On behalf of Sicmaa’s Committee of Management, I would like to extend a very warm welcome to each and everyone, guests and members alike, who is here tonight.
Tonight, we are celebrating another great milestone that
Sicmaa has chalked up in the service of disadvantaged and multicultural people in the South-Eastern region of Melbourne. 42 years may not sound that long, but if you put your mind into it, it represents a whole generation of people and families that we have served.
Sicmaa, in it’s roles and services, has been integral contributor to this great success stories of the Indo-Chinese people in the South-East Region of Melbourne from the early days 42 years ago.
It has never been an easy task to maintain a charity, a voluntary welfare organization, which relies totally on the work of volunteers and the continuation of government funding for 42 years. There were times when we thought our services and association would have to close down , but spirit of “never say die “ and “never give up “ of a refugee/migrant had kept us going and helping.
Our programs were carried out successfully:
– Integrated Family Violence Support Service
– In-Language Gambling Counselling and Support Services
– We proudly produced the wonderful 2024 Sicmaa’s Calendar “The beauty of Flowers“
it has been funded by Department of Health – Gamblers Help – Gambling Harm
Prevention and Response.
– South East Family Service
– Sicmaa’s English language and Computer program
– Tax Help
– The power of linguistically and Cultural program : Vietnamese Active Living Group and
Carers group. It has been funded by Alfred Health . We create this very special program
for the Vietnamese care Recipients , not only assist them to be happy and more confidence in their life but also help their carers to alleviate the burden as well as restore their physical and mental health.
– We continued to support the Royal Children Hospital ‘s Good Friday Appeal
( Tin shaking )
– We also is partner with so many organisations , groups and network in the South East Region in many ways to carried out many, many, many activities
42 years have passed for Sicmaa and it has been a long and hard but rewarding journey. So many things have happened, staff come and go, programmes and services star and end but one thing does not change and that is Sicmaa’s compassion , kindness, commitment, drive and passion to work tirelessly for the disadvantaged Indo-Chinese people in Victoria. With all your support and help, we will continue for another 42 years and beyond to serve for the community. Our goal is to create a lasting impact on the lives of those we serve.
Without their compassion. kindness and generosity to help another fellow human being, SICMAA would not be here today.
On behalf of the Management committees members and staff of Sicmaa, I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks to :
oMy fellow Executive Committee of Management members for their tremendous support.
oMiss My Dung Nguyen, Co-Ordinator of Sicmaa for her caring and professional service to the community.
oSicmaa’s staff, co-located staff, visiting workers, volunteers and students for the support and assistance to our association.
Thank you for attending this 42nd AGM and celebration with us. We are looking forward to receiving on-going support from you all in the coming years.
Springvale Indochinese Mutual Assistance Association ( SICMAA )
Established in 1982 with mainly settlement and housing programs for Vietnamese refugees who escaped the Communist Regime in Vietnam, SICMAA at the beginning has helped so many Vietnamese Refugees to rebuild their lives in Australia. SICMAA staff at that time, with refugee background, they understood the pain, nostalgia as well as the hope and dreams that Vietnamese refugees expected in this new country, with all their hearts, commitments and professionalism, they assisted Vietnamese Refugees step by step to resettle and have a better life in Australia.
In the meantime, with on-going support from the City of Greater Dandenong, we have our office at 11-13. Morwell Parade, Springvale. We have just received good news. We have a new contract for another 5 years until 2029 ! This ensures that our clients receive our best care and support through a continuous, stable base and foundation without any interruptions.
We are very grateful and thank you to the Mayor of City of Greater Dandenong Cr. Eden Foster and all councilors , Mr. John Bennie CEO, Mr. Martin Fielder, Mrs. Jacqui Wheatherill, Mrs. Peta Gillies the Director of Community Strengthening , all officers from Community Facilities Property Rebecca Alberse , Kim Bernado who provided to us an excellent office so we can serve our community in many ways and services.
We are so happy to still receive funding for In-language Gambling Counselling and Support Services, Integrated Family Violence Support Service. The Integrated Family Violence Support Services is a big demand for this service and a very serious issue, but we only have one worker, who gets pay for only 1day per week. However, she volunteers her time and effort 1 more day per week. A great effort from our staff and Thank You.
Other programs were carried out successfully:
-South East Family Service
-SICMAA’s English Language Program.
-Tax Help
-The power of linguistically and culturally program: Vietnamese Active Living Group;
In 2022 , SICMAA and Alfred Health has been working in partnership with Alfred Health – CHSP to establish the “ Vietnamese Active Living group” program for Centre Based and Community Access Group Respite. It is obvious that this program has met the needs of the Vietnamese care recipients as we have more referrals request from other organisations and service providers. We create this very special program for the Vietnamese care recipients , not only assist them to be happy and more confidence in their life but also help their carers to alleviate the burden as well as restore their physical and mental health
We continued to support the Royal Children Hospital’s Good Friday Appeal and raised money for them in the streets, malls and shops in Springvale.
We also is partnered with so many organisations, groups and network in the South Eastern Region in many ways to carried out many, many, many activities.
SICMAA has a dream 16 years ago until now, we love to set up a cooking school to introduce our Vietnamese cooking and exchange our Australian cuisines.
We hope one day with a strong support from the local government, business associations and volunteers we will achieve our goal.
Many years we thank and dedicate our love and thanks to our volunteers who give up their time with their families to lent us their knowledge, wisdom and expertise, and their love and compassion to help another human being to make this world a better place to live in
On behalf of the Management committees’ members and staff of SICMAA, I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks to :
My fellow Executive Committee of Management members for their tremendous support.
Miss My Dung Nguyen , Co-ordinator of SICMAA for her caring and professional service to the community.
