Digital BABA » BABA4 Speakers

BABA4 Speaker – Tay Kheng Soon

joma — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 11:08:00 +0000

TAY KHENG SOON has been a professional architect since 1964. He was chairman of Singapore Planning and Urban Research Group (SPUR) in 1970, an independent group examining the urban environment, active in proposing innovative solutions to urban living. He was President of the Singapore Institute of Architects from 1991 – 1993. Tay is currently practising as sole proprietor of his own firm. His abiding concern is sustainable urbanisation and the evolution of a proper design process factoring in human dimensions within the Asian context. His scope of thinking and design compasses politics, education, economics, the environment, culture and modernisation. His enduring concern is in engendering modernity though integrating human motivation, planning and space design in a design language that is firmly based on the local reality of climate, vegetation and life. Tay is currently Adjunct Professor of Architecture at the National University of Singapore. In 2003, he was elected a Fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science (WAAS), a global community of intellectuals dedicated to considering, “the social consequences and policy implications of knowledge.” Tay is also a member of the World Ekistics Society, (WES) which focuses on the study of human settlements. His academic involvements include being a Visitor Scholar under the Aga Khan Program at MIT in 1986 and in 1989. He was also Research Fellow with the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) which published his monograph, “Mega-cities in the Tropics”. This publication led to a government appointment to prepare a development guide plan for a fringe urban site in Singapore wherein he proposed “The Tropical City Concept”. The book, “Line, Edge and Shade”, by Robert Powell, on Tay’s writing and work, and that of Akitek Tenggara, was released in June 1997. He received the 2005, A+D and Spectrum Foundation of India, Golden Architect Award for excellence in Architecture for Singapore in 2006. Professor Tay Kheng Soon was presented the PLEA 2007 award in recognition for his pioneering efforts in promoting good design and sustainable architecture in Singapore at the 24th International Conference on Passive and Low Energy Architecture (PLEA 2007) Conference in Singapore that year. He presented the keynote paper at the ASEAN+6 Forum in Bangkok on climate change in June ’08.

BABA4 Speaker – Sri Nuryanti

joma — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 11:01:00 +0000

SRI NURYANTI is currently a member of commissioner of the Indonesian General Election (KPU). She used to be a political scientist as well as a political researcher at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences(LIPI). Her main areas of academic interest are democracy, good governance, political parties, elections and minority issues. She has worked at KPU for one year, showing her dedication and knowledge of local electoral politics. Mrs. Nuryanti was awarded the Asian Public Intellectual Fellowship in 2001 and the Japanese Society for Promotion of Sciences Fellowship in 2005. She was a member of the BABA retreat in 2007.

BABA4 Speaker – Nurul Izzah Anwar

joma — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 10:57:00 +0000

NURUL IZZAH ANWAR is the current Member of Parliament for Lembah Pantai, Malaysia. Nurul Izzah is a strong proponent of human and civil rights with a special interest in prisoners of conscience and the rights of women, working both at the national and international level. She has worked with a number of agencies and institutes on advocacy work, among them are Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM), Women Leaders International Forum and Friedrich-Ebert Stiftung (FES). She has been and advocate for Malaysian political prisoners and Malaysian human rights movements at the international level, most notably for an intervention during the main session at the 57th Commission on Human Rights, Geneva. Nurul Izzah’s political career began with the creation of People’s Justice Party (Keadilan) in 1998. She is currently the PKR Head of Division for Lembah Pantai. Before contesting for public office, she earned a Masters degree in International Relations specializing in Southeast Asian Studies from the School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, Washington. She obtained her first degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from University Tenaga Nasional in September 1998.

Madhuchanda – Kolkata, India: Home of 5 Nobel Prize Winners

joma — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 07:38:00 +0000

Victoria Memorial was built in memory of Queen Victoria
of the United Kingdom who was also called the Empress of India.

Hand-pulled ricksaws, numbering around 10,000,
were banned in Kolkata in 2005 to improve its global image.

I live in the city of Kolkata, which is at the bank of the river Ganges – 2,510km long, and currently ranked 7th of 77 wonders of nature nominated sites.

My city — Kolkata is home to five Nobel laureates – Rabindranath Tagore (Literature), Sir C.V. Raman (Physics), Ronald Ross (Medicine), Mother Teresa (Peace) and Amartya Sen (Economics).

Kolkata is the gateway to Eastern India. It is a city with a rich heritage, bustling streets and bewildering variety of facets. The city was the capital of British India. The City was founded 300 years ago. It is now the capital of West Bengal.

Kolkata is a complete reservoir of talent. People of Kolkata are simply passionate about arts and sports, especially football and cricket. The world famous Bengali musician Sitar Artist Ravi Shankar has his roots in this city. It is the home of the Oscar winner Bengali Film maker Satyajit Ray.

People come from different parts of the world to explore this fabulous city containing magnificent edifices, constructed in a variety of styles. I invite the participants to visit this wonderful city of India.

