ID :
91361
Tue, 11/24/2009 - 16:08
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/91361
The shortlink copeid
News Focus: MANDELA, YUNUS FAIL TO ATTEND WORLD PEACE DAY IN AMBON
By Otniel Tamindael
Ambon, Indonesia, Nov 24 (ANTARA) - Nobel Peace laureates Nelson Mandela of South Africa and Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh failed to attend World Peace Day commemoration ceremony in the scenic eastern Indonesian city of Ambon on Wednesday, December 25, 2009.
World Peace Day local committee chairman Cak Saimima said here on Tuesday that according to a coordination with the World Peace Day committee President Djuyoto Suntani and the Coordinating Ministry of People's Welfare, Nelson Mandela and Muhammad Yunus were unable to attend the event in Ambon because of various reasons.
"It has been confirmed that Nelson Mandela, the former South African president, is unable to attend the World Peace Day in Ambon because of his health condition," Saimima said.
Saimima said other international figure Mohammad Yunus of Bangladesh was also invited to attend the event but the latter was as well unable to do so.
"Unfortunately Muhammad Yunus cannot come to the World Peace Day ceremony in Ambon because of his tight schedule," Saimima said.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is scheduled to strike a gong to mark the opening of World Peace Day commemoration ceremony on Wednesday, December 325, 2009.
Commenting on Mandela and Yunus' failure to attend the ceremony, Saimima said the people in Maluku who have been looking forward to seeing the two Noble Peace Prize winners were greatly disappointed.
The former South African leader now 91 years old, has received more than one hundred awards over four decades for his efforts and services not only to his nation but also to people across the world.
The most prestigious among all the awards he received was the Nobel Peace Prize which was presented to him in 1993.
Nelson Mandela not only received countless awards and honors from his own country but has been bestowed with numerous foreign and international awards too.
He shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 with Frederik Willem de Klerk.
Born on July 18, 1918 in Transkei, South Africa, Mandela was the first to be elected as president in a fully representative democratic election to hold office from 1994 to 1999.
Before he became president, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of the African National Congress's armed wing.
Meanwhile, World Peace Day committee President Djuyoto Suntani also said the people of Maluku were deeply disappointed by the absence of Mandela and Bangladeshi Noble Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, the founder of Grameen Bank.
In 1998 Yunus was awarded the Concorde Prince of Asturias award, and in 2006, Yunus and the bank were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, "for their efforts to create economic and social development from below."
"We are looking forward to the presence of Mandela and Yunus in the eastern Indonesian city of Ambon but unfortunately they are unable to make it," Djuyoto said adding that the ambassadors of friendly countries in Jakarta were also invited to attend the international event.
He said the commemoration of the 35th World Peace Day was originally scheduled on November 10, 2009 but it would be observed in conjunction with National Heroes' Day, and therefore had been postponed until November 25, 2009.
According to him, Maluku Governor Karel Albert Ralahalu declared the commemoration of World Peace Day on the final day of the Ambon Jazz Plus Festival on October 11, 2009.
On the occasion, Governor Ralahalu urged the Maluku people to be grateful because their region had been chosen to host various cultural activities at national and international level.
He also expressed his gratitude to all artists and musicians who had come to participate in the Ambon Jazz Plus Festival (AJPF) as a form of support for World Peace Day in Ambon.
The observance of World Peace Day was followed by a Maluku Cultural Seminar on October 19, Cultural Carnival on October 27, and a Swimming Competition in Teluk Dalam on October 29.
The governor said the commemoration of World Peace Day in Ambon would be a great honor for the provincial government.
"Therefore the government and the people of Maluku should maintain the security and stability in Ambon to make the international event a great success," the governor said.
Ambon island is an integrated part of the whole Maluku archipelagic province of Indonesia where the capital of the province and the city of Ambon is located.
After a three-year communal conflict in Maluku from 1999-2001, Ambon island today is becoming more attractive tourist destination.
With its rugged mountains along the interior parts of the island, Ambon is a beauty by its own where visitors can find a lot of tourist attractions, natural as well as cultural and historical, like white sandy beaches, sea gardens, clove and nutmeg plantations, ancient fortresses, museuma, old churches and mosques, friendly people, musical society, and many others with about 12 selected diving spots around the island.
The city of Ambon was founded in the late 1500s or early 1600s after the Nossa Seinhora da Annunciada fortress was erected by the Portoguese Conquistadores.
