PNoy to raise South China Sea row in ASEAN summit

“(Apart from that), it is good for the farmers, the young students, good for women, good for developing countries but I do not believe, that we can stop change”, he said, responding to a question posed during a townhall meeting with the alumni of the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiatives (YSEALI) at the Taylor’s University Lakeside Campus here today.

“You can set an example”, Mr Obama told youths in Kuala Lumpur.

The president echoed that theme later Friday in a meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, in which the leaders discussed strengthened counterterrorism ties and a recent agreement to make Malaysia a centre for countering extremist messaging.

Mr Obama’s plea to young people in Malaysia came one week after Islamic militants killed 129 and wounded hundreds more in a terrifying spree of attacks in Paris.

While ASEAN has yet to take a collective stand about China’s activities in the South China Sea, its secretary-general said it was no surprise member countries are looking for peaceful ways to challenge it.

Obama is joining leaders of the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) for a weekend summit.

Najib said the AEC will benefit poor and unskilled workers.

Ben Rhodes, deputy national security adviser at the White House, said Obama would raise United States concerns about the imprisonment of political dissidents and other human rights issues “very directly” during his meeting with Najib. The Malaysian leader is under investigation over corruption allegations.

“I am confident we can sustain the expansion of our respective economies, bringing prosperity and higher standards of living for all of our people”, he said.

The weekend meetings are also expected to spotlight China’s increasingly assertive posture in the South China Sea. He’ll also visit a refugee center in Kuala Lumpur, in a visit taking on heightened importance amid the controversy that erupted after the Paris attacks over Syrian refugees entering the U.S.

He said Indonesia deeply appreciated the manpower mobilised by the agency, including the MMEA’s willingness to send the Bombardier CL 415 aircraft, which was capable of carrying huge amounts of water to put out forest fires in several areas there.

Earlier this week Najib said he was “shocked and sickened” by the murder of Malaysian engineer Bernard Then, who was beheaded by the Abu Sayyaf Islamic militant group in the southern Philippines.