升旗山国会议员黄汉伟受邀出席在柬埔寨金边举行的东南亚和平讲座会。讲词及Video
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Speech by Wong Hon Wai, Member of Parliament for Bukit Bendera, Malaysia at South East Asia Peace Forum, Phnom Penh, Cambodia on 21 Feb 2019
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Distinguished guests and all peace messengers,
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Distinguished guests and all peace messengers,
It is my honour to speak at the South East Asia Forum.
For the past century, we have seen so many arm conflicts and wars. In Asia, we have lost millions of life in World War II, Vietnam War, Korean War and civil warsr in this region. Many are forced to migrate from their place of origins to a foreign land due to the war.
Have we learned the lessons? To some extent the answer is affirmative. We have restrained ourselves from arm conflicts by developing our diplomatic skills.
Sun Tzu in his famous book “The Art of War” has described the supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.
We often divided International law regarding the use of force by states into two broad categories: international law of peace and international law of war.
Dispute between States are an inevitable part of international relations and have frequently led to armed conflicts. One of the purpose of the United Nations is “to bring about by peaceful means, and in conformity with the principles of justice and international law, adjustment or settlement of international disputes or situations which might lead to a breach of the peace. Under Article 2(3) of the United Nations Charter, all Member States are obliged “to settle their international disputes by peaceful means in such a manner that international peace and security, and justice, are not endangered”.
We have to continue to enhance our skills and thinking using diplomatic means of settling disputes between states be it negotiation, mediation, inquiry and conciliation.
We have to continue to enhance our international judicial institutions: International Courts and Tribunals to achieve a peaceful settlement of disputes between States.
We have to embrace globalisation. We have to encourage young generation to understand other civilisation and have broad international exposure.
We have to take a cue from Ms Jody Williams who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 for her contribution to the international ban on landmines. She achieved that ban not only without much government help, but in the face of opposition from all the major powers. And what did she say was her effort for organising 1000 different human rights and arms control groups on six continents by a secret weapon called “Email”.
We have every reason to be optimistic. The Berlin Wall fall in Berlin. But the Berlin Wall didn’t just fall in Berlin. It fell East and west, and North and South.
Today the bonus for peace is rapid development. We see how Vietnam thrive after the end of Vietnam War and unification between the South and North. Globalization has happened in Vietnam with big global names investing in Vietnam and created jobs for the people.
Let us get some idea from the book of “Lexus and the Olive Tree” by Thomas Friedman. When advance civilisations working hard to build a better car, a faster train, while the other half is locked in primordial struggles over who owns which olive tree, which strip of land. Could we do more to put in our focus to work on advancement of civilisation rather the destructive nature of war.
The primary school I attended have a World War II peace monument opposite the school. Over the years, I have visited peace monuments, cemetery, former war zones, tunnels in parallel 37 of Korean Peninsular, Monuments in Pearl Harbour, War museum (or rather I called them Peace Museum) in Hiroshima, Nanjing, Saigon, Hanoi, Seoul, Siam Reap and also International Court of Justice proceedings in Arasu, Tanzania for genocie in Rwanda.
Every time I travel to a new place. I will read local newspaper and visit a local museum. This morning I have read Khmer Times. I came across a news report that the Government of Cambodia has fixed the coming Sunday 24–2–2019 as National Mines Awareness Day. Cambodia has cleared more than 1800 square meters of land mines for people to build houses, farm land and public infrastructure.
This morning I have also visited Tuol Seng Genocide museum with my colleagues to see for myself the ugly sides of conflicts and war.
Cambodia has recovered from the conflict and war and move on positively. I pray that peace will continue in this region and let us concentrate on nation building and enjoying the fruit of peace
I believe that we have to enhance the international legal framework for peace and human rights. We have to also teach peace education to our high school and university students. The young university students will have to learn international law of peace and human rights whether they are from law, history, arts, diplomatic , journalism and even science background. Peace education should be an important curriculum in our university.
We have come together for peace and human rights today. We want long-lasting peace in this region. Let us work together to spread the messages of peace and improve on our legal framework and enjoy the fruit of long-lasting peace.
Thank you.
