Is ASEAN relevant, we may wish to ask.
posted by din merican—February 27, 2009
Asean’s relevancy questioned
by Pokpong Lawansiri*
Finally, the Thai government under the leadership of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejajiva is able to hold the 14th ASEAN Summit after it was postponed in December 2008 after the turbulent seizure of the country’s airport by the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD).
There was earlier speculation that a re-scheduled summit would face great difficulties after attempts by the anti-government United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship had petitioned Myanmar and Singapore to boycott the summit claiming that the government is undemocratic.
As ASEAN will celebrate its 42nd birthday this year – it was established on August 8,1967 – a lot of ASEAN observers are wondering if the organisation is truly relevant to the ASEAN population.
During the period of the adoption and ratification of the Asean Charter in 2007 and 2008, many Asean governments, including Thailand, insisted that the ASEAN Charter will make the body a more “people-oriented” organisation.
The actual text of the charter, however, does not detail how the people can be involved in ASEAN’s decision-making processes. The Jakarta-based think-tank, Center for Strategic and International Studies and Indonesian lawmakers had spoken in favour of the non-ratification of the charter, seeing no benefit in the charter.
ASEAN’s relevancy has been questioned in many instances. First, Asean policies have proven to be mostly rhetoric rather than actual implementation. The 1997 document, ASEAN Vision 2020, talks about ASEAN’s aim “to build a community of caring and sharing societies”. However, PM Abhisit of Thailand as the current chair of ASEAN reiterates the quote on one hand and at another, continues to label the Rohingya refugees from Burma as illegal migrants who should be detained and “pushed-out” from the country.
Relevancy in question
This totally contradicts the essence of a caring and sharing community. It has been noted that less than 50 percent of Asean agreements are actually implemented, while ASEAN holds more than 600 meetings annually.
Secondly, ASEAN members themselves do not take the organisation seriously. Last year, when Thailand and Cambodia were at their most critical dispute in decades over the ownership of the Preah Vihear Temple – which was stirred up by the PAD’s ultra-nationalism fervor – Samdech Hun Sen, the Prime Minister of Cambodia ignored ASEAN and took the issue directly to the UN Security Council. He surely must have been aware that there is a dispute settlement mechanism in ASEAN to which he could refer the issue.
The writer was recently told by a former senior staff of the ASEAN Foundation, an integral body which is tasked to promote greater awareness of Asean and interaction among the peoples of ASEAN, that the Asia-Europe Foundation has been receiving far more funding from ASEAN governments than ASEAN’s own foundation. He said, “ASEAN governments want the foundation to stand on its own”.
Similarly, the Asean People’s Assembly (APA), a yearly forum that has been organised by the ASEAN think-tank network known as the Asean Institute for Strategic and International Studies since 2001, which attempts to bridge the gaps between the policymakers and civil society groups by bringing the two groups together to a same forum, is also facing a similar problem.
While in the ASEAN Vientiane Action Programme adopted in 1999, it recognises APA as an “important consultative mechanism for developing more people-oriented policies”, ASEAN is still not supporting the initiative as this mechanism is facing large financial constraints on continuing its operation.
Thirdly, participatory democracy is a foreign term known among ASEAN governments. The ASEAN Charter which is the first document that talked about a people-oriented ASEAN was discussed discreetly, while there have been calls by civic groups to make it public for general discussion or to have it voted in a referendum. Three documents accompanying the charter, namely the Economic, Political-Security, and Socio-Cultural Blueprints were also discussed in private.
Meeting human rights challenges
Last and most importantly, civil society and observers are viewing ASEAN as being unable to meet human rights challenges. While ASEAN bureaucrats often credit ASEAN for having created peace in the region since its establishment, they forget to acknowledge that ASEAN stood still during the genocide in Cambodia, which then was not a member of ASEAN.
Similarly, ASEAN allowed Indonesia to take extreme measures against East Timor in 1974 to 1999, which Jakarta then viewed as a renegade province. The conflict in Cambodia and East Timor claimed approximately two million and 102,800 lives respectively. Not to mentioned the human rights situation in Myanmar which has not improved since it was admitted to Asean in 1997.
Although, the ASEAN Charter is coming up with a plan to establish an Asean human rights body (AHRB) by appointing a high-level panel which is currently drafting a terms of reference of the AHRB, there is very little hope for those who have been following its development.
The confidential text of the terms of reference highlights that the body has to respect the principle of non-interference and will work to defend ASEAN from external interferences on human rights issues. Furthermore, it is known that the body will focus on promotional roles rather than protecting human rights victims; that it will only serve as a window-dressing mechanism for ASEAN.
