president obama:hello, everybody! everybody have a seat. thank you so much. well, good afternoon. (applause) thank you. this is a verygood-looking group. (laughter) i want to thank carrie forthe introduction and your
outstanding work toempower women in singapore. give carrie a biground of applause. it is wonderful tobe back in malaysia. i want to thank everybodyat taylor's university for hosting us. give them a biground of applause. and i want to thank thegovernment and the people of malaysia for theirhospitality and leadership this year in hosting asean.
selamat petang. i was just at the apecsummit in the philippines. the philippinesare in the house. so i just landed a fewminutes ago and this is my first stop. summits like apec andasean are important, and i meet with all theseleaders and we take pictures and we talk aboutall kinds of things. so i don't mind spendingtime with older folks
-- like me. but one of the things thati love doing most on these trips is the time i spendwith young people like you, because your energy and youridealism and your optimism -- because that reflects thefuture and the promise of the asean region. i'm not going to give a longspeech because this is a town hall and i want tospend most of my time in a conversation with you.
i did one of these when iwas here in k-l last year. once again, what i reallywant to do is take your questions, have aconversation about your hopes and your ideas,how you see the future. but i do want to brieflyexplain why i believe a partnership withamerica is so important. as you know, i've got astrong personal connection to southeast asia. i spent time as ayoung boy in indonesia.
indonesia is in the house. my sister, maya, ishalf-indonesian -- she was born in jakarta. my mother spent yearsworking in rural villages in this region,empowering women. and so the rich traditionof the pacific -- the food, the people -- which i likethe people and i really like the food -- -- this is part of who iam and how i see the world.
but even if i didn't havethat special attachment, i would still know that theunited states has to be a partner with southeast asia. it's critical forour shared future. it's home to somuch of humanity, home to some of the world'sfastest-growing economies. and that's a key focusof my foreign policy -- deepening engagement withnations and peoples in this region.
and we've been verysuccessful over the last several years,making great strides. we've strengthenedour alliances. we've deepened ourpartnerships with emerging countries andinstitutions like asean. we recently negotiatedthe landmark trans-pacific partnership to grow oureconomies and support jobs in each of our countries. together, we're working tostand up for human rights
and democracy. and i want to commend,in particular, the people of myanmar fortheir participation in last week's historic election. it's another critical stepin their transition to a more peaceful and prosperousand democratic myanmar. but as importantas they are, security alliances and tradeagreements are not enough. governments and evenbusinesses don't have all
the solutions. we've got to have arelationship that's from the bottom up, not justfrom the top down, not just among the mostwealthy or powerful, but also from ordinarypeople who are trying to give opportunityto everybody. and so that people-to-peoplerelationship is what's really important, andrelationships between young people within the region andwithin the united states is
what's really important. connecting with each other,understanding each other can have a profound impact-- whether it's student exchange program or yunadoing a duet with usher. think about it. here in the asean region, 65percent of the population is under 35 yearsold -- 65 percent. that's like 600 millionpeople -- that's a lot of people.
young people like you aregoing to define the future of this region fordecades to come. and thanks to technologyand social media, you're more connected toeach other than ever before; you're more connected tothe world than ever before. i can barelykeep up with you. i've got to get help frommalia and sasha just to figure out howto use the phone. and perhaps more than anygeneration in human history,
you have the power to changeyour communities and your countries and the world. and at a time when we faceenormous global challenges -- from the environment andclimate change to empowering women, to income inequalityand small business development -- we have tohave your talents and we have to have your skills. now, a lot of us have beenthinking about the horrific attacks in paris.
and when you think about theterrible vision of those who carried out those attacks,and you contrast that with the young people whoare represented here, who are building things,and helping each other, and creating businesses andopportunities for themselves and for others, and when youthink about the incredible potential of asean as aplace of religious diversity and ethnic diversity --you can set an example, not just to stand upto violent extremism,
but to build interfaithdialogue, promote tolerance, and to combine anappreciation of your own culture and traditionswith the modern world. and for all thesereasons, two years ago, we launched yseali -- the young southeast asia leaders initiative. and the goal is to empoweryoung people like you with the skills and the resourcesand the networks so you can turn your ideas into action.
and since then, our ysealinetwork has grown to more than 55,000 members across10 asean countries -- we're still growing. we've held nineregional exchanges. we're offering workshopsand online networking and hands-on training. we started a grantcompetition to support you as you work together acrosscountries to tackle regional issues like climate change.
i want to commend malaysiafor its new partnership with the peace corps to createa malaysian volunteer corps that works in underserved communities in other asean countries. that's part of thespirit of yseali. and as part of ouryseali fellowship, we've now welcomed more than300 young people from across asean to the united states,with another 200 who are coming in thenext six months.
so these fellows studyin american universities. they experience our stateand local government. they work in ournonprofit sector. they intern in major u.s. companies. i welcomed some fellowsto the white house. and then they take theseexperiences home and they apply them totheir communities. and they're not justlearning from the people that they're working with inthe united states -- they're
learning from each otheras part of network. so they come back, they'relaunching their own businesses. they're advocating for anend to human trafficking, or expanding women'srights, fighting corruption, promoting transparencyand good governance. the point is, every day,the young men and women of yseali are making adifference across this region. and just as important as thetools and the skills that you're gaining is theconnections that you're
creating, because as partof the yseali network, you're forging friendshipsthat you'll draw on for a lifetime. and you're sharing ideas andlearning from each other. because when you're tryingto turn that idea into a business, or start anew civic organization, or even running for office,it helps to have people who understand the kind ofchange that you're trying to make -- and who youcan go to for help
and encouragement. and maybe they have someexperiences that are relevant to whatyou're trying to do. so as young people, youhave to stand together. and that's why yseali isso important -- because, of all the challenges andthreats that the world faces, i am absolutelyconfident that young people like you -- with yourpassion and drive and commitment -- you canmake a difference.
and i know you will. you already are. so before i open itup for questions, one of the things i wantto do is just call on a few people who have been part ofthe yseali network so they can give you just someexamples of the great work that they're doing. also i want some of theolder people here to hear about the wonderful thingsthat yseali is doing.
so i've got threeindividuals that i want to call on first, and then i'mjust going to open it up and we'll have a goodconversation. so, first, we're going tohave htoo kyaw win from burma who's working onbehalf of human rights and civil society organizationsas part of the transition to democracy. go ahead, please. htoo kyaw win: thank youso much, mr. president.
it's a pleasure for me. over 10 years ago, i cannotimagine that i will be here now, because, as youknow, myanmar people have sustained the militaryregime for a long time. but after 2010elections, as you know, a little transparency. so i joined -- in 2013,i founded the knowledge society that is apublication house which focuses on the humanrights and democracy issue.
