NILAI, Nov 12 — Former US president Bill Clinton today called on the government and political leaders to focus more on the politics of hope rather than the politics of grievances if they want to see a better and more peaceful world in the future.He said it was more important for them to keep the good things moving forward and work towards greater shared prosperity and cooperation for their people.
He made these remarks in response to a question from a student of INTI International University here on how to attain greater world peace, during a question-and-answer session after delivering a talk on youth leadership and civic engagement, here.The talk, which lasted 40 minutes, was attended by more than 1,000 students from the university as well as business leaders and government officials.
INTI International University is part of the Laureate International Universities of which Clinton is the honorary chancellor.Also present at the function were Tan Yew Sing, founder and CEO of INTI Education Group, and Graham Doxey, CEO Malaysia of Laureate International Universities.Clinton also spoke about the William J. Clinton Foundation that he founded after leaving the White House in January 2001 and its work in bringing together global leaders, university students and private citizens to identify and implement innovative solutions for the world’s most pressing challenges, including poverty alleviation, climate change, global health, and education.Clinton said it was important to empower change for the better and avoid the absence of possibility for the people.
Saying that it would be quite impossible to see a world without any problems at all, he added that it was more pragmatic to tackle those that could be solved first.Similarly, he said, it was important for one to look at issues that could be resolved and not harp on things that could not be done.As such, he lauded the work done by non-governmental organisation (NGOs) in helping governments “fill the gaps”, citing the role played by NGOs in disaster relief work around the world.
Clinton said that those blessed with education and knowledge should play an active role in NGOs and reach out to help others, adding that there were still millions of people who did not have access to proper education to empower change or had to live in poverty at incomes of less than US$2 (RM6.20) a day.
The former US president also urged the students to make full use of the knowledge that could be derived from the Internet as opposed to the times in the past when one had to spend a lot of time to acquire knowledge.
He also said that advances in technology also enabled people to respond to charitable causes in a more efficient manner, where money could be transferred with a few clicks on the mobile phone.
Clinton, who is still respectfully referred to as “Mr President”, also commended the Malaysian government’s initiative on green technology and said that although investments in this direction may seem expensive initially, they would pay off in the long run.The 42nd US president, who is a strong supporter of the US football team, also took an opportunity to promote the US bid for the Fifa 2020 World Cup Finals.
“It’s the only country where you can get all the stadiums filled up for all games,” he said.
The US last hosted the Fifa World Cup in 1994. —
Source : Bernama
INTI International University is part of the Laureate International Universities of which Clinton is the honorary chancellor.Also present at the function were Tan Yew Sing, founder and CEO of INTI Education Group, and Graham Doxey, CEO Malaysia of Laureate International Universities.Clinton also spoke about the William J. Clinton Foundation that he founded after leaving the White House in January 2001 and its work in bringing together global leaders, university students and private citizens to identify and implement innovative solutions for the world’s most pressing challenges, including poverty alleviation, climate change, global health, and education.Clinton said it was important to empower change for the better and avoid the absence of possibility for the people.
Saying that it would be quite impossible to see a world without any problems at all, he added that it was more pragmatic to tackle those that could be solved first.Similarly, he said, it was important for one to look at issues that could be resolved and not harp on things that could not be done.As such, he lauded the work done by non-governmental organisation (NGOs) in helping governments “fill the gaps”, citing the role played by NGOs in disaster relief work around the world.
Clinton said that those blessed with education and knowledge should play an active role in NGOs and reach out to help others, adding that there were still millions of people who did not have access to proper education to empower change or had to live in poverty at incomes of less than US$2 (RM6.20) a day.
The former US president also urged the students to make full use of the knowledge that could be derived from the Internet as opposed to the times in the past when one had to spend a lot of time to acquire knowledge.
He also said that advances in technology also enabled people to respond to charitable causes in a more efficient manner, where money could be transferred with a few clicks on the mobile phone.
Clinton, who is still respectfully referred to as “Mr President”, also commended the Malaysian government’s initiative on green technology and said that although investments in this direction may seem expensive initially, they would pay off in the long run.The 42nd US president, who is a strong supporter of the US football team, also took an opportunity to promote the US bid for the Fifa 2020 World Cup Finals.
“It’s the only country where you can get all the stadiums filled up for all games,” he said.
The US last hosted the Fifa World Cup in 1994. —
Source : Bernama
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