......a sometimes
self-deprecating and occasional tongue-in-cheek look at ourselves and
the world around us ......
Sunday, 18 May 2008
.Newsletter
0184
News you won't find on CNN!
This week's CCN is kindly
sponsored by
Z&A Grill House
CresWalk2008
To catch all the action and images of the day
click here
The
passing of Haji Ebrahim Patel
Haji Ebrahim Patel (84) passed away at his home in
Eight Mile Plains, Brisbane in the evening of Tuesday 13
May.
Haji Patel
was well-known, well-liked and well-respected by
everyone and his lasting legacy will be his invaluable
contribution to the community as an educator, counselor and Imam.
He leaves
behind his wife, Ruquyabai, and sons Dr. AK
Patel and Dr. MS Patel and daughter Mrs. Sakina
Naeem.
A positive, energetic,
fiercely independent man ever generous with his advice,
Haji Patel was a role model to all of us, and his
passing leaves a huge gap in the community that will be
impossible to fill.
He will always be
remembered for having enriched and inspired many of us
through the example he set for himself and through
sharing with us his encyclopedic knowledge and wisdom on
an endless range of topics from religion to politics
through to health and social justice.
The impact of
Ebrahimbhai's loss is impossible to overstate and he
will be sorely missed by us all.
Queensland Premier Anna
Bligh's son has earned a place studying film in
Bollywood.
Ms Bligh's 20-year-old son Joe will move to Mumbai in
June as part of his degree in film and television, the
premier said today.
"He's a film and television student, he's halfway
through his degree and he's been accepted to do his
second semester as an international student at one of
the studios there, at one of the colleges," Ms Bligh
(last year's Brisbane Indian Times' Indian of the
Year) told ABC Radio.
The budding film maker is keen to learn about editing,
post-production and special effects, she said.
While she encouraged young people to pursue
opportunities around the world, Ms Bligh admitted she
was a little nervous about her son living in India.
"It's very exciting for him," she said.
"My head thinks it's wonderful, but my heart is
panicking."
Time to Pray with Zaky is
an educational animation film for children of all ages,
teaching them the most important pillar of Islam, the
Prayer (Salah) plus Ablution (Wudu).
Features of the full DVD
include:
- World’s first animation
film teaching prayer and wudu, etc.
- Introduces 3 new cartoon characters – Kazwa the camel
and Toofa & Teema birds
- Live actors mixed with animation
- 6 new children's songs written by One 4 Kids on prayer
and wudu
- Approximately 60 minutes which includes quizzes,
games, music video clips
- Gives a message of Unity to a young age group of below
8 years old, honouring differences of opinion in prayer
and wudu
- Several added improvements and changes based on live
audience preview in March 2007
- Improved quality of animation to be same as Story of
Abraham
- Using premium quality “digipak” packaging allows the
product to stand-out. Digipak is a one piece printed
cardboard with plastic for DVD which is thinner than the
14 mm DVD case.
- English Subtitles available
The Anti-Discrimination
Commission Queensland (ADCQ) has a research and
consultation role in relation to human rights. An issue
of concern to us is the extent to which Arab and Muslim
people going about their daily lives have become targets
for hostility and violence.
Thanks to all those who participated in our Glitz and
Glam Workshop which saw in excess of 60 participants on
the day.
Join us on Tuesday May 27th at 9:30am as we embark on
our next journey of discovery in our role and
responsibility to the planet, the creatures that
inhabit it, and to our fellow humanity. Learn how to
make a difference one person at a time that can have a
huge global impact. Prepare to be motivated, inspired
and empowered for positive change.
This is an excellent opportunity to meet up with friends
and break barriers and sterotypes while fostering
friendships of women from various backgrounds whilst
gaining knowledge from the expertise of our panel
of speakers. Learn more about our affiliation with the
Logan Women's Health and Wellbeing Centre which is a
women's only centre that hosts a variety of services
including arabic speaking Medical Practisioner,
Counsellors, Naturopath and a variety of activities and
groups including Yoga, Anger Management, Self Esteem,
Bellydance and more.
Please note our new location. Additional parking is
available at the train station carpark next door to the
Centre.