i am one of the editors ofthe journal on human rights and democracy. that is a journal of humanrights in myanmar after 2010. and then, last spring, ijoined the yseali program -- except to say that isthe acypl program -- the american council ofyoung political progress. so i applied to the program. i was in washington, d.c. iwas walking in the amnesty international -- even ididn't have
-- across the asean country. but after i appliedthis program, i got now so manyasean countries, especially my friendsfrom indonesia, who always talk abouttheir transition. and we, myanmar people,always compare with the transitional period anddemocratization progress in indonesia. we always talkabout indonesia.
so i can learn someknowledge and ideas and experience from myfriends in indonesia. so that is why -- ysealiprogram inspire me too much, before and after very,very different for me. so i do encourage you guysto look toward the future. and, by the way, i reallythank you, mr. president, because i noticed thatactually one of your policies -- engagementpolicy i admire most because you use this policy asa test in myanmar --
transparency and opento the democracy. just now, recently, ourhistoric and successful election has been. so that is one of theoutcome of your engagement policy. and the other outcome is meand my friends from there, myanmar. one of my friends from here,he is actually a former political prisoner.
he was sentenced to prison. he's now studying in theaustralian university. his subject ispolitical science. now, (inaudible) human rights. i am thechairperson of that. yes, thank you. my program just providedinitiatives across the country. now, i am working forpromoting the human rights and democracy in myanmar --not only myanmar but also
the world, especiallythe south asian region. president obama: fantastic. well, thank you, htoo kyaw. that was an outstandingpresentation. and we are feelingoptimistic about what can happen in myanmar, in partbecause of young people like you. next, we've got choon sianchoo from malaysia who is training young peoplein entrepreneurship.
choon sian choo: thankyou, mr. president. and it's such anhonor to be here. my name is choonsian from malaysia, and i'm the founder ofthis youth development organizationcalled lifechamp. so, in malaysia, we have thehighest household debt in asean. and our youthholding a massive (inaudible) and eventually, the result is seeking credit counseling. so what we do through ourmaster program is to teach
them to have good moneyhabits, good money beliefs, teach them some moneymanagement skills, personal financialplanning, and how to do that investment. so yseali program hashelped me tremendously in my endeavor. so, through yseali, iwas flown to washington, d.c. to participatein the global summit. i get to learn -- i joinedthe financial inclusion
track, which i got to learnfrom some of the world's best minds on how i canstructure the more effective financial educationcurriculum. so, upon my return, i tookthe ideas and came back, and restructured my program,improved my curriculum. and eventually, ysealihelped me to launch a series of campaigns and workshopsnationwide to reach out to the underprivileged childrenand underprivileged students to teach them about tobe more money-smart.
and the other way we do istalk about entrepreneurship and socialentrepreneurship, as well. so i want to thank thepresident for such a marvelous initiative. and because of that, ilearned and i benefitted. president obama: thank you. so finally, we've gotchindavone sanlath from laos, who is dedicatingherself to protecting the environment.
chindavone. chindavone sanlath:thank you very much, mr. president. i am very, very happyto be here today. i am chindavone, ayseali alumni from laos. i was born in one of themost remote parts of laos. and my father passedaway before i was born. and because ofmy background, i never thought that one dayi would be able to help my
community, to make somechanges to my community. because of yseali, nowmy thoughts changed. being a part of ysealiexpanded my thinking and enabled me to see thechallenges facing my communities, and empoweredme to be a part of the solution. i'm now working with aproject called forest law enforcement -- which aims to promote legal timber trade and sustainableforest management. i have already been able toapply the lessons i learned
in montana to help improveforest management in laos. yseali is mylife-changing chapter. thank you very much. so you can tell, justtalking to these young people, the incrediblethings that they're already doing. i am wondering, wasit cold in montana? did you have a big coat? chindavone sanlath: no.
president obama: no,when you were in montana, did you have towear a big coat? or was it -- chindavone sanlath:oh, no, no -- president obama:it was okay? you're tough -- becausemontana is cold. but maybe -- i guess ifit was in the summer, it was okay. it's beautiful there.
but this just gives you somesense of the incredible work that's already being doneby so many of these young people. so, with that, i want toopen it up for questions, comments, ideas. here's what i'mgoing to do, though, is i'm going to call -- i'mgoing to go boy, girl, boy, girl. that way we can makesure that it's fair.
i'm also going to take offmy jacket because it's a little warm. and i know you may askme some tough questions, so i want to -- -- okay, so let's who'sgoing to go first. i'm going to call thisyoung lady right here, in the green. and if you can pleaseintroduce yourself first, and then the questionor the comment.
the press: hi. thank you, mr. president. my name is elizabethand i'm from indonesia. president obama:hey, apa kabar? the press: (speaks indonesian) president obama:dari mana jakarta? the press: jakarta. recently, you had adiscussion about the role of the entrepreneurs totackle climate change.
so my question is basically-- because some of us here are entrepreneurs. we are not yetpolitical leaders, but we are entrepreneurs. so what is your expectationfrom entrepreneurs, young fellows, ysealifor the climate change? president obama: good. the press: and also -- president obama: yes?
the press: for the upcoming u.n. climate change in paris, whether you are optimistic the response of that. president obama: what kindof business do you want to start? the press: now i'm in theenergy and environment, so i -- president obama: do youalready have a business going, or you have anidea that you want to do? the press: not yet. i have an idea aboutwhat to create.
president obama: excellent. okay. the press: thank you. well, first of all, i thinkthat so many of the young people here understandwhy climate change is so important. the science is very clearthat because of the carbon emissions that we sendin, mostly from the use of fossil fuels -- oil, gas,coal -- the temperatures
worldwide, on average,are getting higher. and that begins tochange weather patterns. the oceans beginto get warmer. the ice in the arcticbegins to melt. and you get a feedback loopthat as things get warmer that creates even more ofa trend towards warming. and if we don't stop theamount of carbon that we send up, and we don't findnew ways of creating energy, then you'll seethe oceans rise,
more extreme weather events,more drought, more flooding, bigger hurricanes, typhoons. and it could have adevastating effect on countries allaround the world. and probably the biggesteffect will be on poorer countries who don't haveas much infrastructure to protect themselves. so this is not just anenvironmental issue, but it's also adevelopment issue.
and once it starts,it's hard to reverse. so this has to be one ofour highest priorities, but it's a hard issue todeal with because it doesn't happen right away. it happens gradually. and so peoplealways think, well, that's something we don'thave to worry about now. but if we don'tget started now, it's going to be too late.
