Singapore appoints non-resident Representative to the Palestinian Territories

Singapore Senior Minister of State (SMS), Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dr Mohamad Maliki Osman, has reiterated Singapore’s commitment to support the capacity-building efforts of the Palestinian people during a working visit to the Palestinian Territories.

In a meeting with Palestinian National Authority (PNA) President Mahmoud Abbas, PNA Prime Minister Dr Rami Hamdallah, PNA Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Riyad Al-Maliki, PNA Minister of Education and Higher Education Dr Sabri Saidam, and PNA Minister of National Economy Abeer Odeh in Ramallah, SMS Maliki disclosed that Singapore is appointing Hawazi Daipi as Singapore’s non-resident Representative to the PNA to coordinate Singapore’s Enhanced Technical Assistance Package for the Palestinians.

The PNA leaders welcomed the appointment.

SMS Maliki also reiterated Singapore’s consistent position and longstanding support for the two-state solution with Israel and Palestine living side-by-side in peace and security. He expressed the hope that both sides would resume negotiations and make progress towards a just and durable solution.

Korea Muslim Federation sets up support service for overseas Muslims

The Korea Muslim Federation (KMF) has launched a new support service for overseas Muslims.

The service can provide counselling on problems with Korean employers as well as on ceremonies for life event such as marriages and funerals.

Interested?

Call +82 2793 6908 or email islam at koreaislam.org

Emirates Islamic opens new forex counter at Al Maktoum International Airport

Source: Emirates Islamic. Emirates Islamic’s Foreign Exchange Counter at Al Maktoum International Airport at Dubai World Central.

Emirates Islamic today announced the opening of a foreign exchange (FX) counter at Al Maktoum International Airport at Dubai World Central. The new FX counter, located at the airport’s departure lounge, will enable travellers and tourists to exchange up to 19 currencies at highly competitive rates.

In addition to Al Maktoum International Airport, the bank operates a FX counter at Port Rashid Cruise Terminal. Foreign exchange and remittance services are an important aspect of Emirates Islamic’s retail product suite, with the bank offering regular seasonal promotions and competitive rates on the currencies available.

Faisal Aqil, Deputy CEO - Consumer Wealth Management, Emirates Islamic, said: “Al Maktoum International Airport is becoming an increasingly busy destination and is expected to handle over 26 million passengers by 2017. We are extremely pleased to open an Emirates Islamic counter to serve the needs of travellers using the airport. As part of our strategy to expand our foreign exchange offerings, we plan to open more counters at high-traffic locations such as malls and airports, as well as continue offering the best offers and rates to our customers.”

Team from Australian National University wins against native Arabic speakers in Qatar

Source: ANU, CAIS. The debating team.

A team of four students from the Centre for Arab & Islamic Studies (CAIS) represented Australia and the Australian National University (ANU) at the Third International Universities Arabic Debating Championship held in Doha, Qatar from 26 to 29 April 2015. 

Despite the challenges of debating with native speakers of Arabic, the ANU team - Yara Hussien, Thomas Randall, Derek Bayley and Andrew Findell-Aghnatios, led by CAIS PhD scholar Adel Abdel Ghafar - was commended for its performance both by other teams and the event organisers. The ANU team also won against a team of native Arabic speakers from the American University of the Emirates, which involved debating Internet censorship and democratisation. 

“I am very proud of the team’s performance,” Abdel Ghafar said. “Their performance is a reflection on both the student’s debating skills and the world-class quality of the Arabic programme at CAIS.”

This was the second time ANU students had participated, last competing in the event in 2013. Supported by the Qatar Foundation, the four-day biannual event seeks to unlock human potential by fostering a culture of discussion and debate, helping shape the global citizens of the future and creating the intellectual leaders of tomorrow. 

The championship saw a huge increase in the number of participants this year, with 67 teams representing 33 countries competing. Teams from non-Arab speaking universities came from Australia, India, Pakistan, Brunei, Malaysia, France, Poland, China, Korea, Kazakhstan, the US and Germany.