SICMAA’s staff , co-located staff, visiting workers, volunteers and students for the support and assistance to our association.
We are in eternal debs to the late Mr. Nguyen huu Chu , English Teacher passed away on 29th September 2022.
Mr. Mai Thanh Lap The President of Vietnamese Language School passed away on 18th June2023 who lives and generosity had touched us all in so many ways. Let’s We forget from SICMAA’s committee of Management and Staff and Volunteers.
Thanh you for all your support and attending 2023 AGM.
We are looking forward to receiving on -going support from you all in the coming years.
We hope you enjoy this year’s AGM and have a wonderful Christmas and New Year
BE HA OAM, JP
President
Springvale Indo-Chinese Mutual Assistance Association
Welcome to Sicmaa’s 40th Annual General Meeting and 40th Anniversary Celebration. It has been a long, hard and a productive journey for our Association in serving the Indo-Chinese communities in Victoria and in the South-Eastern region of Melbourne. While we can look back with pride and gratitude for so many wonderful things the Association, it’s staff and members have contributed towards improving the lives of so many Indo-Chinese people in Victoria, there are disturbing signs and challenges ahead for organisations like SICMAA in the delivery of services and assistance to the Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Communities.
From a very humble beginning, with the love and help of so many friends, associates and governments, especially of the Springvale Community Aid and Advice Bureau, SICMAA has survived and developed into one of the most respected and effective community based multi-ethnic welfare organization in Victoria. In the last 40 years, more than 200.000 direct assistance cases were provided for the Indo-Chinese refugees and migrants in the South -Eastern region of Melbourne by Sicmaa’s Staff. Today , our organization is providing a wide range of services from explaining and providing simple information to complex and on-going management cases.
While it is impossible for anyone to list every achievement the Association has done in the past 40 years, one can certainly recall many important contributions SICMAA has made to the settlement and development of the Indo-Chinese communities in Victoria. Being the first established Indo-Chinese welfare Agency, SICMAA was, in effect, the origin of the subsequent establishment of many important community organisations such as the Cambodian Association in Victoria, the Laotian Community Association in Victoria, the Springvale Indochinese Housing Cooperative, the Springvale Vietnamese Ethnic School etc…
Of course, SICMAA’s contributions were not just limited to the Indo-Chinese communities, they were also aimed to assist mainstream services and mainstream community to be more sensitive and appreciative of difficulties and contributions the Indo-Chinese people have faced and offered to Australian multicultural society. Perhaps, some of the most visible contributions SICMAA has made to the South East region are: the Annual Children’s Moon Festival, The Good Friday Appeal, The Tax help, The clean Up Australia Day …
With the support from all bodies government funding, all our hard-working staff, IT group, volunteers, we set up the system so everyone can work at home to continue to assist our client by phone, by email, by post, by video conferencing like zoom during COVID 19 crisis. The success and contribution SICMAA has made were the results of the direct efforts given by countless number of volunteers and the founding members of the Association, many of whom, are still with us here today. Words cannot adequately express the deep gratitude the association has towards all of its friends, volunteers, staff and the founding members. Today, we honouring them all. You are indeed our heroes and we thank you.
honouring them all. You are indeed our heroes, and we thank you.
AS far as individual thank you goes, it is an impossible task to mention everyone and every organization or government department that ever associated with SICMAA in the last 40 years. On behalf of the Management committee members and staff of SICMAA, I would like to take this to express my sincere thanks to:
SICMAA’s Founders:
Mr. Bui Huu Le
Mr. Nguyen Thanh Khiet
Mr. Phan Dinh Thuyen
Mr. Nguyen Do Huan
Mr. Hoang Cong Dung
Mr. Phan Dong Ly
Mr. Huynh Trung Thanh
Mr. Tran Hung
Mr. Doan Ngoc Mien
Mr. Nguyen van Hung
Mr. Tran Hoang
Mr. Ngo van Be
Mr. Nguyen Kim Khai
Mr. Lu Trieu Duong
Mr. Tran Ngoc Thanh
Mr. Vi Duc Huu
Mr. Nguyen Duy Huong
Mr. Vuong Thoai
Mr. Tran Thanh My
Mr. Nguyen Binh
Mr. Nguyen Thanh Long
Mrs. Nguyen thi Dep
Miss. Nguyen thi Hue
My fellow Executive Committee of Management members for their tremendous support.
Miss My Dung Nguyen, Co-Ordinator of Sicmaa for her caring and professional services to the community.
SICMAA’s Staff, co -located staff, visiting workers, volunteers and students for the support and assistance to our Association.
As I have said, SICMAA has lasted and developed for 40 years due to the volunteerism, the dedication and the contribution of its staff, its volunteers, it’s members and the whole community in the South East.
We are in eternal debs to the late advisors Eric, Merle Mitchell, the late volunteers like Mr. Hoang Duong , English Teacher , Mr. Nguyen Huu Chu , English Teacher passed away on 29th September 2022 . Mrs. Tong whose lives and generosity had touched us all in so many ways. Let’s We Forget from SICMAA’s Committee of Management and Staff.
40 years have passed for SICMAA and it has been a long and hard but very rewarding journey. So many things have happened, staff come and go, programs and services start and end but one thing does not change and that is SICMAA’s compassion, kindness, commitment, drive and passion to work tirelessly for the disadvantaged Indo-Chinese people in Victoria. With all your support and help, we will continue for another 40 years and beyond to serve and work tirelessly for the community.
Without their compassion, kindness and generosity to help another fellow human being, SICMAA would not be here today.
Thank you for attending this 40th AGM and celebration with us.
We are looking forward to receiving on- going support from you all in the coming years.
Springvale Indochinese Mutual Assistance Association ( SICMAA )
SICMAA 