Last Saturday, after another wonderful Clayton slumber party with our habeebs, we found ourselves catching a train back to the city. The weather was wet and wonderful, if one weren’t stuck outdoors with no apparent shade and semi-formal wear to boot. As it were, our shoes were on the sloshy side by the time we arrived at the Union Theatre at the University of Melbourne, just in time for the start of the A2I (Aspire 2 Inspire) Youth Conference, the preceding event for the Young Australian-Muslim of the Year (YAMY) Awards 2007.
After the AAIC’s workshop for young muslimah, Aisha and I had met up with Monique Toohey and Tasneem Chopra, where Aisha briefed them about the social problems afflicting the predominantly Muslim Malaysian youth and asked suggestions about the little steps that can be taken to counter such behaviour. After going through the predictable and oft-unsuccessful possibilities (parents, elders, counselling, awareness campaigns – been there, got the souvenir), she suggested organizing an event that would appeal to the youth – something that would entertain and educate them simultaneously, while providing inspiring and do-able examples for them to emulate; something that would make being a true-blue Muslim appeal to them. She asked us whether we have ever attended the YAMYs.
So Saturday afternoon, we trudged our way through the autumn shower and into the darkened, segregated Union Theatre, where everyone (well, mostly the girls) were dressed up to the nines. It looked like there was going to be a huge, dizzying party but without the booze and free mixing.
The itinerary was interesting, and in truth, it was most definitely a youth event; something with the manner of a prolonged party, but with inspiring talks by various youth leaders, all garnered around a not-too-subtle theme of encouraging youth participation in the community. In between, there were giveaways and the traditional chatter of the co-hosts, Saara and Nazeem, both of whom are widely known in the Melbourne Muslim youth circle.
The official opening of the event was Qur’anic recitation, and the chosen verses were, from what little I understood, relevant to the night’s theme of youth activism, so it was disappointing that there was no translation provided. It could’ve sobered up the audience a little, which started antsy and continued to progress so throughout.
The fantastic parody of The Simpsons opening sequence, The Ahmeds, set the pace for the self-deprecating humour presented through the A2I, also apparent in the format of the panel judging the various speakers, mocking the Australian Idol trio.
The first speaker was Assad Ansari, ICV Vice-President, talkshow host and hotshot lawyer, who touched on the importance of involvement in the community, drawing example from the apartheid and the Australian movement against it. Next was Dounia Lahouile, part of the national taekwondo team and hijabi, who talked about her experience representing her country and her motivation for accepting the bruises and fractured bones as part of her everyday.
There was a play set up by the YAMY team and several volunteers after the Asr break, ‘The Day in the Life of a Young Muslim Male’. It was funny enough, while highlighting the cultural and generational breakdowns, as well as the typical temptations faced by young Muslims, but what could’ve been a promising ending ended up as a feeble punch line, which took a while to sink in anyway. What could’ve made a lingering impact became a flitting interest instead, which is a shame, because the play was on the right track, what with the scene with the ‘thug brothas’ and all.
There was a surprise video recording of an interview with the famous Essendon FC player, Bachar Houli, who garnered the loudest whistles and applause (again, mostly by girls) and my ardent respect for all that he’s done in the name of the Australian fair-go. What with the current sledging controversy and sexual discrimination claims within the league, it’s heartening to learn of a man who will go to great lengths to pray five times a day and demand his halal food, and yet admit to it modestly.
The youngest speaker and winner of the UNHCR Oration Award, Medina Hajdarevic from Werribee Islamic College was original and concise on her belief in the human potential to do good by others, merely by tapping into themselves. Sister Saara Sabbagh, community youth worker and quite easily the best speaker of the night, brought talk back to the Heavens and the theme full circle as explained the sufi concepts of closing the bridge with Allah via himmah and khidmah, or aspiring and rendering service, respectively.
At the end of the event (due to travel exhaustion, Nu and I gave up on the awards part of the evening), I could see the main purpose and intention behind the YAMYs. Much like its more traditional counterparts, it focuses on getting the grassroots back to its Islamic identity, by making it cool to be Muslim. Unlike its traditional counterparts, it takes the contemporary approach, taking things slow and easy and being highly careful not to impose. Good messages are stressed frequently throughout (the idea is, after all, for good wholesome entertainment and simultaneous education), but at times the marketing strategy was a little obvious, and mostly, there was a sense of compromise. But it did good enough, considering its wide target audience and approach to the more assimilated Muslim youth – from the proudly practising to the hiding non-practitioners. It could have been better organized and the jokes could have been less corny, but maybe it’s just me.
The practicality of applying something like this in
That said, it needs to be stressed that the Malaysian reality and the Australian situation are similar, yet starkly different. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that in
And for another, there has yet to be a nasyeed-only rap group to emerge from urban
Labels: event