-
楼主 / garygao
- 时间: 2008-11-25 17:33阿贾汗（Aga Khan）王子今天来本拿比访问，和市长Derek Corrigan进行了会谈。
阿贾汗（Aga Khan）王子是世界Shia Imami Ismali穆斯林的精神领袖。
-
-
- 时间: 2008-11-25 20:06
-
-
- 时间: 2008-11-25 20:12The Aga Khan: faith and action
by ADRIENNE CLARKSON
November 20, 2008 at 11:35 PM EST
My interest in His Highness the Aga Khan, and in his vision, dates back to 1957. Then, as a young university student, I read about Prince Karim, who had suddenly inherited his grandfather's mantle as the imam (spiritual leader) of the Ismailis. His grandfather had been a remarkable figure of worldwide renown. The young prince was still a student at Harvard, and I remember thinking, "How does he feel about inheriting this enormous responsibility as the leader of the Ismailis at the age of 20?"
In the early 1970s, I was well aware of the Ismailis who were fleeing East Africa and of our reception of thousands of them here in Canada. I was always grateful that our country, under the leadership of Pierre Trudeau, welcomed these people, who had found themselves in an extremely difficult and dangerous situation in the countries that they had called home.
When I became governor-general of Canada in 1999, I met a number of Ismailis in prominent positions in Ottawa and Toronto, and later in many other cities across Canada. But it was not until 2002 that I met His Highness, during one of his visits to Ottawa. Immediately, I was deeply impressed by this soft-spoken man who had given nearly five decades of his life to bettering society in very practical and meaningful ways. His contributions to education, health and cultural revitalization through architecture and town planning in the developing world were without equal. I was very happy to meet him several more times throughout my years in Ottawa and to participate in the Foundation Ceremony of the Delegation of the Ismaili Imamat in June, 2005.
I remember the day of the ceremony well. Tents had been erected over the area where the guests were seated, and flowers had been planted to create a garden atmosphere and a sense of beauty and lightness. In my exchanges with His Highness that day, I felt very much that our country could not have a more useful or meaningful relationship. The Aga Khan understands profoundly what Canada is all about and what a diverse society can accomplish if it is built on awareness of difference and relaxed understanding.
The Aga Khan is not just a spiritual leader. As imam, he is responsible both for leading the interpretation of the faith and for helping to improve quality of life for all in the wider communities where Ismailis live. This dual obligation is often, I think, quite difficult to appreciate from the Christian viewpoint of the role that church leaders are expected to perform. In Islam, the worlds of faith and action, of ethical premise and society, are treated together. The Aga Khan sees his responsibilities as encompassing a strong commitment to the well-being and dignity of all human beings, regardless of faith, origin or gender.
The intersection of faith and society has led to initiatives that, over the past 50 years, have made a profound difference in the developing world. The Aga Khan Development Network has improved the lives of some of the world's poorest, most deprived and most diverse populations.
The Aga Khan realizes that no effective development can happen without the precondition of a healthy civil society. Only a strong civil society can help sustain real change for both rural populations, which are geographically isolated, and the urban poor, who are similarly marginalized from the social, economic and political life of their wider society.
The second precondition for successful development is something for which the Aga Khan and his development network are now increasingly well known: a commitment to pluralism. The efforts of the Imamat have had a pervasive effect, over the past decade particularly, in making the world understand how society must support people of different backgrounds and interests to organize themselves in diverse institutions for a variety of purposes - all in the context of a creative free expression. Pluralism is as important as human rights in ensuring peace, democracy and a better quality of life.
In his speeches, the Aga Khan points out how the rejection of pluralism has helped to incite hatred and conflict among many cultures, nations and religions. This has occurred in places as varied as Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
These sad examples show us that pluralism is critical to peaceful, harmonious understanding. The Aga Khan understands, too, that pluralism does not happen by accident but is the product of enlightened education, moral and material investment by governments and the recognition by all of our common humanity.
