On 6 July 2023, H.E. Ms. Lada Phumas, Ambassador of Thailand to Malaysia was invited by the Institute of Diplomacy and Foreign Relations (IDFR) to attend a special lecture by Professor Kishore Mahbubani, former Singaporean diplomat and Distinguished Fellow at the Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore, on the topic “When Elephants Fight, Will ASEAN Get Trampled?”, where he discussed the role of ASEAN as well as recommendations for ASEAN and major powers to interact amidst current global geopolitical and economic challenges. The lecture was well attended by almost 200 participants, including diplomatic missions in Malaysia, former and current government officials, academics, media, students and interested participants. It was part of the IDFR Distinguished Lecture Series 2023.

          IDFR is an institute under Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Malaysia, with mission to provide training in areas of diplomacy and international relations to diplomats, local and international participants, and strive towards making IDFR a foreign policy think tank through research and publications. Ybhg. Dato’ Dr. Shazalina Zainul Abidin is the current Director-General of IDFR.