Have a go at 20 typical questions a
prospective citizen would have to answer:
1. In what year did Federation take
place?
2. Who was the first Prime Minister of
Australia?
3. What is the population of Australia?
4. Who is the Queen's representative in
Australia?
5. True or false: Serving on a jury if
required is a responsibility of Australian citizenship.
6. What are the three levels of
government in Australia?
7. Which day of the year is Australia
Day?
8. What is the first line of Australia's
national anthem?
9. What is the floral emblem of
Australia?
10. In what city is the Parliament House
of the Commonwealth Parliament located?
11. How are Members of Parliament chosen?
12. Who do Members of Parliament
represent?
13. After a federal election, who forms
the new government?
14. What are the colours on the
Australian flag?
15. Who is the head of the Australian
Government?
16. In what year did the European
settlement of Australia start
17. In Australia, everyone is free to
practice the religion of their choice, or practice no
religion: true of false?
18. To be elected to the Commonwealth
Parliament you must be an Australian citizen: true or
false?
19. As an Australian citizen, I have the
right to register my baby born overseas as an Australian
citizen: true or false?
20. Australian citizens aged 18 years or
over are required to enrol on the electoral register:
true or false?
Tolerance, mutual respect and compassion
for those in need are important Australian values as
stated in the Becoming an Australian Citizen
booklet. Other important Australian values are: respect
for the equal worth; dignity and freedom of
the individual; freedom of speech; freedom
of religion and secular government; freedom of
association; support for parliamentary
democracy and the rule of law; equality under the
law; equality of men and women; equality of opportunity;
and peacefulness.
While no specific mention is made about cheating and ethics per se,
we urge you, nonetheless, to get out a piece of
paper and attempt all the questions first
BEFORE you look ahead at the answers
here,
where you will also find your citizenship standing in
our society as rated by CCN.
Pray
for speedy recovery
Haji Ebrahimbhai Patel of Eight
Mile Plains is recovering at the Princess Alexandra
Hospital from a recent fall at home.
CCN has had many calls and emails asking
after Haji Patel's health and wishing him well, a
testimony to the high esteem with which he is held in
the community.
The family of Ebrahimbhai have been
overwhelmed by the support of the community but as he is
not ready to see visitors due to the nature of his
injury, the family humbly request wellwishers to await
his return home before visiting with him.
Please make dua that he gets back
on his feet soon, inshaAllah.
Crescents of Brisbane: Always Keeping You Abreast with
the Best!
On a typically hot Brisbane August day
the Spring Fete carnival and bazaar heralded the arrival
of Spring in September.
Men, women and children from a myriad of
backgrounds and ethnicity came out in force to soak in
the sun and spend a dollar.
The "Muslim Mini Ekka" was abuzz with the
sounds of amusement rides, exotic foods and
entertainment throughout the day.
Another feather in the cap for the
School's Parents' Committee who put on yet another
professionally organized event.
The Crescents of Brisbane Team raised
$1000 for the School and wants to record its sincere
thanks to all the fantastic ladies who donated batches
of cupcakes to the stall.
Algester and Kuraby Madrasah
(L to
R) Samir Gutta, Sabera Khatree, Yahya Hashim,
Farouk Adam, AK Surtie, Feisal Paruk and Rubana
Moola on the chicken run
Horseless but Happy Lone Rider Emad Soliman
A victim of the equine 'flu gripping the nation?
Crescents of Brisbane
Super saleswomen Safia Casoojee, Julie Hatia and
Ayesha Peer
lecture Ismail Nathie.on the obvious health
benefits of cupcakes
(L to R) Mohammed Suliman Peer, Mustafa Zaim,
Faisal Koya
and Shabir Elias getting into the swing of
things on the day
The Floss before the Flood
(L to R) Sweet tooth fairies Sophia Mahomed,
Donna Battaglia and Louise Hudson ready
themselves for the hordes
Keeping their cool!
