Press Room

Ambassador of the Republic of Singapore to Myanmar Mr Robert Chua hosted a tea reception at the Singapore Embassy on 20 November 2008 to commemorate the publication of the book "What Makes me Happy - A Collection of ASEAN Children's Happy Drawings". The reception was attended by Myanmar officials, the ten Myanmar children whose drawings appeared in the book, their parents and other invited guests.

The ASEAN Children's Happy Drawings Project was initiated by Mr Peter Zhuo, a Singaporean artist who has visited several schools in each ASEAN country earlier this year. At each school, Mr Zhuo conducted a fast-paced and entertaining drawing session to excite children and inspire them to draw. The children's artwork were subsequently collated, and the best of those drawings have been published with the aim of increasing awareness of ASEAN among the children and youth of ASEAN countries.

During the reception, Ambassador Robert Chua said that the youth of ASEAN represented the future and the hopes and aspirations of the organisation. He added that the Happy Drawings Project has encouraged children to take a keener interest in ASEAN, and emphasised the need to continue to engage youth so as to build up and strengthen the ASEAN Community and promote cross-cultural understanding. He congratulated and encouraged the Myanmar participants to put their talents to good use and wished them success in their future endeavours. Ambassador Chua presented copies of the book to the ten Myanmar children whose drawings appeared in it.