Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi Malayalee Samajam, one of the oldest registered Indian community organisations in Abu Dhabi and founded in 1969, will open its newly constructed building on Friday.
Shaikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development, will inaugurate the new building located in Musaffah industrial area, B. Yesuseelan, president of the Samajam, told Gulf News on Thursday.
More than 2,000 people are expected to attend the event, a landmark in the history of the almost 50-year old organisation of expatriates from the South Indian state of Kerala, he said,
The 1300-square-metre premises with a 780-square-metre building has a soundproof auditorium for 1,000 people, a mini auditorium with a capacity for 250 people, a library and reading room, a meeting room, a ladies wing, two badminton courts, kids play area etc, Yesuseelan said.
The samajam was functioning at a building in Abu Dhabi City since the beginning until it moved to a villa in Mohammad Bin Zayed City around five years ago, which was closed down in May due to certain technical reasons, the president said.
The building costing more than Dh2 million was funded by ten prominent Indian businessmen, who are official patrons of the organisation, and other community members. M.A. Yousuf Ali, chief patron of the samajam and chairman of LuLu Group, will address the gathering at the inaugural event, Yesuseelan said.
“We are grateful to the UAE leadership for granting the freedom for creative community activities that keep expatriates away from all evil forces. An organisation for this is a refuge for most of the community members,” he said.
Its 2,000-odd members are excited about the inauguration of the new permanent premises located at a convenient place, said P. Satheesh Kumar, general sectary of the samajam.
A 45-day programme to celebrate the 45th UAE National Day will also kick off at the inaugural ceremony. “We will have three-day programmes every week until December 2,” Yesuseelan said.
Around 1,000 members have families for whom regular activities will be organised on the new premises. “As an effort to promote our mother tongue (Malayalam), we conduct regular classes. Improving children’s communication skills is another priority,” the president said.
