25th May 2013 - Charge d'Affaires a.i. Gave the Malaysian Charity Bazaar 2013 Opening Speech, which prompted numerous positive reaction from the Serbian public, media and VIPs attending the event. The full text of the speech is as follows:
Malaysian Charity Bazaar 2013 Opening Speech
Your Excellencies,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dobrodošli!
It is a great pleasure to be here today. Seeing so many familiar faces today and remembering the success of the last year’s bazaar fills my heart with warmth. Having lived in Serbia for almost two years already, I have seen many similarities between Malaysia and Serbia.
Malaysia is, before all, the land of versatility and great contrasts. From the highest peak in Southeast Asia to the tropical white sand-beaches from the UNESCO world heritage sites of Melaka and Penang to the modern skyscrapers of Kuala Lumpur, from one of the oldest jungles in the world to the Sepang Formula Grand Prix racing track and one of the best golf courses in the world, Malaysia’s abundance of contrasts can be seen everywhere.
What makes me proud the most, however, is the unique way Malaysians combine their traditions (Malay, Chinese, Indian and Indigenous) with the modern lifestyle of developing society. Despite maintaining a stable industrial growth rate and embracing the modernization and new values, Malaysians managed to keep their tradition, cultural heritage and one of the most cherished values of the Malaysian society are family values. The average Malaysian family today has more than 3 children and the population of 28,6 million, increased by more than 57% since 1990, while the divorce rate as low as 16 percent.
Since the year 2014 is going to be the “Visit Malaysia” year, I would like to take this opportunity to invite everyone to experience Malaysian hospitality and all our national beauties.
Ladies and gentlemen,
One of the things that both our nations could understand well are the challenges imposed by the global economic crisis. Today, both our countries are often constrained to our own domestic affairs. We think of our own future, with hopes at the time of recession. Both Malaysia and Serbia are developing countries. When citizens of prosperous countries find difficult to cope with the challenges, people in developing countries suffer from the crisis much, much more. Sometimes, they even have to fight for their everyday needs. Traditional lifestyle and values are often affected by a long-term trend of large-scale youth migrations, prolonged adolescence and hardship that makes more and more young couples discouraged from forming a family of their own, consequently resulting in a lower birth rate, also known as the “white plague” (bela kuga).
On the other hand, common people, who are often a subject to changes of their lifestyle in these struggling times, should be encouraged to focus on the future, to have more babies, and to enjoy families with many kids, while more Serbian women should experience the pleasures of motherhood.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Life is so beautiful. God presents us with this gift of life and His biggest blessing a man could be given is to have a family of his own.
Malaysian people and their government believe that the only right way to build a modern and prosperous society is on the foundation of core traditional family values such society would be built upon. John F. Kennedy was once quoted “children are the world’s most valuable resource and its best hope for the future”.
Unfortunately, the birth rate in Serbia represents a cause for concern, while the alarming statistics of aging population in entire Serbian regions and lack of young people who would create a better future for them, their children and elders calls for immediate action.
These negative trends are particularly occurring in the south of Serbia, where difficult economic situation and large scale youth migrations have resulted in one of the lowest birth rates ever recorded in any Serbian region.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Under the slogan of “Better facilities, more babies” we have gathered here today around the noble cause of making a small contribution to facilitate young couples inspire local people to have more children and to create the awareness of the importance of family values, deeply embedded in Malaysian tradition and way of life, which is why all the proceeds from today’s charity fundraising event will go the Aleksinac and Knjazevac Health Centres Maternity Wards.
I would also like to take this opportunity to convey the support of the Malaysian government to the Serbian government’s efforts to increase the birth rate and equal regional development in Serbia as well as the efforts of other humanitarian organizations who make their contributions to the similar noble causes. We should agree with Winston Churchill, that “There is no finer investment than putting milk into babies”.
On that note, ladies and gentlemen,
I am truly honoured to welcome you to this year’s Malaysian Charity Bazaar. I would like to thank all of you, especially our sponsors and donors for making today’s event possible, for your kind donations but before all, for showing a true spirit of social awareness and for setting a shining example of humanism that would be followed in the years to come.
Let's go on building the bonds of friendship and goodness through cooperation and mutual respect.
Thank you all for being with us, joining us, and supporting our efforts. Thank you all so much!
Prijatno!
25. maj 2013 - Otpravnik poslova v.d. Ambasade Malezije je odrzao govor povodom otvranja Malezijskog dobrotvornog bazara 2013 koji je izazvao brojne pozitivne reakcije posetilaca bazara, predstavnika medija i veoma vaznih osoba koje su prisustvovale dogadjaju. U nastavku dajemo integralni tekst govora:
Malezijski dobrotvorni bazaar – Govor otpravnika poslova
Vaše ekselencije,
Uvaženi gosti,
Dame i gospodo
Dobrodošli!
Veliko mi je zadovoljstvo da budem sa vama ovde danas. Pogled na toliko poznatih lica i secanje na uspeh prošlogodišnjeg bazara mi ispunjava srce toplinom. Pošto živim u Srbiji nepune dve godine, imao sam prilike da vidim da postoji dosta slicnosti izmedju Malezije i Srbije.
Malezija je, pre svega, zemlja razlicitosti i velikih kontrasta. Od najvišeg planinskog vrha u jugoistocnoj Aziji do tropskih plaža sa belim peskom, od mesta Penang i Melaka, proglašenih za svetsku kulturnu baštinu UNESCO-a do modernih nebodera Kuala Lumpura, od jedne medju najstarijim prašumama na svetu do Sepang staze za Grand Prix Formule 1 i najboljih golf terena na svetu, veliki kontrasti Malezije su uocljivi svuda.
