Venkat Raman
Members of the Auckland Malayali Samaj elected Soman Mathew to the post of President at their Annual General Meeting (AGM) held recently.
The Meeting, held at Auckland Normal School based in Mt Eden, also elected Pradhu Unnithan and Blessan M Jose to the respective posts of Vice-President and Secretary.
Dr Michael Manjalloor, a Senior Academic, was the Presiding Officer.
Other Office-bearers
Among the others elected to various posts in the Executive Committee are Devi Unnithan (Joint Secretary), Paul Joseph (Joint Secretary), Dr Mary Smitha, Ranjith Nair, Ratheesh Nair, Subhash Raghunathan and Swarnalatha Venugopalan (Members).
Earlier, outgoing Secretary Thomas Joseph presented a report of the activities of the Samajam for the previous year, while outgoing President Benny Jacob acknowledged individuals and institutions that supported his team last year.
Growing Community
Blessan M Jose said that the Malayali community (from the South Indian State of Kerala) accounts for 20,000 people in New Zealand, of which about 15,000 live in Auckland.
“Although the Auckland Malayali Samajam is an organisation is based in the country’s largest city, it extends support, guidance and services to members of the community throughout New Zealand. These include community events, cultural and social celebrations, promotion of Malayalam language, sports and charity projects,” he said.
Mr Jose said that a cultural programme, Kerala Inter-District Tug-of-War competition and dinner formed a part of the AGM Meeting.
The new team at Auckland Malayali Samajam
(Picture as collage supplied)
