THIS week, Cambodian imam Naser Ismail returns home with a promise of help to start a pre-school centre in his country.
His peers in Vietnam, Myanmar, Timor Leste and Papua New Guinea will also receive similar technical assistance to launch educational and welfare programmes in the coming years.
This pledge of aid to the countries was announced on Wednesday by Mr Abu Bakar Maidin, president of Muslim welfare group Jamiyah, at a regional seminar on the role of Muslim non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
Organising the effort are three groups: Jamiyah, NGOs in the respective countries, and the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation or Isesco, an international Muslim body headquartered in Morocco.
Details of these programmes are being worked out.
Mr Naser told The Straits Times that raising funds for the school building will be an uphill task.
'Also, the teachers willl need help with training materials and courses to improve their skills,''said the 29-year-old.
He is among 50 Muslim leaders from 20 Asia-Pacific countries attending the three-day seminar organised jointly by Isesco, Jamiyah and the Qatar Charity, an NGO from the Gulf state.
They are here to discuss how their NGOs can do more in education and economic development, and overcome obstacles.
One obstacle is the way Muslims are misunderstood in communities where they are a very small minority.
It was point highlighted by Law Minister K. Shanmugam in his opening address at the seminar.
The situation has been made worse in recent years by the actions of extremists who do not represent the faith.
As a result, Muslim NGOs have seen their work and finances subject to greater scrutiny, limiting their resources and access to areas where they can offer relief.
The minister suggested a solution: pool their resources and establish networks with non-Muslim NGOs, especially to help victims of natural disasters, as some had done in recent years.
Muslim agencies can gain from the more established and larger infrastructure of international NGOs, and help them bridge cultural and language gaps.
Another point stressed by Mr Shanmugam, also Second Home Affairs Minister, is that greater world peace hinges on a greater level of tolerance and understanding among people of different faiths.