Brothers Goss, Hussin and Fazal, flanked by
young helpers
Mehnaz Deen and Ahmad Mizra make a day of it
The Voices of Little Angels
AMARAH ON THE MAT
(L to R) Shajor Amath, Nora
Amath, Ahmad Ghanem and Jasmine Khan
TAKING A BREAK
(Back L to R) Shaheena and Yusuf Chothia.
(Front L to R) Fahim Gutta, Farida and Aboobaker
Chothia and Saleem Cajee
CPR FOR DUMMIES
Dr Mohammed Khateeb (left) demonstrates how
anyone can do it
AUCTION STORE
(L to R) Nazmun Shahid, Velna Zafar and Waheeda
Zahab
Community Forum: The Anti-Terror Laws &Your Civil Rights
Terrorism and ‘War on Terror’ put into perspective
Finding the balance between peace, justice, security and
civil liberties
The need for an Australian Charter of Rights
Presenters/Panelists:
Prof Kevin Clements,Director, Aust Centre for Peace and Conflict
Studies Terry O’Gorman, President, Australian Council
for Civil Liberties Dr Mohamad Abdalla,Director, Griffith
Islamic Research Unit
Ian Brown,President, Australian Lawyers Alliance
Sasha Jesperson,Amnesty International
Rob Stary,Criminal Defence Lawyer
Andrew Boe,
Principal, BoeLawyers
Paul Benedek,
Stop the War Collective
Sunday 2 September, 9:30am-3pm
Multi-Faith Centre, Griffith Uni (Nathan Campus)
CCN
gets Up Close and Personal with..........
Shaima
Khan
What is your full name?
Shaima Aaliya Khan
Tell us about your current role/job.
As one of the Muslim Youth and Community
Development Officers, in a nutshell, we coordinate
projects that help build bridges of mutual understanding
between the Muslim community and the ‘mainstream’
Australian community. As education is always the key, a
lot of it is to do with promoting Islamic awareness at
various levels in society. We also seek to develop long
term strategies to address the concerns of Muslim youth
to ensure they are accepted and feel as a valuable part
of the wider community.
InshaAllah, we will be regularly updating
CCN readers on the progress of our projects.
What is your country of origin?
Genetically speaking, Pakistan. But my
life originated in Iraq.
Tell us about your family.
I have a close-knit family,
alhamdullillah. I have a sister and three brothers, and
my mother is the best mum in the whole world!
And no, not all the Khans in the world
are related...
What did you do prior to your current
role/job?
As a Personal Wellness Coach/Business
Developer (I still do it part time), I help people
improve the quality of their lives by enhancing their
health naturally - from weight loss to weight-gain to
boosting energy levels.
What is it like working in this
role/job?
Even though it comes with quite a bit of
community responsibility, it’s rewarding. You meet many
nice people and have the opportunity to make a real
difference in people’s perceptions of Islam and Muslims.
What you list as some of your
highlights/achievements/contributions thus far?
My highlights are what I have been
blessed with, but do not deserve: My deen, which I can
never be thankful enough for, alhamdullillah; my
parents, without whom I wouldn’t have been who I am.
Don’t like tooting my own horn, but I
guess one of my achievements include my Behavioural
Science degree (which means I can read your mind!),
establishing my own successful business at a very young
age, and being able to touch the lives of my clients by
helping them enhance their health, with Allah’s help of
course.
InshaAllah, my best contributions are yet
to come, I’m committed to leaving my mark in history –
so hold me accountable!
What pastimes, hobbies and/or sport do
you enjoy playing or watching?
Being in the company of positive,
inspiring people. Laughing my head off! I’m a health
freak, people and nature fascinates me, I also like
painting and running. Favourite sport is soccer.
What is your favourite food?
Malay food, healthy food... and anything
my mum cooks.
What is your favourite book?
Hard to pick just one! But a really good
personal development book I’m reading now and HIGHLY
recommend for those serious about living live to the
full, is ‘The Magic of Thinking Big’, by Dr David
Schwartz (You’ve gotta feed your mind this
mind-nutrition) In fact, I think it should be renamed:
‘The Sunnah Akhlaq’.
What is your philosophy in life?
I could write a book on this!
