Like many of us watching the FIFA World Cup, Campbelltown Councillor Masood Chowdhury says he was fascinated by Japanese fans cleaning up stadiums after the football matches.
“As someone who believes it’s important to have a town or a city that’s neat and tidy, I saw it as a reflection of how they do things in their country.
“I would actually like to see Campbelltown look like some of these Japanese cities, which are looked after by their local council.
“We all love the city of Campbelltown, it’s a nice place, it’s beautiful, and Council works hard to maintain a good appearance.
“Beautification is important to so many people here in Campbelltown, councillors receive a lot of comments about that.
“I think we do need to do more beautification of Campbelltown to be more like Japanese cities and I have raised this issue on Council on several occasions.’’
Councillor Chowdhury was first elected to Campbelltown Council 10 years ago on the Labor Party ticket.
He already had an interest in politics before arriving in Australia, so it was always going to be the Labor Party for the then 23 year old Masood Chowdhury.
“Politics is about making people’s lives better, especially working class people, and a lot of these people are migrants,’’ he says.
“The Labor Party support working class people, migrants, and have a very good multicultural policy, and that’s why I signed up as a member in 1989.’’
He lived in Surry Hills in his early days so he could be close to work as a kitchen hand in restaurants to start with, before becoming a waiter.
“That’s how my life in Australia started,’’ he says.
The past 10 years have been something altogether different for him, serving on Campbelltown Council and making a difference in the place he has been calling home for 25 years.
He believes Campbelltown needs to continue growing as a city, including having a large council run hall.
He put his idea for a venue with a capacity of around 2000 to council via a notice of motion, and his fellow councillors supported it.
“It could be used for anything,’’ he says.
“Other cities and towns have one, even smaller councils, so why not Campbelltown,’’ says Cr Chowdhury.
“We’re just waiting for the report to come back now, so we’ll see what happens.’’
Cr Chowdhury says another approaching challenge in Campbelltown is our ageing population.
“I believe we should be turning our focus towards that now, how we support older people in our community, how we help them in that stage of their lives.
“That’s another one of my priorities as a councillor this term,’’ he says.
With 10 years under his belt, Cr Chowdhury is one of the most experienced councillors currently serving.
Only his Labor colleagues Meg Oates and the Mayor Darcy Lound have been on council longer than him, with Karen Hunt elected the same year as him in 2016.
To finish the interview, the South West Voice asks Cr Chowdhury if he would ever consider becoming Mayor of Campbelltown if such an opportunity arose in the future.
“To my way of thinking the important thing being on council is to do things for the local community, not to be sitting in the Mayor’s chair,’’ he responds.
“What can I do for the Campbelltown community – that’s may aim, and my commitment to the community for the past 10 years.
“But to answer your question, as far as being mayor, if an opportunity ever came along and I could do it, yes, I would accept it.’’
