Manny Vassal was born in Bordeaux, France and grew up in a conservative Catholic middle-class family. At the age of 18, he left for Paris to study and a few years later completed a degree in aeronautical engineering. Instead of joining one of the established aeronautical companies in France, however, Manny opted to do IT consulting, specialising in working for financial companies. Between 1992-93, he lived and worked in Sao Paulo, Brazil and in 1993-94 he was based in London. During that time, he married Jo Buckle, an Englishwoman he had earlier met in Paris, and they together left London in 1994 for Edinburgh, where they stayed for five years, the last two of which Manny spent working for NAB. In 1999, NAB offered Manny a position in Melbourne, and he and Jo arrived in Australia on a working visa with the initial intention of staying only for three years. They enjoyed living in Australia, however, and became permanent residents during Manny’s tenure with the bank. In 2005, Manny left NAB to set up his own business-consulting company, which he still runs today. In this portrait, Manny holds a copy of L’?uvre au noir (The Abyss), a novel - published in France in 1968 by the Belgian-born novelist Marguerite Yourcenar - that he explained has inspired him and is perhaps one explanation for why he and Jo live in Australia today. According to Manny, he can relate to the protagonist in the novel: An alchemist, physician, philosopher and a man of science named Zenon (“Zeno” in English translations). Zenon was a renaissance man living ahead of his time, one who traveled and explored new experiences in order to satisfy his curiosities and interests. Manny said: “I like the idea and optimistic message of the protagonist reinventing himself along the way, and making a name for himself somewhere else under a different persona. We live in a free world, full of opportunities and many things are possible, providing you put your mind into it.”

All rights reserved © fairuz 2010 Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life. Who is Maher Zain ? Maher Zain was born on 1982 in Lebanon. His family moved to Sweden when Maher was only eight, where he continued his schooling. Maher got his first keyboard when he was only ten. He later entered university and got a Bachelors degree in Aeronautical Engineering.[1] During his teenage years, he like to spend late nights at school with his friends where they would sing, rap, compose and experiment with music in every way. After being involved for a while in the music scene as a music producer[2], Maher was introduced to RedOne, a music producer in the music scene in Sweden. Maher started working with RedOne[2] and later moved to New York. In January 2009, Maher Zain began work on an album and signed with Awakening Records. Maher’s first musical inspiration came from his father, who was a singer himself, performing locally in the Mediterranean city of Tripoli, Lebanon. Maher has been on the bill of a free concert in Bahrain,and also at the Spring concert in the American University in Cairo, Egypt. His first album 'Thank You Allah' of 13 tracks and two bonus songs was released on 1 November 2009. His music videos on Youtube has collectively gained more than one million of views. 160910