We reap what we sow, thus I aspire to
inspire others towards good and discourage them from bad
in every way, shape, and form. As the Qu’ranic verse
goes,
‘who is better in speech than one who
calls (people) to Allah, works righteousness, and says,
"I am of those who bow in Islam"? (41:33)
We talk about changing the world. My
philosophy in life is that change is possible, but,
‘verily, never will Allah change the
condition of a people until they change what is in
themselves.’ (Quran, 13:11)
With the perfect deen in our hands, each
of us needs to begin with ourselves, as extraordinary
people are only ordinary people who do extraordinary
things. I am in the driver’s seat of my life, the
creator of my reality. Now that’s an empowering belief,
the legacy I want to leave behind.
Is there anything else you would like
to tell us about yourself?
Hmm, not particularly as I think ASIO
knows enough about me now, oh and don’t tell anyone, but
I have lent my SIM card too....
[Editor]
If you would like CCN to get Up Close and Personal
with someone drop us a line.
The CCN Cut 'n Paste Media Monitor
Statement by the president of the
Queensland Law Society – Megan Mahon
On Wednesday, August 22, the
Australian Federal Police issued a media statement in
relation to the release to the media of the transcript
of the second interview of Dr Mohamed Haneef by AFP
officers on July 13 and 14.
US
President
George W
Bush has
compared
calls
for the
withdrawal
of
American
troops
from
Iraq
with
what
happened
at the
end of
the
Vietnam
war.
One
former
US
marine
who did
two
tours of
duty in
Iraq
disagrees
with the
President
and says
the US
needs to
get out.
Matt
Howard
was part
of the
first
marine
division
deployed
to Iraq
in 2003.
PRIME
Minister
John
Howard
is today
leading
a chorus
of
condemnation
against
the
decision
to
include
two
entries
in a
prestigious
art
competition
that
appear
to
ridicule
the
Christian
faith.
A statue
of the
Virgin
Mary
shrouded
by a
Muslim
burqa
and a
holographic
image of
Osama
bin
Laden
that
morphs
into
Jesus
Christ
when
moved on
an angle
have
sparked
outrage
from
politicians
and
church
leaders.
BETHLEHEM
Mayor
Victor
Batarseh
attacked
Israel
and
angered
members
of
Australia's
Jewish
community
within
hours of
arriving
in
Sydney
-- just
as
Australian
immigration
officials
in the
Middle
East
warned
would
occur if
he was
granted
a visa.
Dr
Batarseh
told The
Australian
Israel's
construction
of a
security
wall was
about
grabbing
Palestinian
land,
not
stopping
suicide
bombers.
"If you
want
peace,
you
build
bridges
of love
and
understanding
between
people,
you
don't
build
walls of
hatred,"
he said.
NELSON
Mandela
saluted
the
heroes
of South
Africa's
struggle
against
apartheid
at the
unveiling
of his
statue
at a
ceremony
in
London.
The statue has been made in
recognition
of
Mandela
being
one of
the
greatest
leaders
of the
age.
Mandela,
89, said
the
statue -
which
joins
those of
Abraham
Lincoln
and
Winston
Churchill
in
London's
Parliament
Square -
was a
symbol
for all
those
who
resisted
oppression.
Australians could be developing a mass anxiety disorder as the level of fear in the community rises, and it is the Muslim community that feels it most, new research shows.
Applications are invited from Brisbane’s
multicultural community for the Lord Mayor’s
Multicultural Roundtable & Southbank Institute of
Technology Scholarship
In Semester 1, 2008,
two scholarships will be available to provide
financial support to applicants in completing a
Diploma of Business: specialisation Entrepreneurship
at Southbank Institute of Technology, Kangaroo Point
Campus.
The program includes
18 weeks study (3 hours 2 nights per week and 5
Saturday workshops).
The scholarships will
also provide membership access to the Enterprise
Centre at Southbank Institute of Technology for 6
months from Semester 2, 2008.
Table Tennis table for sale. In very good condition.
Includes net, bats and balls. $80 o.n.o.
