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President of CAV

President's Message...

am pleased to bring you this edition of newsletter. It is a commemoration to the committed and selfishless volunteers and staff, and the most supportive committee of management in my last term as President.

The tremendous support of the wider community including that of the business sector is also acknowledged. To you all, thank you.

On this note, I wish to especially thank members of the Association who have re-elected me as Head of the organization. Your trust, encouragement and support have been very inspirational.

The last years have been very challenging for our organization – from the perspectives of both the internal and external environments; however, the upcoming years will be even more challenging.

A lot have been said about recent world tragedies, and the urgent need to have harmony in the community. We believe that harmony is about being able to live gracefully with dignity within the community and amongst the communities. This is particularly so in such a diversely multi-cultural society like ours. It is about tolerance and respect for one another, irrespective of one’s colour, language, culture or belief. The Victorian Multicultural Commission is to be commended for its initiative on the recently developed Community Accord (racial tolerance and respect) – to which the Cambodian community is proud to be signatory.

We are also proud of our small initiative in undertaking and organising the upcoming Sangkran Cultural Festival – a joint effort involving a number of communities including Burmese, Cambodian, Indian, Laos, Sri-lankan and Thai. Our vision is to promote Sangkran awareness and to share Sangkran as a unique cultural festival in Australia. Underlying this, however, we have the objectives of promoting cultural diversity and awareness, breaking down social isolation, and further promoting harmony in the community.

At a local Cambodian level, we have also actively promoted and encouraged actions, which lead to the neutralisation of tension and reducing the misunderstandings, which have existed within some elements of our own community. The perception that we work cooperatively, recognising the strengths and vision of the respective groups, is essential to the realisation of harmonious and successful settlement in this new home.strengths and vision of the respective groups, is essential to the realisation of harmonious and successful settlement in this new home.

As our community ages and becomes parts of the wider community, so too is the changing needs of our members. The memory of the genocide experienced by a majority of the people means they continue to seek a more culturally sensitive service to their needs – whether it be general resettlement, social isolation, addict gambling, or inter-generation issues. Hence, it is appalling that the Immigration Minister, Mr. Phillip Ruddock, has again decided to reject our grant application this year. Implicate in his decision is a belief that the settlement needs of the Cambodian community are reducing as direct migration from Cambodia declines. On the contrary, we have experienced no decline in the demand due to reasons outlined above.

The Association wishes to acknowledge the recognition and the ongoing strong support of the State government and its agencies during the year. These include the Community Services Department, Consumers Affairs, Parks Victoria, Victorian Multicultural Commission, and the Department of Education, Employment and Training. As a result, we have been able to maintain, develop and revitalise the various objective programs integral to our services. The environmental education, and the community jobs programs particularly have both delivered resounding successes (see inside articles). That Employment Minister Mr. John Pandazopolous’s decision to reward us with the second round of grants ($110K) last month is not by accident. The recognition of our ability to manage projects and adding value cannot be taken lightly.

We also wish to thank the City of Greater Dandenong for its support of our Youth Development program, and the Sangkran Cultural Festival.

I look forward to serving you in my second term.

Last modified: Thursday 06-Feb-2003

© 2007 CAV Inc.