so we have to be wise andthink about the future. and young people especially,you have to care about this a lot, because if youdon't do anything about it, you're the ones who aregoing to have to deal with it. i'll be gone. but you'll haveto deal with it, and your children andyour grandchildren. so business has an importantrole to play in this because, first of all, a lotof the carbon pollution is
created by industryfor energy production, for electricityproduction, power plants, transportation. and one of the things thatwe're trying to do is to encourage companies to bothbecome more efficient so that they'reusing less energy, which means that they canproduce the same amount with less electricity orless oil or less gas. also, transition tonew energy forms,
like solar or windthat are clean. and create, through researchand development and new products, new waysof producing energy. so when i was inthe philippines, i was with jack ma, whowas the founder of alibaba, and that's a huge companythat is really the leader in e-commerce in asia. but i was also with a youngwoman who had just invented a lamp that could generateenergy with sea water.
so she could just take onecup of water and two tablets of salt, or take seawaterpotentially from the ocean, and it would createeight hours of light, instead of using kerosene. so she's now trying to getfunding to manufacture and distribute this lampthat she has created. so business is going to becritical in dealing with climate change, becausesometimes -- especially in poor countries --people think, well,
we don't have to worry aboutthe environment because first we have to develop andcreate businesses and become wealthier, and then wecan worry later about the environment. but part of what i'm tryingto persuade business is that you have start now,and there's business opportunities -- you canmake money in clean energy, instead of usingdirty energy. and more and morebusinesses, i think,
are beginning torealize that there's no contradiction. and the same is truein countries as well. if you look at a countrylike china that has developed to fast, butnow they can't breathe in beijing because thepollution can be so bad, and they're starting torealize that if they want to sustain their development,they've got to start using different production models.
and businesses can helpto design new ways of manufacturing, new waysof developing energy. so we really want toencourage businesses to get involved, and they canmake money doing it. the most pollutingindustries are typically the old-fashioned industries,the old ways of doing business. i know that peoplehere, for example, have been dealing with smokefrom the peat fires that are coming over from indonesia.
well, the palm oil industry,that's not a high-value industry. i mean, that's not somethingthat's going to develop a strong middle class andbusiness opportunities over the long term. it's just a classicextractive industry or commodity industry. and in the modern economy,you want to be inventing new products and services ratherthan just figuring out what
you can take outof the ground. and so i'm encouraging bothgovernments and businesses to start thinking aboutthe opportunities of clean energy. in paris, our hope is to getall the countries to agree that they will set targetsfor reducing carbon emissions. it won't be the samefor every country. more developed countries,they should do more. less developed, they don'thave to do as much because
they haven't contributed somuch to carbon pollution. but everybody hasto do something. and what we want to do ishave each country try to create incentivesfor businesses, whether it's tax breaks orinvestments in research so that businesses can workalongside communities to try to solve the problem. and i feel optimisticthat we'll get it done. it won't be as stronginitially as it needs to be
eventually, but if we startnow and everybody agrees that this is importantand we don't something, then i'm confident thatwe'll be able okay? (speaks indonesian) all right. so it's a young man's turn. this young man in theblue tie right here. yeah, you.
hold on one second. the press: so, goodafternoon, mr. president. my name is alfeus. i'm from malaysia. president obama:did you say elvis? the press: sorry,no -- not elvis. alfeus. president obama:alfeus, okay. because i was thinking wehad elvis in the building.
that's a cool name. the press: thanks. the same as yours. (laughter and applause) so my fellow yseali cohortsand i are actually results of your vision, sothank you for that. and we're very glad to haveyou hear with us talking about democracy andfreedom of speech. malaysia is currentlyembroiled
in a political scandal. and its failed justicesystem can bring no rights. therefore, as thankfulas i am for this, i would like to take thisopportunity to ask you for your assistance in raisingthis issue to the prime minister of malaysia, andencourage transparency and independence ofoperations -- -- for the malaysiaanti-corruption commission, public accountscommittee, bank nagara,
and all media organizations. so, thank you. president obama:well, i will do it. now, i admit that i wasgoing to do it anyway, but now that ihear it from you, i'm definitelygoing to do it. now, keep in mind,the united states, we always have to be alittle careful because we're such a large country andwe have a lot of influence,
i think there are timessometimes when people say they don't want us meddlingin their internal affairs. and the united states has tohave some humility because there have been times wherewe did the wrong thing. there have been times wherewe have problems in our own country. and so we will want to gotell other people what to do, but then back home we'renot always doing what we say we should do.
but i do believe that thereare basic values that we all share. and one of those values isthat countries work best when everybody has a voicethat can be respected, and that the press isable to report on what is happening incurrent affairs, and people can organizepolitically peacefully to try to bring aboutchange, and that there's transparency andaccountability.
and when you look at whichcountries have done best in terms of development,typically over time, those countries that havesome accountability and some measure of personalfreedom tend to do better. and those countries thatdon't, have more problems. so whenever i meet ininternational forums, like apec or asean, orwhenever i meet with individual leaders, i try toencourage them to move more in the directionof transparency,
accountability, to empowerpeople so that they can participate in civil life. and i always want to behonest with people whenever i talk to folks, that thatdoesn't mean that we don't do business with countriessometimes just because we have shared securityinterests or economic interests. i have to meet withpresident xi of china, even though i may not agreewith the approach of his
government towardshuman rights, because china is such a bigcountry -- and on something like climate change,if we don't cooperate, then we won'tsolve the problem. there are occasionseverywhere in the world where i will meet, andthe united states has a relationship andcooperates with a country, even though their humanrights record may not be good. but i want to assureyou that in all of those
meetings, we alwaysraise these issues. and part of what we'retrying to do also is to create internationalsupport for these issues. so one of the things thati did at the u.n., for example, was something call the open government partnership. and the idea behind the opengovernment partnership is that every country eachyear makes a pledge for what they're going to do to makethemselves more accountable, more open, more transparent,to root out corruption.
and not everybody startsout at the same place. but just by encouragingpeople to put out plans, even if they don't alwaysmeet the plans right away, it raises the standardsand the sights of people, and encourages people toaspire to improvements. it's just like democracy. when we were hearingabout myanmar, and they talked aboutindonesia as an example -- well, indonesia, when i wasliving there as a child,
was not a democracy. it was basically you hadpresident suharto and you had the military, and thereweren't elections every few years. and it didn'thappen right away; the transitiontook some time. but as long as we keep onencouraging that kind of change, i think we reallycan make a difference. good question.
