The Canberra Multicultural Community Forum is delighted that the ACT Government has decided to invest an additional $200,000 into the 2012 and 2013 National Multicultural Festivals, Chair Sam Wong said today.
“The money will be used to increase the ‘footprint’ of the Festival, allowing it to expand into adjacent areas of Civic. Anyone who was present [...]

[ 2 May, 2011; 12:30 pm; ] The 69th anniversary of the World War II Battle of the Coral Sea will be marked during a commemoration service at the Australian American Memorial in Blamey Square, Russell, beginning at 1.30pm.

The service is organised every year by the Canberra Division of the Australian American Association (AAA) with the full support of the Australian and [...]

The Canberra Multicultural Community Forum will work with the ACT Government to ensure the success of next month’s Multicultural Youth Fourum.

The Canberra Multicultural Community Forum opposes the transfer of the running of the National Multicultural Festival from the ACT Office of Multicultural Affairs to a ‘Special Events Unit’.

The Canberra Chinese Community has boosted the Queensland Disaster Relief Appeal by more than $21,000 – on one night.

Canberra Muslims have expressed concern that ACT Senator Gary Humphries submitted a petition from three Sydney individuals calling for a 10-year moratorium on Muslim migration.

The Canberra Multicultural Community Association wishes to disassociate itself from any moves to ‘ban’ Christmas from schools, offices or other workplaces, CMCF Chair Sam Wong said today.
 “I have just read about a Victorian kindergarten that has decided to exclude Christmas from its end-of-year party and these reports are becoming increasingly common,” Mr Wong said.
 “Of course, [...]

The Canberra Multicultural Community Forum does not support the significant changes to the National Multicultural Festival recommended in the Loxton Report, CMCF Chair Sam Wong said today.
“While there are some positive elements to the report, we do not accept that the Festival should be moved to later in the year to become a feature of [...]

The Muslim Holy Month of Ramadan ended yesterday allowing Canberra’s Muslim community to break its dawn-to-dusk fast which it has been holding for the past 30 days.
Canberra Multicultural Community Forum Vice President Diana Abdel-Rahman said that the next few days would be one of rejoicing and feasting for the community as it marked Ed al-Fitr, [...]

A call was made today for the National Multicultural Festival to remain a primarily community-orientated event under the control of the ACT Office of Multicultural Affairs.
Chair of the Canberra Multicultural Community Forum (CMCF), Sam Wong, noted that the Loxton Report on the arts in Canberra, had recommended the Festival should return to an enlarged, professionally-curated [...]

A network targeting Canberra’s multicultural seniors will be launched by Canberra Multicultural Community Forum patron Eleanor Grassby in the city this week.
Under the auspicious of the CMCF and supported by a grant from the ACT Government, the Multicultural Seniors Network has been set up by a group headed by CMCF secretary Chin Wong.
Its initial activity [...]

The Canberra Multicultural Community Forum (CMCF) gives its full support to the relocation of the Islamic School of Canberra from Watson to a larger site at Weston Creek, Chair Sam Wong said today.
“I congratulate the Islamic Council of the ACT, the Council’s president, Mohammed Berjaoui, the Chair of the ACT Muslim Advisory Council, Ikebal Patel, [...]

The Canberra Multicultural Community Forum is ready to support moves to instigate an appeal for the victims of the Chilean earthquake, CMCF chair Sam Wong said today.
“I have been approached by the Australian Chilean Friendship Society and the Chilean Embassy in Canberra requesting an appeal be set up,” Mr Wong said.
“To this end I have [...]

The autumn market at the Italian Cultural Centre in Forrest is going multicultural in celebration of Harmony Day, the Chair of the Canberra Multicultural Community Forum, Sam Wong, said today. “The market is held quarterly to correspond with the seasons and is a long-standing fixture at the centre. In the past it has had a [...]

The Chair of the Canberra Multicultural Community Forum, Sam Wong, has paid tribute to the Forum’s retiring co-patron, the Ambassador for Mexico and Dean of the Diplomatic Corps, Martha Ortiz de Rosas.
Mr Wong said it was accepted practice for the Forum to invite the current Dean of the Diplomatic Corps to be its co-patron. Ambassador [...]

The Canberra Multicultural Community Forum is delighted to learn that the ACT’s Ahmed Youssef has been named Australian Muslim Volunteer of the Year.
 CMCF Vice-Chair, Diana Rahman, said the award was richly deserved.
 “Ahmed is a founding member and former president of the Canberra Islamic Centre (CIC) at Monash which over the years has established itself as [...]

A retiring committee member of the Canberra Multicultural Community Forum, Patrick O’Flaherty, will be a special guest at Parliament House on Monday, November 16 to hear a formal apology to the ‘Forgotten Australians’ and former child migrants by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.
 The apology will be made to more than half a million Australians, and some [...]

Canberra Multicultural Community Forum Chair Sam Wong said he was shocked and saddened by the Pacific earthquake and tsunami which has killed more than 120 people in Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga.
 “Coming just 24 hours after Typhoon Ketsana which has devastated parts of the Philippines and Vietnam, and now the earthquake in Indonesia, this has [...]

The Chair of the Canberra Multicultural Community Forum, Sam Wong, has urged Canberra residents to get behind the Australian Red Cross appeal for victims of Typhoon Ketsana in the Philippines and Vietnam.
“Australians who have lived in the tropical north will know the fear that even the threat of a cyclone generates,” Mr Wong said.
 “In this [...]

The Canberra Multicultural Forum supports the ACT’s Muslim community as it continues to observe the Holy Month of Ramadan, Chair Sam Wong said today. 
“Ramadan is one of the great faith celebrations, marked by Muslims throughout the world – a time for reflection and introspection,” Mr Wong said. “A key part of this observance is fasting between [...]

The Canberra Multicultural Community Forum is offering support to the ACT-based relatives and friends of the victims of the devastating typhoons which have hit East Asia in recent days. 
After wreaking destruction in the Philippines, leaving 22 dead, Typhoon Morakot lashed Taiwan with the toll there climbing to more than 500 – including 300 from one village [...]

Attended the concert for the Abruzzo Earthquake Appeal at the Italo-Australian Club yesterday (Sun). A brilliant afternoon’s entertainment and a heap of money raised for the Appeal.
My highlight had to be the Katika Drums African Rythms with most of the audience standing and doing various versions of the ‘Mandella Shuffle’.
ACT’s contribution to the Appeal is [...]