Ph 0412 894 288.
Pilot
Cross-Cultural Youth Dialogue
MYServices Media Release by Anas
Abdalla
Students in facilitation:
brainstorming ideas for bringing
Muslims and non-Muslims
together
On Monday the 20th of August, Muslim
Youth Services (MYServices) in partnership with the
Brisbane City Council’s Youth Team, held a successful
pilot Cross-Cultural Youth Dialogue at the University of
Queensland.
Fifty students from six high schools in the
western suburbs of Brisbane attended.
The intention of the project was to breakdown
misconceptions on Islam and Muslims in Australia and to
give secondary students an insight into the lives and
beliefs of Australian Muslims.
It was designed to
encourage a sense of respect for the many different
beliefs and cultures that Australia has to offer, as
well as to facilitate an initiative of focusing on
similarities rather than differences.
Dr. Mohamad
Abdalla, Sr. Nora Amath-Rane, Br. Yahya Nathie and
Sr.
Aziza (Angela) Prier, made presentations on a variety of
Islamic topics and shared their experiences of what it
is like to be a Muslim in Australia.
After a fantastic lunch, that was described by all as
“five star”, the dialogue resumed and the participants
were separated into groups and given a chance to ask the
speakers more questions and propose ideas on ways to
implement more projects of this nature.
Anas Abdalla concluding the
pilot Cross-Cultural Youth Dialogue
The project revealed some interesting and insightful
comments from all the participants, but what really
stood out were very bold statements from the younger
participants.
One of the very many heartening quotes: “Well
before I was forced to believe the common stereotype
that Muslims are bad people. The media has completely
misconceived this, and I now know that” - Marielle,
13.
From the very positive feedback that was gathered, there
appears to be a strong demand for such projects to
continue.
After asking the question in a feedback
survey:
Would you attend something like this again?
There was 100% feedback in the affirmative.
Inshallah MYServices plans to continue to hold such
events and any feedback and suggestions from the
community on improvements are encouraged.
Turning
of the Soil at Special School
Children of the Kuraby
Special School
Melinda Cheung (left foreground), Mary Chung
(back left), Ahmed Burale (on the bike) and
Rhys Lancaster (right foreground) with
David Forde of Kuraby Lions (foreground) and
(back left to right) Bill Glen President of
Kuraby Lions and Faisal Hatia and Mustafa
Ally of Crescents of Brisbane
Construction of the first stage of the
Bike Track at the Kuraby Special School began this week.
Money for the bike track was raised at a
joint Crescents of Brisbane and Kuraby Lions fund
raising dinner held earlier this year.
A cheque of almost $10 000 was handed
over to the School to get the project underway.
Plans are already afoot to raise funds
for the second stage of the project. This time it will
be a joint venture between Crescents of Brisbane, the
Kuraby Lions and the Lions Club of Brisbane Chinese.
ICAS
Competition Winners
The Australian International Islamic
College boasted a number of entrants in this year's ICAS
competition.
International Competitions and
Assessments for Schools (ICAS) is conducted by
Educational Assessment Australia, UNSW. Ten countries
now participate in ICAS. In Australia and New Zealand
there are over 1.7 million entries in the subject areas
of:
• English
• Mathematics
• Science
• Computer Skills
• Writing
• Spelling
• General Achievement Test (GAT)
The assessment ratings are:
• High distinction: (The top 1% of
entrants in each year level in the state) 99 - 100%
• Distinction (The next 10% of entrants
in each year level in the state) 89-98%
• Credit (The next 20% of entrants in
each year level in the state) 69-88%
MOHAMED EL
TAHIR and ADESTIA ZAINUDDIN obtained
distinctions in Computer Skills and AMIR AZRAN
scored a distinction in Science.
YUSUF
PARKER received a High Distinction in Writing and
AISHAH KAMAL and FARINA SHAMIM distinctions.
ADESTIA
ZAINUDDIN, AMIRUDDIN AZRAN, AASIMAH SHARIF,
HAFSAH SHARIF, YUSUF PARKER scored
distinctions in Spelling.