that young lady right there. you. yes, you. the press: good afternoon,president obama. thank you for comingto the philippines. so i'm a farmer and chairman of agricultural assistance, internationally. actually, it is alsoa partner of u.s. embassy publicaffairs in manila.
we are helping them to sendfour young fellows in the professionalfellowship program. and we're trying to makefarming cool, smart, sexy and humane inthe philippines. president obama:okay. the press: yes, becausewhen i spoke in the world economic forum and i saidlet's make farming sexy in front of our presidentin the philippines and it became a headline, includinga program about this.
we've been helping a lot offarmers in the philippines and now including fishermen. and i know you have a gardenin the white house by the first lady, and thankthe first lady for that. it's a common denominator,problem in asean countries right now that our farmersare endangered species. they're getting older -- theaverage age is 57 years old. and there is a diminishinginterest for the young people to be involvedin agriculture.
and speaking ofclimate change, in connection to agricultureand, exponentially, building population, how doyou see the importance of young people to be involvedin not just food production but also for the stage -- president obama: i thinkthat's a great question. a great question. so, first of all, althoughinterest among young people in farming maybe diminishing,
if you look at theasean countries, the majority of people arestill making their living on the land, and you still havea lot of subsistence farming and small plots. and any country that isstill in development stage has to focus on agriculture. that's true in africa. that's true inlatin america. it's true here inthe asean countries.
and it depends on thecountry, obviously, but typically, the firststep is to help each farmer become more efficient. because usually farmers arenot -- in poor countries, they're usually not usingall the agricultural technology thatis available. and some of itis very simple, and some of itis very cheap, but they don't havethe information.
so one of the thingsthat we're trying to do, through a programcalled feed the future, is to find farmers, workwith countries to just give them basic seeds,irrigation practices, how do you improveyour yields. and we've been able to see-- because it's starting at such a low point -- farmersdoubling their yields on the same amount of land withouta lot of mechanization, without big capitalexpenditures.
once they are able toincrease production, then the next step is makingsure that they get a fair price. and one of the things that'sbeen really interesting is the power of the internetto empower farmers, because in mostcountries these days, even in rural areas,people have a cellphone. and so part of what we'rehelping people to do is to find out what are the marketprices for their products on a day-to-day basis on theircellphones so that they
don't get cheated. they know what it's beingsold -- how much it's being sold in the city, so nowwhoever the middleman is, they know that they shouldbe asking for a certain price for their crops, andthey can start planning in terms of how muchgrain, versus fruits and vegetables, or what haveyou, that they're farming. and that can alsoincrease their incomes, not just their production.
once you do that, then theycan start buying some -- for example, one of the programswe're seeing is an entire village sharing one tractor. it's sort of likean uber for farmers. so instead of -- it's soexpensive to buy an entire tractor, a lot of farmerscan't afford that, but if you set up a systemwhere you can buy a tractor and then, essentially, theycan rent that tractor or timeshare thattractor, now, suddenly,
that also producesincreased yields. and then the next stageis to think about, okay, instead of just producingthe product itself, can we also then dosome of the processing? and you can start puttingtogether cooperatives, for example, for foodprocessing so that you're moving up the value chain. but the point is, is thatwhen we start thinking about agriculture not just assubsistence but also how is
it interactingwith the market, how are youapplying technology, now it starts lookingkind of sexy -- -- because you can actually-- a young person can, instead of movingto the city, they can stay in theirvillage and watch slowly their standards of livingimprove and begin to create small businesses, and theentire community can rise even as their ownprospects improve.
and so this is somethingthat we're really going to try and focus on. and we're working withgovernments, but also ngos, to try to do as much ofthis work as possible. but i think you're raisingan important point. we see this in theunited states as well, that a lot of young peopledon't think that farming is a high ambition. and we want to encouragepeople to recognize that
working on the land is awonderful and important thing. and if we're going to feedenough people then we've got to have more farmers. and we've also got to makesure that they're getting good terms on loans, becauseoftentimes what holds them back is just havingenough capital, just a little bit of seedcapital in order to be able to do what they need to do. so, good luck.
keep up the great work. all right, let's see. hold on. this young man inthe purple shirt. that's a nice-looking shirt. now, why was everybodycheering for him? i mean, he does look nicein his purple shirt, but -- the press: thank you,president, and greetings. my name is deng.
i'm from cambodia. my question is, since manypeople have focused on a lot of high issue, iwant to go low. president obama: howlow are you going to go? the press: i have no idea. so the question i wantto ask you is that since yourself is aging toa very senior life -- president obama:that's pretty low. the press: i'msorry, president.
okay, just gostraight the question. president obama: yes. the press: so how do yousee your kids and the young people, the young leadersas the -- between the old people and the young people? because from my society, thegap between the old and the young is very divided. so i want to see yourperspective to what -- what is your initiative and whatis your will as a president,
a person who seea lot of problems. so what do you want to seefrom young people like us in the future whenyou get old -- -- i think you getmy question, right? president obama: igot your question. sit down. well, the first thing i wantfrom young people is to stop calling me old. come on.
you hurt my feelings. well, look, we allget old, it's true. and when i came into officei had no grey hair and now i have a lot. although i will tell youthat i don't dye my hair, and a lot of myfellow leaders do. i'm just saying. i won't say who. but their barbers know,their hairdressers.
i think the most importantthing for young people is that they're nottrapped in the past. and human progress is drivenby looking at a problem with fresh eyes, with new eyes. and as you get older,what happens is, is that you just get in thehabit of seeing the same thing and it becomesroutine to you, normal. but when you're young,you ask or question, well, why does it haveto be this way?
why does my communityhave to be poor? why do we have to havepollution in the air? why do we treat womendifferently than men when it comes to being able togo to college and get an education? why should we discriminateagainst a minority group in our country? and that's the power ofyoung people, is asking why. little kids, theynaturally do that, right?
when you talk to afour-year-old or a five-year-old, six-year-old,you tell them to do something -- "why?" "why?" and sometimes, asparents, we try to say, "because i told you so." and we don't want totalk about it, right? but that impulse to askwhy is actually what drives human progress. that's the reason that thesteam engine was created.
that's the reason theinternet was created. that's the reason thatmartin luther king was able to march and change america. that's the reason thatgandhi was able to liberate india -- is because theydidn't take for granted the way things are, but insteadtried to dream about the way things could be. and that's the jobof young people. old people don't do thatbecause they're comfortable
or they've become resigned,or they become cynical, or they're just tired,or they're comfortable, and so they don'task those questions. but young people, you haveto ask those questions. now, you then have to work. and one of the things thati always say to young people when i talk tothem anywhere, including in theunited states, one of the flaws of young people is you're oftentimes impatient.