Earlier this month, close to 1,000 civil society representatives gathered under the banner of the ASEAN Peoples’ Forum in Bangkok, Thailand, to discuss issues affecting them. One question discussed was the relevancy of ASEAN. A statement will soon be delivered to ASEAN leaders outlining how they can better serve the people.
As ASEAN claims to be a ‘people-oriented’ body, it surely must implement policies and ensure that ASEAN will be able to respond to the needs of its people on issues such as democracy and human rights.
ASEAN is a joke!
It is mostly a platform for aspiring politicians and bureaucrats seeking to spread their wings to the regional stage. A gathering of politicians dreaming of a vision they couldn’t even agree to begin with.
Mr Bean - February 27, 2009 at 11:58 pm
I think the timely question should perhaps be, “how do we make ASEAN more relevant”.
We may have no choice now but to move to the driver’s seat. We have been on the back seat for too long. It is high time that we play a more pro-active role to determine our own future as the traditional role players – the USA and EU are now struggling to regain their composure !
Even the U.S.A has long recognizes the impending shift of the global economic epic centre to the East and the vital role that China and India play.
ASEAN has over the last two decades made significant inroads through our political and economic ties with all the key economic players in Asia and Malaysia especially should take the opportunity to tap into the huge potential available out there, be it in China,India, Middle East or Japan.
With our resourcefulness and entrepreneurial spirit, ASEAN can be the catalyst for political stability and economic growth. What is lacking is only our collective political will to act which has over the years been hampered as the U.S.A and E.U. (World Bank & I.M.F.) have been the ones calling all the shots !
It is also time that ASEAN fast track its plans to consolidate into a single zone like the E.U, which has been on a back burner. The main issue of concern is of course Burma , Laos and possibly Cambodia (Khmer Rep.) The possibilities in Burma is tremendous, she has the potential to be the”China” of ASEAN .
The challenge is on how to convince the military junta to unclench its grip to adopt a more active transitional policy.
But we have to be very careful as we do not want Burma to implode through its transition as experienced by Yugoslavia and
U.S.S.R. and worse, to end up like Iraq.
In fact, the main reason why Burma has not gone down that path is because she has not been isolated as she is in ASEAN.
I am sure there are a lot of bolts and nuts to be tightened and put in place before ASEAN can be more pro-active to be more relevant but it is not an impossible aspiration because the key to unravel the present world economic turmoil lies in Asia !
This is only a very generalized idea . I am sure, Din , a trained economist and with more statistics at his disposal, will be able to give us a more accurate assessment.
ocho-onda - February 28, 2009 at 12:18 am
On a more positive note – who would have imagined and believed that China will be where she is today when three decades ago, Deng Tsao Ping decided to modernize China.
China did not make it on political will alone but because the main players – the World Bank and the I.M.F. being persuaded of the huge potential , had a huge stake in its development. So, there may be hope yet for ASEAN !
ocho-onda - February 28, 2009 at 12:30 am
Just want to clarify that I am not discounting the importance and benefits of democratic structures and human rights, but that perhaps the emphasis at the moment should be on economic well being. socio-political stability and good accountable governance.
Regards.
ocho-onda - February 28, 2009 at 1:00 am
We, the people of ASEAN may not appreciate the contribution of the organisation. ASEAN is operating on the basis of mutual respect and equal partnership.
For decades, the people in this region are able to live in peace and comparatively more stable as compared to other regions of the world. Look at the tension between India and Pakistan or the fluid situation in Korean Peninsula and we can be more objective in our assessment.
Without ASEAN, we might have gone to war with Singapore over Batu Putih. Without ASEAN, Thailand and Cambodia would have start a war over Prae Viharn temple.
Without ASEAN, border dispute between bordering states could easily erupt into prolong killing fields.
Without ASEAN do we think US, EU, Japan, China and other dialog partners would care to sit down and negotiates with small countries like Malaysia, Brunei or Laos. The answer is obvious, that without ASEAN we are just a small dot on world map. The collective bargaining power of ASEAN could not be ignored by other bigger countries. Recently, Madam Clinton visited ASEAN Secretariat and she was talking about the possibility of the United States greater cooperation with ASEAN.
Obviously, the writer is bias and try to look at micro issues which he think is what ASEAN is all about. ASEAN is a body that manage a complicated issues from politics, economy, science and technology, social development, education, natural disasters, tourism and many other aspect of humans life.
