CALD Internship Report

Name of Intern: Yeam Hui Nih

Country: Malaysia (Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia)

Internship period: 18 April 2005 – 14 May 2005

Observations and Impressions

European Parliament – Concern on Global Issues

The European Parliament is one of the three players in the EU’s institutional ‘triangle’ alongside with the Commission and the Council. The role of the European Parliament is changing and emerging to the global stage. Therefore, by attending the delegation meetings, it is an honor to see firsthand how the European Parliament and the leaders from other countries discuss and debate global issues for the peace and solidarity of mankind, among nations and of the world as a whole.

During my internship, I have the opportunity to attend the following delegation meetings:

1. Delegations with the People’s Republic of China (26/4/05)

2. Delegation for Relations with Belarus (26/4/05)

3. Delegation for Relations with the Countries of Southeast Asia and The Associations of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)

The meeting with the delegations from People’s Republic of China was an exciting one.  It took place on the eve of the groundbreaking visit to mainland China by Taiwan’s opposition leader, Lien Chan, Therefore, the topics of discussion and debate were centred on Taiwan’s relationship with mainland China and the implementation of China’s Anti-Secession Law (Annex 1). The delegation was led by HE Lu Congmin, Vice Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the 10^th National People’s Congress.

The European Parliament’s effort to invite parliamentarians and leaders from other countries to discuss on International issues is highly commendable and welcome. The discussion of global issues, conducted in an open-minded manner, showed how concerned are the European Union Parliament towards the well beings of other countries. The dialogue helped them address issues together through interchanging of ideas from the participating countries. As a comparison, our Malaysian Parliament is more conservative. Only issues of local interests are discussed and debated by the Malaysian Parliamentarians. Therefore, a more open-minded approach should be practiced by the Malaysian government in order to show our concern on the global issues.

Cultural Diversity in the European Society

As a “stagiaire” in this internship programme, I was given a chance not only to work closely with the ALDE group in the European Parliament, but also to experience the living culture and tradition in a European country.  Being brought up in Malaysia, a country which is well known for its potpourri of diversity and harmony, it gives me the curiosity to learn more on the unique multicultural  form of European society. 

During the last decade cultural diversity has increasingly become an important item on the political urban agenda in Europe. Since 1998, the European Commission has included cultural diversity as one of several important dimensions of sustainable urban policy and strategies. This is reflected in the Lille-report [1] which was discussed and approved at the Informal Urban Ministers' Meeting in Lille in November 2000.

Generally, building a multicultural Europe includes the followings[2]:

-         non-discriminatory legislation and practices

          on national levels;

-         equal opportunities for all groups to

          participate in the society;

-         freedom of expression which includes

          access to media, and tolerance;

-         redefining the "national heritage" as a "

          "multicultural national heritage"; and

-         recognition of contributions of different

          groups.

In one of the public hearing in the European Parliament, I had the chance to listen to a survey report from the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC);It is interesting to found out that:

-     Resistance of the European citizens to multicultural society is stronger in countries with a high level of ethnic competition, as indicated by a relatively high level of unemployment, a relatively low GDP per capita, and a relatively high proportion of non-western non-nationals. (competition for resources between social groups)

 

-     More people perceive a decrease in their personal safety, or more distrust other people or distrust political leaders, or more consider themselves to be politically right-wing, or more people perceive ethnic minorities to pose a collective threat, more of them favor ethnic exclusionism.

The efforts or initiatives of EU in cultivating social cohesion and cultural diversity does not reduce or hinder the role of the local authorities in shaping strategic policies and implementing initiatives and projects like the urban regeneration projects, EU URBAN Programmes, etcetera. (Annex 2)

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