As His Highness recognizes, Canada is very open to these ideas. Eighty per cent of Canadians believe it a good thing that we are a diverse population. In this, we may be unique in the world. It is a happy situation for us to have communities of people who are educated, are confident in their identity in Canada and feel assured of the depth of both their own traditions and those of the people who share their institutions and governmental structures.
In his public utterances, the Aga Khan shows great subtlety of mind. He has been the inspiring founder of universities and colleges, because education is one of the democratic pillars he recognizes. He exhorts people everywhere to train leaders and to shape institutions using the highest standards of excellence. His sensitivity to formal learning alerts us that education is not the promulgation of dogmatic commitment or ideological choices. Instead, as he emphasizes, scientific problem-solving must exist side by side with a continued openness to new questions.
Memorably, His Highness asserts that the deplorably fashionable phrase "clash of civilizations" is really a "clash of ignorance." This ignorance is both historical and current, and he is unequivocal in his belief that it could have been avoided through more dialogue and understanding between the Judeo-Christian and Muslim worlds.
I find His Highness's belief in what democracy can do to be most inspiring of all. He understands the need for us to be flexible in supporting the diverse institutions that make up democratic life. He is clear eyed and decisive about the breakdown in democratic institutions such as parliaments, which often lack an efficient structure and human capacities to grapple with complexity. Above all, he understands that democracy can only come about through education and awareness. Finally, His Highness identifies the need to strengthen public integrity as the sound foundation on which democracy can rest. It is not simply governments that make democracy work; the most successful democracies are those in which the non-governmental institutions of a diverse civil society play a vital role.
Again and again, the Aga Khan returns to the need for respect and co-operation between Islamic and Western peoples. The Koran tells us that mankind is a "single soul created by a single Creator" - something that differentiates humans from other forms of life. His Highness also speaks meaningfully about the need to maintain a profound humility before the Divine. With this kind of humility, we can turn away from dogma and approach each other as human beings, meeting on a field of respect without anger, without discrimination and without preconceptions.