Pa ipak, ono što me najviše cini ponosnim, bi bio nacin na koji su Maležani uspeli da sjedine svoje tradicije (malajsku, kinesku, indijsku i starosedelacku) sa modernim stilom života jedne zemlje u razvoju. Uprkos tome što je Malezija uspela da održi stabilnu stopu industrijskog rasta i prihvati modernizaciju sa svim vrednostima koje ona donosi, Maležani su takodje uspeli da sacuvaju tradicionalne vrednosti i kulturno nasledje. Jedne od takvih vrednosti, veoma dragocena za malezijsko društvo su porodi?ne vrednosti. Prosecna malezijska porodica danas ima više od 3 deteta i broj stanovnika od 28,6 miliona, povecan za 57 procenata u odnosu na popis iz 1990-te godine, dok je stopa razvoda zadržana na relativno skromnih 16% procenata.
Posto je 2014. godina proglašena za godinu promocije „Posetite Maleziju“, iskoristio bih ovu priliku da pozovem sve da posete Maleziju i uživaju u malezijskoj gostoprimljivosti, kao i u našim prirodnim lepotama.
Dame i gospodo,
Jedna od stvari koje oba naša naroda mogu dobro da razumeju su svakako izazovi koje donosi svetska ekonomska kriza. Danas, obe naše države su cesto usresredjene na rešavanje unutrašnjih pitanja. Razmišljamo o sopstvenoj buducnosti pokušavajuci da zadržimo nadu u doba recesije. I Malezija i Srbija spadaju u zemlje u razvoju. U vreme kada se i razvijene zemlje teško nose sa izazovima, gradjani zemalja u razvoju trpe daleko vece posledice krize. Ponekad, oni moraju da se bore cak i za svoje najosnovnije egzistencijalne potrebe. Tradicionalan nacin života i vrednosti cesto podležu iskušenjima koje donose masovne migracije mladih, produžena adolescencija i teškoce, a sve veci broj mladih se sve teže odlucuje na stvaranje porodice, što za posledicu ima smanjivanje stope nataliteta, takodje poznate kao bela kuga.
Sa druge strane, obicni ljudi, koji su cesto primorani da svoj nacin života prilagodjavaju teškim vremenima, bi trebalo da budu ohrabreni da se usresrede na buducnost, da radjaju više dece i uživaju u brojnijim porodicama, a više srpskih žena bi trebalo da osete zadovoljstvo koje donosi majcinstvo.
Dame i gospodo,
Život je tako divan. Bog nam je svima podario život, a jedan od najvecih božjih blagoslova koji covek može da primi je da ima svoju porodicu.
Malezijski narod i Vlada veruju da je jedini ispravan nacin da se izgradi moderno i prosperitetno društvo onaj u kome se ono gradi na temeljima tradicionalnih porodicnih vrednosti. Džon F. Kenedi je znao da kaže “deca su najvredniji resurs ovog sveta i njegova najbolja nada za buducnost”.
Nažalost, stopa nataliteta u Srbiji predstavlja razlog za zabrinutost, dok alarmantne statistike o starenju stanovništva u citavim regionima u Srbiji i nedovoljan broj mladih ljudi koji bi mogao da stvara buducnost za sebe, svoju decu i svoje stare ukazuje na potrebu za što hitnijom akcijom.
Negativni trendovi ovog tipa su narocito prisutni u opštinama na jugu Srbije, gde su teška ekonomska situacija i masovne migracije mladih dovele do jedne od najnižih stopa nataliteta ikada zabeleženih u bilo kom delu Srbije.
Dame i gospodo,
Pod sloganom “Bolji uslovi, više beba”, danas smo se okupili ujedinjeni u cilju da damo svoj skroman doprinos poboljšanju uslova za mlade parove, motivisali lokalno stanovništvo da ima više dece, kao i da bi skrenuli pažnju ljudi na porodicne vrednosti, duboko ugradjene u malezijsku tradiciju i nacin života, zbog cega su sva sredstva prikupljena danas namenjena porodilištima Zdravstvenih centara u Aleksincu i Knjaževcu.
Takodje bih iskoristio ovu priliku da prenesem podršku malezijske Vlade Vladi Republike Srbije i naporima koje ulaže da bi podigla stopu nataliteta ravnomernost ekonomskog razvoja, kao i napore ostalih dobrotvornih organizacija koje daju svoj dopirnos ostvarivanju slicnih plemenitih ciljeva. Složio bih se sa Vinstonom Cercilom koji je rekao da “nema bolje investicije o dojenja beba”
U tom smislu, dame i gospodo,
Zaista mi je cast da vam poželim dobrodošlicu na Malezijski dobrotvorni bazar. Želeo bih da se zahvalim svima, a narocito našim sponzorima koji su omogucili održavanje ove manifestacije na njihovom nesebicnom doprinosu, ali pre svega na demonstraciji socijalno odgovornog poslovanja i davanju sjajnog primera humanizma koji ce sigurno biti pracen u godinama koje dolaze.
Izgradimo veze prijateljstva i dobrote kroz saradnju i medjusobno poštovanje.
Hvala vam što ste sa nama, što ste nam se pridružili i podržali naše napore. Veliko vam hvala!
Prijatno!
