Bangkok, Thailand—An Asian Leadership Conference (ALC) took place from October 7 to 10, 2016 in Bangkok, Thailand. The theme of this ALC was “Providing Vision and Leadership for Nation-building and Peace.”
Of the 76 participants, 58 were government leaders and officers from Cambodia and four were religious leaders, Muslim and Christian, from Indonesia.
The program began with a Welcome Dinner that also served as the Opening Session. A prayer was offered by Dr. Agus Mulyana of Indonesia, and the welcome address was given by Dr. Lek Thaveetermsakul, vice chair of UPF-Asia.
Hon. Ek Nath Dhakal, a former cabinet minister of Nepal and chair of UPF-Nepal, then introduced the International Association of Parliamentarians for Peace (IAPP).
Dr. Chung Sik Yong, chair of UPF-Asia, delivered the keynote address, which was followed by a presentation on the UPF Principles of Peace, which was given by Dr. Robert Kittel, education director of UPF-Asia.
Afterwards, presentations were given by Mrs. Ursula McLackland, secretary general of UPF-Asia; Dr. Edgar Tanate, education director of UPF-South Asia; and Dr. Yong, who spoke on “How to Become a True Peace Maker.”
The conference also included an Interfaith Peace Blessing ceremony. A Sri Lankan member of Parliament (MP) and his wife were among the couples who participated in it. Sri Lankan MP Mr. Edward Gunasekara gave the congratulatory remarks.
At the end of the event, several participants shared their experiences attending the conference. A Cambodian participant said:
“The quality of the family is based on the husband-wife relationship, so true love is a must-true love is not a principle, it comes from the bottom of our heart. This Asian Leadership Conference is a valuable soft skill in terms of education that I can apply in my real work place as well as for the university education to promote mutual understanding and true love without expecting a reward – the more love is given, the more love is received. True leadership is giving, loving and sharing from the heart.”
Due to the success of Asian Leadership Conferences over the past few years, UPF-Asia will now hold an ALC at least twice a month.