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Farewell Surin Pitsuwan, a visionary leader of ASEAN
Dr. Surin Pitsuwan was truly a man for all seasons. He was a learned scholar of Islam, an expert on international relations, a distinguished politician in Thailand and a renowned diplomat.
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Surin Pitsuwan (The Nation/ANN/File)
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hen I first heard the news of Surin Pitsuwan’s death on Thursday, Nov. 30 from a friend, my first reaction was disbelief. After reading the link to the news in the Bangkok Post I was shocked and unbearably saddened. I regard Khun Surin, as he was known, as a mentor and a good friend, whose compassion and vision for a more humane global and regional order I have always admired and aspired to emulate.
My terrible shock at hearing of his sudden passing, however, was not only because it was so unexpected but because only a week earlier we had both attended the World Conference on Islamic Thought 2017 organized by Sultan Azlan Shah University in Ipoh, Malaysia. On Oct. 5-6 we both participated in the second East Asia-West Asia Seminar in Amman, Jordan.
Dr. Surin Pitsuwan was truly a man for all seasons. He was a learned scholar of Islam, an expert on international relations, a distinguished politician in Thailand and a renowned diplomat. He served as one of Thailand’s most distinguished foreign ministers (1997-2001) and ASEAN secretary general (2008-2012).
Pitsuwan was a true intellectual and an analytical thinker, but what made him truly outstanding was that he was always an inspirational speaker with remarkable facility with words, able to speak about complex issues in ways that were easily understood by his listeners.
Overall of course, he was always gracious, charming and generally a very nice human being, who remained humble despite his many accomplishments.
The theme of the above conference was global peace and Pitsuwan was one of the distinguished speakers at the plenary opening session on Nov. 20, and his delivery was classic Surin. Drawing from his education in his family’s Islamic pondok or boarding school in Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand and in Egypt, Khun Surin was able to recite verses from the Quran and he quoted the Hadiths about the true meaning of Islam as a religion of peace as exemplified by its very name, and the Islamic greeting, “Assalamulaikum,” or “Peace be with you.”
Pitsuwan talked knowledgably about the teachings of Prophet Muhammad and the ideals of Islam as a blessing for the whole world, Rahmatanlil Alamin, and then conveyed his criticisms and concerns about how the name of Islam has lately been misused and abused by a small group of extremists and terrorists, who have threatened global peace and our common humanity.
