Bangladesh Mariners’ get-together in Houston

 October 9-11, 2105

A get together was arranged by the Bangladeshi Mariners in Houston. A group of Bangladeshi mariners also convened similar gathering in November of 2013 in New Orleans. The group worked hard to make gatherings a success. Lots of hard work and coordination was necessary to make this happen.

About 30 mariners, friends and families attended the gathering. Most mariners comprised of the alumni of the Bangladesh Marine Academy.

Leadership of these gathering was provided by Captain Hasan Quddus (14N) and few others who worked tirelessly to make the event a success. There were some seniors (Monirul Islam (4E) and Captain Amirul Islam (7N) also very active.

Mariners from all over the world showed up. It included Captain Fazlur Rahman (1N) from London, UK and Engineer Golam Sarwar (19E) flew from Bangladesh. Golam Sarwar, a successful businessman from the maritime industry is the Chairman of Prantik Group based in Chittagong, Bangladesh.

Events started on Friday night (Oct 9^th) with a dinner followed by a cultural program. On 10^th October there were several cultural functions along-with some speeches covering state of the Bangladesh Marine Academy and future of the graduating cadets. Captain Golam Hossain (11N), speaking on behalf of the President of ABMA narrated how the Association of Bangladesh Marine Academy (ABMA) was formed in Bangladesh in 2013 right after the golden jubilee functions of the Marine Academy. Mr. Monirul Islam (4E), the current President of Juldia Marine Academy Alumni Association (JMAAA) gave the chronology how JMAAA was formed in 2005 after volleys of meeting in Chittagong, Dhaka, USA and Canada. Recently JMAAA has been registered under the Bangladesh laws. Captain Fazlur Rahman (1N) narrated the problems and tribulations confronting the alumni of Juldia Marine Academy in the current job market and various anomalies that has been counter-productive to progress in the maritime sector. While most current alumni from the last several batches have been scouring for jobs, the government decided to open 6 more Marine Academies with funds from the treasury. Besides the economic downturn on the employment market for the alumni, Bangladesh has 20 private academies that run a low standard curriculum while charging cadets with exorbitant tuition (as much as 15 lacs per year) with a promise a bright future. The brightness in the futures of hundreds of these cadets never materialized and appears that, it will be even harder in the future. He further re-iterated that Juldia Marine Academy alumni should stick together and not be divisive, meaning there are already 2 alumni associations which did not have to happen.

Amongst fan-fare and good food, the event for Saturday night concluded around 1 AM in the morning. Next day (Sunday), a picnic was arranged. There was delectable food items which took most people to a nostalgic journey. The picnic was held in a spacious park in the Houston area.

All the hard work and seamless event coordination was commendable. It shows the possibility that Bangladeshis can do many things when they step together and help each other. Hopefully this message will be an inspiration to the rest of Bangladeshi nation and especially the younger generation. These young persons from the diaspora must learn the value of cooperation from the elders. The gathering is perhaps the best venue that can provide this education.

1. 

   Abid Choudhury says:

   October 14, 2015 at 3:50 am

   Congratulations to the Bangladeshi Mariners in Houston TX, for arranging a very successful get together.
   – Abid Choudhury (11N), Toronto, ON
2. 

   Hasan Quddus says:

   October 14, 2015 at 4:14 pm

   The first ever Bangladeshi Mariners in North America reunion was held in the year of 2011 in Houston Texas followed by 2013 in New Orleans, Louisiana. We will have this reunion at an interval of every two years under the banner of “Bangladehi Mariners in North America”.

   – Hasan Quddus (14N), Houston, TX