Yes, there are many meetings in ASEAN, but there are also thousands of projects being implemented. And most of the projects are implemented without bold print on local news.
tean - February 28, 2009 at 1:57 am
`Touche, Tean ! Or shall I say, spot on !
ocho-onda - February 28, 2009 at 2:45 am
tean,
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that ASEAN economies do not compliment each other. They compete with each other. We went into import substitution to save foreign exchange in the 60s at about the same time. in the early 80s we took that questionable step of manufacturing our own and then looked for markets to export later, and then predictably raise import duties so our own manufactures could remain competitive in the local market. We compete for FDIs and send missions abroad to tap the world’s capital markets for funds to finance our white elephants.
Our labor on the other hand has lost its competitive edge. The Japanese prefer to go to Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia where labor is still cheap and reasonably skilled. We are not able to compete with cheap labor from the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia. Our streets are flooded with foreign imports pricing our local products out of the local market.
Even China is sending their little red dragons over. It is cheaper to talk business with Ms Ozawa at Shibuya Station and issue promissory notes in payment for her services.
The Dutch, the Portuguese, Spanish and the French have long ago sowed the seeds of conflict between members of ASEAN. They drew boundaries with little regard for the people who live across those. With oil and LNG, tiny rocky outcrops in the oceans become potential flash points for military conflict. What these potential flash points do is give Najib the excuse to do business with the French. Buy some useless submarine and have fun with a Mongolian interpreter with a flair for languages. Najib endowed with the gift of speaking in tongue must have sealed the contract with ease. All those millions could have been used as economic stimulus today but instead went to line the pockets of thieves. Tell me. Why do we need submarines when our enemies could just swim across and empty their bladders on our beaches and drown us using the oldest weapon in the world – and these weapons are free too!
Mr Bean - February 28, 2009 at 10:20 am
The Dutch, the Portuguese, Spanish and the French have long ago sowed the seeds of conflict between members of ASEAN. They drew boundaries with little regard for the people who live across those. Bean,
You are right, Bean. If the British and Thailand had taken into account that my grandfather was a Siamese living in Saiburi (now Kedah) in the Anglo- Siamese Treaty 1909, I might be a “Kamnan” ( penghulu) in one of the Ampher. (sub-district) of Southern Thailand. But that was history.
Now, all colonial masters are no longer here. What we have now are local ruling class and they want you and me to call them Tuan. Siapa yang hantar Bunga Emas hah?
Forget about history. Now, we are all Malaysians. Period.
Bean,
We can debate till cows come home, why Malaysia is now competing with Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar. You know that, we used to be in the same league with Korea and Singapore.
Looking at the ways Najib handling government contracts, soon we will have Papua New Guinea as our competitor. Oh yes, they are planting palm oil now. By then, we cannot complaint to God that our weapons are shorter and softer than head hunters protected arrows living in PNG.
I would not be suprise at all. Today, Najib is still looking at stimulus packages in foreign lands as one of the main indicator in managing our economy. I just hope that he will not be confused with the stimulation by the late grand daughter of Genghis Khan.
tean - February 28, 2009 at 2:09 pm
Which other country has a second economic stimulus?
Litmus - February 28, 2009 at 2:18 pm
I thought the main reason for trade blocs like EU,NAFTA and ASEAN,etc, in the first place, is to remove unhealthy competition and tariffs between member states so that they can find common ground to merge and consolidate their differences to strength their collective bargaining power ?
ocho-onda - February 28, 2009 at 3:54 pm
If I am not mistaken, one of the economic objectives of ASEAN was the “carving” out of specialties, of industrial development, among its member states, vis a vis , Agriculture for Thailand,High end Industries for Singapore, Manufacturing for Malaysia, Petrol and Refinery for Brunei,etc,…..?
ocho-onda - February 28, 2009 at 4:08 pm
Hei what happen the DJ?
It is weekend and there is no music?
The DJ is being stimulated?
tean - February 28, 2009 at 4:28 pm
Since there is no DJ today, let’s start Bean.
Here we go,
Without you by Mariah Carey..just lovely.
tean - February 28, 2009 at 4:31 pm
Missing in action?
tean - February 28, 2009 at 4:42 pm
“…. soon we will have Papua New Guinea as our competitor.” Tean
We are supposed to be into high end sophisticated technology by now like Singapore, who is always a step or two ahead from the pack, But then, we know why we are all still in first gear, don’t we !?!
ocho-onda - February 28, 2009 at 4:49 pm
“You are right, Bean. If the British and Thailand had taken into account that my grandfather was a Siamese living in Saiburi (now Kedah) in the Anglo- Siamese Treaty 1909, I might be a “Kamnan” ( penghulu) in one of the Ampher. (sub-district) of Southern Thailand. But that was history.” tean
History does matter, tean.
