BRUNEI Darussalam welcomes the emphasis on youth development as one of the priority areas identified under Singapore’s Chairmanship of Asean 2018.
This is in line with the titah of His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam, in which the monarch stressed the important role youths play as future leaders and called for them to rise up to any challenge, contribute their ideas and participate actively in nation building.
This was stated by Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports Major General (Rtd) Dato Paduka Seri Awang Haji Aminuddin Ihsan bin Pehin Orang Kaya Saiful Mulok Dato Seri Paduka Haji Abidin during the Retreat Session preceding the 19th Asean Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC) Council Meeting in Singapore yesterday.
“Brunei Darussalam believes that investment in programmes to equip youths with the necessary skills to be resilient, provision of more opportunities for youths to participate in voluntary and community building activities and empowering them to become leaders by creating suitable platforms.
“In this era of globalisation where we live in a world without borders, youths can get carried away and lose their identity and values. Thus, it is important to ensure that these traditional and cultural values, such as respect for others and strong family bonds, continue to be practised by our next generation. Brunei ensures that this is instilled in our youths,” the minister said.
The 19th ASCC Council Meeting, themed ‘Resilient and Innovative Asean’, was chaired by Desmond Lee, Minister for Social and Family Development of the Republic of Singapore.
During the meeting, ASCC Council ministers, discussed priority areas under Singapore’s Chairmanship of Asean which include initiative for youths, strengthening of Asean’s commitment to addressing climate change, introduction of core values on digital literacy for Asean and launching a framework to minimise the harmful effect of fake news.
The meeting also deliberated on documents to be submitted to the Asean Leaders at the 32nd and 33rd Asean summits and progress of implementation of the ASCC Blueprint 2025.
The ASCC Council Retreat which preceded the 19th ASCC Meeting focussed on the Asean Declaration on Culture of Prevention (CoP) for a Peaceful, Inclusive, Resilient, Healthy and Harmonious Society which was adopted by the Asean Leaders at the 31st Asean Summit in November 2017.
During the retreat, the ASCC Council ministers exchanged views and deliberated on strategic directions for ASCC sectoral bodies to advance the CoP Declaration.
Major General (Rtd) Dato Paduka Seri Awang Haji Aminuddin Ihsan also attended the Asean Philanthropy Dialogue along with other Asean ministers in charge of social welfare and development as well as members of the Asia Philanthropy Circle. The dialogue was held to discuss and agree on action to address issues where philanthropy can work with governments to address pressing social issues in Asean.
While in Singapore, the minister also called on Desmond Lee, and Grace Fu, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth.
Accompanying him at the meeting were Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports (MCYS) Datin Paduka Dr Hajah Norlila binti Dato Paduka Haji Abdul Jalil and senior officials from the MCYS.
The 20th ASCC Council Meeting will be held in Singapore on October 3.