True Happiness Series at New Life Fellowship (my home church!) near the Olympic Market

. . .

Spirit of Humanity Forum

Reykjavik, Iceland

13-15 September 2012

Program

Aim

PROGRAM THURSDAY

13th SEPTEMBER, 2012

5.00 - 6.15 pm Registration open at Harpa Congress Centre

Harpa Conference Center in background (center to left of Theary, 17 Sept. 2012)

6.30 – 8.00 pm Welcome reception at Hofdi House hosted by the Mayor and the City of Reykjavik

Welcome by Jon Gnarr, Mayor of Reykjavik

Mayor of Reykjavik, Jon Gnarr, welcoming the delegates of Spirit of Forum to a reception at the Hofdi House (Thursday, 13 Sept. 2012)

Hofdi House where President Ronald Reagan and President Gorbachev met, a catalyst which acted to end the Cold War (Reykjavik, 17 Sept. 2012)

2:45 minute YouTube clip of this historic Summit in Reykjavik held at the Hofdi House (a neutral ground) on Oct. 12, 1986. A few years later, the Cold War ended as a result of this meeting.

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Sitting in the Hofdi House seats where Reagan and Gorbachev held their historic Reykjavik Summit in 1986, here with Miriam Subirana (Spanish author/sculptor) and Canadian businessman Upkar Arora (replacing Joan Mele)

FRIDAY 14th SEPTEMBER, 2012 - HARPA CONFERENCE CENTRE

8.00 am Registration open

DAY ONE: RE-SETTING THE COMPASS

9.00-10.00             OPENING DAY ONE

Forum Presenter: Veronica Pedrosa, International News Presenter, Al Jazeera

English Youth Choir Greetings from Sabah Al Rayes, Chairman, ARG, Kuwait

Veronica Pedrosa, Sabah Al Rayes, President of Iceland, Dadi Janki

Sitting between two peacemakers Sabah Al Rayes and Swedish ambassador Ragnar Angeby at a dinner reception on Videy Island (Reykjavik, 14 Sept. 2012)

Greetings from Dadi Janki, Head of the Brahma Kumaris

Opening Remarks by HE Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, President of Iceland

President of Iceland Grimsson hosting a reception for us at his residence (no security check, no gate -- not surprising in a country without a military and where the police do not carry guns) (Reykjavik, Saturday, 15 Sept. 2012).  Listen/watch his full remarks here.

SESSION 3: CALLING

4.15 - 5.45 pm Led by Miriam Subirana, Foundation for a Culture of Peace

Theme (iii): What is the future asking of me and how can I respond? Where can I find the energy and passion to respond to this inner call? This session will help us identify and understand what the future is asking of each of us personally, within the context in which we find ourselves, and explore how we empower ourselves with the higher human values to respond to this call. From where do I find the energy to think, feel and act differently in facing current challenges?

Former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Frm. UNESCO chief who declared Angkor Wat a UNESCO Heritage Site Federico Mayor, author-sculptor Miriam Subirana, Theary Seng at the reception hosted by the President of Iceland at his residence (Reykjavik, 15 Sept. 2012).  Watch/listen to excerpts from Federico Mayor's speech.

The session includes:

• Insights by:

Joan Mele, Deputy Director, Triodos Bank Spain [replaced by Upkar Arora, Managing Director Illumina Partners]

Theary C. Seng, Founder, Centre for Justice and Reconciliation, Cambodia

• Personal reflection:

What is the future asking of me?

[Excerpts of my comments:]

-  to live out forgiveness, sacrifice;

-  to contribute to the building of shalom, peace with justice, or "human flourishing" in a very parched land;

-  to continue to push for, to create safe public space for dialogue for others who are vulnerable, without a voice or means to enter the dialogue and conversation.  And in this public safe space, to enlarge our way of thinking, to learn to acquire Miroslov Volf's "double vision";

-  all of the above, in sum: to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with my God -- to borrow the words of the prophet Micah.

How do I respond to this call?

-  to do so with a graceful spirit, with a quiet, centered-spirit -- my daily prayers.  I cannot give what I do not have, thus the prayer for GRACE.

-  to speak the truth -- easier in a place like Cambodia, where most situations are black and white -- but to do so with love, with grace, and yes, even as I am doing so with firmness.

How can I empower my response?

