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Paris, 5 July 2006

Mr Tye Soon Kwai
President
Malaysian Association in France
Paris

Dear Mr Tye,

I wish to thank you for the sumptious farewell dinner which you kindly feted me and my family on 16  June 2006.

May I take this opportunity, through you, to express my appreciation to all members of MAF for their support when I was the Patron of MAF from July 2004 to July 2006. Though it was an added responsibility for me, nevertheless it was an enjoyable experience.

I was pleased that, with the cooperation of the Embassy, MAF was able to carry out many activities that brought together many Malaysians living or residing in and around Paris. I was glad that I was able to attend most of the functions you organized.

The most memorable event to my mind was the 2004 Deepavalli-Hari Raya celebration we had at the UNESCO Restaurant where more than 300 Malaysians turned up. It was an astounding success with plenty of food as members  and guests also brought their own dishes in the pot luck tradition. I was surprised at the big turnout as MAF and the Embassy had only about 150 names on their list. Some came for the first time having read about the event from the MAF website and from other Malaysians no doubt. I was pleased that MAF Committee members took this golden opportunity to recruit new members as it was not easy to rope in people to become paying members.

In spring this year, at the invitation of H E Ambassador Dato’ Noor Farida Ariffin and the Malaysian Association of the Netherlands officers and staff of the Embassy, UNESCO, MINDEF and MAF travelled to Den Haaq (the Hague) to participate as one team in the Paris-Den Haaq Games. Among the games which our Team Paris competed in were volleyball, bowling, tennis and badminton. I was happy to see the sporting spirit shown by everyone from France. The MINDEF team came all the way from Brest and Cherbourg to join Team Paris at the Hague.

I believe this brotherly spirit of competition should be encouraged and perhaps expanded to nearby Malaysian missions in Europe as well, such as London,Brussels,Berlin and even Berne or Vienna, if there is support. Besides participating in a friendly competition, members will have the opportunity of making new friends and visiting other places in Europe like the opportunity we had to visit the beautiful Keukenhof tulips garden outside the Hague.

My family and I will cherish our stay in Paris. It was made more memorable by knowing you and other members through participation in your activities. I hope our paths will cross again at some time in the future. I will continue to follow MAF activities through your website.

On behalf of my family I thank you for your friendship and support and seek your forgiveness if in the course of our stay we may have offended you either through words or deeds that were unintentional. May God bless you and all members of MAF.

Au revoir.

Dato’ Hamidah Mohd Yusoff
Ambassador