane Islamic School.
To celebrate one year since the programme was initiated, the Makay Madressa will be holding a Jalsa on Saturday 30 April. CCN is given to understand that a fair sized contingent will be flying from Brisbane to lend support to the occasion. If you would like more information about this you can contact Imaam Peer on
04 1571 0613.
So Sad To See Them Go........
Whenever South Africans left the country they were often accused of joining the chicken run. One family, however, took this somewhat literally (or so it would seem) by heading straight on into the chicken business soon after they arrived in Brisbane.
By the time you would have read this, Edris and FatimaParuk and the remainder of their family would have been heading back to South Africa. On behalf of the community of Brisbane, CCN would like to acknowledge the invaluable contributions made by the Paruk family and we wish them all of the very best as they re-settle in Durban once again.
'Perceptions cloud crime issue' in SA
If crime levels in South Africa were seen to be high, this was more a result of people's perceptions than of reality, the government news agency BuaNews quotes South Africa's top crime analyst as saying.
"People's perceptions exaggerate the extent of crime and that needs to be taken into consideration," said the head of crime information analysis in the South African Police Service (SAPS), Dr Chris Paul de Kock today.
There had been "an impressive reduction" of motor vehicle theft and car hijackings, he said. "Very few vehicles are smuggled out of the country." (Source: http://www.sundaytimes.co.za)
The Volunteering Queensland Battle Cry: “Go on! Do Something Different!”
Volunteering Queensland (VQ) the state’s peak body for volunteering will hold an Expo and Volunteer Recognition Ceremony on 10 May. The Volunteer Expo will be held in King George Square, featuring displays by 45 community organizations who use the services of volunteers. Last year over 5000 people attended the expo.
If you feel that there is a need to get involved in the wider community in a ‘caring and sharing’ way by volunteering your services, then this an opportunity for you to go to the expo and see if there are ways that you can help out. For more info: http://www.volunteeringqueensland.org.au/
Brisbane Wants Bollywood Business - our Madame Mumbai discovers while lurking around the corridors of power
MEMBERS of Brisbane’s Film City Inc business cluster have jetted off to India to participate in FRAMES 2005 - the largest entertainment industry conference in Asia. Lord Mayor Campbell Newman said Film City was a sponsor of the Queensland delegation heading to FRAMES to further develop ties with Bollywood producers and international production companies – to entice them to Brisbane.
“We want to entice these people to bring Bollywood to Brisbane and make films in our city,’ Cr Newman said.
“In the past five years, Brisbane has played host to at least ten productions from India ranging from full-scale Bollywood musicals to television commercials,” Cr Newman said. “Almost $40 million worth of films with ties to India have been made in Australia since 1998, and we’d like Brisbane’s economy to benefit from an even bigger slice of the pie.”
“Brisbane City Council is active in encouraging international business to invest in Brisbane – or to use local expertise, and this extends into the entertainment industry,” Cr Newman said. “Entertainment is one industry where businesses must compete globally for lucrative productions, and Council is very keen to support our local creative business in securing major contracts.”
Cr Newman said Council supported the Film City Inc cluster through its BrisIndustry program, which invests about $12 million annually to help Brisbane businesses identify economic development opportunities. Film Cluster Inc president, Ms Heather Macfarlane said 21 Australian delegates would attend the FRAMES 2005 conference, which included a trade show component, site visits, and seminars on how to do business with South-East Queensland.
“The Indo-Australian film trade has never been stronger, and this visit to FRAMES can only strengthen Brisbane’s position as a location of choice for international producers,” Ms Macfarlane said.
You're considered clumsy if you cannot: use a cell phone (without car kit), change CDs, drink a coke, put on make-up, read the newspaper and smoke, all at the same time while driving a car at 160 kph in a 60 kph zone.
An oldie.....but a goodie.....
Van der Merwe goes to London to watch the Boks take on the Poms at Twikenham.
While he's in London he's walking around and gaping and staring at everything.
So much that he walks smack bang into a fire hydrant which hits him so hard on the family jewels that they burst.
He gets rushed to hospital where the docs tell him that they have to remove his testicles.
Van goes berserk, bites and snarls at people and won't let anybody within 10m of him.