and bringing about change,doing anything important typically takes time,and it's hard work, and sometimes you'll failinitially and you have to stay with it. and so you can't give up. so if you're askingthe question, how am i going to -- why notstart a business for clean energy -- well, youhave to have an idea, you have to get capital,you have to have a business
plan, you have tocreate the business. it may not work right away. you may get frustrated. if you're trying to bringabout political change, there may be a lot of risksif you're trying to bring about political changein a place like myanmar. are you willing totake those risks? are you willing tomake sacrifices? what happens when itdoesn't work initially?
are you willing to then getback up and start again? and that, i think, isthe most important thing. vision is important, butthen you also have to have the persistence to keepworking to make progress. and i always tell youngpeople to have big dreams, but then also be willingto work for those dreams. it's not going tocome right away. all right? yes, young lady right here.
the press: thankyou, mr. president. my name is jocelynand i'm from malaysia. last year i joined theyseali program in spring, and i spent fiveweeks in washington, d.c. so we've been exposedto a lot of different political parties and we'vebeen exposed to a lot of different nonprofitorganizations -- in the country. so my question foryou today is what (inaudible)
the united states of americaas a developed country, and what advice would yougive to potential young leaders in this regionto avoid the pitfalls of challenges facing the u.s.? president obama: well,that's a great question. look, the united statesin many ways is better positioned than it has everbeen for leadership in the 21st century. our economy, after thecrisis in 2007-2008,
has recovered faster thanalmost any other country. and our economy is strongerthan most other large, developed economiesin the world. we are producing moreenergy than ever before, producing more cleanenergy than ever before. more young people are goingto college than ever before. we have expanded health carethrough the program that i set up --affordable care act. we have some of the bestbusinesses in the world,
incredible entrepreneurship,and we remain the leader in innovation and new ideas. and in thetechnology sector, obviously we continue togenerate new ideas all the time. but when you go tothe united states, i think there arestill some anxieties. and i would say that, numberone, in the united states, there is a growinginequality that i think is a real problem not just forthe united states
but around the world. and some of this has to dowith technology is replacing low-skilled jobs,and automation, and so it'sharder for people, if they don't havegood educations, to make a living. there's more globalcompetition -- that's putting pressure onmiddle-class families. and when people feeleconomic stress and
inequality, then i thinkpolitics become harder because people are afraidfor their futures and sometimes politics canbecome much more divided than it used to be. also what happens is whenthere's more inequality, the people who are powerfulcan influence the political system to furtherreinforce their privilege, and it makes it harder forordinary people to feel that they have influence onthe political process.
and so peoplebecome cynical. now, these are all problemsthat can be solved, and i'm confident we willeventually solve them. but right now, our politicalsystem does not work as well as it should. and what i would sayto young leaders, what sort of pitfalls shouldyou avoid, i would say, number one, it is veryimportant to avoid any political system wheremoney overwhelms ideas.
and the united statespolitics process has become so expensive andit lasts so long, and even though iwas successful at it, we spend hundreds ofmillions of dollars in television advertising andin all the things that go into a u.s. presidential campaign. but it's also true formembers of congress. and when politicians have toraise so much money all the time, then they startlistening a little bit more
to the peoplewho have money, as opposed toordinary people. and that i think is a dangerthat can be avoided by the system that you set up tomake sure that campaigns are not reliant just on money. that's something to avoid. i think the second thing isto -- politics in the united states increasingly isdefined by personal attacks and saying very sensationalthings in the media.
now, that's true forpolitics everywhere to some degree. but i think that foryoung leaders like you, as you get into politics,trying to focus on issues, and trying to debate peopleyou disagree with without saying that they're aterrible person -- i think that's something that youalways have to watch out for. historically, inthe united states, the issue of race hasbeen very prominent.
and that's not uniqueto the united states; every country has somedivisions -- not every country, but many countrieshave divisions around racial or religious orethnic differences. and the youngpeople of yseali, i really hope that all ofyou are fighting against the kinds of attitudes where youorganize political parties or you organize interestgroups just around ethnic or racial or tribal lines.
because when you start doingthat it's very easy for people to start thinkingthat whoever is not part of my group is somehowless than me. and once thatmindset comes in, that's how violence happens. that's howdiscrimination happens. and societies that aredivided ethnically and racially are almost neversuccessful over the long term. now, the united states,we've struggled with this
for over 200 years, but it'sstill an issue that comes up. and so i would guard againstthat here in your home countries. but the truth is, herein southeast asia, as everybody here knows,that same kind of tendency happens. i remember when i wasgrowing up in indonesia, every once in a while youwould have riots against the chinese indonesians, eventhough they were part
of the community. but somebody would startsaying, "hey, those people, that's a problem." and you'dhave stores burned down and people killed. and right now, in myanmar,one of the big challenges that's going to have tobe addressed is how ethnic groups are treated. the rohingya, inmyanmar right now, are treated differently,even though they've been
living therefor generations. but there are alot of people, because they're of adifferent religious faith, they say those aren't real-- they're not really part of our country. well, once you startgoing down that line, then that's adangerous thing. so that's part of thebiggest advice that i would give, is to watchout for that.
if you look at what'shappening in the middle east right now, thosecountries are in chaos, so many of them, because ofthis notion that somehow if somebody worships goddifferently than you, that they're less than you. and people are slaughteredbased on that idea. and the countriescan't grow. businesses can't start. so of all the thingsto guard against,
i think that's the biggest. i think i'll call on thisguy because i like his jacket. that's a sharp-looking --here, hold on a second. here, we got a microphoneright behind you. the press: hello,mr. president. thank you forthis opportunity. so my colleagues and myfriends already asked very high and low questions. president obama: thisis a middle question.
the press: so i will aska very simple personal question. so who is your mostinfluential person in your life, and why? and does he or shereflect your current role? president obama: hmm,that's interesting. well, the most influentialperson in my life was my mother, who -- she'spassed away now. she died young. she was a year younger thani am now when she passed away.
