The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) has one of the fastest-growing populations of people aged 60 years and over in Australia. This is expected to grow from 15.8% in 2010 to 19.6% by 2020, and to 22% by 2030. Ageing is part of the life process. Each person’s ageing is influenced by many factors including socio-economic circumstances, life experience, gender, cultural background, education and general health. If not taken in the right spirit, old age can be boring and gloomy for us. Rather than being grumpy old, it is better to enjoy the dusk of our life, rejoicing the memories of the past. Though the body does not remain much active by this time, one should make sure to keep the zest for life intact. Positive ageing is about having a good quality of life through social relationships, a healthy lifestyle and feeling welcomed in the community. Positive ageing is also about seniors remaining involved, caring for themselves and each other and embracing this stage of their lives.
Bearing in mind that the Bangladeshi Australian community in Canberra would fall under the same aging population statistics of the ACT mentioned above and visioning the impact of aging on the quality of lives of the community members, a senior member of our community Mr. Zillur Rahman started tossing the idea about establishing a club for Bangladeshi Australian seniors in Canberra while attending various social gatherings of the Bangladeshi Australian community in Canberra. As expected, Mr. Rahman received tremendous encouragements from the community members particularly the senior members of the community to go ahead with establishing the proposed club. Initially it was thought that the club will be a subunit of Bangladeshi Canberran’s association the Bangladesh Australia Association of Canberra (BAAC). However, another club as a subunit of BAAC in addition to BAAC’s subunit the Bangla School and the then subunit Bangla Radio found to be not feasible. As Mr. Zillur Rahman progressed with more community consultations about a seniors’ club, majority of the community members opined for establishing a Bangladeshi Seniors’ club in Canberra independent of any other organisations of the Bangladeshi Australian community in Canberra.
The next step was to attract membership of the proposed Bangladeshi Australian seniors club in Canberra and the interested members of Bangladeshi Australian community in Canberra aged 50 and over were requested to send their names to the convener of the proposed club Mr Zillur Rahman and also were requested to attend a preliminary meeting of the proposed Bangladeshi Seniors Club. The meeting was held at 5:00 PM on the 8th of January 2012 at Tuggeranong Town Park (Next to Tuggeranong Swimming Centre). Attendees of the meeting wholeheartedly supported the idea of establishing a seniors’ club for the Bangladeshi Australian seniors in Canberra and agreed to move forward with formally establishing a club with the suggested goals and vision to improve the quality of life for its members, make their lives easier by assisting them in as many areas as possible through recreational, social and cultural activities and by organizing trips, excursions and outings to discover new places and new friends etc.
The Bangladeshi Australian community members that were present in the meeting decided that the club’s name will be “Bangladeshi Seniors Club, Canberra”. and recommended the following purpose of the Club:
- To promote the ethos of ‘Healthy Ageing through Activity’.
- To promote the well-being of all older people and help make their lives enjoyable and fulfilling.
- To provide opportunities for socializing and friendship.
- To initiate, foster and co-ordinate, where necessary, projects which will contribute to providing opportunities for seniors to participate in recreational social and cultural activities.
- To arrange and conduct educational, scientific and sporting or other activities of any sort, as approved by the members for the entertainment and assistance of the members.
- To promote the welfare and interests of older people within the ACT area.
- To encourage members' participation in community activities.
- To liaise with other agencies, government & non-government, catering for seniors needs.
- To be a democratic, non-profit making, non-partisan, non-racial, non-sectarian, not affiliated to or connected directly with any political party or political organisation.
The Bangladeshi Australian community members that were present in the meeting elected the following inaugural executive committee of the Club.
- President: Md Zillur Rahman
- Vice President: Mohammad A Quadir
- General Secretary: Kamrul Ahsan Khan
- Treasurer: Mohammad Abdul Quddus
- Member: Mohammad Jainal Abedin
- Member: Shireen Ahmed
- Member: Monir Mir
The Club got its registration from ACT’s Office of the Regulatory Services in the same year and formally got its registered name of Bangladeshi Seniors Club, Canberra Inc. The Club currently has got approximately 60 members and continuously has been receiving growing expression of interests for becoming new member of the club from the community members who have recently turned 50 years.