Saturday, August 09, 2008 Libre: Next step for Asean By Mel Libre Seriously Now
ON Aug. 8, 1967, the Asean Declaration was signed in Bangkok establishing the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean). Forty one years later, Asean has ten member-states, issued declarations and entered into agreements and other protocols related to its structure and mechanism, security, trade and economics, socio-cultural and external relations.
If one looks into Asean activities, it can be said that for the past decades the organization has gone beyond photo sessions among leaders and has dealt with problems that affected the region in times of difficulties and prosperity.
The economic turmoil that blunted the growth of the Asean cubs demonstrated the impact of one nation’s woes on its neighbors. Terrorism was as much a threat to the region as it was in other parts of the world. While geography binds the member-states, cultural and ethnic ties that pre-date western colonization of the region have sadly been put in the backburner.
It is not surprising therefore for a high-ranking Asean official to admit: “Most people in Southeast Asia don’t know that there is Asean, that there is this community building.” Termsak Chalermpalanupap, director and head of research for the Office of the Asean Secretary General said that the lack of public awareness on Asean and its projects and goals is one of five key challenges the Asean Secretariat is trying to resolve.
The only ones who find Asean and its goals significant are the leaders of member-states, their ministers, policy makers, businessmen, professionals and policemen and soldiers sent as peacekeepers in trouble parts of the region. The 560-million people in the region are simply preoccupied in their own affairs that they find little meaning in relationships with citizens of other countries.
The apathy is due to the poverty hounding a significant portion of the population. The economic aspect of regionalism is the mechanism that can bring peoples closer together.
The economic integration outlined in Asean Vision 2020 aims to create a stable, prosperous and highly competitive Asean economic region in which there is free flow of goods, services, investment and a freer flow of capital, equitable economic development and reduced poverty and socio-economic disparities in year 2020.
With the European Union as its model, the development of ASEAN as a single market and production base will allow the region to a player of global significance.
But other than business and livelihood, the member-states must work doubly hard in re-igniting the ethnic and cultural ties that once made us genuine brown brothers who became separated and estranged due to colonization by Europeans. The past can be an effective link that could lead us forward to the future. These can be forged through cultural exchanges, educational tours and historical researches.
Pop culture, too, can be another stage for the development of closer relationship among the people in the region. The freer flow of music, film and other creative endeavors should be encouraged among artists within the region. Collaborative artistic work can be a strong driving force towards better understanding and respect for each others uniqueness and diversity.
The past 41 years can, therefore, be considered as the groundwork for Asean. Now that it is firmly established, it is time to take the next steps when peoples of the region do not merely identify themselves by their country of origin but declare themselves “Asean,” that one coming from Southeast Asia.
