| Izah Azahari |
A DISTINGUISHED Lecture was presented yesterday at the Senate Room of the Chancellor Hall of Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD), by the Prime Minister of Malaysia Tun Dato Laila Utama Dr Mahathir bin Mohamad.
Also present during the Distinguished Lecture was the spouse of the Prime Minister of Malaysia Tun Datin Dr Siti Hasmah binti Mohd Ali, Minister of Finance II Dato Seri Setia Dr Awang Haji Mohd Amin Liew bin Abdullah, Minister of Education Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Hamzah bin Haji Sulaiman, Foreign Minister of Malaysia Dato’ Saifuddin bin Abdullah and Vice-Chancellor of UBD Datin Dr Hajah Anita Binurul Zahrina binti Pehin Orang Kaya Laila Wijaya Dato Seri Setia Haji Awang Abdul Aziz.
In her welcoming remarks, the Vice-Chancellor of UBD said that UBD is seen as one of the fastest rising young universities in the world, where innovation and creativity are the primary thrust which require instilling a culture of lifelong learning among a number of students and the general public.
“UBD in this regard, continues to strive for the innovation of pedagogical methods, and the development of normal programmes and its delivery through the utilisation of advanced technologies,” she said. “All these advancements and creative efflorescence are established on Islam’s adherent learning dispositions, the sciences, medicine, engineering, and the social sciences.”
The vice-chancellor ended her speech by introducing the attendees of the Distinguised Lecture to the Prime Minister of Malaysia, while noting that his views would be another important contribution to the advancement of the institution.
The Malaysian Prime Minister began the Distinguished Lecture titled, ‘Malaysia-Brunei Darussalam Relation in the Context of ASEAN’, by congratulating UBD for its fast-paced growth along with the Sultanate’s developments.
The Prime Minister also added that Brunei and Malaysia share a common language and cultural background, which are conducive to the close relations between the two countries.
“The principle of togetherness is the key to the strong relations between Malaysia and Brunei, and I see them in the context of ‘close friends’ who have known each other for a long time,” he said.
“In the ASEAN context, today it has 10 members, whereas in the beginning there were only five members, until Brunei’s involvement. Later on, other countries in Southeast Asia joined to form this entity, this regional organisation called ASEAN.”
The Prime Minister then noted that Malay-speaking countries such as Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia contribute to almost half of the population in Southeast Asia.
“This shows many positive implications,” he said, adding, “We should be doing very well as a big population, even if the people are quite poor, but these numbers contribute towards setting up a large nation or a large population in a good market, where we should be trading with each other without any hindrance.”
The Prime Minister acknowledged the existence of certain problems at the border, “but between Malaysia and Brunei, there is hardly any separation, compared to other countries,” he said.
“As far as Brunei is concerned, the policy of the new Government of Malaysia will be the same, in that Malaysia would like to continue to be friends with Brunei to work together and participate in any developments that are happening in the Sultanate.”
Later, the Prime Minister of Malaysia received a souvenir, and toured an exhibition on the Senate Room floor. He also signed the visitor’s plaque and took part in a tree-planting ceremony, to commemorate the occasion.