Former Malaysian Ambassador Dato’ Dr G.K. Ananda Kumaraseri with Thubten Samphel, Director of TPI
A former Director General on the ten-member Association of South East Asia Nations, Dr Kumaraseri leaned on his vast diplomatic experience of dealing with the region embroiled with internal challenges as well as overlapping territorial disputes while sharing his future vision for the entire Asian continent.
Speaking on the historical, geo-political, and economic relations between China and ASEAN countries, Dr Kumaraseri noted that the pockets of ethnic oversees Chinese spread across the region have a tremendous influence in mainland China. He stated that as a result of the ‘middle kingdom’ concept, China believes it has a right to claim the Southeast Asia region as its sphere of influence thus leading to the many conflicting territorial claims.
The former ambassador pointed out that although China currently has a lot of military and economic muscle, ideologically the country is getting weaker with communism giving way to capitalism and with its society getting more and more affluent and liberal.
He suggested that the ASEAN Regional Forum, which promotes peace and security in the Asia Pacific region and involves the group’s dialogue partners including China, Japan, the United States and Australia etc., could become a viable platform in the future for discussing issues such as the humanitarian problem in Tibet and the India-China border conflict.
Reflecting on his career as a civil servant, Dr Kumaraseri urged the audience to pledge their best in serving the community, their family and themselves. He stated that as civil servants one can reach his or her highest potential by bearing in mind how very fortunate one is in having the responsibility to bring about improvement, upliftment and resolution of problems in the community.
Ex Ambassador Dato’ Dr. G.K. Ananda Kumaraseri has authored several landmark books on human development, education and training, espousing the concept of “Living Buddhism” by emphasising the practice and practical application of the Buddha’s teachings in daily life. [Video]
