Welcome to Malaysia!

URI SEA-PACIFIC 3rd ANNUAL REGIONAL MEETING 2007 Moving forward in solidarity to build cultures of peace in the region March 14-16, 2007 – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

The 3rd Annual Regional Meeting of the URI Southeast Asia-Pacific (SEAP) Regional Trustees and leaders of Cooperation Circles took place in Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia from March 14-16, 2007. This was the first regional meeting held outside Manila- the seat of the regional office.

The Regional Meeting was hosted by the Interfaith Spiritual Fellowship (INSaF) URI KL CC—chaired by Regional Trustee Dr. Amir Farid Isahak; and its mother organization, The Pure Life Society—which is lead by KL’s respected interfaith spiritual matriarch, Mother Mangalam.

On March 13th 2007 (Tuesday) the delegates from outside Malaysia started to arrive. Ms. Yoland Trevino, URI Global Council (GC) Chairperson, who flew from US, and Ms. Jessiee Kaur-Singh, CC leader of COMMON CC from Australia, arrived separately.

Day 0: Arrivals

DAY 0: On 14th (Wednesday) the rest of the team which flew from the Philippines arrived in the early morning around 1:00am and checked-in to the Singgahsana Hotel in Petaling Jaya where the delegates were billeted for the whole period of their stay.

The URISEAP 3rd Regional Meeting had the special and rare privilege of having the presence of– aside from URI GC Chair Ms. Yoland Trevino-- the URI Executive Director, Rev. Charles Gibbs; and two other staff from the URI hub in San Francisco, Ms. Sally Mahe’ (URI Director for Organizational Development) and Ms. Barbara Hartford (URI Director for the Peacebuilding Program and HR). The three of them flew in together with the Philippine delegation right after their second 5-day seminar-workshop on the URI Moral Imagination Peacebuilding Training Program which was held in Manila (March 8-12). The delegates who accompanied them from the Philippines were: Dr. Shakun Vaswani (URI SEAP Regional Coordinator-Manila), Ms. Marites Guingona-Africa (The Peacemakers’ Circle CC leader from Manila), Sr. Sandra Clemente, RSCJ (Regional Trustee & Kalinaw CC leader from Cebu), Mr. Boni Quirog (Bohol Goodwill Volunteers’ CC leader from Bohol), Mr. Musa Sanguila (Pakigdait CC from Mindanao), Mr. Lee Collano (Muslim-Christian Peacemakers’ Association CC representative from Caloocan City), and Mr. Orlan de Guzman, Jr. (URISEAP Regional Information and Communications Officer).

Lunch with INSaF/URIKLCC

Despite the lack of sleep due to the early morning flight the delegates were able to grab some late breakfast at the Hotel, and then later on, took a walk to the nearby shopping mall to have some money exchanged and their e-mails checked. Some even got the chance to visit Dr. Amir's clinic there.

At lunch time the group was brought to a vegetarian Chinese restaurant to meet for the first time the members of INSaF and Pure Life Society, and share a hearty meal with them.

At the Pure Life Society center

Afterwards, the delegates proceeded to the Pure Life Society center where they were met by its president, Mother Mangalam, and the rest of its members. In a conference hall, everyone gathered for formal introductions and to review the proposed schedule of activities and discuss the program for the interfaith conference on the fourth day. After clarifications and revisions on the program were made and as the rain has finally subsided, the group took a tour around the compound to see more and learn more about the Pure Life Society. The delegates visited the quarters and facilities of the Pure Life orphanage, temple Universal Spirit. The day was capped with a fellowship dinner in the evening with the members of INSaF/Pure Life Society—our new found URI family in KL.

Day 1: Sacred opening

DAY 1: On 15th March 2007 (Thursday) the delegates were picked up from the hotel and brought back to the Pure Life Society for the meeting proper.

The Sacred Opening was done at the Temple of Universal Spirit which is situated on top of the hill within the compound. Mother Mangalam started the prayers with an inspirational reading and silencing while accompanied by flute music rendered by Orlan de Guzman, Jr. This was followed by sharing of individual prayers and reflections from the different faiths, and symbolic offerings around the circle. Dr. Amir then formally welcomed everyone to the meeting, to INSaF URIKLCC/ Pure Life Society and to their beautiful country.

Meeting proper starts

After coffee break the group gathered at the conference hall to proceed with the meeting presided by the current regional chairperson Dr. Amir. Starting with the reading together of the URI Preamble, Purpose and Principles the meeting then flowed to the sharing of stories and updates from each CC. Each CC shared pictures, updates of activities and presented their history, how they got to know URI and created/registered as a CC.

The sharing started with the host INSaF/URIKLCC represented by Ms. Goh Chooi Chin and followed by the rest of the participating CCs. This went on until lunch time and was continued afterwards. An eighth group was asked to share—soon to be a CC which just had its CC application submitted for approval a few days earlier. This was the Malaysian Interfaith Network (MIN) which was represented by its coordinator, Dr. John Gurusamy, who formally introduced their group to the URI SEAP family.