About India

With regard to my country, India happens to be the largest democracy (1.1 billion people) and the second most populous country in the world. India is now viewed as an emerging power. My country is the birthplace of one of the oldest human civilizations in the world which dates back to around 5000 B.C.

Many of India’s current political, cultural and economic traits have been influenced by historical events and trends, many of which pre-date European contact. For 200 years India was under the British colonial rule which ended in 1947.

The climate in our country varies significantly from the permanently snow-capped Himalayas in the north to the tropics in the south. My country is a multicultural and multilingual nation. Many Indians speak more than one language. Hindi is the official language and the most commonly spoken.

Since the economic liberalization, our country’s economy has registered a robust growth rate which has risen to 8.5%. If purchasing power parity (PPP – economic jargon that measures the purchasing power of a currency relative to the US dollar) is used as a benchmark, India’s total consumption already stands at US$8.2 trillion, making it even larger than the current US consumption of $7.8 trillion. A report of the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI), predicts that the Indian income level will triple over the next 20 years, which will lift 291 million Indians over the poverty line to create a 583-million-strong middle-class population by 2025. With the phenomenal advancement of communications technology in the last decade and a half, India has emerged as a global player in Information and Technology. With the coexistence of many cultures, religions, languages, customs, my country exemplifies unity in diversity.

BABA4 Speaker – Hiru Bijlani – Midnight Baby!

joma — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 06:15:00 +0000

The Partition of India, 1947.

Life as they knew it totally changed literally overnight for the parents of Hiru as they fled to India via ship from (what is now) Pakistan, leaving everything behind. It was 1947, and 18 million people fled their respective sides of the country, the Hindus in the Pakistan side moving to India and the Muslims in the India side moving to Pakistan. It is the Partition of India and Hiru’s Father’s hands are full taking stock of six children and 1 unborn baby still in his wife’s womb, Hiru.

BABA4 leaders, email Hiru and guess why he calls himself a midnight baby, and get a special surprise! Hint: author, die.

Dr. Hiru Bijlani

Dr Hiru Bijlani holds a Doctorate in International Business besides an Honours Bachelors’ Degree in Science and a Masters’ Diploma in Advanced Business from the top rated Jai Hind and Xavier’s Colleges in Mumbai.

He is a visiting faculty in business schools in India and abroad in the area of International Business.

He has over 30 years management and consulting experience in diverse organizations in India , USA , Europe , Africa the Gulf and South East Asian countries.

He is the author of numerous articles and five books namely “Globalization – an Overview” and “A Guide to Global Joint Ventures and Alliances” both published by Heinemann Asia, Singapore and “Succeed in Business: India” and “Tips and Tales for Travelers” published by Times Editions Pte Ltd, Singapore and Success Yogi – Your Guru for Success and Happiness. Some of these books have been translated and published in other international languages.

He is a referee for doctoral students of the Bombay University.

He has played various roles in professional, business and government bodies and institutions, such as The Indo-American Chamber of Commerce, The Government of India MOU Committee for Public Sector Enterprises etc.He is a former President of the Institute of Management Consultants of India.

He has participated in global conferences like the meetings of the International Council Of Management Consulting Institutes, World Economic Forum Davos, etc. and other conferences in Asia , Europe and Latin America and the USA .

He was the Founder Managing Director of Zenith Global Consultants Ltd. Founded by him in 1985 which has merged with Karrox Technologies Ltd. It is India ’s first publicly listed management consulting firm. The firm’s focus has transitioned from broad based Management Consulting to Management Training and E-learning.

He is a member of the board of directors of: Karrox Technologies Ltd. India’s leading management and technology training company. Vegayans System. An IIT incubatee advanced technology networking enhancement company. Robinage. A children’s publication. Zenith Consultants Pvt. Ltd. A management consulting company.

He has setup a charitable project in the memory of his late parents.

His hobbies are cooking, golf, chess and collecting art.

BABA4 Speaker – Gordon Flake

joma — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 08:31:00 +0000

L. Gordon Flake was appointed Executive Director in February 1999. Prior to joining the Mansfield Foundation, he was a Senior Fellow and Associate Director of the Program on Conflict Resolution at The Atlantic Council of the United States. Before moving to The Atlantic Council, he served as Director for Research and Academic Affairs at the Korea Economic Institute of America.

Mr. Flake travels frequently to Japan, Korea, China and other countries in Asia as a conference participant and lecturer. He is a regular contributor on Korea issues in the U.S. and Asian press, and he has traveled to North Korea on four occasions. Mr. Flake has published extensively on policy issues in Asia. His most recent publication, entitled Paved with Good Intentions: The NGO Experience in North Korea, examines the impact of NGO and UN humanitarian relief efforts in North Korea after 1995.

Mr. Flake was born in Rehoboth, New Mexico. He received his B.A. degree in Korean with a minor in international relations from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. He completed his M.A. at the David M. Kennedy Center for International and Area Studies, also at B.Y.U. His master’s thesis was on the economic reforms in Laos. He lived in Korea for a number of years and speaks both fluent Korean and Laotian. He has seven young children and is married to Pakayvanh Sisoutham of Vientiane, Laos.