Tonight
on Compass
ABC TV
WELCOME TO TEHRAN – Part 2
Sunday 2 September at 22:05
Former BBC (now Al Jazeera) journalist
Rageh Omaar explores Iran and its people not through
politicians, officials and analysts but through the eyes
of ordinary Iranians. The Islamic revolution was born
here in 1979 and today Shi’a Islam is the official state
religion and part of the fabric of life. Rageh describes
Iran as one of the most misunderstood countries in the
world.
This two part series focuses on the vibrant city life of
the capital, Tehran and explores the hopes, dreams and
way of life of its 12-million people. Rageh hears their
personal stories and feelings about the current state of
affairs in Iran: taxi drivers, wrestlers, business
women, film-makers, drug addicts and the country’s
leading pop star.
Part 1 was shown last week.
Centre
for Research on Social Inclusion Study
Researchers in the Centre for Research on
Social Inclusion at Macquarie University are undertaking
a study to find out what are the most effective
community based activities for improving relations
between Muslim and non-Muslim Australians.
They want to find out:
• ‘What works’ in terms of community
based activities.
• What doesn’t work and why.
• What kinds of people are involved in them?
• How best to engage people from both sides not normally
interested in such activities.
• How such activities are funded, and how sustainable
are they?
Q: Kareema, I'm proud to say that I've
been following my fitness plan for the last few months
without fail. Can you please explain how I can measure
my cardio fitness?
A:
You should be proud of yourself, because staying
motivated is part of your challenge!
A great indicator of your general fitness will be your
resting pulse rate. The fitter you are the lower your
pulse ---- because the heart becomes more efficient at
pumping blood around the body. The best time to check
your resting pulse is first thing in the morning.
Your pulse can be located on your wrist or near the
carotid artery in your neck.
Calculate the beats over 15 secs and multiply it by 4.
*** A resting pulse rate of 60 - 90 beats per minute (bpm)
is ideal. ***
Fit people usually have a resting pulse rate of under 60
bpm.
All questions sent in are published here
anonymously and without any references to the author of
the question.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TUNA RICE
Ingredients 3 Cups basic
white rice. ¼ cup oil. 1 large onion peeled and chopped.
1 tsp garlic crushed. 3 green chilles chopped. 3
tomatoes chopped. Salt to taste. 2 level tsps fine red
chilles. 2 level tsps crushed cumin seeds. 3 cans Tuna
drained. 3 tblsp colmans chilli mustard sauce.
Method
Braise the onion garlic and chillies in the oil till
onions are transparent. Add tomatoes and spices then
allow to cook for 2 minutes or until sauce thickens. Add
tuna and cook a further 2 to 3 minutes. Add the mustard
sauce and remove from heat. Layer the rice on the two
sides of the platter and centre of the platter. Spoon
the Tuna in between the rice. Serve with an onion and
tomato salad.
Source: Radio Islam
Newsletter - Wednesday, 29 August 2007
Do you have a recipe to share with
CCN readers?
Send in your favourite recipe to
theteam@crescentsofbrisbane.org and who
knows, you could be our "guest chef" for a future
edition of CCN.
The CCN Chuckle
A man visited the
grave of his dearly departed mother and started back
toward his camel when his attention was diverted by a man
at a grave.
The man, who
happened to be none other than our Mula Nasruddin,
seemed to be praying with profound intensity and kept
repeating, "Why did you have to die? Why did you have to
die?"
The man approached Mula Nasruddin and said, "Sir,
I don't wish to interfere with your private grief, but
this demonstration of pain is more than I've ever seen
before. For whom do you mourn so deeply? A child? A
parent?"
Mula Nasruddin took a moment to collect himself,
then replied, "My wife's first husband."
CLAIMER: CCN takes full responsibility for all the
answers, commentary and standings provided here. Caveat
emptor!
1. In what year did Federation take
place?
1901
(the Federation of
Australia - not the Tennis Federation Cup!)
2. Who was the first Prime Minister of
Australia?
