- REMARKS BY HIS EXCELLENCY MR. NITYA PIBULSONGGRAM, MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE KINGDOM OF THAILAND ON THE OCCASION OF THE 50TH NATIONAL DAY OF MALAYSIA AND THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THAILAND-MALAYSIA DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS, SHANGRI-LA HOTEL, BANGKOK 31 AUGUST 2007 *******
September 3, 2007, 9:32 am
REMARKS
BY
HIS EXCELLENCY MR. NITYA PIBULSONGGRAM
MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE KINGDOM OF THAILAND
ON THE OCCASION OF THE 50TH NATIONAL DAY OF MALAYSIA
AND THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THAILAND-MALAYSIA DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS,
SHANGRI-LA HOTEL, BANGKOK
31 AUGUST 2007
*******
YOUR EXCELLENCY AMBASSADOR DATO SHAARANI,
EXCELLENCIES,
DISTINGUISHED GUESTS,
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,
I AM DELIGHTED TO BE HERE WITH ALL OF YOU THIS EVENING TO CELEBRATE THE GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY OF TWO VERY SPECIAL OCCASIONS.
THE FIRST IS THE BIRTH OF A NEW COUNTRY BASED ON A NATION OF LONG HISTORICAL ROOTS. AND THE SECOND IS THE ESTABLISHMENT OF DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS BETWEEN TWO CLOSE NEIGHBOURS, LINKED THROUGH HISTORY AND CULTURE.
EXACTLY FIFTY YEARS AGO TODAY, THE WORD “MERDEKA” WAS UTTERED BY MALAYSIA’S FIRST PRIME MINISTER TUNGKU ABDUL RAHMAN PUTRA, SEVEN TIMES IN FACT. THE WORDS RESONATED THROUGHOUT THE NEWLY BUILT MERDEKA SQUARE STADIUM IN KUALA LUMPUR AND CULMINATED IN INDEPENDENCE FOR MALAYSIA.
AS WE ARE GATHERED IN THIS BALLROOM AT THIS MOMENT, MALAYSIANS AND FOREIGN DIGNITARIES ARE ASSEMBLING IN THE SAME MERDEKA SQUARE STADIUM TO WITNESS THE GRAND CELEBRATION OF THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF INDEPENDENCE, WHICH WILL BE A SHOWCASE OF THE MANY ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE MALAYSIAN NATION.
THEIR MAJESTIES THE KING AND QUEEN OF THAILAND HAVE GRACIOUSLY DESIGNATED HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS CROWN PRINCE MAHA VAJIRALONGKORN TO BE THEIR MAJESTIES’ REPRESENTATIVE TO THE CELEBRATIONS IN KUALA LUMPUR. HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS IS ACCOMPANIED BY HER ROYAL HIGHNESS PRINCESS SRIRASM, ROYAL CONSORT. THE THAI PRIME MINISTER IS ALSO ATTENDING THE CELEBRATIONS.
THIS IS HOW IMPORTANT THIS EVENT FIFTY YEARS AGO AND THE CELEBRATIONS TODAY IN KUALA LUMPUR ARE TO ALL OF US ON THIS SIDE OF THE BORDER.
SO BEFORE I PROCEED FURTHER, MAY I OFFER, ON BEHALF OF THE GOVERNMENT AND PEOPLE OF THAILAND, MY HEARTFELT CONGRATULATIONS TO THE GOVERNMENT AND PEOPLE OF MALAYSIA. IT INDEED COMES FROM THE HEART -- AS THE ROYAL THAI GOVERNMENT’S FOREIGN MINISTER, AS A THAI CITIZEN AND AS YOUR NEIGHBOUR.
FOR ON THAT FATEFUL DAY FIFTY YEARS AGO IN 1957, THAILAND AND MALAYSIA ALSO TIED THE DIPLOMATIC KNOT, SO TO SPEAK. NOW THIS WAS AFTER AN “ENGAGEMENT” PERIOD OF SEVERAL CENTURIES BECAUSE, LEST WE FORGET, PRIOR TO THIS, THE TIES OF FRIENDSHIP AND KINSHIP -- BETWEEN SIAM AND THE MALAY STATES, BETWEEN THE THAI AND MALAY PEOPLES -- HAVE EXISTED FOR AS LONG AS HISTORY CAN RECORD.
SUCH IS THE NATURE OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THAILAND AND MALAYSIA – A RELATIONSHIP BORNE OUT OF GEOGRAPHICAL PROXIMITY, FORGED THROUGH CENTURIES OF CONTACTS, NURTURED THROUGH TIES OF KINSHIP AND SUSTAINED THROUGH MANY SHARED VALUES. IT IS ALL THIS, AND MORE, THAT MAKE THE DESTINIES OF THE TWO COUNTRIES, THE FATE OF THE TWO PEOPLES, INTERTWINED.
