Human Rights and Governance

"The programme was a stimulating experience for me. Intellectual discourses are sometimes easily dominated by a western frame of reference, but I found our exploration was an attempt to go beyond the frame, with a heavy Asian presence. We are living in an age when we definitely need to promote intercultural and inter-civilisational dialogues, and I hope the ASEF can continue to present a forum to exchange experiences and visions between Asia and Europe." - Michiaki Okuyama, Japan.

"The ASEF Talks On The Hill has been an outstanding seminar. It has really provided an opportunity for the in-depth exchange of ideas on a very important, difficult, and timely topic. This issue of government/citizens' faith politics was approached in a very enriching way, drawing from both the Asian and European experiences and perceptions. It obviously helped generate a mutual and deeper understanding of the various situations from one country to another and of what the rationale and foundations are." - Frederic Bobay, France.

OVERVIEW

The 2nd Talks On The Hil brought together 13 individuals from Asia and Europe to discuss topics based on the following themes:

- Conceptual relations between religion and state

- Religious actors and politics

- Minority religions and religious groups

- Religion and globalisation