Welcome Address
I Gusti Bagus Alit Putera, vice governor of Bali, Prof. Dr. Makmuri
Muchlas, Ph.D, Director-General of Out-of-School education, Youth and Sport,
Mr. Ken-ichi Komagata, Counselor of Youth Affairs Administration of MCA,
presidents of SSEAYP alumni as well as representatives of Alumni
associations of Asean countries and Japan, and fellow SSEAYP Family members.

Standing here and looking around this ballroom, I'm very pleased to see new
faces as well as many familiar faces of the SSEAYP Family, who came all the
way to Bali. My hearty welcome to the 13th SSEAYP International General
Assembly in Bali, Indonesia.

First of all, I'd like to extend special thanks to the SIGA preparation
committee, Ronal Tuhatu, chairman of the SIGA organizing committee, and Yodi
Dermawan Dasuki, president of the SSEAYP International Indonesia, and all of
the Indonesian staff members who made strenuous efforts to make this
occasion finally possible and so ceremonial.

Well, I feel nostalgic coming back to Bali. In 1986, two years ahead of the
inception of SSEAYP International in Malaysia in 1988, some leading members
of the SSEAYP family gathered in the Bali Solo Hotel in Nusa Dua to talk
about how to strengthen our solidarity.

We put our heads together to organize the post-SSEAYP activities, covering
Asean countries and Japan. We decided to draft a charter that will bind
sporadic post-SSEAYP activities. Gazing at stars at night at the pool side
of the Hotel at Nusa Dua, we dreamed of having a network for ex-participants
traveling around Asean countries. In a restaurant along the river in Ubud,
we chatted about what we can do for the rest of ex-pys.

Next year in Japan, we finished drafting the charter, named SSEAYP
International Charter and approved it to be effective from 1988. One of the
founding members who signed the draft is Mr. Sakata, then a president of
IYEO.

He attended the 1st SIGA in Malaysia and 4th SIGA in Jakarta in 1991 and
contributed greatly to the activities of SSEAYP International.

Also we have another founding father, president of KABESA, Mr. Auzi here.
Would you both stand up and be recognized?

Travel network entered another stage with an initiative of KABESA, that
Malaysia and Bruneian alumni members will climb Mt. Kinabaru in September as
part of the eco-tourism events of the TRAVEL Network.
So we have come a long way and made a great progress.
Today 13th Indonesia SIGA will add a new page to the SSEAYP International.
The Socialist Republic of Vietnam fully participated in the Program in 1996,
after joining the Asean in 1995 and joined the Program as observers in the
same year. Since then, the Vietnamese alumni association has been gradually
coming into shape. So I feel very honored and pleased to take this
opportunity to introduce to you all, Mr. Le Tra Tran, a youth leader of
1999 SSEAY Program.

Would you stand up and be recognized?

In the past few years, SSEAY Program has undergone a big change. The Lao
People's Democratic Republic and the Union of Myanmar fully participated in
the Program in 1998. The youth of the Kingdom of Cambodia joined the
Program as observers in 1997 and take a full part in this year's Program.

So far our SSEAYP family has extended over Asean 10 and Japan. The numbers
of ex-participating youths total at 5,528 in Asean countries and 957 in
Japan with 185 national leaders. It is my sincere wish that at the next
SIGA in Bangkok, we will see new faces from Laos and Myanmar as well as
Cambodia.

Therefore, Asean 10 and Japan will sail into the new Millennium together at
the turn of the century.

I said in the last SIGA in Singapore that if the 20th century is classified
as an era of mass-production, mass-consumption and mass-culture, it must be
remembered as a century of mass-destruction, mass-poverty and
mass-pollution.

Kuta beach, for example, was not what it used to be. I came here more than
twenty-odd years ago for the first time. There was no MacDonald, no Plaza
Bali and no Hard Rock Cafe. Being exposed to Western commercialism,
however, Bali still retains its traditional culture and Balinese way of
life, surviving the tide of Western influence.

I admire that Indonesia have cherished the unity in diversity. We have to
cherish the cultural diversity. About ten days ago, leaders of eight major
industrialized democracies stated in the "G-8 Communique Okinawa 2000" as
follows:

"Cultural diversity is a source of social and economic dynamism which has
the potential to enrich human life in the 21st century, as it inspires
creativity and stimulates innovation. We recognize and respect the
importance of diversity in linguistic and creative expression."

"Increased interaction among peoples, groups and individuals is bringing
greater understanding of and appreciation for what is interesting and good
in every culture. Promoting cultural diversity enhances mutual respect,
inclusion and non-discrimination, and combats racism and xenophobia."

All of us here have been very fortunate because we had a pleasure of
enjoying the cultural diversity. In our own SSEAY Program, we meet with
each other for the first time on board the ship, Nippon-maru, full of peace
especially when she pitches and rolls. We share cabins and make our
life-long friendships with our cabinmate. Sometimes we even shared a bowl
of Thai noodles in the deck at night, escaping from the night patrols.

So we had a forty-odd-day of heaven in the ship, at the ports of call, and
in occasional homestays as well. We had a face-to-face communication and a
heart-to-heart friendship. Yes, we developed a special spirit: the SSEAYP
spirit.

With this SSEAYP spirit, if we read and watch the name, Mindanao, for
example, in the newspaper or TV program, we instantly recall faces of our
friends in that region we met in the SSEAYP. If Medan or Macassar or
Jakarta appears on the news, we soon recall faces of our friends in that
region we met in the SSEAYP. Now our young members can recall faces of our
friends they meet in the SSEAYP if something happens in Cambodia, Laos,
Myanmar and Vietnam.

The SSEAYP spirit let us empathize with other Asian people. The SSEAYP
spirit goes beyond national borders. The SSEAYP spirit urges us to think
more seriously about the rest of this part of Asia.

Especially in this age of information technology, everyone can be
a sender of the message with the computer at hand and the message spreads
very quickly. So Asia is shrinking in its distance in that sense. But Asia
is spreading out, on the other hand, with the great digital divide between
haves and have-nots yawning wider.

Perhaps as the new century approaches, we must have to be more knowledgeable
about other countries, history and society. We must be kinder to other
people. We must be nervous about others' decision as well as ours,
especially about the environmental issues.

Even a small rise in the temperature resulted in El-nino, that caused
widespread haze, droughts, torrential rainfall and landslides. All of these
natural disasters, or rather artificial disasters, affected our major crops
and lives. We were not so much aware before that air and soil pollution
would deal gradual and devastating blows to our health. We did not notice
before that deforestation would endanger so many precious animal and plant
species.

Therefore, we have to more knowledgeable, kinder to others and more nervous
about our decisions. Yes, Knowledge, Kindness and Nervousness: a new set
of KKN.

I am sure that Bali is more than an ideal theater where our SSEAYP spirits
will be put into a new perspective. I sincerely hope that each workshop
will create new approaches to our alumni organizations and regional unity.
May I wish the SSEAYP spirits prevail to usher in a new era of peace, true
affluence, and sustainable growth in this part of Asia.

Together, let's move forward together in the new millennium.Masahide Morita
Secretary General

Masahide Morita
Secretary General