REPORT FROM SOUTH EAST ASIA REGIONAL COMMITTEE

Greetings to all.

Since assuming the post of Chairperson in November 2012, I have not been very successful in bringing this regional subcommittee together. Communications with all the 10 countries have not been encouraging after 2 years. The representatives who responded to my email  are Ms. Aria of Indonesia, Boun Mao of Cambodia, Hai Tran of Vietnam and Teddy Kahil of the Philippines.

Paying a visit may be a good beginning but I prefer to communicate through email to further the usage of technology like e-mail and plan and identify requirements prior to visiting.

I am happy that Brunei is back to our region. Though there has been no meeting or project of the committee I would like to acknowledge  some of the programmes that have been carried out and it has benefited some countries pf the region.

Since 2012 Thailand has organized several programmes that has included people from across the region.

1. The TAB International Music Festival (2013) which was also open to musicians from across the region.
2. The TAB International Reading Competition held from January 17-19, 2014 was attended by participants from Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam and Thailand. The same said event will happen again next January 2015.
3. Massage- The 12th WBUAP seminar on massage was held in Bangkok from May 4-6, 2014. The participating countries were Mongolia, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Philippines, India, Japan, Korea, Vietnam and Malaysia. The Massage Commisssion had announced that the 13th WBUAP Massage seminar will be held in Manila in 2016.
4. Bringing the youth of the region together Thailand had organized 2 youth forums that was in 2013 and 2014. This year youths from Vietnam, Lao, Singapore, Myammar and Malaysia attended. Though the number was small, it has given the participants a better opportunity to be active.
5.  Another programme that has brought people from around the region was the job preparatory workshop that was organized in Malaysia which was a close collaboration between the Royal Society of South Australia, the Standard Chartered Bank Seeing is Believing Fund and the National Council for the Blind Malaysia. Participants were from Myammar, Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia.In conclusion, I would like to thank Thailand and Malaysia and its representatives for the thought of including persons from across the region whereby we grow together as a region. We may be miles apart but I believe this should not hinder us to collaborate as a team.

Prepared by:

Mdm Jasmine Khoo

Chairperson of SEARC