His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam lauded the Commonwealth nations' vision of hope, which calls for a peaceful co-existence among all nations in a world where tolerance and goodwill are deeply cherished values, in a Commonwealth Day message.
Following is the full text of His Majesty's message:
"We celebrate today's Commonwealth Day in the spirit of the direction given by Commonwealth Heads of Government at our last Summit Meeting in Malta - 'The Commonwealth: respecting difference, promoting understanding'.
"This is the theme of our organisation's celebrations this year. It comes from the leaders of fifty-three nations who represent one third of the world's population. My government and the people of Brunei Darussalam are proud to join our fellow members in honouring a message that has such importance and resonance in the world we share today.
"Many occurrences in recent years have made us all aware, perhaps more than ever before, that we live in a shared world. Great global debates are taking place in the Commonwealth and all other international organisations. They involve everyone on earth.
"They have different titles on the agendas. These are often given fearful names such as 'Climate Change', 'Environmental Degradation', 'Disaster Management', 'Terrorism', and 'Global Poverty'. They are very serious and deeply challenging.
"They all have, however, one unifying issue and this is not a fearful one. It can be simply stated. Solutions require us all to work together.
"This can only be done if we respect our differences in backgrounds, cultures, faiths and histories. Out of this will come understanding of each other and recognition of our common humanity.
"The Commonwealth offers us principles that promote the opposite of fear. The friendship, cooperation and respect for each other that is shared by all its members place before us a vision of hope. It calls on us to leave our coming generations a heritage of peaceful co-existence among all nations in a world where tolerance and goodwill are deeply cherished values.
"The people of Brunei Darussalam have much to contribute to such a world and I and my government are committed to doing all we can to bring the Commonwealth's vision to reality.
"We offer the hand of friendship and cooperation to all our fellow members of the Commonwealth and we join them in celebrating a very important day in which together, we reaffirm our goals for humanity."
(12th March 2007)