Muslim Women and Friends
is divided into two parts:
Sharing Circles Sessions
(tackling more personal issues such as assertiveness and
stress management which are held the 2nd Tuesday of each
month), and
Skills Building Workshops
(which are held the 4th Tuesday of each month). Our
current schedule for 2008 as well as the Global
Responsibility Workshop flyer is attached.
This is a ticketed event at only $5 per
ticket, refreshments will be provided. Contact the
Centre or the Co-ordinator with details below to book
your tickets now. If you require child care on the day,
you will need to contact our team so that we can make
adequate arrangements.
The
first 50 people to arrive will receive a gift bag.
Thanks for all your support and looking forward to
seeing you!
Best wishes, Farina Nayab
Co-ordinator, Muslim Women and Friends
Logan Women's Health and Wellbeing Centre
1 Mary Street, Kingston 4114
Ph:
3808 9233
Direct mobile: 0405 448 045
Islamic
Awareness Week at Ipswich
OPEN DAY: At the
Islam open day are (from left) Dave
Palmer, Imam Tariq and Rashide Deen
PHOTO: Michelle
Smith
AN ISLAM open day in
Ipswich yesterday aimed to raise awareness of Islam and
remove misconceptions surrounding the faith.
Part of Islam Awareness
Week held in Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Townsville,
the open day was held at the Ipswich mosque in North
Ipswich.
Islamic Society of Ipswich
president Amar Khan said the common image of Islam was
the result of events associated with the "war on
terror".
"People think it's all
about killing and doing bad things but that's not the
case," Mr Khan said. "We want to be part of Australia
and help the country so education is very important.
We don't want anything
special but we want Islam to be shown for what it is."
Leanne Dallinger, of West
Ipswich, said she went to the open day because all she
ever seemed to hear about Islam was bombings.
"I wanted to find the
heart. The good stuff," Ms Dallinger said.
"We don't know what it is
like to grow up in a Muslim country. I came here for a
bit of understanding and knowledge. "I believe there is
still good in the world."
Mark Grieveson, of East
Ipswich, said Islam was possibly the fastest-growing
religion in the world so "it must offer
something".
"We came today to find out
what that is," Mr Grieveson said.
"What appeals to me is
that Islam is a way of life, not just a
one-day-a-week religion."
Ipswich resident Dave
Palmer said he had followed Islam for 30 years and
its messages were valid for many people.
"In Islam we are
constantly taught what's right and what's wrong.
If we can learn that and pass it on to our kids and if
Islam keeps growing the way it is, it can only be
a better world," Mr Palmer said.
Dawn Chilton said she was
first introduced to Islam many years ago when she bought
a copy of the Qur'an.
"I was brought up a
Christian but when I read of Allah being the one god, it
spoke to me," Ms Chilton said.
"I feel like I've found my
religion. "The warmth I've received has been wonderful.
I moved from Brisbane and thought I'd have to go back to
go to a mosque but I looked on the internet and saw
there was a mosque in Ipswich."
Source: Queensland Times
Salam
Cafe on SBS: All the reviews
Salam Cafe aims to
bust misconceptions about Muslims,
writes Sacha Molitorisz.
THE format is
hardly ground-breaking. As a blend
of The Chaser and The
Panel, Salam Cafe aims to
deliver laughs via sketches, vox
pops and a discussion of the day's
issues. The twist is that the
panellists and interviewers are
Muslim, giving Salam Cafe —
which steps into SBS' Wednesday
night slot previously filled by
Newstopia — an endearingly
subversive edge.
This edge can
be seen on YouTube, where several
clips survive from the three seasons
the show spent cutting its teeth on
Channel 31. One clip shows a series
of vox pops conducted in Frankston.
"What do you
know about Muslims?" one interviewer
asks a passer-by.
"Not a lot,"
says the young man. "But I know that
their beliefs are pretty dangerous"
"What do you
think of Muslims?" another young man
is asked.
"I hate 'em."
"What's
Ramadan?" the interviewer asks a
woman.
"Is that like a
poppadam?"
The segment is
funny but also poignant, giving an
insight into the sort of prejudices
and misconceptions faced by Muslim
Aussies such as Susan Carland.
"Most of the
misconceptions are about Muslim
women," says Carland, a regular
panellist on Salam Cafe. "A
lot of them are about the headscarf.
I'm often asked if I have cancer.
And I have a badge that says, 'No, I
don't wear it in the shower'. People
really think we're aliens. It's just
a piece of material, like a T-shirt.
