Charge d'Affaires a.i. Gave Speech on the Occasion of the 56th Anniversary of Malaysia's Independence

6 September 2013 - On the occassion of the 56th Anniversary of Malaysia's Indepence, Charge d'Affaires of the Malaysian embassy held a welcome speech that drew the attention of the numerous guests and media representatives attending the National Day reception. 

Your Excellences the Ministers of the Government of the Republic of Serbia,

Your Excellences the Ambassadors,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Dobrodosli,

In 1956, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj, our first Prime Minister, led a delegation to London to hold talks with the British Government concerning independence for Malaya. The Malayan delegation, comprising of four representatives of the Malay Rulers and four Alliance representatives, convinced the British Government to set a date for independence: 31^st August 1957 – as we in Malaysia call it Merdeka Day, is celebrated worldwide ever since.

We have gathered here on this day to celebrate the 56th Anniversary of Malaysia’s independence – the formation of Malaysia as a society of an independent, sovereign, democratic, peaceful and harmonious nation.

The tale of Malaysia’s journey is indeed colorful. From its beginning as a low income agricultural nation at the time of its formation, today, as a result of systematic planning and sound implementation, we have successfully emerged as a modern and fast developing nation.

Words cannot describe how proud and grateful I am to be here tonight and have the opportunity to remind of the true values of Merdeka which are peace, prosperity, national and religious tolerance, social justice, opportunity, diversity, democracy, freedom and permanent striving towards the formation of a better society in the future.

The road to the future, however, is not without its challenges. Having lived in Serbia for almost two years now, I had an opportunity to see that the challenges our two nations are facing, despite the distance, different cultural heritages and historical backgrounds, are actually very similar.

The global economic crisis, which has affected both our economies, casted a shadow on faith in progress and bright prospects for the years to come. Worst of all, it opened the doors for dissatisfaction, mistrust and doubts, which often carries the threat of revamped racial and religious intolerance, nationalism and deterioration of traditional social values, accompanied by the organized crime increase, higher unemployment rate, corruption and various kinds of political extremism.

This evening, when we together celebrate Malaysia’s independence, it seems more important than ever to reflect on the importance of staying on the path of development, to focus on the future and original values that made our two nations great.

In this regard, I would like to extend the Malaysian government’s support for the Serbian government efforts focused on fighting corruption and organized crime, creating new jobs, thus improving the quality of life of all Serbian citizens, attracting foreign investments, regional reconciliation and Serbia’s EU integration process.

Our two nations can learn a lot from each other, which, in my firm belief, represents an excellent basis for further strengthening of all forms of bilateral cooperation between Malaysia and Serbia in the future, to the benefit of both our governments and our nations.

In the modern world, people-to-people relations concept became equally important for cooperation between two countries as the traditional government-to-government relations. On this special occasion, I have the honour and pleasure to invite everyone to visit Malaysia in the year 2014 – which is our next “Visit Malaysia” year.

Thank you for coming tonight and joining us in the celebration of Malaysia’s 56^th Anniversary of Independence.

Thank you all so much, HVALA VAM PUNO!



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6. septembar 2013. godine - Povodom obelezavanja jubileja 56 godina nezavisnosti Malezije, otpravnik poslova v.d. Ambasade Malezije u Beogradu je odrzao govor dobrodoslice koji je privukao paznju brojnih zvanica i predstavnika medija koji dosli na prijem povodom Nacionalnog Dana. 

Vaše ekselencije, ministri u Vladi Republike Srbije,

Vaše ekselencije ambasadori,

Dame i gospodo,

Dobrodošli,

1956. godine, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj, naš prvi premijer je predvodio delegaciju koja je posetila London sa ciljem da pregovara sa britanskom vladom u vezi nezavisnoti Malezije. Delegacija Malezije koja se sastojala od ?etiri predstavnika malezijskih vladara i predstavnika Saveza, uspela je da ubedi britansku vladu da odredi datum za nezavisnost – 31. avgust 1957. godine – koji mi u Maleziji zovemo Merdeka Day (Dan nezavnosti) – i slavimo ga širom sveta od tada.

Ve?eras smo se okupili da proslavimo jubilej 56 godina nezavisnosti Malezije, 56 godina razvoja Malezije kao države nezavisne, suverene, demokratske, miroljubive i skladne nacije.

Pri?a o putu koji je Malezija prošla je zaista živopisna. Od vremena kada se formirala kao poljoprivredna zemlja skromnih prihoda do danas, kada je, zahvaljuju?i sistematskom planiranju i doslednoj implementaciji, uspela da se razvije u modernu državu brzog razvoja.

Re?i ne mogu opisati koliko sam zahvalan i ponosan što sam ovde ve?eras i što imam priliku da podsetim na prave vrednosti ovog praznika -  mir, prosperitet, nacionalna i verska tolerancija, socijalna pravda, mogu?nost, razli?itost, demokratija, sloboda i neprestano stremljenje ka stvaranju boljeg društva u budu?nosti.

Put u budu?nost, ipak, nije bez svojih izazova. Pošto živim u Srbiji ve? skoro dve pune godine, imao sam prilike da vidim kako su izazovi koji se postavljaju pred naše dve nacije, uprkos udaljenosti, razli?itog kulturnog i istorijskog nasle?a, vrlo sli?ni.

Svetska ekonomska kriza, koja je pogodila obe naše ekonomije, je bacila senku na veru u napredak i bolju budu?nost za godine koje dolaze. Što je najgore od svega, otvorila je vrata nezadovoljstvu, nepoverenju i sumnji, što ?esto kao sa sobom nosi pretnju oživljavanja rasne i verske netolerancije, nacionalizma i propadanja tradicionalnih društvenih vrednosti, pra?enih rastom organizovanog kriminala, nezaposlenosti, korupcije i raznih vrsta politi?kog ekstremizma.

Ve?eras, kada smo se okupili da bi proslavili Dan malezijske nezavisnosti, ?ini se važnije nego ikada da ponovo podsetimo na važnost ostanka na putu razvoja i usresrediti se na budu?nost i originalne vrednosti koje su naše dve nacije na?inile velikim.

U tom pogledu, želeo bih da prenesem podršku koju Vlada Malezije ima za napore srpske vlade da se obra?una sa organizovanim kriminalom, omogu?i stvaranje novih radnih mesta, ?ime bi se doprinelo poboljšanju kvaliteta života svih srpskih gra?ana, privu?e strane investiture, ostvari napredak u procesu regionalnog pomirenja i procesu pridruženja Srbije Evropskoj uniji.

Naša dva naroda mogu mnogo da nau?e jedan od drugoga, što, prema mom dubokom uverenju, predstavlja odli?nu bazu za razvoj bilateralnih odnosa izme?u Malezije i Srbije u budu?nosti, na obostranu dobrobit naše dve vlade i nacije.

U savremenom svetu, koncept saradnje ljudi u direktom kontaktu postaje podjednako važan kao i tradicionalni koncept saradnje izme?u vlada dve države. Na ovom sve?anom skupu, imam ?ast i zadovoljstvo da pozovem sve gra?ane Srbije da posete Maleziju u 2014-oj godini, koja je proglašena za slede?u godinu kampanje “Posetite Maleziju”.

Hvala Vam što ste došli i pridružili nam se u slavljenju 56. godišnjice malezijske nezavisnosti.

Thank you all so much, HVALA VAM PUNO!