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Rob Fenn

Head of Human Rights and Democracy Department, FCO

Part of UK in Brunei

16th August 2012 London, UK

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri

On behalf of my family, and all my colleagues at the High Commission, I wish a joyous Hari Raya to His Majesty Paduka Seri Baginda Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam; members of the Royal Family and all the people of the “Negara Zikir”.

My Foreign Secretary, William Hague, who was here in Brunei in April, shared Ramadan greetings with Muslims in Britain and around the world. He called Puasa “a special period of reflection, contemplation and consideration of others. The values of charity and compassion that are central to Ramadan are shared by Muslims and non Muslims alike,” he said.

That encourages me to share with you my own Ramadan experience. This year, the Holy Month has coincided with my nation’s hosting of the 2012 Olympic Games. That coincidence held some disadvantages for Muslim athletes, I realise; and for anyone fasting during the long summer days in our northern latitude. Here in Brunei, however, the eight hour time difference meant that some of the best live action from the Olympics took place in the early hours of the morning, when many of my Muslim friends were awake anyway. Having adopted some of their nocturnal habits for the duration of the Games, I have felt a special bond with devout, bleary-eyed sports lovers across the country.

And what a show it was! A triumph for Britain certainly, but equally a triumph for Brunei. Both our nations achieved “personal bests”. Britain showed its special talent for blending tradition and innovation, to produce a spectacle which was rooted in history, but open to the future: the greenest, most sustainable, and most inclusive Olympics of all time. For Brunei, the skilful work of His Majesty’s government and the National Olympic Council delivered the right athletes to the Games. They did their country proud, with two national records and personal bests in the pool and on the track. When Maziah carried your flag out into that cauldron of noise at the Opening Ceremony my heart almost burst with pride, for Britain and for Brunei.

That joy will carry us forward into Hari Raya, where we have yet another powerful coincidence – between Brunei’s national festival and the Paralympic games in UK. The party is not over. Brunei has a Paralympian to be proud of too – competing in the javelin. In fact, Brunei’s inclusive approach to sport gives the Sultanate an important voice in the Paralympic movement. So I confidently expect the Paralympic Games, which run from 29 August to 9 September, to be an integral part of our amazing 2012.

Beginning with the Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, which reinforced the already adamantine bonds between Britain and Brunei, 2012 has been a special year indeed. And one word stands out, weaving together the Jubilee, the Olympics, the Paralympics and Hari Raya itself. That word is joy.

Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri! Maaf Zahir dan Batin.

About Rob Fenn

Rob Fenn has been Head of the FCO’s Human Rights and Democracy Department since March 2014. His last formal responsibility for human rights was in the mid 1990s, when he…

Rob Fenn has been Head of the FCO’s Human Rights and Democracy Department
since March 2014. His last formal responsibility for human rights was in
the mid 1990s, when he served as UK Delegate on the Third Committee of
the General Assembly in New York (with annual excursions to what was
then the Commission on Human Rights in Geneva). Recent celebrations of
the twentieth anniversary of the creation of the post of UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights – a resolution he helped pilot through the
GA – came a shock. The intervening 20 years have flown: in Rome
(EU/Economics), in London (Southern European Department), in Nicosia
(Deputy High Commissioner) and latterly in Bandar Seri Begawan.
Rob,
Julia and their two sons loved Brunei, where British High Commissioners
are made especially welcome. The family’s activities included regular
walks in the pristine rainforest, expeditions upriver to help conserve
the Sultanate’s stunning biodiversity, and home movie making (in Brunei
it is almost impossible to take a bad photograph).
After
all those saturated colours, Rob worried that the move back to Britain
might feel like a shift into black and white. But the reunion with
family, friends and colleagues, and the boys’ brave reintegration into a
North London school, have been ample compensation. Julia’s main regret
is that, now she walks on Hampstead Heath, she no longer has an excuse
to carry a machete (“parang”).
Rob’s
problem is summed up in two types of reaction from friends outside the
office. On hearing that he is “in charge of human rights and democracy
at the FCO”, some think it sounds like a vast job: what else is there?
Others think it sounds wishy-washy: not in the national interest. Rob’s
mission is to take the Foreign Secretary’s dictum that “our values are
our interests”, and help his colleagues translate it into action in a
world so varied it can contain both Brunei’s clouded leopard and the
civil war in Syria.

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