It doesn't have magic powers.
"For me, it's
very important that this show is
about Muslims, not about Islam. It's
just showing that Muslims are normal
people. We're not from Planet Islam.
It's showing the human face of the
Muslim community, same as
Acropolis Now did (for the Greek
community) in the '80s. People will
see that we won't eat their babies."
Since the World
Trade Center attacks, Muslims have
had a serious image problem.
"Obviously the whole world was
turned on its head post-September
11," says Ahmed Imam, Salam
Cafe's host. "There was a lot of
heat in the kitchen."
The Bali
bombings of 2002 and 2005 didn't
help. Which is ironic, given that
Islam — contrary to the rantings of
some extremists — is essentially a
tolerant religion. "Islam says to
Christians and Jews, 'We worship the
same God you do'," says Carland.
"Islam is a continuation. We feel
the prophets all came with the same
message."
So here comes
Salam Cafe, hoping to give
Aussie Muslims an image makeover via
humour — which in Australia is
usually the best way to make a
serious point.
"People are
probably not expecting the kinds of
stuff that comes out of our mouths,"
says Imam. "Even (producer) Ted
Robinson said, 'When I saw the show
the first time, I was laughing at
what you were laughing at. I
couldn't feel any distance'. Humour
is a particularly Australian
characteristic, and we all originate
from different places, but we're all
Australian. And the humour is
probably a reflection of the new
kinds of Muslim in Australia, who
are comfortable living and
practising their faith and joking."
Humour also
allows Salam Cafe to broach
sensitive topics.
"We won't do
anything we're uncomfortable with,"
says Carland. "But then we do
address some uncomfortable issues
because I think to ignore those
issues is even more offensive to
people."
The regulars
chosen for the 10 initial episodes
of Salam Cafe — to be filmed
in front of live audiences in Sydney
and Melbourne — are an impressive
bunch. There's Waleed Aly, the young
lawyer who is a regular contributor
to The Age opinion page and
ABC radio.
Salam Cafe's Ahmed Hassan, Ahmed Imam and Waleed
Aly.
There's the
show's host, Imam, who is the acting
chief executive of the Islamic
Council of Victoria, a father of
four and the son of the Mufti of
Australia (Fehmi Naji el-Imam). He
sees Salam Cafe as a
potentially useful tool in bringing
Islam into the consciousness of
mainstream Australia.
"I was born and
raised here in Australia," he says.
"My dad came to Australia in 1951
from Lebanon, then he married my
mother, who was of Anglo-Celtic
background and became a Muslim in
the '50s. The Muslim community in
the '50s in Sydney and Melbourne was
incredibly small, and only since the
'70s has Muslim migration
skyrocketed. So it's a changing
dynamic. Within the Muslim community
there are now more parents who have
grown up here and who understand the
environment and significance of the
cultural values."
Then there's
Carland, who is sharp, opinionated
and has a stud in her tongue.
"She has a
touch of the punk about her," says
Pamela Swain, who is producing with
Robinson.
"She's like a
punk mum. She's got a bit of the
rebel about her and is also a
feminist. But she's amazingly down
to earth, and so Aussie.
"I can't speak
highly enough of all them. The thing
that makes me really excited is
they're really young. The oldie is
Ahmed Iman, he's 38, but these are
mostly 20-somethings, and that's a
generation we don't often see on
television. This show is a big ask
of them, but I think it's got great
potential."
Also on the
team are Nazeem Hussain and Aamer
Rahman, comedians whose show Fear
of a Brown Planet, winner of the
best newcomer award at the Melbourne
International Comedy Festival, was
described by The Age as
"beautifully distilled fury".
Appearing beside them are Ahmed
Hassan, Dakhylina Madkhul and Toltu
Tufa.
With the help
of Robinson and Swain, whose credits
include Good News Week,
The Glass House and The
Sideshow, Salam Cafe on
SBS will be more polished than it
was in April 2005, when it premiered
on the community TV channel.
The idea for
the show came over a game of
Pictionary. "When you don't drink
it's just party around the clock,"
says Carland. "Ahmed just said,
'Wouldn't it be good to have a TV
show?' We thought it would be
awesome, so we filmed four episodes
in a local primary school. It was
all very Wayne's World, but
the Muslim community seemed to like
it. Originally it was just a panel
show, but then we brought in
sketches."
