- SMU launched new annual series under Wee Kim Wee Centre
- His Excellency Professor Dr Surakiart Sathirathai delivered inaugural lecture
- Singapore Soka Association supports first five years of the lecture series
SMU welcomed His Excellency (HE) Professor Dr Surakiart Sathirathai (above) on 6 November 2015, who was flown in specially to deliver a lecture on "The Continuing Challenges to Peace". It was attended by a 250-strong audience at the SMU Mochtar Riady Auditorium.
Formerly Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, he is also Chairman of the Asian Peace and Reconciliation Council (APRC), and was the endorsed ASEAN candidate for the position of the United Nations Secretary-General, among his numerous appointments and responsibilities.
He inaugurated the first Annual Ikeda Peace and Harmony Lecture, a new series supported by the Singapore Soka Association over the next five years. They will be run under the custodianship of the Wee Kim Wee Centre (WKWC) in SMU.
These lectures honour Dr Daisaku Ikeda, President of the Soka Gakkai International, aiming to fufill Dr Ikeda’s untiring commitment of dialogue for peace. For the next five years, the series will address and discuss ways in which we can transform threat and difficulty into challenge, cooperation and growth.
SMU President Professor Arnoud De Meyer gave the welcome address (above left), while SMU Chairman Mr Ho Kwon Ping (above right) delivered the introduction and opening remarks, and SMU Provost Professor Lily Kong (below left) moderated the Q&A session.
Speaking on the turbulences of 2015, HE Sathirathai said they are a stark reminder that new and old challenges to peace and a once-in-a-generation power shift potentially threaten to derail Asia’s return to development and economic prosperity.
He also said that a proactive and creative Asean is central to preserving peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific. It has become the most widely accepted vehicle for regional governance as it encompasses the traditional Asian values and oriental customs of our collective ancestors: pragmatism, informal discussion and win-win compromise.
These values and customary way of doing things must be embedded into the emerging regional architecture of Asia.
Asean centrality must be synergised with sub-regional and multilateral institutions that can serve as the building blocks for peace. The Asian way, along with grassroots involvement, must be the connector for the building blocks in order to create a more viable and sustainable regional architecture for peace and prosperity. He added that Singapore leads the path in achieving peace and harmony through the Asian way.
Concluding with the phrase “Why Should I Give Up?” drawn from a poem written by WKWC Director Associate Professor Kirpal Singh, he urged all to embrace hopes for the youth and future, and never to give up on working towards peace and harmony.
[Photo: (Left) Mr Michael Yap, Chairman of the Singapore Soka Association presenting a token of appreciation to HE Sathirathai.]
[Photos above: HE Sathirathai and guests at the Lecture.]
