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Paul Madden

British Ambassador to Japan

Part of UK in Australia

18th August 2011

An Iftar dinner in Canberra

Last night, I was pleased to be invited by the Blue Star Intercultural Centre to celebrate the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, over a traditional Iftar dinner in a Muslim family home in the Canberra suburbs. Having lived for the last four years in Singapore where a sixth of the population are Muslim, I knew it would be an enjoyable experience, and that the food would be excellent.
Abdul Celil Gelim and his wife Zuheyda proved to be most gracious hosts. He and several of his guests were of Turkish origin, one of them was a German-born Turk, another guest was Iraqi. Turks make up one of the larger Muslim groups in Australia, though as in the UK, Muslims trace their origins to many parts of the world. There are around 340,000 Muslims in Australia, less than 2% of the population, though this is growing three times faster than the population as a whole. In the UK we have around 2m Muslims. The town where I live in England, Woking, has quite a large community as it boasts the oldest mosque in Britain, the Shah Jahan Mosque, dating from 1889.
Other guests included a Chinese-Australian representing the Buddhist community, and a lady who worked for the Catholic Bishops Conference. With such a diverse group of people around the table we had some really fascinating conversations. And, as anticipated, the food was fantastic.

About Paul Madden

Paul Madden has been the British Ambassador to Japan from January 2017. He was Additional Director for Asia Pacific at the FCO in 2015.He was British High Commissioner to Australia…

Paul Madden has been the British Ambassador to Japan from January 2017.

He was Additional Director for Asia Pacific at the FCO in 2015.He was British High Commissioner to Australia until February 2015. Prior to this he was British High Commissioner in Singapore from 2007-2011.

A career diplomat, he was previously Managing Director at UK Trade and Investment (2004-2006), responsible for co-ordinating and
implementing international trade development strategies to support
companies across a wide range of business sectors.

As Assistant Director of Information at the Foreign and Commonwealth
Office (2003-2004) he was responsible for public diplomacy policy,
including managing the FCO funding of the BBC World Service, the British
Council and the Chevening Scholarships programme. He led the team
responsible for the award-winning UK pavilion at the Aichi Expo in Japan
2005.

He was Deputy High Commissioner in Singapore from 2000-2003 and has
also served in Washington (1996-2000) and Tokyo (1988-92). Between
1992-96 he worked on EU enlargement and Environmental issues at the FCO
in London.

Before joining FCO he worked at the Department of Trade and Industry
(1980-87) on a range of industrial sectors and trade policy, including
two years as a minister’s Private Secretary.

He has an MA in Economic Geography from Cambridge University, an MBA
from Durham University, studied Japanese at London University’s School
of Oriental and African Studies, and is a Fellow of the Royal
Geographical Society. His first book, Raffles: Lessons in Business
Leadership, was published in 2003.

Married to Sarah, with three children, he was born in 1959, in Devon.