Golden Jubilee: Visits : Far East visit

Far East visit



Mawlana Hazar Imam sees the Far East as an example of plurality and hope


Singapore - South East Asia’s multiracial and cosmopolitan country with its diverse ethnic tapestry was the perfect location for Mawlana Hazar Imam’s Golden Jubilee visit to the Far East. It was with immense happiness and anticipation that the Jamats from 12 Far Eastern countries, together with Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea gathered with the International Jamat at the Singapore Expo to celebrate the occasion in December last year.
For the Jamat of the Far East, comprising those residing in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Myanmar, Japan, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Philippines, South Korea, Cambodia and Vietnam, it had been 21 years since the last visit of the Imam to see his Jamat in 1987.
The history of the Jamat in the region may be traced back to the late 1800s, when members of the Jamat began to settle in various centres connected with the trading routes of the Indian Ocean. The community of the Subcontinent, primarily mercantile traders and agriculturalists, sought opportunities abroad and many settled in the port towns of Gwadar, Muscat, Aden, Yangon, Colombo, Hong Kong, Singapore Port Klang and Penang. Similarly, increasing mobility and economic opportunity enabled individual settlements and family migration resulting in the emergence, since the end of the twentieth century, of a small Ismaili community scattered variously across East Asia including Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.
Mawlana Hazar Imam arrived at Singapore’s Changi International Airport late and was received by Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, His Excellency Zainul Abidin Rasheed as well as senior Jamati leadership.
The next day was one of several meetings with government officials. The first was a call on Singapore’s President S.R. Nathan at his official residence, The Istana. The meeting with the President was also attended by other government officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the National University of Singapore and the Urban Redevelopment Authority.
In the afternoon, Mawlana Hazar Imam was hosted to a lunch by Senior Minister, Goh Chok Tong. Government officials present at the lunch included Mr Kishore Mahbubani, Dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy and Prof Wang Gungwu, Chairman of the East Asian Institute. Soon afterwards, Mawlana Hazar Imam attended a meeting with Minister for Foreign Affairs, George Yeo.
This was followed by a visit to the Singapore City Gallery which offers an insight into the designs of Singapore’s Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA). Here, Mawlana Hazar Imam was received by the CEO, Ms. Cheong-Chua Koon Hean. The exhibits at the gallery included a Draft Master Plan which showcased the land use plan guiding Singapore’s physical development over the next 10 to 15 years and a Central Area Model; one of the largest architectural models in the world allowing visitors to have a bird’s eye view of the business district, as well as historical areas of Singapore and the Singapore River.
Mawlana Hazar Imam then proceeded to the Asian Civilisations Museum, which boasts a collection of over 1,300 artefacts tracing the cultural roots of modern Singapore featuring a diverse collection from Southeast Asia, South Asia, China and the Islamic World of West Asia. The museum was built in 1865, and in 1992, it was earmarked as a National Monument. Ms Tan Huism, Deputy Director of Curation and Collections gave Mawlana Hazar Imam a personal tour of the Museum. The display begins with exhibits of excavated artefacts evidencing signs of human habitation in Southeast Asia that dates back at least 40,000 years. The Islamic exhibit explores the following three themes: Islam as a Way of Life, Islamic Art and Seeking Knowledge.
The same night, Mawlana Hazar Imam was hosted to a dinner by the Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs, Dr. Yaacob Ibrahim. Also present at the dinner were members of the Muslim Community in Singapore including Haji Mohd Alami Musa, President, Islamic Council of Singapore and Mrs Zuraidah Abdullah, Chief Executive Officer, Mendaki.
Meanwhile, the Jamat was entertained with a series of cultural activities organised throughout the 3-day event to mark the celebrations, including a Ginan-e-Mehfil, Mehendi, Tasbih -making and Rangeen Safar, a showcase of cultures of the countries in which the Ismaili Imams resided over 1400 years as well as those of the Far East Jamats. Bait-ul-Ilm children as young as 5yrs presented the Conference of the Birds, an enlightening drama of spiritual awakening. Each valley in the performance was enacted by a different Far East Country. Despite the challenges of planning and practising these activities for the geographically dispersed Jamats, each performance was a resounding success.
On Wednesday, 3rd December 2008, thousands of Jamati members gathered at the Singapore Expo for the highly anticipated Golden Jubilee Darbar. This was a testament of brotherhood and volunteerism in its truest sense. Members of the Jamat from across the Far East as well from many other countries, worked together day after day, night after night, to miraculously transform the Singapore Expo site to a stunningly decorated hall, appropriate for a Darbar. During the Darbar, President Inayat Bana of the Ismaili Council for Malaysia and Singapore delivered a loyalty address.
Immediately after the Darbar, Mawlana Hazar Imam was guest of honour at a lunch hosted by the Jamati Institutions at the Shangri La Hotel. During the luncheon, guests were presented with a performance specially choreographed by the Far East youth. The show encompassed the cultures of all 12 countries in the region in a truly remarkable display of diversity and unity. The first song was an instrumental Japanese piece by Kitaro called Matsuri (Festival) where artists cleverly formed a Chinese oriental fan dance to represent the cultures of Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea and Japan, a traditional Thai dance, a semi-classical Indian piece representing Sri Lanka, ending with a Harvest Dance representing Myanmar, Philippines, Cambodia and Vietnam. This was then followed by Malay and Indonesian folk dance called “Dia Datang” meaning “You Came”.
Mawlana Hazar Imam was presented with a model of a traditional Thai house as a gift by the Jamati leadership. Skilled goldsmiths took more than more than 3,000 hours to craft the piece.
Addressing the guests, Mawlana Hazar Imam spoke of the work of the AKDN institutions across the world, and the importance of achieving results quickly:

“You can always achieve results over a long period of time. But every time you do that you damage a generation. And every time you move more quickly you bring hope to an earlier generation. This is the reason for which, this notion of time is so important in my mind, and I believe now, is well shared by the Jamati leaders around the world.”

Mawlana Hazar Imam then continued to speak of the lessons to be learnt from the region. “I want my Jamati leaders from this part of the world to know how much I admire the work that you are doing, how much I look forward to working with you in the years ahead, how much I believe that the pragmatism that you have here, the attention to merit, the attempt to achieve best practice in everything that is undertaken, are all standards that we should adopt in the Jamat worldwide. So we have a lot to learn here.”
Following the luncheon, Mawlana Hazar Imam departed Singapore. The Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, His Excellency Zainul Abidin Rasheed, bid him farewell on behalf of the Singapore Government. Senior Jamati leaders were also present as Hazar Imam’s Golden Jubilee visit to the Far East drew to a close.