September 10, 2008
Golden Jubilee Celebrations to be held on December 8 instead of December 21
Dear fellow Publicans,
Salaams & greetings.
The eight planning co-ordination meeting was held on Saturday, 6th September 2008 from 12:15 p.m. to about 1:40 p.m. at the School premises.
Previous meetings were held as follows:
1st 7th June 2008
2nd 28th June 2008
3rd 26th July 2008
4th 7th August 2008
5th 12th August 2008
6th 15th August 2008
(soft celebration on 16th August 2008)
7th 23rd August 2008
At the outset, on 6th September, Fateha was offered for the departed soul of the beloved mother (who passed away recently) of Publican Amir Ali Sethi.
Names of participants are:
- Mr. Javed Jabbar
- Mr. Zaffar Ahmed Khan
- Mr. Khawaja Fariduddin
- Ms. Shirley Haider
- Syed Tanveer Ahmed
- Mr. Haroon Rasheed.
- Mr. Ashraf Kapadia
- Mr. Zohair Ashir.
- Mr. Akbar Adil
- Mr. Aftab Ahmed Sethi.
- Mr. Talib ul Haq
- Mr. M. Saeed Khalid
- Mr. S M Babar
- Mr. Jawaid Iqbal
Some Publicans conveyed regrets at absence due to unavoidable reasons.
As an attendance sheet was not signed this time, in case any name is inadvertently omitted: please correct/add!
Publican Muhammad Saeed Khan provided a helpful draft of the minutes.
The following decisions were taken:
1. The date for the main celebration of the Golden Jubilee anniversary was changed from the original date of Sunday, 21st December 2008 to the evening of Monday, 8th December 2008.
The reasons for this change are as follows:
i) Most members present, while uneasy at having to change the date already agreed upon after considerable discussion, were now of the firm opinion that, in view of the large number of weddings, family engagements, etc. in the period immediately before the commencement of Moharram in end-December., it is better to fix a date in the early part of December, when the rush and the crush are less than the latter part of December.
ii) As Sunday is a heavy day for such other evening engagements, it is better to choose a working day like Monday, rather than a Saturday or Sunday.
iii) An evening celebration is far better than a mid-day meeting.
Regrets are conveyed to any Publicans who may have already fixed the date of 21st December in their calendars.
It was agreed that the principal celebration will be, repeat, in the early evening i.e. 7 p.m./8 p.m. on Monday, 8th December 2008 at the School premises.
2. To establish a formal organization:
Now that Publicans have shown interest over the past few weeks in reviving and maintaining their contacts, it is time to establish a formal organization rather than continue as an informal arrangement.
It was therefore, agreed to invite/brief a leading Publican lawyer, i.e. Mr. Arshad Iqbal (Class of 1966) to the next meeting at 12 noon on Saturday, 20th September 2008 at the School premises to discuss options for a new Publicans organization i.e. an association, a society, or a trust, etc.
3. Fund-raising target:
The target for fund-raising to support the cost of education should be Rs.500,000/- per class batch and not just Rs.200,000/-. It should also be a minimum of Rs.300,000/- per class batch.
4. Members of Finance & Project Committees:
The Finance Committee convened by Mr. Zaffar A. Khan will also comprise:
1. Mr. Akbar Adil
2. Mr. Zohair Ashir
3. Mr. Haroon Rashid
4. Other names to be confirmed
5. One representative of each class batch (Mr. Zaffar A. Khan is requested to kindly confirm specific names based on previous commitments and offers).
Note: one or two members of each class batch should confirm their willingness to provide a list of names, contact details as of September 2008 of all or most of their class-mates by the next meeting.
5. Programme Committee for 8th December 2008:
The Programme Committee to focus on the arrangements for the main celebration on 8th December will be convened by Khawaja Fariduddin and Shirley Haider and will comprise of :
1. Mr. Khawaja Fariduddin (Chairman)
2. Mr. Shirley Haider
3. Ms. Nighat Mir
4. Mr. Ashraf Kapadia
5. Mr. M. Saeed Khalid
6. Other volunteers
The two convenors of the Committee will convene the first meeting shortly and will give details of venue, date and time.
6. Focal point for communication:
The Administrator of the Publicans website should be the focal point for addressing of correspondence to, and distributing correspondence from all Publicans to avoid duplication and confusion.
7. Dues from Publicans for 16th August 2008:
All Publicans who attended the soft celebrations of 16th August did not fill-in the questionnaire provided to them at the entrance nor did some Publicans pay the admission fee of Rs.500/- per person. All such Publicans are requested to kindly fulfill these formalities by providing relevant information to the Administrator of the website, and sending the due amount to Mr. Zaffar A. Khan and/or Mr. Tahir Sadiq.
8. Committees for other aspects of the main celebrations will be constituted at the next meeting.
9. Support to educational projects:
It was stressed that funds raised to support education should be used for relevant and clearly defined purposes. Mr. Zaffar A. Khan requested Publicans once again to respond to the project options note circulated earlier and available on the website.
10. Gender balance:
The need to improve the gender balance in meetings of all Publicans was once again under-lined and a request was made to all to ensure that more women Publicans participate actively.
With best wishes,
Javed Jabbar