Most people who read this headline might raise their eyebrows and wonder
if they are really reading what they are reading. Since when does the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) associate with people like Jason
Mraz? They apparently do now.
Such a move, I think, is
transformational and if we carry on the momentum, the idea of building an ASEAN
Community in 2015 is not so unlikely.
Why I think it is
transformational? How will the shift benefit the region? And where is the Nobel
Peace Prize idea coming from?
Jason Mraz is performing at an
MTV EXIT (End Exploitation and Trafficking) concert in Yangon on Dec. 16. MTV
EXIT claims the concert will be aired in more than half a billion homes across
the world. There will be performances, interviews and key information about
human trafficking.
MTV EXIT campaign is a multimedia
initiative against human trafficking and exploitation. MTV EXIT was launched in
Europe in 2004, and has expanded across Asia since 2007.
In Asia, the focus is on the
Southeast. ASEAN became an MTV EXIT partner in 2011.
This partnership perhaps shows a
shift in the way ASEAN operates. ASEAN is routinely criticized as anti-civil
society organizations. MTV EXIT is a non-profit, non-governmental entity.
It connects to millions people
through its music television network. This partnership to combat people
trafficking is, arguably, a strategic decision. From the MTV side, it was a
slick move to get a partner like ASEAN. It needed a regional savvy operator to
get support from elites and corporations.
For ASEAN, it was a smart move
because they know they can’t resolve this huge issue alone: This change will
take a whole society. And of course, ASEAN craves a populist platform.
One can now only hope that this
wind of change is irreversible, and it continues to sweep through other key
areas, including issues human rights.
Most information written by ASEAN
is mundane, dreary, sycophantic, courteous and official. Yet, ASEAN leaders
dream of building an ASEAN Community by 2015. How could you develop a community
if you do not know how to
engage them?
On this very aspect, Surin
Pitsuwan, the outgoing secretary-general, has done a remarkable job. Since the
very first day he took the job he has had a bold vision: To make ASEAN a
household name by 2015. And he has been walking
the talk.
He has been traveling from one
ASEAN city to another, telling young people how being part of ASEAN brings
benefit to them and the country they live in.
His deeds motivated government
officials across the 10 ASEAN countries to do the same thing in their own
capacity.
Under his leadership ASEAN’s
public relations have undergone significant change.
Today the ASEAN Secretariat
actively issues press releases on their undertakings, relaying information to
the people on what the organization is doing.
Moreover, earlier this week, the
ASEAN website featured Jason Mraz, a world renowned musician on their front
page, side by side with pictures of ASEAN leaders! Five years ago, you would
never have imagined that ASEAN could be communicative let alone interesting!
This is transformational.
This momentum should encourage
each and every one of us who believe that a better ASEAN means a better
Indonesia (or Brunei, Cambodia, Singapore or any other ASEAN country), region
and the world.
And further, it should galvanize
us to persevere and believe in our own vision of how to make this regional
endeavor work, and to benefit from it.
Things are moving at a pace
faster than ever envisaged. Indonesia gained huge popularity in world affairs
through astute leadership of ASEAN for these past two years.
The recent breath of democratic fresh air in
Myanmar has led to the first American presidential visit to the country.
The recent edition of The
Economist named Asian countries as some of the world’s most stable economies,
including landlocked Laos, consisting of 6 million people.
Relatively poor, Laos recently
joined the World Trade Organization (WTO). To a slight extent ASEAN, as an
entity, contributed to this. In many official meetings I attended, I witnessed
how ASEAN countries continuously advocated, in their ASEAN way, Laos’ admission
to the WTO.
Lastly, let’s echo Khun Kavi
Chongkittavorn’s argument in his recent article “EU’s Nobel Prize:Lessons for
ASEAN” that a Nobel Peace Prize for ASEAN is just a matter of time.
We’ve seen how ASEAN has been
successful in averting wars, creating intra-regional trade, building the
confidence to cooperate, making sure each country benefits from globalization
and helping hundreds of thousands people in the Irrawaddy delta during the
deadly cyclone Nargis in 2008.
The list goes on. But sustaining
the momentum depends on all of us, on our commitment, from top to bottom. I
believe regional integration has been beneficial for most of us, if not all,
and that transformational change is inevitable and irreversible.
Let’s continue this work
together. Let’s make a better ASEAN and a better world.
And please do visit mtvexit.org
to stand a chance of winning a free ticket to see Jason Mraz perform in Yangon.
And you could be the next agent
of change.
Fithya Findie
Business & Investment Opportunities
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