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  Final Report of the meeting


"The programme was a stimulating experience for me. Intellectual discourses are sometimes easily dominated by a western frame of reference, but I found our exploration was an attempt to go beyond the frame, with a heavy Asian presence. We are living in an age when we definitely need to promote intercultural and intercivilisational dialogues, and I hope ASEF can continue to present a forum to exchange experiences and visions between Asia and Europe."  
 
- Michiaki Okuyama, Nanzan Institute for Religion & Culture (Japan)

In this Cultures and Civilization Dialogue, not only the theory of conflict is confirmed, problems were articulated and possible solution is offered through the exchange among participants. In short this meeting provided me with more food for thought.

- Beatrice Leung, Lingnan University (China)

This ASEF 'Talks on the Hill' has been an outstanding seminar. It has really provided an opportunity for in depth exchange of ideas on a very important, difficult and timely topic. This issue of government/ citizens' faith politics was approach in a very enriching way, drawing from both the Asian and European experiences and perceptions. It obviously helped generate a mutual and deeper understanding of the various situations from one country to another and of what their rational and foundations are.

- Frederic Bobay, Movement for Secularity, Equality, Europe (France)

2nd talks on the hill

Exploring the Relationship between Religion and the State in Asia and Europe



For the second in the "Talks on the Hill" series, the Asia Europe Foundation held a discussion forum on the grounds of the Foundation in Singapore from the evening of the 15th till late afternoon on the 17th of February 2004.

This "Talks on the Hill" brought together 13 prominent individuals from 10 ASEM countries. The participants comprise of distinguished personalities from legal, policymaking, journalistic and academic backgrounds. Again, the meeting also comprised a good balance between the genders. All the participants were very engaged and the level of involvement in the various sessions was excellent.

This discussion on the relationship between religion and the state is very timely and pertinent in light of recent landmark judicial rulings, constitutional ammendments and civil society mobilisations in both the regions of Asia and Europe. While the recent headlines have focused on a few specific cases, the overarching principles of the debate about the relationship between religion and the state need to be reexamined in light of the changing demographies, policies and political and religious landscapes in both regions.

This relatively sensitive topic of discussion resulted in very intense and sometimes emotional discussions. All the participants were extremely involved in the various discussions, and the level of exchange and learning in the entire meeting was very high. Particularly, and most importantly, most participants felt that they concretely were able to learn from the meeting, and apply the knowledge into their respective work in this field.

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Please refer to the relevant documents below:

Bertrand Fort, Director of Intellectual Exchange

Peter Ashby, Facilitator of the meeting addressing the group

Fuad Nahdi (UK) explaining his understanding of the issue.

Peter Ashby (UK) & Frederic Bobay (France)

Marco Ventura (Italy) with Charit Tingsabadh (Thailand)

Rina-Jimenez David (Philippines)

A "buzz-group" over lunch at the terrace of the Asia Europe Foundation.

The group in the garden of the Asia Europe Foundation

 
 
Copyright © 2003. Asia-Europe Foundation