Eventually they find a South Africa doctor in the hospital and get him to talk to Van.
He walks up to Van and tells him "Hey Van, die ouens moet jou balle uithaal.
Van replies "O, OK ek dog die bliksems wil my Test Tickets vat."
PS: It took several readings but the Durbanites at CCN eventually got the joke!
Tips for New Migrants
We continue with
our weekly advice for newly
arrived migrants to Brisbane or anyone planning
to settle in our fair city at some future date.
This
week we tackle the subject of schools and university:
If you have a child transferring to university …….
They must bring with them a DETAILED course outline of ALL the subjects they have done.
If applying for credits, the university here usually require the following info:
Course Content
Contact Hours
Methods of Assessment
Prescribed Texts
Any extra information is always helpful and hassle saving.
Bring a university transcript stamped by the registrar.
With regards to acceptance at university, you will need to get acceptance from QTAC before they can be accepted at the university. This can take a while, and often, late applications attract penalty fees. Therefore, plan it accordingly as you may get here and find that the child cannot get into university right away.
If you have a school going child…
Bring with you at least their last three school reports if possible. Bring certified copies, which you can give in with the application.
The more popular public schools are Warrigal Primary School, Runcorn High School and McGregor State High School.
There are private schools also. The more popular being John Paul College.
There are childcare centres for those parents who will be working.
Dear Editor
In recent times, you have blamed the computer for certain glitches that have arisen. The following quote is rather apt, I thought. Enjoy!!!
"Programming today is a race between software engineers striving to build bigger and better idiot-proof programs, and the Universe trying to produce bigger and better idiots. So far, the Universe is winning."
Thanks for an interesting newsletter.
[Name withheld on request]
[Editor] It only goes to prove that there are so many people we have something in common with.
Subject: CCN goes troppo
As salaam u alaikum
Many thanks for your newsletters. For the first time since our arrival in Australia, we feel we are part of or could be part of "our" community, having been in the "outback" (since we arrived)....!!
We are a three hour drive to Brisbane now and could attend events easily - as long there's no fishing that weekend!
We are keen to attend your CresWalk2005 - please could we have details.
[Name withheld]
[Editor] It would seem that even the fish these days come out for a bite on scheduled weekends.
Subject: Halaal Places To Eat
As salaam mu alaikum
I read a little while ago about a list of Halaal places that someone had compiled or had a database of. I would like to know where we could access this? I was recently in Brisbane visiting my parents and sometimes finding a Halaal place was a bit tricky. When we were at the Gold Coast at Surfers Paradise we came across Theo's Kebab shop which we thought was Halaal but after seeing the blood running down the meat while on the turning "spit" we reconsidered it's halaalness and obviously declined. Instead we found a muslim person further on near the Red Rooster, a shop called Ozgar's - nice pun - and thoroughly enjoyed the meal. It would be great to have a place to refer to for a list of Halaal takeaways and restaurants.
Keep up the great work - at least I can still feel a part of Brisbane all the way in lonely Cape Town:)
Last week you mentioned that John Kani was the Yebo Gogo man. I wish to draw your attention to the fact that he certainly was not! The Yebo Gogo man was in fact Nigerian born Bankole Ajibabi Omotoso, Professor at the Drama Department of the Stellenbosch University and author of novels, short stories, plays, historical novels, and other books.
How you can confuse with I will never know!
[Name withheld]
[Editor] CCN can only attribute Felicia’s faux pas to the ravages of time and the tyranny of distance. Her waning beauty is only superseded by her fading memory the latter largely compounded by her having been away from the motherland for an uncomfortably long time. We tender an abject apology on her behalf to both John, the good Professor and to our dear CCN readers for leading you all up the proverbial garden path.
A Word From This
Week’s Sponsor
Wholesalers of curtain tape, woven strapping, braided cords and rope, lifting and lashing webbings, shock cord and conduit pulling tape
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Disclaimer
Articles and
opinions appearing in this newsletter do not necessarily reflect the
opinions of the Crescents of Brisbane team, CCN, its Editors or its
Sponsors.
Help Raise Australia's IQ 
Brisbane Wants Bollywood Business - our Madame Mumbai discovers while lurking around the corridors of power
with 
I will never know!
