The Pinnacle Club annual meeting is an annual meeting of club members, which had been postponed for about three years due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
The last Pinnacle Club of ASEAN annual meeting was conducted in 2018 in Manila, which was honored by the members having the opportunity to be received by President of the Philippines Duterte at that time.
Members of the Pinnacle Club consist of former Chiefs of Staff and Police Chiefs, as well as those with successful career paths, particularly in defense and security (retired military and security chiefs and other influentials related to the defense and security) from all ASEAN countries.
The purpose of the Pinnacle Club is to establish friendship between its members in order to participate in further enhancing good relations between members, and enhancing good relations between ASEAN countries based on the 1967 ASEAN Declaration.
Beginning with several meetings on a regular basis between retired ASEAN Chiefs of Staff and Police, the Pinnacle Club of ASEAN was officially established or declared in 2014.
Those who founded the club included General (Ret’d) Pehin Dato Haji Mohammad Haji Daud (Brunei Darussalam), General (Ret’d) Try Sutrisno (Indonesia), General (Ret’d) Hashim Mohd Ali (Malaysia), General (Ret’d) Fidel Ramos (Philippines), General (Ret’d) Winston Choo (Singapore), and General (Ret’d) Chavalit Yongchaiyudh (Thailand).
At the Pinnacle Club Annual Event Hanoi 2023, the Indonesian delegation comprised of Ambassador MG (Ret’d) Sudrajat, ADM (Ret’d) Prof Dr Marsetio, and ACM (Ret’d) Ida Bagus Putu Dunia, and led by ACM (Ret’d) Chappy Hakim.
The annual meeting of the Pinnacle Club in Hanoi, which took place from August 16 to 19, 2023, was co-hosted by the Veterans Association of Vietnam. The Pinnacle Club annual meeting took place at the Melia Hotel, Hanoi.
Apart from being a reunion event for its members, the Pinnacle Club annual meeting also discussed many issues related to efforts to develop interpersonal friendships as well as between ASEAN countries.
The annual meeting was routinely filled with light presentations and relaxed discussions, as well as sharing experiences between ASEAN countries. The topics of discussion was more on social and humanitarian issues, for example those related to natural disaster management and Search and Rescue activities.
The entire activities were done to share experiences that have been worked out, with the aim of facilitating the mechanism of assistance that would be provided between fellow ASEAN countries in dealing with natural disasters, for example.
The point was to continue efforts to help build mutual understanding and friendship between ASEAN countries towards a peaceful and prosperous region. The Pinnacle Club does not discuss and analyze the politics and policies of each country.
This year’s annual meeting in Hanoi featured several speakers from Vietnam, the Temasek Foundation of Singapore, and the Philippines, in a discussion session on the second day. The topic that emerged was how the Veterans Association of Vietnam helped veteran members in business to overcome hunger and poverty.
This was followed by the Philippine delegation who shared about the process of dealing with natural disasters that often occurred in their country.
Meanwhile, the Temasek Foundation of Singapore explained its participation, including in running the Pinnacle Club organization.
At the end of the event at the closing session, MG (Ret’d) Goh Yong Siang, Chairman of Stratagem Group, announced the submission of a donation of 100 million VND from the Pinnacle Club of ASEAN for the Friendship Village of Vietnam.
Friendship Village is a residence built in 1992 by George Mizo, a Vietnam war veteran from the United States of America. The donation was part of the Pinnacle Club’s activities in participating in collaborating on aspects of welfare, in this case, for members of the Vietnam Veterans.
The donation was handed over by MG (Ret’d) Goh Yong Siang and received by Sr Col Nguyen Than Long, Director of Vietnam Friendship Village.
At the annual meeting in Hanoi, besides the participants playing friendly golf together, they also visited Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum, the Vietnam War Museum, and also enjoyed a unique show of Vietnamese culture, namely the Hanoi Water Puppet Show.
Finally, in the closing session on the last day, a farewell dinner was held, which presented musical performances and arts from Vietnam and other ASEAN member countries. The farewell event was closed with the handing over of mementos from the Veterans Association of Vietnam, and among the delegates from participating countries.
Melia Hotel Hanoi
Visit to Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum
Gala Dinner