she died of cancer. but she was somebody whogrew up in the middle of america in a statecalled kansas. my grandparents -- herparents -- were very ordinary middle-class,working-class people. they came fromhumble beginnings. but somehow, ata very young age, she was very spiritedand very adventurous. she was white, and shemarried a black man back in
1961, which is -- at thattime was against the law in some places inthe united states. even though theydidn't stay together, she then moved -- remarriedan indonesian and came here and initially justteaching english, but over time she becameinterested in how to help women in villagesdevelop incomes. and so she spent most of herlife in development work. and she was a very kindperson and a very loving
person, and she believedthat everybody was important. and so she would treat avery wealthy businessman the same as she'd treata peasant farmer. and she tried torespect everybody. and she taught me thateverybody has worth and everybody has a purpose. and so i think that thevalues that i have today -- how i try to behave and howi try to treat people -- is all based on those thingsthat she taught me
when i was young. and those are the same ideasand values that i try to teach to my daughters, eventhough they never had a chance to meet her. but hopefully i've passed onsome of the same things to her. good, okay. all right, way inthe back there. the press: salamatdatang, mr. president. president obama:salamat datang.
the press: my name is wong and i'm from malaysia. my question foryou today is, you have two termsas president. as you wrap up your term,what would you consider the best part, and what werethe parts you wish you could have carried out? president obama: okay. well, the most importantthings i did as president
were the actions i tookvery early on to save the economy. because when icame into office, not only was the u.s. economy on the roadto a deep depression, but the global financialsystem was very fragile and could have broken downhad we not taken some very important steps. i'm not saying thatwas the most fun part,
but i'm saying that wasthe most important part. i think that i take the mostsatisfaction from is the health care lawthat i passed, because today there are17 million people who have health insurance thatdidn't have it before. and we're the only highlydeveloped country in the world that doesn't have auniversal health care system where everybody has accessto health insurance. and we still don't haveeverybody getting health
insurance, because theprogram that we set up, some politicianshave blocked its full implementationin their states, and we have a complicatedsystem of government. and the health caresystem generally, a lot of it is inthe private sector, so it still leavessome people out. but every day i meetpeople who come up and say, "you saved my lifebecause, before,
i didn't havehealth insurance, and then i was able toget health insurance, and i was diagnosedwith cancer. and if i hadn'tgone to a doctor, i would have never caught itin time." so you feel good about that. and it was a hard fight. it was a big fight. and we got that done.
since i'm an old man,as this guy says -- -- one of the things ifind is it gives me some perspective. so the things that werehard or i didn't like, those fade in my memories. i don't think themabout them as much. i don't have regrets. there are things i wishwe could have gotten done. for example, our system ofimmigration in america
is broken right now. historically, america -- oneof the great things about america is that we'rea nation of immigrants. if you walk down the streetin los angeles or new york, or even in a smalltown in america, you don't know exactly whatan american looks like. an american can beafrican american, it can be an irish american,it can be a chinese american. but we're all american.
and that's because we're acountry of people who came from everywhere. and that's beenour great strength. right now, we have a systemwhere too many people have come, but they didn't comewith the right papers. oftentimes it's very hardfor young people who want to immigrate to get approvals. and so we tried tostreamline the system, but the other party so farhas been very resistant to it.
i think it's theright thing to do. i think it willeventually get done. but we didn't doeverything that we could. but one of the things thatyou learn -- this is what comes from the perspectiveof age -- is that you do what you can. and you're never going tobe completely satisfied with what you accomplish. and that's why youhave young people,
so that -- we leaveyou something to do. because if i hadsolved every problem, then you'd be bored andyou'd have no reason to be part of yseali. it's a gentleman's turn. this guy right here. go ahead. i'm from myanmar. i'm a doctor and anentrepreneur myself.
being an entrepreneur youhave to wear a lot of hats at the same time. you have to do management,you have to do financial, hr. when being the presidentof one of the most powerful nations of the world, howdo you know when to stop yourself from juggling, andwhen do you know that you have to seek advice? president obama:first of all, what kind of businessare you trying to start,
or have started? is it in the medical field? the press: no, it's not. i call myself amultipotentialite. president obama: okay! well, that's a big word. what does that mean? the press: it means that ihave a lot of interests and i try to be good ateverything i'm interested in.
president obama: okay, well-- so you've already started a business, though? what kind of business is it? the press: i'm trying tocreate a booking website, but i'm trying to --there's a lot of mom-and-pop accommodationsacross myanmar. but being latein technology, a lot of them arenot tech-savvy. and i want to bringthem online and --
so it would be a littlebit like a myanmar airbnb. the press: yeah. president obama: i got you. okay, that makes sense. it's a great time to startbusinesses in myanmar as things open up, because thepotential for tourism there is really wonderful. it's a beautiful country. and in some ways,the potential,
if the development isplanned to retain the beauty and the charmof the country, it could be really powerful. so good luck. i will say, though, thatone piece of advice is, don't try to do everything-- at least not all at once. it is true that as presidenti have to do a lot of things. and one of the interestingthings about being president of the united states is thatyou're not just president
of the united states. if there areproblems elsewhere, people still expectyou to solve them, even though they'renot your country. and that's part of theleadership and obligation and responsibility that wehave as a powerful nation. but i do find thati have to focus. because if i'm trying toknow everything and manage everything, thennothing gets done.
so a couple ofpieces of advice. one is, you have tocontinually decide, what are the thingsthat are most important, and start with those. if you make a list, you haveto prioritize what's the thing that has to getdone; what's the thing that strategically ismost important? what's the thing that willmake the biggest difference if i do this well?
and if you focus yourattention on that, then, yes, there will be somethings that don't get done, but your basic missionwill be well-served. you have to prioritize. number two, youhave to delegate. one of the things that i'mpretty proud of in terms of how i manage my presidency,but also how i manage my campaigns and past workis i'm good at surrounding myself with reallysmart people.
and i think the job of aleader is not to try to do everything yourself, butit's to try to organize people, each of whom havedifferent talents and skills. make sure that they arejoined in a common vision about what needsto get done, but then go ahead and letthem -- give them the tools so that they can dowhat they need to do. it's just like abasketball team.
i play basketball, soi usually use that. but if you prefersoccer, that's fine. but any sporting team. the teams that are the bestteams are the ones where each person hasa role to play, and they're allworking together. but i think sometimes thereare a lot of managers or leaders who, they don't knowhow to give up control to somebody else, so theywant to just do everything.
and then they getspread too thin. and the peoplethey're working for, they never develop andnever feel a sense of responsibility ofownership for the project. and as president, i can'tkeep up -- i can't be an expert on everything. so my most important job isto identify that talent who i have confidence in, andthen i put them in charge. i'll give them asense of direction.
i will hold themaccountable. so i expect them to produce. if they have problems, iexpect them to tell me early so that we can togethersolve the problem. but i want to give thema sense of empowerment. and that's how youduplicate yourself. that's how you spread theamount of things you can do, is because you'repart of a team. very few things, greatthings are done by yourself.