The Dutch took it over in 1602 and renamed the fortress "Kasteel Victoria." It was later renovated and enlarged, and again given a new name, "Kasteel Nieuw Victoria," which has survived up to the present. ***
Ambon, Indonesia, Nov 24 (ANTARA) - Nobel Peace laureates Nelson Mandela of South Africa and Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh failed to attend World Peace Day commemoration ceremony in the scenic eastern Indonesian city of Ambon on Wednesday, December 25, 2009.
World Peace Day local committee chairman Cak Saimima said here on Tuesday that according to a coordination with the World Peace Day committee President Djuyoto Suntani and the Coordinating Ministry of People's Welfare, Nelson Mandela and Muhammad Yunus were unable to attend the event in Ambon because of various reasons.
"It has been confirmed that Nelson Mandela, the former South African president, is unable to attend the World Peace Day in Ambon because of his health condition," Saimima said.
Saimima said other international figure Mohammad Yunus of Bangladesh was also invited to attend the event but the latter was as well unable to do so.
"Unfortunately Muhammad Yunus cannot come to the World Peace Day ceremony in Ambon because of his tight schedule," Saimima said.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is scheduled to strike a gong to mark the opening of World Peace Day commemoration ceremony on Wednesday, December 325, 2009.
Commenting on Mandela and Yunus' failure to attend the ceremony, Saimima said the people in Maluku who have been looking forward to seeing the two Noble Peace Prize winners were greatly disappointed.
The former South African leader now 91 years old, has received more than one hundred awards over four decades for his efforts and services not only to his nation but also to people across the world.
The most prestigious among all the awards he received was the Nobel Peace Prize which was presented to him in 1993.
Nelson Mandela not only received countless awards and honors from his own country but has been bestowed with numerous foreign and international awards too.
He shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 with Frederik Willem de Klerk.
Born on July 18, 1918 in Transkei, South Africa, Mandela was the first to be elected as president in a fully representative democratic election to hold office from 1994 to 1999.
Before he became president, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of the African National Congress's armed wing.
Meanwhile, World Peace Day committee President Djuyoto Suntani also said the people of Maluku were deeply disappointed by the absence of Mandela and Bangladeshi Noble Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, the founder of Grameen Bank.
In 1998 Yunus was awarded the Concorde Prince of Asturias award, and in 2006, Yunus and the bank were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, "for their efforts to create economic and social development from below."
"We are looking forward to the presence of Mandela and Yunus in the eastern Indonesian city of Ambon but unfortunately they are unable to make it," Djuyoto said adding that the ambassadors of friendly countries in Jakarta were also invited to attend the international event.
He said the commemoration of the 35th World Peace Day was originally scheduled on November 10, 2009 but it would be observed in conjunction with National Heroes' Day, and therefore had been postponed until November 25, 2009.
According to him, Maluku Governor Karel Albert Ralahalu declared the commemoration of World Peace Day on the final day of the Ambon Jazz Plus Festival on October 11, 2009.
On the occasion, Governor Ralahalu urged the Maluku people to be grateful because their region had been chosen to host various cultural activities at national and international level.
He also expressed his gratitude to all artists and musicians who had come to participate in the Ambon Jazz Plus Festival (AJPF) as a form of support for World Peace Day in Ambon.
The observance of World Peace Day was followed by a Maluku Cultural Seminar on October 19, Cultural Carnival on October 27, and a Swimming Competition in Teluk Dalam on October 29.
The governor said the commemoration of World Peace Day in Ambon would be a great honor for the provincial government.
"Therefore the government and the people of Maluku should maintain the security and stability in Ambon to make the international event a great success," the governor said.
Ambon island is an integrated part of the whole Maluku archipelagic province of Indonesia where the capital of the province and the city of Ambon is located.
After a three-year communal conflict in Maluku from 1999-2001, Ambon island today is becoming more attractive tourist destination.
With its rugged mountains along the interior parts of the island, Ambon is a beauty by its own where visitors can find a lot of tourist attractions, natural as well as cultural and historical, like white sandy beaches, sea gardens, clove and nutmeg plantations, ancient fortresses, museuma, old churches and mosques, friendly people, musical society, and many others with about 12 selected diving spots around the island.
The city of Ambon was founded in the late 1500s or early 1600s after the Nossa Seinhora da Annunciada fortress was erected by the Portoguese Conquistadores.
The Dutch took it over in 1602 and renamed the fortress "Kasteel Victoria." It was later renovated and enlarged, and again given a new name, "Kasteel Nieuw Victoria," which has survived up to the present. ***
