ASEAN: Communicate! Now!

The last week of February saw SEA’s information ministers gathering in Kuala Lumpur. The resulting media statement includes the following:

“The Chairman in his opening statement highlighted that ASEAN should leverage on the popularity of social media that would keep it current and relevant as a disseminator of information. He expressed his view that the Information Ministers should re-look their engagement through new media and the social network, especially with the younger generation, otherwise they may not be able to play an effective role in promoting ASEAN awareness or building the ASEAN Community… Appreciating the need to implement a comprehensive communications plan to meet the vision of One ASEAN Community by 2015, the Ministers directed a technical working group to study the immediate communications need and recommend an effective communications plan, using media channels that are available in Member States. It is envisioned that this plan will promote a clearer understanding on what One ASEAN Community means for the entire region and its peoples… [emphasis mine]”

It would be hard to overemphasize the importance of this task. Last week in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, I had the opportunity to meet a number of academics, and discuss these issues with three classes of students, undergraduate and postgraduate.

Time after time from the academics came the complaint that ASEAN is still – despite all its efforts – far too remote from the ordinary people of SEA.

Many of the region’s citizens have too much of a struggle with daily needs to have time to acquaint themselves with an esoteric topic such as ASEAN.

But even the middle classes know too little about it, and about what it means for them. As one academic put it, it is Tony Fernandes who has done most for the idea of an ASEAN community. AirAsia’s facilitation of cheap flights makes the rest of SEA more accessible – at least for some. It therefore represents a very palpable bridging of gaps.

But while the regional vision is clear and bright for the high flyers in the ASEAN Business Club, it still needs to percolate down to the small businesses who struggle to understand what an ASEAN Economic Community might have to offer them.

As an economics researcher in Singapore told me, generalities are not enough – people in the shoe industry (for example) need to know precisely how Community plans will affect shoes and the components that go into shoes. A monumental information campaign is necessary if people are to start to see what community-building offers them and their businesses.

The ASEAN Secretariat also reported last week on a youth seminar in Indonesia. Addressing the event, ASEAN Deputy Secretary-General Bagas Hapsoro noted the importance of such events, as they provided platforms for young people “to play a leading role in realising the ASEAN Community by 2015”. He went on to say that young people “need to unite to create a strong network with other young people from all aspects of life so they can consequently reach mutual understanding and boost regional cooperation... [and] suggested that enhancing policy advocacy activities would lay the foundation for the youth’s voices to be heard by their governments, parliaments, and business people.” 

Truly, the moment is now. Interestingly, the Indonesian undergraduates I talked to were still largely open to ASEAN, and still prepared to give it a chance. The postgraduates, on the other hand, had already learnt to be much more sceptical. Youth enthusiasm can very quickly turn to disappointment if elements of real progress (or at least good reasons why that progress is elusive) are not very clearly communicated to them.

Young people need not only to know more about what they can realistically expect from ASEAN and what ASEAN is actually doing – because I find there are still a lot of misconceptions and knowledge gaps out there – but also to know how they can learn and contribute.

One undergraduate asked me, “What do we have to do to communicate with ASEAN?” I reeled off a few web addresses – regional civil society organizations (which, incidentally, have produced some excellent training programmes on how to deal with ASEAN), the ASEAN Secretariat, the ASEAN Foundation – but I’m hard pressed to cite a one-stop shop that can link up young people interested in learning about ASEAN’s regional vision.

I would love to know that such a thing is out there, and I’ve just missed it – so if you know of good “ways in” to ASEAN for young people, please get in contact.

I truly think this is a pivotal moment for ASEAN publicity, outreach, and youth engagement. If we can’t draw in educated young people and small businesses now, the ASEAN Community that is projected for 2015 will really struggle to get airborne.

Green shoots? -- pick of the fortnight

• Asia Sentinel has a slightly more positive round-up of recent events in Thailand than many I’ve seen lately (9 Mar). The report concludes: “There is plenty to be concerned about. Eventually, the harshness of the lese majeste laws, the military’s dominance of the political process and concerns that somehow the government will engineer Thaksin’s return could trigger more of the kind of trouble that has characterized far too much of the country’s political sphere. The mai pen rai (Don’t worry, it’s okay) attitude that characterizes the country, to take the easy option and ignore problems, could once again result in lack of will to put flood control infrastructure in place. But the feeling is that for now, mai pen rai will prevail despite the gradual disintegration of the arrangements that have kept Thai politics relatively stable since the 2011 election. Thailand needs it.”
• A New York Times report notes that Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi is increasingly “being asked to propose solutions to her country’s woes rather than merely lament them” (7 Mar). Fears are being expressed that she will tarnish her reputation in the rough-and-tumble of day-to-day politics. But as I’ve observed before, this is a trade-off that all SEA’s activists have had to come to terms with. It’s never an easy choice or combination. But we need good people who can build as well as good people who can scourge.
• Still on Myanmar, Nicolas Farrelly (8 Mar) notes that this is not the time to be watching “for unambiguous signs that change is irreversible and that the military has surrendered political power for good”. Rather, he warns: “Instead of a final resolution of Burma’s problems it is conceivable that changes will remain incremental, erratic and somewhat opaque… Meanwhile there is much to be gained by increasing our awareness of the changes that are occurring and by accepting Burma’s new government as a normal part of the Southeast Asian political landscape. This is the time when Burmese authorities, businesses and individuals are actively seeking partners from around the world to assist with the challenges ahead. There are still reasons to doubt and fret, but the time is ripe for action and involvement.” Hear, hear...
• Malaysia has been rated “the safest country in Southeast Asia and 19th in the world” (8 Mar). This is interesting, because it certainly doesn’t square with the many, many warnings I’ve been given by concerned locals since moving to Malaysia in November last year… Is the discrepancy just due to a perception lag, or to something more complex?
• The website for the upcoming ASEAN Civil Society Conference/ASEAN People’s Forum is here. This will be one to watch in terms of gauging the nature of Cambodia’s ASEAN chairmanship.
• “Singapore will be contributing $50 million over the next four years to an Asean initiative to narrow the divide within the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean)…The amount will be given from this year till 2015, and will bring Singapore's total contribution to IAI [Initiative for ASEAN Integration] to $170 million [6 Mar]”. And – Singapore’s domestic workers are to be given a day off.
• The election season is underway in Timor Leste. There are useful backgrounders here and here.