Edmund
Barton (he's
been there so long you'd be forgiven if you thought it
was John Howard)
3. What is the population of Australia?
About 21 million
(if you leave out the New
Zealanders)
4. Who is the Queen's representative in
Australia?
The
Governor-General
(sorry but Princess Di has
been dead for sometime now)
5. True or false: Serving on a jury if
required is a responsibility of Australian citizenship.
True (how else
could the country have passed the buck on someone else for low
wages, poor accommodation and long hours when no IR laws
were in place then)
6. What are the three levels of
government in Australia?
Commonwealth, State or Territory and Local
(answering 1 2 and 3 will
certainly show up your level of ignorance!)
7. Which day of the year is Australia
Day?
January 26
(and there are
those who'll argue for the 4th of July and others the
fourth Thursday in November!)
8. What is the first line of Australia's
national anthem?
Australians let us all rejoice
(answering "waltzing
matilda, waltzing matilda" will earn you some sympathy)
9. What is the floral emblem of
Australia?
Wattle
(pansies
are for the Poms - and the sooner you learn that the
sooner you will understand what being a true Aussie is
all about)
10. In what city is the Parliament House
of the Commonwealth Parliament located?
Canberra (built especially to
keep politicians away from the rest of us even if it is
just a few months in the year)
11. How are Members of Parliament chosen?
By election
(not by the number of property developers they know!)
12. Who do Members of Parliament
represent?
People of
their electorate
(and not only property
developers!)
13. After a federal election, who forms
the new government?
The
political party or coalition of parties which wins a
majority of seats in the House of Representatives
(answering "the ones
who can't wipe the grins of their faces" is equally
acceptable)
14. What are the colours on the
Australian flag?
Red, white
and blue (any
more colours and you're confusing it with the rainbow
nation)
15. Who is the head of the Australian
Government?
The Prime
Minister (bet
you said John Howard!)
16. In what year did the European
settlement of Australia start?
1788
(around the
time stealing bread in the UK earned you a first class
passage on a convict ship)
17. In Australia, everyone is free to
practice the religion of their choice, or practice no
religion: true of false?
True
(and you are
also free to ask that people of religions you object to
be banned from coming here)
18. To be elected to the Commonwealth
Parliament you must be an Australian citizen: true or
false?
True
(as well as
being able to answer at least 60% of these, some may
suggest, pointless questions correctly)
19. As an Australian citizen, I have the
right to register my baby born overseas as an Australian
citizen: true or false?
True
(And why not!
It helps free our maternity wards and reduce the need
for more Indian trained doctors)
20. Australian citizens aged 18 years or
over are required to enrol on the electoral register:
true or false?
True
(but getting
them to actually vote is another matter altogether)
If you scored:
20 are you sure your name's not Kevin Andrews or
John Howard
15 -19 you're qualified to stand
for a Senate seat at the next election
10 -14 you can now start up a
tax-payer funded political party and bash an ethnic
minority with impunity
5 - 9 you're a perfect
candidate for a 1800 call from anyone who is alert but
not alarmed
0 - 4 how did you get here
in the first place is what we're asking. Go back to
where you came from!
Write For Us
The
best ideas and the best feedback come from our community
of readers. If you have a topic or opinion that you want
to write about or want seen covered or any news item
that you think might be of benefit to the Crescents
Community please e-mail
Share
your thoughts, feelings and ambitions for our community
through CCN.
If
there is someone you know who would like to subscribe to
CCN please encourage them to send an e-mail to
theteam@crescentsofbrisbane.org with the words
“Subscribe Me” in the subject line.
Disclaimer
Articles and opinions appearing in this newsletter do
not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Crescents of
Brisbane team, CCN, its Editor or its Sponsors,
particularly if they eventually turn out to be libelous,
unfounded, objectionable, obnoxious, offensive,
slanderous and/or downright distasteful.
It is the usual policy of CCN to include
from time to time, notices of events that some readers
may find interesting or relevant. Such notices are often
posted as received. Including such messages or providing
the details of such events does not necessarily imply
endorsement of the contents of these events by either CCN
or Crescents of Brisbane Inc.
