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ST--Countries slow to ratify shouldn't hold back Asean Charter

Jan 21, '08 7:16 AM
for everyone

THE STRAITS TIMES

Jan 21, 2008

Countries slow to ratify shouldn't hold back Asean Charter

By Jeremy Au Yong

ASEAN grouping should consider taking an Asean-Minus-X approach to push through the Asean Charter, so nations slow to ratify the document will not hold others back.

Second Minister for Foreign Affairs Raymond Lim made this call in Parliament on Monday, when responding to questions on Asean's handling of the Myanmar issue.

He said: 'We should not and will not let the Myanmar issue slow down the integration of our region... Singapore has ratified the Asean Charter and we hope that the other Asean countries, including Myanmar, will do so expeditiously,' he said.

'Asean should not rule out amending the Charter so they can come into force under Asean-Minus-X principle should some countries be unable to ratify the Charter in time so that the rest of us are not held back.'

The Asean-Minus-X principle allows member countries that are ready to get into the game lead the way, with others that may take more time to meet the commitments joining later. However, getting the charter ratified within the one-year target set could prove to be tricky, with some countries indicating they would not do so until Myanmar resolves its problems.

But Myanmar aside, the Minister said the Asean Summit hosted by Singapore last November was a success.

'Overall, the Singapore Summit achieved its main outcomes. Although Myanmar was a major concern, it did not derail proceedings,' said Mr Lim, who was asked for the Government's assessment of the summit.

He pointed to the signing of the charter, the endorsement of the blueprint for the setting up of an Asean economic community and declarations on climate change as some of the triumphs of the meetings.

He added that the grouping also had 'productive summit meetings with its dialogue partners like China Japan Korea, India and the EU'.

Given the milestones already achieved in the country's short stint as chairman of Asean, Mr Lim added that Singapore is looking forward to the second half of its one-year term.

'We will continue to push Asean to implement important initiatives like the Asean Charter, strengthen cooperation in key areas like the environment and trans-border challenges, as well as deepen relations with its various partners,' he said.

Tags: asean

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17 CommentsChronological Reverse Threaded

Comment deleted at the request of the author.

singapuranews wrote on Feb 25, '09

casey150 said

Greeting My dear Friend . How are you and those arround you?? i hope everting is well with you over there fine.Really dear i am very happy to read your mail, and I will like to introduce my self to you . Firstly, I am Miss lindsey Maxwell Hicky 22 years old girl single never married i came from africa Mogadishu in Somalia central africa.i am the only daughter of my father. Late (Dr) Maxwell Hicky my father was an SOCIETE GENERALE DE BANQUE AU SENEGAL. My father was killed by our Government. They accused my father of coup attempt. I am constrained to contact you because of the maltreatment, am receiving from my father brothers, they planned to take away all my late father's treasury and properties from me since the unexpected death of my beloved Father. Meanwhile I wanted to escape to United State but they parsist that i will not live my country Somalia. and the most important thing is that other valuable travelling documents. Luckily they did not discover where I kept my father's File which contains important documents. So I decided to run to the refugee where I am presently seeking asylum under the United Nations High Commission for the Refugee here in Dakar, Republic of Senegal. I wish to contact you personally for a ) long term business relationship and investment assistance in your Country.My father deposited the sum of ($4.8M) dollars in the Bank which he used my name as the next of kin. However, I shall forward you the necessay documents on confirmation of your acceptance to assist me for the transfer and investment of the fund As you will help me in an invsetment, it is my intention to compensate you with 15% of the total money for your services and the balance shall be my investment capital. This is the reason why I decided to contact you in this way because i see that you are a well trust worldy man . Please all communications should be through this email only for confidential purposes. As soon as I receive your positive response showing your interest I will put things into action immediately. please write to me hopeing to here from your please i need your help in my life (lindseyhicky@yahoo.in) lindsey

This is not the first time I received emails or letters like this. Some people claim they've thousand or millions of US dollars and they wish to contact citizens from other countries to claim their own money and gave attractive commission to those who help them and in the end there are all scams.

A lot of African countries like Nigeria have been using fax and email to trick other people from all over the world. There's even a German film talking about this scam.

I'm surprise to received such a scam in my blog.

And since you claimed that you are currently seeking asylum in the UN, there should be enough people to help you to get back your money or you may like to ask the Interpol for help ?

fcharton wrote on Feb 25, '09

http://www.419eater.com/html/letters.htm

Some people make a profession of baiting the baiters... read there... Careful some are quite graphical. Personal favourite is the holy cow story...

singapuranews wrote on Feb 25, '09

Mentioned in the German movie, these scammers will target businessmen with facing poor businesses and urgently look for a new business. These people are usually quite depressed so that these scammers can use their weak point to attack them.

singapuranews wrote on Feb 25, '09

All the movie's sales will go to the victim who inspired the film

“My best friend lost all his savings after being victimized,” says Sorin Mihailovici, producer and director of “419: The Nigerian Scam”. “I will never forget for the rest of my life the look on his face and the ordeal he went through. His tragedy inspired me to create this movie”, said Mihailovici, who decided to protect his friend's identity.

"After the movie got international attention I received a ton of messages asking me if I am giving anything to the victim who inspired this movie. I was overwhelmed by the amount of people who suggested that. The price of the movie is not that high anyway so I decided that starting this month all the proceeds will go to him. He doesn't know it yet but he will probably see it on the website. At the end of the month I will go to him with a check. It probably won't be that much but that will be my way of saying thanks for what he did for me. I got my name out there with this movie and that's enough for me. Every little bit helps him right now", added Mihailovici.

The producer went a step beyond in the movie, using real documents from the correspondence with the scammers. You can see one of these documents in the trailer below, at 00:54.

“419: The Nigerian Scam” is an educational (how to avoid all kinds of offers and Internet deals) and a dramatic story – a must-see movie.

*********************************************************************************************************************

What is 419: the Nigerian Scam?

Every year, more than 50,000 people worldwide fall victim to the Nigerian Scam. Usually contacted by e-mail about a business proposal or winning a lottery, the victims lose their life savings after they are persuaded by stories with very tempting outcomes.

According to some reports, the scam is the third most lucrative industry in Nigeria, generating over 5 billion dollars in the last 20 years. Authorities have named the scam after the number of the article in the Nigerian constitution that deals with the matter - 419.

For the last few months, a filmmaking team from Canada produced a movie, showing how the e-mail scam works. As far as we know, this is the first movie ever made on this topic - but if there are some other ones, please let us know.

http://www.419thenigerianscam.com/site/

singapuranews wrote on Feb 26, '09

casey150 said

As soon as I receive your positive response showing your interest I will put things into action immediately. please write to me hopeing to here from your please i need your help in my life (lindseyhicky@yahoo.in) lindsey

Whoever wrote to this lady will have a chance to lose lots of money.

Anyway she have already cancelled her multiply account to avoid caught.

http://multiply.com/cancelled/casey150