Humility that will lead us away from self-righteousness and ready-made ideology and open us to genuine religious feeling, in its most positive form.
Adrienne Clarkson is a former governor-general of Canada. This is adapted from the introduction to Where Hope Takes Root, by His Highness the Aga Khan, and reprinted by the permission of Douglas & McIntyre.
www.theglobeandmail.co...ment/home/ -
- 时间: 2008-11-25 20:18全球最富王室成员
作者： Tatiana Serafin 来源： 福布斯网站
今年早些时候，尼泊尔投票决定废除其持续240年之久的印度教君主制，前国王贾南德拉 (Gyanendra) 被迫交出位于加德满都的皇宫（现已变成博物馆）。尽管存在逃税以及斯威士兰和科威特议会解散等争议，但到目前为止我们榜单上的15位统治者的财富却未受到丝毫影响。全球最富的15位王室成员的财产总值已经增至1310亿美元，远高于上年的950亿美元。
居于榜首的是泰国国王普密蓬-阿杜德 (Bhumibol Adulyadej)，由于名下 Crown Property Holdings 的透明度不断提升，他的财富猛增了7倍，净资产估计已达350亿美元，从而取代文莱苏丹位居榜首。文莱苏丹是入选该榜单的唯一的另外一位亚洲君主，净资产为200亿美元，也是财富较上年有所下降的仅有两名统治者之一。这位苏丹继承了一个拥有600年完整历史的穆斯林王朝的财富，由于石油储量的日渐枯竭，他不得不削减本国的石油产量。
另一位财富有所减少的王室富豪是摩洛哥国王穆罕默德六世 (Mohammed VI)，其当前财富为15亿美元，低于上年的20亿美元。严重的干旱已经使该国的经济增长放缓至2%。
中东国家的六位元首就不存在类似问题的困扰，他们主要从石油中获取财富。该地区首富、阿布扎比的 Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan （哈利法）再次高居我们榜单的第二位，其净资产约为230亿美元。阿联酋95%的石油储藏都位于阿布扎比，这也是 Sheikh 的财富来源。这个面积不大的酋长国还因其国有投资工具实施的大规模投资（包括对花旗银行 (Citibank) 75亿美元的投资）而成为新闻焦点。
拥有180亿美元净资产的迪拜 Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum 是迪拜控股公司 (Dubai Holding) 的大股东，迪拜控股公司在索尼 (Sony) (以及国防承包商 EADS 等机构都有投资。该国的投资基金最近支付了50亿美元用于获得美高梅集团 (MGM Mirage) 的股份，并支付了8.25亿美元用于购买零售商 Barneys New York。
而对于凭借约50亿美元净资产位居我们榜单第六位的列支敦士登亲王汉斯-亚当二世 (Hans-Adam II) 来说，事情要棘手得多。其资产的主要来源 LGT 银行（其家族已经管理该银行达70年）因涉嫌帮助富有的客户藏匿钱财而成为逃税丑闻的焦点。一项美国参议院调查称，他的哥哥菲力浦 (Phillip) 亲王曾以 LGT 董事长的身份与逃税嫌疑人会面。
这些富有的王室成员中仅有的一位单身汉——摩纳哥阿尔贝二世 (Albert II) 亲王据说正将其女朋友放在法语强化班学习。他的净资产约为14亿美元，其中包括价值不菲的房产以及在这个小国的一家娱乐场持有的股份。他计划在海上以巨大的柱子作为支撑建立一个新区，从而拓展其国土面积（面积相当于纽约中央公园 (Central Park)）。环保人士对此表示担忧。
同时，由于两位女王登上我们的榜单，继任计划成为了话题。排名第14位的荷兰女王贝娅特丽克丝 (Beatrix) 据说正考虑让位于她的儿子，而排名第12位的英国女王伊丽莎白 (Elizabeth) 则打算继续掌权，她儿子查尔斯 (Charles) 王子在短期内登上王位的希望也因此破灭。
唯一一位没有疆土管辖权的统治者是 Aga Kahn，他是遍布全球各地的1500万伊斯玛仪派穆斯林教徒 (Ismaili Muslims) 的精神领袖。这个拥有约10亿美元净资产的骑手最近在英国最大的马匹拍卖场购买了股份。
请记住：这些王室成员的财富主要来自遗产继承或权位，这些财富通常由庞大的家族共同拥有，而且一些财富通常是由他们为他们的国家或地区代为管理。因此，无论净资产有多少，该榜单上的15位王室成员都没有资格入选我们的年度全球十亿美元级富豪榜。
由于技术及个人与国家财产之间实际关系的特殊性，这些评估一部分是基于科学计算而另一部分则是靠猜测。
例如，斯威士兰国王恩史瓦帝三世 (Mswati III) 就是其父亲创立的为斯威士兰托管财富的两项基金的受益人。由于大权在握，他对如何使用这些收入拥有绝对的决定权，他为他的13个妻子每人建造了一座宫殿，并为自己举办奢华的生日聚会，最近有报道称他花费了250万美元庆祝40岁生日。
而在英国，白金汉宫 (Buckingham Palace) 和英国王室珠宝等王室资产则属于整个英国而不是伊丽莎白女王，因此这些资产不能算作她的净资产。取而代之的是，她的财富来自她在英格兰和苏格兰的房产、艺术品、宝石以及她祖父做的一个邮集。
尽管我们一直在关注几位著名王室成员（如英国女王和文莱苏丹）的财富，但是多年来这也只是我们第二次发布最富王室成员的权威榜单。西班牙和日本等国的君主都无缘该榜单。
Devon Pendleton、Chaniga Vorasarun 和 Cristina von Zeppelin 报道。
www.ceconline.com/mymo...284/01/?R5
阿贾汗（Aga Khan）王子今天访问本拿比市