maybe if you're a picasso ormozart you can go off into a room and you canproduce great things. but most greataccomplishments, human accomplishments,they're done as a group. and you're jobas a leader then, is to be able to assemble tobring together people in a common vision. and then the third thing iwould say is you have to be able to be honest inevaluating what's worked and
what doesn't work,and make adjustments. a lot of times peoplego down one path, and even though they getlost and they're at a cliff, and they can't pass but theystill want to keep going forward, and sometimesyou just have to realize, you know what, thispath didn't work, we've got to trysomething different. and so you have to be honestand constantly reevaluate and reassess whatyou're doing.
and be open, then, to newinformation and criticism. that's part of what iwas saying earlier about democracies and freedomof speech -- well, that applies toany organization. if you are shutting downpeople from giving you suggestions or telling youwhat you're doing isn't working, is not smart -- ifyou don't want to hear that, then you'll just keep onmaking mistakes because you're not open tonew information.
young lady, right there. yeah. here we go. we got a microphone? can we get a microphoneto the young lady? here we go,right behind you. my name is uma. i'm from indonesia. i'm working in center forhandicraft
and batik in yogyakarta. president obama: that'sa nice batik you have on. the press: i'm wearingthe skirt batik, yes. president obama:yes, it's very nice. so my office alwayssupporting to small industries. you know that handicraft andbatik are produced by home and small industries. and now we encourage thepeople to use the natural dyes to color in thebatik and handicraft.
and also, the reason isbecause we have a lot of natural resources, and alsothere is the global market demand on friendly products. in on the other side,unfortunately the developed countries like europeor, i don't know, maybe also u.s.,united states, still export the unfriendly,sensitive dyes to developing countries. so my question, simplequestion: what do you think
about this situation? president obama: well,it's interesting. i don't know enough aboutsort of batik production. i mean, my mother did, buti don't -- to know sort of the difference in the pricesof dyes and what works and what doesn't. here's what iwould say, though, is you're absolutely rightthat in the united states, at least, people --consumers are more and more
interested inenvironmentally friendly and organic products. and so if you are producingthings that are using natural dyes, then that'ssomething that you can market and it's a sellingpoint for a lot of consumers. now, the fact that countriesare still selling artificial dyes into indonesiaor other places, that's the waybusinesses work.
now, as long as they're notpoisonous and they're not hurting people, that's notsomething probably that you're going to stop. but what you can do is tostart marketing the fact that you use naturaldyes, and that may be very appealing to people. this brings up alarger question, which is the issue of trade. we just completed thistrans-pacific partnership,
which brings together12 countries in the asia pacific region, includinga number of asean countries like malaysia and vietnam. and trade is something thatcan be good and can be bad. it is good in the sense thatit allows each country to pursue the thingsthat it's best at, produce goods that theycan do better than others, and everybodycan get richer. it also can create realproblems because it brings
about competition, it canchange the way things are done in each country. and if somebody from anothercountry has a much more efficient, effectiveway of making a product, then the local producers canlose a lot of business and people can be displacedfrom their jobs. and we've seen thisin a lot of countries. so part of, i think, thegoal of every country is not to close off from trade,but if competition comes in,
then the government has tohelp that country adjust to this new competition and tofind new ways of creating jobs and creating wealth. and singapore is a goodexample of a country that's done this very well. i mean if you thinkabout singapore, singapore is a tinylittle country. it doesn't have any oil. it doesn't have anysignificant natural resources.
but it has been very goodabout investing in its people, in providingthem education. the government runsitself very efficiently, and it is good in planningand thinking about, okay, if we're manufacturingthis and now there's new competition and we'reno longer the low-cost producer, what's the newthing we should be good at. and they help andretrain people, and help companiestransition into a new way
of doing business. and the truth is teconomy,countries are constantly having to change. they constantly have totransform themselves. and people constantlyhave to change. because the economy is justtoo dynamic and moves too fast because ofthe internet, because of transportation. you can't cut yourself off-- unless you're north korea
-- you can't cut yourselfoff from the world. and those countries thattry typically fall behind, because they can't keepup with the ever-changing economic environment. so this is where goodgovernment policy is important, and helpingpeople retrain and helping industries adapt, that's oneof the most important roles of government intoday's economy. okay, i've only got time fortwo more quick questions.
the press: give meone, barack obama. president obama: idon't know about that. the press: i wanted one (inaudible) but you took thethailand one. president obama: wow! you've beenwaiting for a year? well, okay, well, you'vealready taken the floor, so go ahead. this better be a reallygood question, though,
since he just went aheadand announced that he's been waiting for a yearto ask this question. one whole year. okay, you have a lot ofpressure on you right now. let's see how gooda question it is. no, you only get one. the press: okay,just two questions. just one, okay. okay, just one.
this is aboutamerican principles. and i believe you at theend of the tppa agreement. and to me, from wherei'm coming from, the csos in malaysia, webelieve that the tpp is a very elitist deal. president obama:what is your name? the press: oh, sorry. my name is cesan. i'm from malaysia and i'mhalf-filipino
-- my dad is a filipino. president obama: so you'renot actually filipino, you're malaysian -- -- who presentedyourself as a filipino, and then insisted onasking this question. man -- all right. the press: but i'm asean. president obama: just goahead and ask your question. the press: so we believethat the tppa
is an elitist deal. the people has beenexcluded from it, even from the start. only five out of 30 clausesare not clauses -- in the deal is regarding trade. i want to take you tothe context of malaysia. in malaysia, you haveindigenous people. you have 70 percent outof the poor are women. you have so much more peoplewho are lagging behind.
so let me justcheck back my notes. president obama:well, come on, man, this can't be too longof a question, though, because i want to getone more question in. so hurry up. the press: we can expectthat rising prices and major changes in thesesmes, startups. how does this bill yousay that which includes everything, how does ittally with your principles
of human rights,transparency, and equality that the u.s. stands for? president obama: so, firstof all, what is true is, is that whenever you'renegotiating a trade deal -- and this is true for anytrade agreement -- if you're negotiating with 12countries and if there's not some space for thenegotiators to basically agree on the deal, but thewhole time everybody is commenting onevery aspect of it,
then it wouldnever get done. in the united states, ifbasically every chapter was subject to various interestgroups asking, well, we want more of this,or we want more of that, and the business communitysaying, we want this, and the labor union saying,we want that -- just in the united states, we couldnever get it done. and then when you try toget 12 countries together, and everybody was inon every aspect of the
negotiation, it would neverbe finished because people would always ask for more. and i'm not just -- i mean,the pharmaceutical companies would want more. the agriculture sectorwould want more. everybody wouldwant something, because the nature of thetrade agreement is that there are so manyinterests involved. so what we've done insteadis you close the initial deal
-- right? now it's subject to review-- it's up on a website. you can go andread every chapter. and people can -- eachcountry then has to ratify it and it's subject to theapproval of the legislatures or the parliaments orwhatever form of government in approving ordisapproving it. i still got to get itpassed in congress. and members of congress aregoing to read every line and
there are going to be somepeople who think it's a good deal and some people whothink it's a bad deal. and i believe that it's agood deal and we'll get it done. but there's no guarantee. so the point is that it'sinaccurate to think that transparency means that youand everybody else are all in a room togethernegotiating the entire time in open environment becauseit would never get completed -- partly because eachcountry has to give up
something in order toget a trade deal done. for example, we have to openup some markets to goods that previously weresubject to tariffs. and somebody in our countryis not going to like that. but our view is,overall, that's good. that may be helpful tomalaysia, and in turn, we will be able to sellsomething to malaysia and somebody in malaysiawon't like that. so that's the nature ofnegotiations in a trade deal.
