Year End Message from the Regional Director Bangkok, 23.12.2013
Dear friends and partners of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation,
As the year 2013 draws to a close, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude for your continuous contribution and support of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation and its ultimate goal of “Freedom” which cannot be valued high enough. It has been an eventful year in our region, one that witnessed quite a number of events and activities. Naming them all would go beyond the scope of this message. However, I would like to address some of our prouds, sorries and major developments during the last year.
2013 was a “Freedom Year”. The foundation celebrated the 50th anniversary of its international work. We came a long way since the opening of our first office abroad in Tunisia in 1963. Meanwhile, the Friedrich Naumann Foundation promotes the liberal values of democracy, human rights, the rule of law and the principles of the free market economy in more than 60 countries across the globe. To celebrate this significant anniversary, every project organised special events and activities ranging from a freedom song contest in Thailand to an art exhibition in Malaysia and the freedom run against corruption in the Philippines just to name a few. The freedom run was part 1
of the successful “It´s all about freedom” campaign initiated by the FNF Manila team. It was the only Asian project nominated for the World Forum for Democracy in Strasbourg, France. We are excited and proud that our project gathered the most votes of an online voting contest.
Another outstanding event was the 20th anniversary of our regional partner, the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats (CALD). CALD has become a major platform for exchange between liberal parties and individuals in the Asian region. Among the distinguished guests of the event were Prof. Dr. Jürgen Morlok, Chairman of FNF’s Board of Trustees and Mr. Wolfgang Sachsenröder, who was instrumental in the birth of CALD in Bangkok in 1993. The anniversary in Manila was overshadowed by the disastrous impact of typhoon Yolanda which left thousands of Philippines dead, countless people have lost their house and homes. We would like to express our deep compassion for the victims of this tragic event. We may not be able to prevent natural disasters. However, we can support governments and local communities to improve early warning and disaster response mechanisms to prevent the loss of life and property. The CALD climate change projects in the Philippines and Indonesia are a clear commitment of the Asian Liberals and Democrats to help reducing the negative impacts of changing climate patterns.
In Myanmar, we have witnessed a lot of positive changes of the country´s remarkable political, social and economic reforms towards democracy. In the course of these events, we were able to extend the scope of our work and intensify cooperation with our partners and friends. The FNF office in Yangon was opened in October 2013 in a celebratory event with national and international guests. Myanmar still has a long way to go towards a full democracy which the repeated violent outbreaks between different ethnic and religious groups show. The opening of the office stands for our long-term goal to support the democratic reforms in Myanmar.
The Thailand team of the foundation has initiated some exiting projects. A major success was the further expansion of trainings for our SIM democracy board game throughout Thailand and beyond. Meanwhile, the game was successfully introduced in Bhutan, Malaysia and Myanmar and also presented to the German Federal Agency for Civic Education (Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung, bpb). The success of the game will continue next year as we plan to launch it in South Korea and the Philippines. A “SIM App” for smart phones and computer tablets is in the making and ready to be used by early next year. Our successful “Dream Thailand” future search campaign was expanded to the troubled southern provinces of Thailand that still sees violent insurgencies on almost a daily basis. The “Dream South” campaign was launched to foster dialogue between different ethnic and religious groups and thus contribute to peace and prosperity in the region.
2013 was election year in both Malaysia and Cambodia. Both campaigns were accompanied by mass demonstrations and people demanding more transparency in government as well as economic reforms and improvements in the rule of law. We believe that every government has ensure that the will of their people is be truly respected and hope that both countries will find 2
peaceful responses to the demands for change. Thailand also has seen large demonstrations in the last weeks. For many years the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom has cooperated with Thai partners and organisations in strengthening democracy and civic participation in politics. It is the foundation’s firm belief that political differences and conflict should be resolved through constructive dialogue while upholding the principles of democracy and the rule of law.
In September, parliamentary elections were also held in Germany. The result came as a big shock to us liberals. For the first time in the history of the Federal German Republic, the liberal Free Democrat Party (FDP) will not be represented in German Federal Parliament. The election outcome poses a fundamental challenge to the party but the German liberals are not discouraged. The task of the newly elected party leadership will be to reflect on the shortcomings, to focus on our core values and strengths so that the FDP can reemerge as a strong political force. A promising team of party leaders has been entrusted with the challenge to ensure that the liberal voice remains vocal in Germany and abroad.
To conclude, I would like to thank you once again for your trust, co-operation and continuous support to the liberal cause. We wish you and your families a great start into the New Year and hope that we can continue our programs to advance freedom and strengthen democracy in next year and in those to come. Yours sincerely,
Dr Rainer Adam and the FNF Southeast and East Asia team
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