Building on ASEAN's Success: Towards an Asia Pacific Community

3. Closing Remarks

III Closing Remarks K. Kesavapany The Honourable Professor S. Jayakumar, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the 29th Singapore Lecture; The Honourable Kevin Rudd, Prime Minister of Australia; Distinguished Members of the Australian Delegation; Ministers Dr Lee Boon Yang and Mr Raymond Lim; Ministers of State, Council of Presidential Advisers Member and former Chief Justice Mr Yong Pung How; HE Miles Kupa, High Commissioner of Australia to Singapore and Mrs Kupa; Mr Wong Ah Long, Deputy Chairman, ISEAS; Members of the Diplomatic Corps; Excellencies, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen. It is a pleasure and privilege for the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies to host the 29th Singapore Lecture delivered by the Honourable Kevin Rudd, Prime Minister of Australia. The Chairman of the Institute, Professor Wang Gungwu has asked me to convey his regrets for not being present here. He is away on scholastic duty in New Delhi. On behalf of the audience, I thank you, Sir, for your lucid exposition on the topic, “Building on ASEAN’s Success: Towards an Asia-Pacific Community”. Australia is a friend of Asia. Our paths cross at many points — economic, political and strategic — intertwining our destinies 28 as well. Australia’s multicultural society resonates in the many multiracial societies that make up the nations of Asia. Its open and forward-looking policies are a source of strength to Asian countries that are tapping into the energizing opportunities created by globalization. Australia contributes to the security architecture needed to fight against terrorism. We in Asia appreciate Australia’s role in all these spheres of activity. Mr Prime Minister, you have given us your vision of how a new regional architecture can be shaped to meet the challenges and take advantage of the opportunities of the 21st century. Australia’s presence and participation in the various regional communities will help us to achieve greater regional cooperation and economic integration. We in Singapore share your country’s aspirations to build a harmonious, cooperative, peaceful and prosperous Asia. Speaking for the Institute, which researches extensively on regional integration issues, we are grateful for the intellectual input you have given us. It is going to keep us busy for some time to come. On this note, it now gives me great pleasure to call upon the Deputy Chairman of ISEAS, Mr Wong Ah Long, to present to our distinguished guest a book entitled The Encyclopaedia of the Chinese Overseas, edited by Lynn Pan, a well-known Mandarinspeaker and aficionado of things Chinese. We hope this book will bring you some reading pleasure. Thank you. kelvin rudd Kevin Michael Rudd was sworn in as the 26th Prime Minister of Australia on 3 December 2007, after he led the Australian Labor Party to an election win on 24 November. Mr Rudd was born in the country town of Nambour in Queensland in 1957, the son of a share farmer and a nurse. Mr Rudd was educated at the Eumundi Primary School, Marist College Ashgrove and Nambour State High School, where he was Dux of the school. He joined the Australian Labor Party at the age of fifteen in 1972. Prior to entering Parliament in 1998, Mr Rudd worked as a diplomat, as a senior official in the Queensland Government, and as a consultant helping Australian firms to establish and build their business links in China. Mr Rudd gained his Bachelor of Arts (Asian Studies) degree with First Class Honours in 1981 from the Australian National University in Canberra. After graduation he was appointed to the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs as a cadet diplomat. He served in the Australian Embassy in Stockholm as Third Secretary and later in the Embassy in Beijing as First Secretary. In 1988, Mr Rudd was promoted to the rank of Counsellor and later to the Senior Executive Service. In 1988 Mr Rudd returned to Queensland to work as Chief of Staff to the Hon Wayne Goss, the Queensland Opposition Leader. Mr Goss made history the following year, leading the Queensland Labor Party back to government in its first election win since 1956. Mr Rudd served in the Goss Government first as Chief of Staff to 30 the Premier and later driving the Government’s reform programme as Director General of the Cabinet Office, the central policy agency of the Queensland Government. During this period, Mr Rudd, a Mandarin speaker, was also appointed by Prime Minister Keating and the State Premiers to chair an inter...