The Second "Small Kindness Movement" World Conference

The Second "Small Kindness Movement" World Conference was held on September 19, 1997 at Keidanren, Tokyo. It was attended by eleven participants such as Australia, Canada, the Kingdom of Thailand, the Republic of Indonesia, the Republic of Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. From Japan, fifty participants attended.

A letter of support was received from , the Prime Minister of Canada. The Conference was also attended by a representative of the Prime Minister's Office of Japan.

Each participant gave a presentation outlining the many kindness activities that have occurred in their countries. Conference chairperson Dr Wataru Mori of the Small Kindness Movement of Japan facilitated discussions on such matters such as the universal value of kindness, fund raising, publicity campaigns and school involvement.

The participating countries agreed to the following initiatives:

The First Conference of the World Kindness Movement

This conference was held on 13 November 1998 in Tokyo. It was attended by nine participants from Australia, Canada, the Kingdom of Thailand, the Republic of Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States. Over fifty participants from Japan were present.

The following set of decisions were agreed upon at the end of the Conference:

1. A World Kindness Day will be held on 13 November each year. However, it could vary depending on the circumstances of each country. It was decided that this day would be registered at the United Nations.

2. The basic outline of a logo for the World Kindness Movement was wall received. However, final decisions on this logo would be made through subsequent correspondence between members and in future meetings.

3. The establishment of a homepage of the World Kindness Movement was approved. Each organisation will send ideas regarding the homepage to the secretariat of the Singapore Kindness Movement.

4. The details of the next conference would be decided through subsequent correspondence between members.

World Kindness Movement Meeting, Edmonton, Canada

WKM Meeting was held in Edmonton, Canada, from 3 to 5 August 1999.  The meeting was hosted by the Random Act of Kindness (RAK) Movement, Edmonton, Canada and  attended by representatives of six countries, i.e., Australia, Canada, Japan, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States.  Singapore was represented by Mr Isaac P S Ng.

The meeting discussed and drafted the procedural guidelines governing the WKM, focusing on issues pertaining to the recruitment, promotion and protection of the WKM.  The meeting agreed that the biggest obstacle in sustaining the Movement would be funding.  The draft report was submitted to the second WKM Conference in Tokyo for discussion.


Second World Kindness Conference, Tokyo, Japan

The second World Kindness Movement Conference was held in Tokyo, on 5 and 6 November 1999.   The Small Kindness Movement (SKM) of Japan hosted the conference. Eight countries were represented by 14 delegates from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, the United Kingdom and the United States.  Singapore was represented by Mr Francis Phun and Dr K I Sudderuddin.  The meeting was chaired by Mr Takeshi Morita, Vice Representative, SKM, Japan.

Dr Wataru Mori, Representative, SKM, Japan, gave the welcome address.  Following the reading of messages from the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Japan and the provost of Edinburgh, each member country was invited to make a 5-minute presentation on their efforts over the past 12 months. 

The “Kids for Kindness Cyberpals” paper was discussed and the meeting agreed that once schools had set up the basic infrastructure, this was the best way to connect children all over the world.  The headmaster of Fukusawa Elementary School briefed the meeting on his school’s proposed efforts, noting that apart from the infrastructure, the language barrier between Japanese schools and those from outside Japan need to be overcome.

The meeting fine-tuned and accepted the WKM logo, the purpose and principles, membership and structure with some amendments as proposed by the WKM Meeting in Edmonton.  The meeting, however, could not reach consensus on the key concerns: guidelines on use of WKM logo to prevent misuse; who could be members of WKM and whether they need to be a registered organisation; should only one organisation represent each country and the legal status of WKM.  The meeting agreed to discuss these further at the third WKM Conference to be held in Singapore.

The meeting agreed that the third Conference of the WKM be held in Singapore between 17 and 21 November 2000.  It would be a one-and-a-half day conference with a plenary session to thrash out the key concerns.  The meeting also agreed to look for a symbol to mark WKM Day world-wide every year.  Adopting and planting Cosmos bipinnatus, the flower of the Small Kindness Movement of Japan, would be explored.

The mock up of the generic WKM brochure prepared by Canada was discussed.  It was agreed that the countries would be listed in alphabetical order and the text edited to make it succinct.  The meeting also agreed that member countries could add their own logos, if they wished, and send further comments on the brochure, if any, to the RAK, Canada.

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