For the initial
episodes, the title was Ramadan
TV. "We deliberated for weeks
over what the name should be," Imam
says. "And just like the word
'Islam', and the word 'Muslim',
'Salam' comes from the word for
'peace'. And then we decided we
wanted to create the atmosphere of a
coffee shop. Because everybody loves
a coffee shop, especially in
Melbourne. So this is the Peace
Cafe. We didn't want something
overly Islamic or Arabic but
something where a Muslim sees the
name, they know, and when a
non-Muslim sees it, they might just
think, 'That's an interesting
name'."
As far as Imam
is concerned, the image problem
faced by Muslims in Australia will
soon pass.
"Everybody has
their time," he says. "The Italians,
the Greeks, the Asians, they all had
their time. Now it's the Muslims,
and probably even more so at the
moment it's the African community.
It could be someone else next.
The
Italians, Greeks and Asians have all
come through that, and it's going to
happen with Muslims, too, and
hopefully this show will assist with
that process. Not that we're
sponsored by the Department of
Immigration."
Muslim
chat show Salam
Cafe celebrates
and subverts
TV's oldest and
simplest format.
Melinda Houston
reports.
A desk. Chairs.
Coffee. For a
visual medium -
and one that
adores bells and
whistles - it
doesn't sound
like a killer
format. Yet the
classic set-up,
as old as telly,
is producing
some of the most
entertaining
programs on the
box at the
moment.
Where would any
of our footy
shows be without
it? Nine's The
Footy Show may
be justifiably
reviled, but it
continues to
draw massive
audiences. And
it's easy to
forget that in
its early days
that's all it
was: the desk,
the chairs, the
cups of coffee (DCCC),
and a mob of
cheeky,
footy-mad
blokes.
These Muslims have no
trouble laughing at themselves and the way they are
misrepresented.
Salam Cafe is a 10-week
comedy panel and sketch show aimed at young Australian
Muslims. Clearly intended to influence perceptions of
young Muslims in the current global climate, this series
wants to show that being a Muslim can be as much about
going to the footy as to the mosque and that Muslims
have no trouble laughing at themselves and the way they
are misrepresented.
There are gags about Muslims flying on one-way tickets,
owning mobile phones with extra room on the SIM card and
playing footy for the Essendon Bombers. Panel member
Susan Carland is introduced by host Ahmed Imam as 'the
Imelda Marcos of hijabs', there's a "Where's Osama"
segment, and the Idol rip-off "Australian Imam, the
search for Australia's most controversial Imam".
Non-Muslims, of course, could never make these jokes but
it's refreshing to see Muslim comics and community
leaders taking ownership of the prejudice they feel to
make it funny and entertaining.
TV's lighter side of Islam
a hit but not everyone's laughing
"GO home, Osama," was not
a particularly clever insult. "Go to hell, you educated
pigs," was much better, although a little unexpected.
Waleed Aly, a counter-terrorism expert and founding
member of the new SBS comedy Salam Cafe, reckons there
came a point where the racist insults he received in the
street stopped offending him and started making him
laugh.
"The funniest thing is the one-liners you get," he said.
"How can you compete with comedy like that? After a
while it stops being offensive and just starts being
funny."
Salam Cafe, the brainchild of the show's regular panel
members Mr Aly, Ahmed Imam and Susan Carland, takes a
rare look at the funnier side of the issues that affect
Muslims.
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Beat yolk, Sugar and Vanilla, until
white and fluffy (use electrical
beater)
Add Cheese and Beat Lightly
Beat Egg white until stiff
Fold the Egg white to the above
mixture
Beeat Fresh Cream and fold lightly
into the above
Coffee
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4 tsp Coffee (Nescafe)
2 Tbl Spoon Sugar
Topping
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Source: South African National Halal
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CCN or Crescents of Brisbane Inc.
THE format is
hardly ground-breaking. As a blend
of The Chaser and The
Panel, Salam Cafe aims to
deliver laughs via sketches, vox
pops and a discussion of the day's
issues. The twist is that the
panellists and interviewers are
Muslim, giving Salam Cafe —
which steps into SBS' Wednesday
night slot previously filled by
Newstopia — an endearingly
subversive edge.