Najib’s immediate ancestors came from the southern tip of the island we now know as Sulawesi, the fiercely Muslim Makassar in the south. His original ancestors were pirates from China (which explains why he has oriental features as we say over here) and they got blown away by strong winds and landed in the spice islands. They were not looking for the Spice Girls nor for spices. They just lost their way. They intermarried with the locals and came to be known as Bugis. Some say it is a corruption of the word “bogeyman’. It is these ‘bogeymen’ who dominated the high seas between Sulawesi and the east cost of peninsula Malaya, plundering, burning and raping their way to Pahang and Johore until they reached a town called town or Pekan in Malay. Today he is still doing the same thing. Once a ‘lanun’ always a ‘lanun’.
Your ancestors were Thai and so were mine. I could trace mine way back; and as early as the 1800s they all had strange names! None of them Malay sounding. My wife could trace hers back to a village in China. Had the British not sat around on their asses re-drawing our borders, you and I and our Din Merican could well be the loyal subjects of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej today.
What would ASEAN then mean to us?? You and I and Din Merican would be doing the Ramvong instead of the Foxtrot. Din Merican would not have left his favorite Wat Siam in Aloq Setaq as he would be an integral part of it.
So much for story telling.
Mr Bean - February 28, 2009 at 5:13 pm
tean,
It is still early morning Saturday (very early) over here la! I cannot sleep thinking of your friend Ms Ozawa
Mr Bean - February 28, 2009 at 5:20 pm
“It is weekend and there is no music? The DJ is being stimulated?’ tean
How come I haven’t got my stimulus package as promised by President Obama??
Mr Bean - February 28, 2009 at 5:22 pm
MIA??
Tean,
Since when did Din Merican become a fighter pilot??
Mr Bean - February 28, 2009 at 5:27 pm
tean,
My favorite singer today is Sarah Mclachlan. I first heard her when she did a stint with another of my favorite – Santana. Here in this video you see her as you’ve never seen her before! It registered more than 2.0 million hits. So there must be something worth seeing!
Mr Bean - February 28, 2009 at 5:40 pm
Here comes Carlos Santana and Sarah Mclachlan:
Mr Bean - February 28, 2009 at 5:44 pm
ASEAN started off in 1967 with lots of promise. It was conceived by its founding leaders at a time when the Vietnam War was intensifying and gained prominence with the resolution of the Cambodian conflict in 1991. After that ASEAN became nothing but a talk shop for leaders and foreign policy bureaucrats. Fancy having 200 meetings annually and not having accommplished anything substantial. The final nail in the coffin of this regional grouping is its failure to deal with Myanmar, a country which has defied the letter and spirit of The Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC).
ASEAN has failed to agree on regional and international issues. Attempts to revive public interest have not been successful. The ASEAN Charter,for example, is a watered down document as a result of having to compromise on fundamental issues and to accommodate the different interests of Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia and Myanmar.
Indonesia has remained lukewarm towards ASEAN and Malaysia under Badawi lacked the drive and resolve to set the tempo. Singapore is driven by its national interest which is more China, US and Europe in focus. Something drastic needs to be done to save this regional grouping from irrelevance. The question is who will take the lead. It is well worth remembering that ASEAN is a “partnership of equals”, yet the members are unequal in terms of political, social and economic development.
dinobeano - February 28, 2009 at 9:39 pm
ASEAN has served its purpose. Over the last 40 years it has successfully prevented conflicts among its members. But given the current Global Financial Crisis this lowest common factor approach by ASEAN is insufficient to take us past this Financial Crisis and beyond.
The ability of nation to survive in this climate will depend on how they approach reduction of government spending on non investment expenditure. Todate no government has raised this issue. Even the US is spendig good money not to buy assets but to buy debt. And if you add to that that nearly 25% of the countries that are already in default you will get a pretty good picture as to the direction that we are all heading. To my mind in the next year or so more countries may go into default. This trend will continue because even today I do not think that there is enough money in the world to buy up all the debt created over the last decade. Hence, this rush by influential holders of debt for immediate bailout by government. This business of buying debt with your hard earned cash may be expedient in the short term but does not make economic sense in the long term..
Nations must recognise that we at are now in the ‘seven lean years ‘ period and we must act accordingly. I came across a very interesting item today. The new Prime Minister of the Maldives said on the Frost Over the World programme on BBC TV that his government will be puting on e-bay the luxury yacht bought by his predecessor because his government will only be able to operate it on borrowed money. There you are that was not so difficult but a good starting point to cut cost of the ever expandind expenses of government.
