MFA Press Statement: Comments by Minister George Yeo on the Passing of Nalanda Mentor Group Member Ikuo Hirayama

I join Amartya Sen and other members of the Nalanda Mentor Group in mourning the passing away of Ikuo Hirayama and conveying deepest condolences to his relatives and friends. A survivor of the Hiroshima atomic bomb, Ikuo Hirayama dedicated his life to the cause of peace. I recall vividly his recounting of that fateful day when he saw an American B29 bomber drop a bomb hanging from a parachute coming down towards the city of Hiroshima. Because he rushed back into the school building to inform fellow students, he survived while those who stood outside to watch perished. An accomplished painter, he was well known for his paintings of the Silk Route. He received many honours in his lifetime including France's Legion d'honneur in 1996 and Japan's Order of Cultural Merit in 1998. Designated a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador in 1989, he helped preserve cultural treasures in Angkor Wat, the Dunhuang Mogao Caves, Bamiyan and the Koguryo Mural Tombs in North Korea. He saw the revival of Nalanda University as a collective effort which will help bring peace to the world.

Below is the statement of condolence by Prof Amartya Sen on behalf of all of us in the Nalanda Mentor Group:

"The Nalanda Mentor Group deeply mourns the loss of Mr. Hirayama Ikuo - a great scholar and a remarkable artist. Mr. Hirayama worked ceaselessly with us in the Mentor Group to restart the pioneering university at Nalanda that flourished between the fifth and the twelfth centuries in the state of Bihar in India. The new university, also called Nalanda University, will be established next to the old site of Nalanda, and it will be - like the old Nalanda university - a state-of-the-art centre of higher education.

"Mr Hirayama's wise advice and proposals are very warmly remembered by the members of the Nalanda Mentor Group. We will all greatly miss Mr Hirayama and his wise counsel in the work for Nalanda. As the Chair of the Nalanda Mentor Group, I send, on behalf of our Group, our deep condolences, to the relations and other friends of Mr. Hirayama."

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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
SINGAPORE
4 DECEMBER 2009