- filling my mind with Holy Scriptures, with inspirational readings of/by individuals from the past and the present, e.g. Aung San Suu Kyi, Nelson Mandela.  I read a lot.  I cannot give if I do not have; a few years ago, I was so burned out.  Thus, my prayers are to be filled with grace.

- to make the fight for justice, the pursuit for peace as concrete as I can.  For me, justice has a name: Mom and Dad.  The past has a name: Never Again.  The future has a name: a boy I visit regularly, Nak.

Where do I find the energy and the passion to respond to inner call?

• Roundtable conversations

Theary Seng with Princess Martha Louise (only daughter of Norwegian King and Queen), a genuine "people's princess" full of warmth and personality (Reykjavik, 15 Sept. 2012)

Former President of Bulgaria Petar Stoyanov (1997-2003) who sat across from me at dinner on Videy Island, here at the reception hosted by the President of Iceland at his residence (Reykjavik, 15 Sept. 2012)

Archbishop of Capetown, Theary Seng with her two very cool housemates -- Jim Paymar and Sander Tideman (Reykjavik, 14 Sept. 2012)

My lovely, hospitable host: Gretar and Maria

More photos and info...

The Blue Lagoon...

. . .

Dinner with Canadian diplomatic friends (Monique and John), Bunleng, Mona (Kem Sokha's daughter), Carin Naike Kohl (friend of Kerry Kennedy from Italy), 8 Sept. 2012

Speak Truth To Power photo exhibition at Bophana Center (Sunday 9-23 Sept. 2012)

Also at

CIVICUS: Center for Cambodian Civic Education

A LANGUAGE IN CRISIS

4-Part Series of Commentary to

The Phnom Penh Post

Re-posted on KI-Media and Facebook Accounts

Sent to 1,800 on Email List-serve

Why Do We Have to Use Punctuation?

A History of Conventions

Part I

A LANGUAGE IN CRISIS

(edited version published in The Phnom Penh Post, 16 Aug. 2011)

www.box.com

Part II

A LANGUAGE IN CRISIS

The Written Khmer: The Problem

(edited version published in The Phnom Penh Post, 17 August 2012)

www.box.com

Part III

A LANGUAGE IN CRISIS

The Written Khmer: A Few Questions

(anecdotes of the problems on the ground posed in list of questions, forthcoming)

Part IV

A LANGUAGE IN CRISIS

The Written Khmer: A Few Recommendations

(a few initial recommendations of the way forward, forthcoming)

Background

Venerable Chuon Nath's Dictionary

and other Authority

(the learned monk of the 20th century is the strongest authority on all things educated, in Khmer)

Venerable Chuon Nath with King Norodom Sihanouk

Language and National Identity

by Dr. Stephen Heder

(a chapter on Cambodia in a book published by Oxford University Press)

The Khmer Bible

Version with Proper Punctuations/Formatting

Theary Seng Version

As the Khmer Standard Version of the Bible, 2005 is extremely well translated in terms of word choice/vocabulary, and recently made available in electronic form on the internet, and because I am already very well familiar with the stories and books of the Bible (reading, re-reading them since I first became a Christian at the age of 9 years old--32 years ago!), I am editing the KSV 2005 with proper, consistent, and "new" punctuations as well as reformatting it for clarity and easier comprehension.

I am starting with books and portions of the Bible which contain ideas and concepts which are already familiar, even if the non-Christian Khmer reader may be surprised to find the source as the Bible, e.g. the Book of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Sermon on the Mount, Gospel of Luke and of John, Letter of James, etc.

Both Christian and non-Christian Cambodian readers will be able to appreciate these edited books of the Bible in Khmer, mainly because they rare reading materials available in the Khmer language that are clear and understandable.  For the non-believing Khmer readers, take these edited books of the Bible as good literature, which they are (plus more, for the Khmer believers!).

I am currently having my staff at CIVICUS Cambodia typing two basic books on the history of Cambodia, already translated but lacking proper punctuations, so that I may edit them and make them freely available online for the public.

READING MUST BE TRIGGERED with INTERESTING MATERIALS, free of the burdens of having to fight the printed page and mangled language -- which allows for the beginning of effective DIALOGUE, of quality EDUCATION, of RECONCILIATION, of Cambodian FLOURISHING (PEACE with JUSTICE, or SHALOM).

* * *

Commentary by Ms. Theary C. Seng, The Phnom Penh Post, 16 Aug. 2011

Commentary by Ms. Theary C. Seng, The Phnom Penh Post, 17 Aug. 2012