AKLANON GETS MEDAL OF THE ORDER OF AUSTRALIA(OAM)

Woodridge, Queensland, Australia resident, Ruth Tagala Palmani, received a Medal of the Order of Australia(OAM) recently for her service to multiculturalism.

Mrs. Palmani, a native of Joyao-joyao, Numancia, Aklan, who has been a Woodridge resident for the past 16 years, was included in the Queen’s Birthday 2007 Honours List as one of the recipients of the OAM through the Governor-General (Her Majesty QueenElizabeth’s representative in Australia) to celebrate the Queen’s birthday last June 11, 2007. The Investiture ceremony at which she will be presented with the insignia of her award is expected to be done in September or October this year. Meanwhile, starting June 11, Mrs. Palmani has been entitled to use the initials “OAM” after her name.

Mrs. Palmani’s award came up as a recognition of her service to multiculturalism, particularly through assistance and support to the Filipino community in south east Queensland. The OAM award, said to be the highest honours an Australian can receive from the Queen, citedMrs. Palmani’s multiple positions of community involvement. These included her role as a case officer for the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs(DIMIA). There, Mrs. Palmani assisted in the planning and implementation of Harmony Day – an event aimed at promoting community harmony and addressing issues of racism in Australia.

Mrs. Palmani was also a consultant editor of resource booklet Living and Working in Logan. For several years, she was an organizing committee member of Filipino festival Bayanihan, she worked at the Logan City Multicultural Neighbourhood Centre (now MultiLink) as migrant employment officer, and was a resource speaker at Job Search Training for Filipino migrants. Mrs. Palmani who is also a radio presenter and panel operator on Radio 4EB’s Filipino radio program, now works at the Boystown Logan as a youth worker.

According to Mrs. Palmani, as far as she knows, there are only two other Filipinos in Queensland who have received the OAM award before – Agnes Whiten OAM (one of the Filipino pioneers in Queensland) and Orland Vargas OAM (President of Filipino organizations in Queensland and nationwide).

Coming from humble beginnings, Mrs. Palmani, was a consistent honor student since grade school at the Numancia Elementary School (now Numancia Integrated School), thru her high school at the Madyaas Institute graduating as the Class Salutatorian and worked her way thru college to earn a degree in AB English as a Magna Cum Laude. She earned her Master’s Degree in English from the University of the Philippines Diliman as a college scholar. She was the Head of the Related Subjects Department at the Roxas Memorial College of Arts & Trades (now ASU Kalibo) at the time she migrated with her family to Australia.

Mrs. Palmani, is married to German “Jim” Cortes Palmani, former Station Manager of the IBC-DYRG, with whom she has three children, namely: Jimmy, who works as a case officer for DIMIA and married to Liezl Constantino of Laguinbanua West, Numancia, who is connected with the Australian Broadcasting Co; Rino, who works with a private firm and married to Meribelle Teodosio of Kalibo, who is now a nurse in London, and; Anna Ruth, who will be working as an English teacher in Japan come August this year. (with reports from the Albert and Logan News, June 13, 2007 and The Reporter, June 13, 2007)/