Time for more positive act, HRH tells Asean
Finding common ground: HRH Prince Mohamed Bolkiah, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, delivering his keynote address. Picture: Courtesy of Infofoto
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
THE Brunei Forum 2009 began yesterday where it was graced by HRH Prince Mohamed Bolkiah, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade presenting the inaugural Southeast Asia lecture entitled 'A Southeast Asian Community: More than a matter of geography'.
Held at the Grand Hyatt in Singapore, His Royal Highness the foreign minister highlighted what should be the present and future vision of Asean.
The foreign minister called upon Asean, which he described as being part of a Southeast Asian community to exert a different kind of action, a more effective one with positive impacts on society.
"This is the kind that helps ordinary people directly with their day to day problems, in other words being part of a Southeast Asian community ... and I'm not talking about a slogan or a piece of Asean jargon. What I mean is a real community and maybe that should be our future vision of a real Southeast Asian community," he reasoned.
The foreign minister went on to add that though some may say that with the Asean charter it would enable Asean to sit back and rely on the combination of the new Asean Charter in relation to factors such as market forces and government laws. However, the foreign minister further pointed out to the assembled audience that it was important to bear in mind the particular society.
"What they want to feel part of, is the kind of community which all five hundred million of our people understand and believe in, with everyone respecting each other and everyone helping one another and no one excluded," the minister said.
The foreign minister looked back into his early years as an Asean minister and pointed out that "his source of confidence partly came from his small, real-life community of colleagues and friends."
Though forming such a community will not be easy, the identification of a common ground among the members will help, HRH highlighted.
"We are 10 members with 10 different ways of life, several different faiths and at least half a dozen different systems of government ... but I just hope Asean will find the way somehow we have to discover what I would like to call the common ground which any community shares," he said.
The common ground, he stressed is where actual, real community works, lives and studies and prays for a confident future.
Before His Royal Highness' presentation, there was also another welcoming remark presented by Professor Tommy Koh, ambassador at large from Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs.
The inaugural Brunei Forum 2009 is co-organised by the Brunei Economic Development Board and Singapore's Institute of Southeast Asian studies (ISEAS).The Brunei Times
Held at the Grand Hyatt in Singapore, His Royal Highness the foreign minister highlighted what should be the present and future vision of Asean.
The foreign minister called upon Asean, which he described as being part of a Southeast Asian community to exert a different kind of action, a more effective one with positive impacts on society.
"This is the kind that helps ordinary people directly with their day to day problems, in other words being part of a Southeast Asian community ... and I'm not talking about a slogan or a piece of Asean jargon. What I mean is a real community and maybe that should be our future vision of a real Southeast Asian community," he reasoned.
The foreign minister went on to add that though some may say that with the Asean charter it would enable Asean to sit back and rely on the combination of the new Asean Charter in relation to factors such as market forces and government laws. However, the foreign minister further pointed out to the assembled audience that it was important to bear in mind the particular society.
"What they want to feel part of, is the kind of community which all five hundred million of our people understand and believe in, with everyone respecting each other and everyone helping one another and no one excluded," the minister said.
The foreign minister looked back into his early years as an Asean minister and pointed out that "his source of confidence partly came from his small, real-life community of colleagues and friends."
Though forming such a community will not be easy, the identification of a common ground among the members will help, HRH highlighted.
"We are 10 members with 10 different ways of life, several different faiths and at least half a dozen different systems of government ... but I just hope Asean will find the way somehow we have to discover what I would like to call the common ground which any community shares," he said.
The common ground, he stressed is where actual, real community works, lives and studies and prays for a confident future.
Before His Royal Highness' presentation, there was also another welcoming remark presented by Professor Tommy Koh, ambassador at large from Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs.
The inaugural Brunei Forum 2009 is co-organised by the Brunei Economic Development Board and Singapore's Institute of Southeast Asian studies (ISEAS).The Brunei Times
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