Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Nazmi bin Haji Mohamad shared Brunei Darussalam’s initiatives in strengthening the institution of the family as a pillar of social development in line with the Malay Islamic Monarchy philosophy in empowering the well-being of the family through policies that support stability and harmony in the community.
The minister said this during a plenary speech titled ‘Strengthening the Pillars of Society: Brunei Darussalam’s Commitment to Supporting and Enhancing Family Institutions’ during the Asian Family Conference in Singapore recently.
Themed ‘Strong and Resilient Asian Families: Challenges and Opportunities’, the conference was jointly organised by Singapore’s Ministry of Social and Family Development together with the University of Social Sciences, Singapore.
ASEAN ministers, academics, and heads of organisations responsible for social and family affairs in the Asian region attended the conference.
The conference brought together experts and leaders from Asia to discuss strategies, policies and best practices in strengthening family institutions and discussed programmes and good practices based on evidence to improve family outcomes in terms of family resilience, relationships, well-being and child development.
The conference was preceded by the Special Meeting of ASEAN Ministers on Social Welfare and Development (Special AMMSWD) chaired by Malaysia’s Minister of Women, Family and Community Development Dato’ Sri Hajah Nancy binti Shukri.
At the special meeting, the ASEAN ministers agreed on ‘Collaboration on Understanding the State of ASEAN Families’ to build a network of research and studies on family issues in the region.
Permanent Secretary (Community) at the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports Hajah Nor Ashikin binti Haji Johari and ministry officials also attended.
President of Singapore Tharman Shanmugaratnam was the guest of honour. – Daniel Lim
