MFA Spokesman's comments in response to media queries on the ASEAN Peoples' Forum/ASEAN Civil Society Conference

In response to press queries on the statement from the organisers of the ASEAN Peoples' Forum/ASEAN Civil Society Conference that it was "shocked" to learn that Singapore had selected "substitutes from government-sponsored agencies" to the Informal Dialogue with ASEAN Leaders, the MFA Spokesperson said:

"The 42nd ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting in Phuket in July 2009 agreed that each ASEAN Member State would choose its own civil society organisation (CSO) representative for the informal dialogue with the ASEAN Leaders at the 15th ASEAN Summit.

The ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Council in Bangkok in August 2009 further agreed that the CSO representatives should be chosen from humanitarian and development sectors.

Thailand, as Chair of ASEAN, had conveyed these decisions in advance to the organisers of the ASEAN Peoples' Forum/ASEAN Civil Society Conference.

Singapore's CSO representative, Mr T K Udairam, Chairman of Mercy Relief, is thus no "substitute" but was chosen in accordance with these decisions.

We are surprised that the organisers of the Conference now profess to be "shocked" as they cannot have been unaware of the basis on which he was chosen.

Mercy Relief is an independent non-governmental charity which is well-known for delivering humanitarian assistance in the region. It is not a "government-sponsored agency"."

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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
SINGAPORE
23 OCTOBER 2009