As of today, a total of twenty five (25) liberals from all over Asia had submitted their nomination forms. The list of Nominees includes twelve participants from Cambodia, which comprise the largest delegation of the activity. Eight of which are from the Sam Rainsy Youth Movement (Sam Dara, In Sam Ol, El Rafeuth, Suong Sophorn, Heng Sunhuot, Chamreun Suon, Chat Sokun Theary and Kim Paseth) and the other four are members of the Students’ Movement for Democracy (Vanna Sam, Sivuthe Sok, Seyha Toch and Sovannrith Tuon). Meanwhile, Indonesia is represented by three delegates of Garda Bangsa. The Taiwan Young Democratic Union also has three participants. On the other hand, Malaysia has two nominees, Khang Woon Ong and Chee Yeng Chong, both hailing from the Malaysia People’s Movement Party. The Kabataang Liberal ng Pilipinas has Martin Defensor as its nominee while The Institute of Democracy and Leadership – Sri Lanka, is represented by Saminda Jayaekara. Ibnu Zubair is nominated by his oraganization, The Merah Putih National Board and to cap – off the list would be Asiya Khan of the Future Youth Group – Pakistan.

            In a nutshell, all the participants expect that they would acquire more knowledge about peace and human rights because having the same objectives as YLDA, they know that being on – the – know of this manner will pull interests closer and thus more bounded between their organization and the Young Liberals and Democrats of Asia. All nominees also desire to tighten ties with YLDA, as for those who already had started making them while for the newbies, their desire to have and in the future develop relationship with YLDA serves as their impetus for joining the upcoming event. Nonetheless, ultimately, each delegate to the workshop is driven by their will to hear voices and opinions of liberals outside their borders, thus making their ideas in terms of the said topic global and more vast.

Nostalgia shall be the buzzword as the Young Liberals and Democrats of Asia (YLDA) prepares for its Fifth Year Anniversary this coming October 29 – November 2, 2008 Celebration in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Together with its partners, the Friedrich Naumann Foundation Fur Die Freiheit (FNF) and the Sam Rainsy Youth Movement (SRYM), YLDA will be hosting young liberals from different parts of the world for a four-day seminar workshop commemorating the creation of YLDA five years ago in the historic city of Siem Reap.

In the program being prepared by the YLDA Secretariat in Manila, the highlights of the celebration include the launching of the new website and the presentation of YLDA’s achievements for the past five years, including the on-going book project on Asian Freedom supported by FNF and the Taiwan Democratic Foundation.

To commemorate YLDA’s birth in a place torn by war and defined by human rights atrocities in the past, YLDA will also hold a three–day workshop on peace and human rights.

In preliminary discussions with the facilitator, the program for the workshop focuses on knowledge and skills development in the area of peace and human rights advocacy and campaigning. The training modules emphasize the relationship between human rights and peace as they touch on the basic concepts of human rights and emphasize how the observance by parties in conflict of human rights covenants play a crucial role in the promotion and sustenance of peace.

For YLDA President Rajendra Mulmi, the idea of holding a peace and human rights workshop in Cambodia “is a clear testament to YLDA’s commitment of confronting and learning from the past in order to secure a better future.”

Jan Argy Tolentino, YLDA Secretary General, for his part sees the event as an opportunity to introduce young liberals to the horrors of war while informing them of the Cambodian case where human rights violations continue to exact toll on the human development index of the country. Clearly, he adds, “Cambodia’s past still plays a big part in its present.”

The underlying message the Cambodian case echoes, adds YLDA Program Officer Pey Canlas, “is the intimate truth that three generations of Cambodians perished during the brief but deadly four-year reign of the Khmer Rouge three decades ago.” Henceforth, holding a peace and human rights workshop in Cambodia is YLDA’s way of “ensuring that the same horrors and atrocities by human beings to fellow human beings are not committed again: Neither in Cambodia nor in any parts of Asia.”

Serving as an information gateway for the public and those wishing to join the conference, the YLDA Secretariat has created a blog for the event. The blog can be accessed at http://yldaworkshops.wordpress.com. Queries can also be sent to the secretariat at ylda.secretariat@gmail.com.