Asean leaders head home after two-day summit
SEPANG: Asean member states' leaders and delegates have begun departing for home following the conclusion of the 46th Asean Summit and Related Meetings on Tuesday (May 27).
Among those who left were Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, Lao Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet.
All the leaders were accorded a red carpet ceremonial send-off at the Bunga Raya Complex, Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), with a guard of honour mounted by the First Battalion of the Royal Ranger Regiment (Ceremonial).
Paetongtarn departed at 7.10pm aboard a special aircraft and was sent off by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Federal Territories) Datuk Seri Dr Zaliha Mustafa.
Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Chang Lih Kang then bade farewell to the Singaporean Prime Minister, who boarded a commercial flight from KLIA Terminal 1 at 8.20pm.
This was followed by the departure of the Laos delegation, who were seen off by Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister Datuk Ewon Benedick.
The Cambodian Prime Minister departed at 9.30pm after being bid farewell by Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is scheduled to depart at 11.30pm and will be sent off by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Law and Institutional Reform) Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said.
The 46th Asean Summit concluded after a series of high-level engagements aimed at reinforcing regional cooperation and strategic partnerships.
Held under Malaysia's 2025 Asean Chairmanship themed "Inclusivity and Sustainability', the two-day summit included the 2nd Asean-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit, the inaugural Asean-GCC-China Summit, and the 16th Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) Summit.- Bernama
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
an hour ago
- The Star
Cambodian FM urges UNDP to continue support for kingdom's key areas
PHNOM PENH, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn on Wednesday asked Enrico Gaveglia, newly appointed resident representative of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to Cambodia, to continue support for the kingdom's key areas. He made the remarks while receiving a courtesy call by Gaveglia, during which he also presented his letter of credence, said a foreign ministry's news release. Sokhonn, who is also a deputy prime minister, expressed appreciation for the UNDP's assistance to the Cambodian government on social protection schemes. He requested the UNDP to continue its support in key areas, such as mine clearance, renewable energy, social equity, youth, cyber challenges, and climate change, the news release said. For his part, Gaveglia reiterated the UNDP's steadfast commitment to advance Cambodia's development aspirations by promoting inclusive growth, addressing climate challenges, and building effective governance.
New Straits Times
3 hours ago
- New Straits Times
NST Leader: Of defence assets and agents
AUG 16 will be a day that the people who matter in the Defence Ministry will never forget. It was the day His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia disclosed to the nation that the ministry was full of agents, ex-generals turned salesmen and even textile merchants peddling drones. He made this disclosure in his royal address during the parade marking the 60th anniversary of the Special Forces Regiment at Kem Iskandar in Mersing, Johor. Relying on agents is a dangerous pursuit for an institution that is tasked with defending the country. And in case they forget, three days later, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim reminded those responsible for procuring defence assets to end the reliance on agents when replying to a question in Parliament. The Defence Ministry, he said, had faced decades of controversies and scandals involving procurement, forcing the government to adopt government-to-government negotiations. Why then is the Defence Ministry packed with agents? Perhaps the RM5 billion defence procurement and development spending in 2024 — an increase of RM2 billion from that of 2020 — has something to do with it. A royal reprimand and a prime ministerial reminder say a lot about the seriousness of the problem. Enough of the "the decades of controversies and scandals", we say. We know that middlemen is a Malaysian malaise, but of all places in the Defence Ministry? The use of agents — ex-generals or otherwise — comes with at least two dangers. Let's begin with the more dangerous of the dangers: poor quality of defence assets peddled by the agents. Compromise the defence assets, then you compromise the defence of the country. Defence assets of quality don't need agents to peddle them. Nations will beat the path to their door. It is "flying coffins", to borrow a royal phrase, like the second-hand A-4 Skyhawk aircraft bought in the 1980s, that need the hawking, excuse the pun. Scrap the plan to buy the 30-year-old Black Hawk helicopters, Sultan Ibrahim ordered the Defence Ministry. Media reports say the armed forces is scrapping its plan to buy four Black Hawk helicopters at a cost of RM187 million. But the question is: why wait for the royal command? Isn't the internal process robust enough to raise red flags? Or is integrity a challenge? Dropping the purchase of the helicopters is just the first step. More needs to be done. The primary interest of agents, even ex-generals turned salesmen, is how much they can get out of the deal. The quality of the defence assets they are hawking or whether or not they are compromising the security of the nation is secondary. For Malaysia, a nation of small means, every ringgit spent must show up its worth. The purchase of 88 second-hand A-4 Skyhawk jets did the exact opposite. It drained the country's coffers of millions. Although the price tag was US$1 million each, getting them refurbished took years, spiralling the cost to four times that to RM1.2 billion, media reports say. Then there is the Scorpene submarine deal in 2002 that cost US$130 million in commission. If this is how we do procurement of defence assets, even hundreds of billions wouldn't be enough.
The Sun
4 hours ago
- The Sun
AI must remain assistive tool not decision maker says former judge
KUALA LUMPUR: Artificial intelligence must remain an assistive tool rather than a decision-maker according to former Federal Court judge Tan Sri Harmindar Singh Dhaliwal. He emphasized that any AI impacting individual rights requires rigorous testing and clear oversight before deployment. Harmindar stated AI possesses transformative potential for human endeavor but must not replace human judgment particularly within criminal justice systems. AI should be an assistant, not a decision maker he declared during his plenary session at the ASEAN Law Forum 2025. He cited a Sabah case where an AI sentencing tool recommended ten months imprisonment with fifty-four percent probability for a drug offence. The magistrate instead imposed twelve months imprisonment demonstrating human judgment must prevail. Harmindar chairs the Criminal Law Review Committee and stressed the necessity for proper rules and safeguards. A clear risk-based approach is essential before adopting AI in judicial processes he emphasized. Singapore has already issued guidelines for AI use in courts he noted while the Philippines drafts its judiciary AI governance framework. Malaysia and other ASEAN members must follow suit with their own frameworks he urged. A framework ensuring responsible AI use requires risk assessments and mitigation measures he explained. AI use cases must undergo testing for bias, reliability and transparency before adoption he added. He cautioned that AI's criminal justice application demands vigilance despite being powerful technology. We must always remain accountable he asserted regarding AI integration into justice systems. Approaching AI with eyes wide open prepares us to address risks and reap benefits he concluded. Colin Seow of Colin Seow Chambers provided Singapore's perspective on AI implementation. The Singapore Police Force uses AI in digital forensics to automatically sift seized devices for abuse material. This integration significantly improves investigation speed and accuracy he confirmed. AI deployment extends to Singapore's financial sector through the COSMIC platform he added. The Monetary Authority of Singapore launched COSMIC last year as a public-private data-sharing initiative. Major banks and financial institutions participate in this collaborative information sharing platform. AI analyses transaction patterns within COSMIC enabling proactive suspicious activity detection. Banks can flag concerning activities across institutions while safeguarding customer confidentiality he explained. Legislative changes support this initiative allowing information sharing strictly for crime prevention. The three-day ASEAN Law Forum featured fifty-eight speakers and moderators across fifteen sessions. Over three hundred participants from ASEAN and beyond attended the expert-led discussions. Topics covered alternative dispute resolution and commercial law reforms alongside human rights. - Bernama
