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OPENING ADDRESS BY

H E PRESIDENT ONG TENG CHEONG,

REPUBLIC OF SINGAPORE AT THE 34TH SEAMEC
ON 8 FEBRUARY 99 AT 9:20 A.M.
AT WESTIN STAMFORD AND WESTIN PLAZA

Your Excellencies,

Distinguished Delegates and Observers

Ladies and Gentlemen

1. First of all, I would like to extend a very warm welcome to the Ministers and distinguished delegates from the SEAMEO member countries and associate member countries, delegates from the SEAMEO centres and observers. We are honoured by your presence.

   A Unique Education To Offer

2. Our countries have come a long way since the first Conference of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organisation Council, 34 years ago. We have made great strides in improving the standard of living of our people through expanding educational opportunities and raising the quality of education.
3. Education has a clear direct impact on the economic development of a country. It can also give our young people not only their roots to anchor them securely to their cultural heritage, but also wings to fly as high as their abilities can take them.

   Roots

4. We live in a region with a rich and diverse cultural and historical heritage. We share many values in common, like the importance of the family, respect for elders, thrift, and hard work. While each of our countries has lived a different history, there are common strands that bind us, through centuries of trade and people-to-people exchanges.
5. But we must not let values and history tie us down, or constrain growth and new ideas. Instead, they should provide the ballast for our people to hold steady in a sea of information explosion and rapid technological change. They mould the character of a person and give him a sense of identity. The imbibing of such values and having a deep sense of the country’s history will give him a sense of belonging, and contribute to his self-confidence.
6. It is therefore important that schools and educational institutions help our young people to develop their roots and their sense of belonging. Whether at primary, secondary or tertiary levels, our students can absorb and learn our values and history through the teachers, the curriculum and school activities.

   Wings

7. The current regional economic slowdown is only a temporary setback. It should not deter our long-term effort in building up our intellectual capital to plug into the knowledge and information economy. While the economic Ministers are working on matters like trade, currencies and bank restructuring, the education ministries and educational organisations like SEAMEO should be investing in the development of our young people, so that they will be ready to spread their wings and fly high.
8. It is this capacity to fly high that will bring our countries and region into the new millennium with confidence. In so doing, we help to affirm the endurance of the values and heritage we hold dear.

   SEAMEO Has An Important Role

9. SEAMEO has an important role to play in equipping our people for the future. SEAMEO's network of regional training centres, each specialising in an area of competence provide the necessary infrastructure, expertise and network of contacts to develop roots and wings.
10. I am confident that SEAMEO will capitalise on the good foundation that it has already laid and build upon its network of relationships and expertise. Let’s work to put SEAMEO on the world map as a regional organisation that has foresight, strength of conviction, gumption and the ability to accomplish significant outcomes even in tough times.
    

    Concluding Remarks

11. I wish all of you a very successful Conference and an enjoyable stay in Singapore.
12. It gives me great pleasure now to declare the 34th Conference of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organisation Council open.