At tea time the group decided to proceed with the meeting while having snacks & refreshments. The founding regional coordinator¸ Ms. Marites Africa was then asked to share about the history of URI in the Southeast Asia-Pacific region. This was followed by sharing from the staff members (Ms. Sally Mahe’, Ms. Barbara Hartford and Rev. Chares Gibbs) from the URI hub to provide the global context.

Dinner & cutural program

The day’s meeting ended around 5:30pm after which the group went to the hotel to freshen up before heading back to the Pure Life Society center for dinner cum multicultural show prepared by the children from the Pure Life orphanage. The delegates were entertained with dances, a drama sketch, and some singing with a local singer accompanied by traditional music. The delegates even danced onstage while some were invited to render impromptu song numbers. Hence, the URI chorale was born!

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Morning of Day 2

Day 2: March 16, 2007 (Friday). The group gathered at the garden around the Temple of the Universal Spirit on the hill where the day’s activities was opened by a body-silencing exercise led by Orlan and followed by a simple ceremony of symbolic offerings to Mother Earth led by Ms. Yoland Trevino who is an indigenous Mayan. Interfaith prayers were then offered by each participant around the circle.

Taking advantage of the fair weather the delegates were encouraged to walk around the garden to take pictures, and enjoy the fresh, tranquil atmosphere constantly serenaded by the songs of the birds perched on the peace trees and world peace poles found there.

Committee reports, Regiona coordinator reports, and responses from the hub

The meeting resumed at the conference hall around 10:00 am with discussions on regional matters starting with the regional committee reports. In the absence of the trustees (Dr. Ratnam and Rev. George) in charge of the Public Relations and CC Building Committee, Regional Coordinator Dr. Shakun Vaswani shared updates on the upcoming CCs being formed in progress around the region. Activities of Public Relations were also mentioned and this triggered a lively discussion on some of the current local issues on interfaith relationships around the region.

Discussions on the ADHOC committee for Annual Regional Meeting & the 2007 Malaysia conference centered around how Dr. Amir worked towards hosting the Regional Meeting in KL. While on this topic, representatives from the URIKLCC were then invited to express their sentiments about hosting the event.

On Fundraising & Outsourcing or Sustainability committee, Sr. Sandra pointed out how the region should work towards creating resources (human or financial) starting within the CC level, working towards self-sufficient, self-sustaining CCs.

While on a working tea break, the meeting proceeded with the Regional Coordinator’s 2006 Report. After Dr. Shakun presented the proposed plans and budget for 2007 several queries raised by some URIKLCC members were discussed and clarified.

Afterwards responses from the URI main office were shared. URI-GC Chair Ms. Yoland started off with an invitation to stand up, stretch and walk break around the room before she proceeded with her sharing. Just before lunch break URI Exec. Dir. Rev. Charles shared his thoughts and suggestions for the regional assembly.

After lunch and prayer break for the Muslim members, the meeting resumed in the afternoon while foregoing the viewing of the DVD-documentary from The Peacemakers’ Circle CC due to technical difficulties. Sally and Barbara from the URI hub office then shared their reports, opinions and suggestions for the group.

Regional Planning led by incoming chair

Having been formally introduced by outgoing chair Dr. Amir, incoming regional chairperson Sr. Sandra took over to preside over the Regional Planning for 2007 & 2008. The regional participants (save the URI hub group) were divided into two groups, Philippines group and Malaysia-Australia group, to discuss among themselves the proposed programs/activities and suggested organizational structures within the context of the region’s three main areas of concern (PR & CC-buidling, CC-nurturing & Bonding, and Finance & Sustainability).

Regrouping after the working break, the assembly discussed and deliberated the ideas and suggestions raised. It was emphasized that youth involvement should be the focus of CC-building in the region. On a country-level, it was suggested that each country identifies: a country representative (for countries with only one CC) or a country coordinator (for countries having more than one CC); and point persons for each of the three committee areas. An annual country meeting is suggested alongside the Annual Regional Meeting.

Closing ceremonies

The afternoon’s closing ceremonies was capped with the planting of a URI tree at the garden of the Pure Life center.

As promising as the continued growth of a seedling that has been transplanted from germination to its designated place where it shall rightly take root—the 3rd Regional Meeting concluded with promising plans, blossoming hope, and deepening roots of relationships for the growth of the URI family in the Southeast Asia-Pacific region.

Epilogue

After the regional meeting proper the delegates continued to enjoy a wonderful stay in KL with visits cum dinner at different faith centers, namely: The Sikh Gurudwara, The Buddhist Maha Vihara, The Islamic NGO center. A one-day interfaith conference organized by the URIKLCC on the 17th March (Saturday) was also attended by the delegates, after which they were treated to a city tour on the next day (Sunday the 18th).

A million thanks is cheerfully offered together by the URI-SEAPac delegates to the interfaith community hosts, staff and family members of URIKLCC, most especially to Dr. Amir and Mother Mangalam, for all their commitment, support, love and kindness!