now, with respect to some ofthe specific things that you said, i actuallythink it's inaccurate. so let's take the example ofpharmaceuticals -- i'm just going to giveyou an example. this is an area where peopleactually have expressed concerns because -- the u.s. pharmaceutical industry is the most prominent in the world. we do a lot of the researchand development that invent many of the new drugs.
and what is absolutely trueis that a lot of the drugs companies, oncethey invent a drug, they want to keep makingmoney as long as possible on that drug. and sometimes they want tokeep making money on that drug, even though theyinvented it a long time ago. they want to preserve theirrights -- exclusive rights to make it. and they keep selling it ata higher and higher price,
and they don't want genericsubstitutes that are lower cost. so what we did in this dealwas we said that we should provide some protectionsfor some drugs, because if you don't providesome intellectual property protection, then nobody isgoing to invent a new drug. because the minute theydid, then there would be a generic that wasproduced right away, and there would be no pointin inventing it because you wouldn't make any money.
the same way that if youmake -- if you are a singer and you make a record, butthe minute you record the record, people can justdownload it without paying, at a certain point that'sgoing to hurt the music industry. so we said we haveto protect some. but we're very explicit inthe chapter on this to say that we have to protectgenerics for low-income persons, for -- in fact, weneed to eliminate tariffs on
some things like penicillinand basic drugs that have been on the marketfor a very long time. and over time, we actuallybelieve that the cost of drugs are going to go downin many countries that currently have a lot ofbarriers in terms of those drugs. and here's proof that thiswasn't just some giveaway to the drug companies. right now, a lot of thedrug companies in the
united states are mad at mebecause they said, how come we didn'tget more protection? and what i saidto them is, well, part of our job isto promote the u.s. drug industry, but part ofour job is also to be good partners with countries thathave people who are sick. and we've got to make surethat they also are able to get access to drugs. so the point is -- thepoint i'm making, though,
generally is that in thisnew global environment, it's what i said earlier --things are changing all the time. and part of my principlesand my values is that we have to make sure that thechange is good for ordinary people, that it'sgood for the farmer, good for the young student;it's good for women, it's good fordeveloping countries. but i do not believethat we can stop change.
i do not believethat, for example, if we just put up a bunchof barriers to trade, that that's going tohelp countries grow. i don't think that if wetry to stop technology that somehow we're goingto be better off. i think we haveto embrace change, but then we have to figureout how do we make sure that everybody benefits fromchange and not just a few. i believe inmarket economies.
i think it's been proventhat market economies are the best generators ofwealth in the world. but i think that marketeconomies also have to have some governmentinterventions to make sure that it's fair andthere's fair competition, and that small businessesare not excluded by monopolies, and that workershave some basic protections. so that's the kind ofbalance that is reflected in tpp.
and that's reflectiveof, i think, my policies both inthe united states and internationally. okay, i'm going totake one last question. now, let's see --hold on a second. wait, wait, wait. i want to make sure -- we'veheard from the philippines, from myanmar, cambodia. we haven't heardfrom thailand.
thailand, all right. we got to get athailand question. the press: thankyou so much. dara from thailand. i'm bisexual. i have a question. should anyone beinglgbt have to go to jail? should anyone beingdifferent have to go to the jail?
i didn't knowfor your opinion. how could we have regionalor international cooperation if some countries are stillhaving the kind of programs? president obama: okay,that's a great question. look, the answer to thefirst question is simple: no. people who have a differentsexual orientation are deserving of respect anddignity like everybody else, and they shouldn'tgo to jail for it.
and i know that inasean countries, as well as in theunited states, people have differentreligious traditions, they have differentcultural traditions. and that's fine. what i always say to peopleis that nobody is forcing you to behave ina certain way. and nobody is sayingthat -- for example, we just had this debateabout whether same-sex
couples could get married. and part of thepoint, i think, we made in this debate was,if a church or a mosque or a temple does not recognizethose marriages, they shouldn't be forcedto have to marry somebody that's contrary totheir religious beliefs. but marriage as a civilinstitution by the state should be available toeverybody, not just some. and so the point is thatgovernment policy should
treat everybodyequally under the law. that doesn't mean that weall agree on everything. that doesn't mean thatpeople cannot have their own beliefs. but it does mean thatin our public spaces, in how we interactas a society, that we have to respectpeople's differences. and as long astheir relationships, who they love, is not havingany kind of negative impact
on you, you shouldrespect that. and this goes back to thething i mentioned earlier when you asked me about whatcan we learn from the united states. i so strongly believe thatthe future of humanity depends on us all treatingpeople with respect and dignity -- -- and recognizing thatwhatever your religious background, whateveryour ethnicity,
whether you're aman or a woman, whatever yoursexual orientation, you have something in commonwith me -- that we are both children of god; that weboth were put here for a reason and are deservingof kindness and respect. and i think thatas young leaders, if you can promote thoseideas in your countries, in your businesses, in yournonprofit organizations -- if you're always thinking interms of how do we make sure
that everybody is treatedfairly and everybody is deserving of respect, thenthere's no problem we can't solve. and as soon as we lose thatsight, lose that vision, and we start treating peopledifferently because they're different than us, and wetry to make ourselves more important by puttingother people down, that's when bad thingshappen in every society. that's a universal truth.
and we can celebrateour differences. just like people are wearingdifferent clothes and people have different foods, peoplecan have different beliefs and different ideas. but the one thing that ibelieve is universal is that you have to treat peoplewith respect and dignity, no matter who they are. and if you do that, yseali,then i'm confident you'll be successful.
thank you, everybody. it was fun to be with you.
0 comments:
Post a Comment