AND BECAUSE OF THIS, THE TWO COUNTRIES HAVE A SHARED STAKE IN THE PROSPERITY AND WELL-BEING OF ONE ANOTHER. AS CLOSE NEIGHBOURS, IT IS IN OUR SHARED INTEREST JOINTLY TO TACKLE COMMON CHALLENGES WHILE UNDERTAKING EFFORTS TO GENERATE MUTUAL BENEFIT FOR THE TWO PEOPLES.
A VERY SENIOR STATESMAN OF MALAYSIA, REFERRING TO OUR BILATERAL RELATIONS, STATED, “WE ARE NO LONGER JUST NEIGHBOURS BUT ALMOST MEMBERS OF THE SAME FAMILY.” THIS WAS STATED NOT RECENTLY BUT WAY BACK IN 1961.
IF THESE WERE THE SENTIMENTS THEN, HOW MUCH WARMER SHOULD THE SENTIMENTS BE TODAY, WHEN RELATIONS BETWEEN THAILAND AND MALAYSIA ARE AT AN ALL-TIME HIGH?
WE IN THAILAND, THUS, SHARE IN THE JOY OF THE SUCCESSES OF MALAYSIA AS A MODERN, MULTI-RACIAL COUNTRY, FAST ON ITS WAY TO BECOMING A FULLY DEVELOPED COUNTRY IN THE NEAR FUTURE, BASED ON ITS VISION 2020.
WE WELCOME MALAYSIA’S ACTIVE ROLE IN PROMOTING ENHANCED COOPERATION IN THE REGION, HAVING WORKED CLOSELY WITH MALAYSIA ON THIS PARTICULAR ISSUE FROM THE VERY BEGINNING, AS CO-FOUNDING MEMBERS OF THE ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS (ASEAN).
AND WE COMMEND MALAYSIA’S SUCCESSES IN FORGING LINKS WITH THE DEVELOPING COUNTRIES IN VARIOUS REGIONS OF THE WORLD. THE LANGKAWI INTERNATIONAL DIALOGUE CONVENED EARLIER THIS MONTH, WHICH MY PRIME MINISTER ATTENDED, IS A TESTIMONY TO THESE SUCCESSES.
YOUR SUCCESS CAN ONLY COMPLEMENT OUR SUCCESS AND THAT OF OUR REGION. YOUR CHALLENGES CAN FAST BECOME OURS TOO, AND OURS, YOURS. BECAUSE OUR DESTINIES ARE INTERTWINED, BECAUSE OUR RELATIONS ARE INTERDEPENDENT, BECAUSE OUR INTERESTS ARE SHARED.
HENCE THE NEED FOR CONTINUED NURTURING OF OUR FRIENDSHIP, CONTINUED PROMOTION OF OUR COOPERATION, AT ALL LEVELS.
TODAY ALSO MARKS THE BEGINNING OF A SERIES OF ACTIVITIES TO CELEBRATE THE FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ESTABLISHMENT OF DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS BETWEEN THAILAND AND MALAYSIA, WHICH WILL CONTINUE FOR ONE FULL YEAR.
THIS RECEPTION IS THE FIRST OF MANY EVENTS TO CELEBRATE THIS LONG AND ENDURING FRIENDSHIP. ANOTHER UPCOMING EVENT IS THE RECEPTION AT THE ROYAL THAI EMBASSY IN KUALA LUMPUR THIS COMING MONDAY WHICH I MYSELF AND MY DEAR COLLEAGUE FOREIGN MINISTER DATO’ SERI SYED HAMID ALBAR WILL ATTEND.
ON THE AUSPICIOUS OCCASION OF THIS 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ESTABLISHMENT OF DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS, I WOULD LIKE TO EXPRESS, ON BEHALF OF THE ROYAL THAI GOVERNMENT, OUR HEARTFELT THANKS AND DEEP APPRECIATION TO THE MALAYSIAN GOVERNMENT FOR ITS VALUABLE COOPERATION IN PROMOTING PEACE AND PROSPERITY FOR OUR TWO COUNTRIES, NOT ONLY WHERE THEY MEET AT THE BORDER BUT BEYOND AS WELL, WHEREVER THERE ARE MUTUAL INTERESTS.
AS BROTHERLY NEIGHBOURS AND LONG-TIME FRIENDS WITH INTERTWINED DESTINIES, THAILAND AND MALAYSIA CAN ONLY FORGE EVEN STRONGER PARTNERSHIPS FOR THEIR MUTUAL BENEFIT AND THAT OF THE REGION IN THE YEARS AHEAD.
EXCELLENCIES,
DISTINGUISHED GUESTS,
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,
MAY I NOW INVITE YOU TO JOIN ME IN A TOAST TO THE GOOD HEALTH AND PROSPERITY OF HIS MAJESTY TUANKU SULTAN MIZAN, THE YANG DI PERTUAN AGONG OF MALAYSIA, THE GOVERNMENT AND PEOPLE OF MALAYSIA, AND TO ALL THE FUTURE ANNIVERSARIES OF OUR BILATERAL RELATIONS TO COME.
TO HIS MAJESTY THE YANG DI PERTUAN AGONG.
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3 September 2007