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About the Mansfield Foundation:

The Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation was created in 1983 to advance Maureen and Mike Mansfield’s life-long efforts to promote understanding and cooperation among nations and peoples of Asia and the United States. The Foundation sponsors exchanges, dialogues and publications that create networks among U.S. and Asian leaders, explore the underlying issues influencing public policies, and increase awareness about the nations and peoples of Asia. The Mansfield Foundation’s geographic focus is Northeast Asia and India as it relates to that region. The Foundation receives support from individuals, corporations and philanthropic organizations. It also provides support to The Maureen and Mike Mansfield Center at The University of Montana.

The Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation is not a grant-making organization and does not accept grant proposals.

The Foundation has offices in Washington, D.C., Tokyo, Japan, and Missoula, Montana.

BABA4 Speaker – Surin Pitsuwan, Secretary General, ASEAN

joma — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 05:42:00 +0000

Dr. Surin Pitsuwan

Introduction to Surin Pitsuwan on occasion of Building a Better Asia Young Leaders’ Retreat in Goa on 17 Feb 2008

Our keynote speaker today, His Excellency Dr Surin Pitsuwan, who took over his position as Secretary General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) only 5 weeks ago, is our man for the future. He has come a long way from his humble origins in a remote village in the south of Thailand to now be responsible in the next 5 years for taking the group of 10 Southeast Asian nations into the next phase of its active involvement in the international community.

For those of you who have followed the affairs of ASEAN since it was founded 40 years ago in 1967 will know the important role that the regional organization has played in promoting peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region. India, like most of the major powers including China, the US, Japan, Russia and the EU, are dialogue partners of ASEAN. ASEAN has also been the driver of important trade and security initiatives like the APEC (the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation) and the ARF (the Asia Regional Forum). ASEAN has also been active in promoting free trade agreements with various countries including India.

As Asian giants like China and India emerge and rise the role of ASEAN will become even more important in giving voice to the large numbers of smaller countries in Asia who even fear being just under the shadows of their bigger neighbours.

Surin Pitsuwan, born Abdul Halim Ismail, was educated in a small madrasah school in the province of Nakorn Sri Thammarat (the city of Dharma/law). From these rural surroundings he went to the U.S to spend a year in high school as an American Field Service scholar. He completed his university education in the U.S. before he went to Harvard University to complete his Ph.D. in Political Science. His PHD dissertation was on the Muslims of Southern Thailand. His conclusions in that thesis are just as relevant then as they are now. He returned to Thailand to teach at Thammasart University.

However, the lure of politics was perhaps too appealing to Surin the scholar who after a few years of teaching in the university entered politics by joining the Democrat Party. He learnt his politics under the wings some of the best leaders that Thailand has produced. He became Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1992-95 and Foreign Minister in the post-financial crisis years from 1997-01. He was returned to parliament 8 times by which time he had risen to the position of Deputy leader of the Democrat Party. In the period following his years as foreign minister he was as active as he was articulate about the state of the world. He sat on the board of many important organizations including the following:

When he left government in 2001 he was appointed a member of the Commission on Human Security of the United Nations together with Amartaya Sen and Sadao Ogata. He also served in several other international capacities: advisor to the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty from 1999-2001; the ILO’s World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization until 2004; the Advisory Board of the UN Human Security Trust Fund; the Advisory Board of the International Crisis Group (ICG); the International Advisory Board of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York; International Academic Advisor of the Centre for Islamic Studies, Oxford University. Between 2002 and 2004, Surin was a member of the “Wise Men Group” under the auspices of the Henri Dunant Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (HDC) in Geneva, advising the peace negotiations between the Acehnese Independence Movement (GAM) and the Government of the Republic of Indonesia. He was a member of the Islamic Development Bank’s 1440 A.H. (2020) Vision Commission in 2005.

But the lure of regionalism, I believe, has been greater still. He has to sacrifice his service to the people of Thailand whom he had served for 20 years and more in order that he can serve a region of half a billion people. The challenges he will face in his new task are great but if you know his track record you will also believe that he is up to the task and worthy of our support.

For me personally our relationship has come a long way: Dr Surin was a founder member in 1985 with some of us of the Information & Resource Center which is the principle organizer of this Building a Better Asia Young Leaders Retreat. I should also mention that in 2006 he led a mission of the Asian Dialogue Society to the Northeast Region of India where many Pan-Asian ideas of community-building involving India, China, Japan and ASEAN were expressed and discussed. In the next 5 years he will have an opportunity to make some of these pan-Asian initiatives come alive- hopefully with some of you who in the audience this evening

I have the privilege and honour to call upon this scholar, ex-politician, diplomat, intellectual, travelling seminarian, colleague and friend to give the keynote address to this meeting here in Goa.

M Rajaretnam
Director/Chief Executive
International Centre Goa, India
Programme Director, BABA Retreats