Bukit Antarabangsa - February 28, 2009 at 10:03 pm
IMHO, Asean was/is irrelevant since the late 70′s. Disparate entities pulling each and every way. It’s demise is heralded not only by differing ideologies of governance, politics, culture, education, economics, society and religions amongst the players – hence the inapplicability of TAC etc.
Batu Putih had nothing to do with Asean, neither did that Wat. Spratleys interesting? Brunei, where art thou in this scheme of things?
There isn’t a single common denominator except maybe an ‘unrealistic’ passion to make it bigger than it can ever be, i.e self deception and delusions of grandiosity. Even Sri Vijaya/Majapahit didn’t aspire as some people do.
EU with its more ‘even’ ideologies atc, can’t even accept Turkey as a member ’til now. What does that tell us?
Yep, in this scenario nobody aspires to be the “First amongst Equals’.
An economic bloc it ain’t, as for ala Nato – it’s a joke. A Clintonesque ‘joke’!
Menyalak-er - March 1, 2009 at 12:34 am
ASEAN has served its founding objectives but to be more relevant it has to evolve.
The motivations for the birth of ASEAN were the desire for a stable external environment (so that its members’ governing elite could concentrate on nation building), the common fear of communism, reduced faith in or mistrust of external powers in the 1960s, as well as the aspiration for national economic development; not to mention Indonesia’s ambition to become a regional hegemon through regional cooperation and the hope on the part of Malaysia and Singapore to constrain Indonesia and bring it into a more cooperative framework. Unlike the European Union, ASEAN was designed to serve nationalism.
ocho-onda - March 1, 2009 at 12:54 am
During the 1990s, the bloc experienced an increase in both membership as well as in the drive for further integration. In 1990, Malaysia proposed the creation of an East Asia Economic Caucus composing the then-members of ASEAN as well as the People’s Republic of China, Japan, and South Korea, with the intention of counterbalancing the growing influence of the United States in the APEC as well as in the Asian region as a whole. This proposal, however, failed since it faced heavy opposition from Japan and the United States. Despite this failure, member states continued to work for further integration. In 1992, the Common Effective Preferential Tariff (CEPT) scheme was signed as a schedule for phasing tariffs and as a goal to increase the region’s competitive advantage as a production base geared for the world market. This law would act as the framework for the ASEAN Free Trade Area. After the East Asian Financial Crisis of 1997, a revival of the Malaysian proposal was established in Chiang Mai, known as the Chiang Mai Initiative, which calls for better integration between the economies of ASEAN as well as the +3 countries (China, Japan, and South Korea).
Aside from improving each member state’s economies, the bloc also focused on peace and stability in the region. On 15 December 1995, the Southeast Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty was signed with the intention of turning Southeast Asia into a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone. The treaty took effect on 28 March 1997 after all but one of the member states have ratified it. It became fully effective on 21 June 2001, after the Philippines ratified it, effectively banning all nuclear weapons in the region.
Granted, there are too many differences to be ironed out and still a lot of nuts and bolts to be put in place but the benefits will be tremendous and the advantages will out weigh the disadvantages.
The differences will always remain. Even in the E.U., they are still grappling to introduce the European Constiution which was first rejected by the British and the Danes because they fear that the E.U will become too centralized at the expense of democracy.
It was revived by the Nice Treaty which was again rejected, this time by the French and Dutch voters . The last was the 2008 Lisbon Treaty which was rejected by the Irish for fear losing its autonomy, which is ironic, because without the E.U.there would have been no Celtic Tiger. But the prevailing economic condition in E.U. is so bad even the tiger is seeking protection!
But it cannot be denied that all the European states benefit from the Union.
Similarly, if ASEAN can evolve ,along the lines of the E.U., and fast track the introduction of the single market and the single currency in ASEAN. The benefits are tremendous – free mobility of labour and capital . Also ,with an evolved ASEAN, the policy of non intervention will be replaced by a more centralized and pre-set conditions involving Legal System, Fundamental /Human Rights,Accountability and Good Governance ( I know the latter seem like a joke now, but we have to start somewhere).
And countries like Burma and Malaysia will be forced to improve their dismal track records if they are to meet the pre-conditions to access all the benefits.
At the moment, we are in a catch-22 situation, ASEAN needs to move fast to be more relevant and at the same time it also has to put more muscle into ASEAN Plus Three and ASEAN-CER and its link with other trade blocs like GAFTA and MERCOSUR to look for new markets.
ocho-onda - March 1, 2009 at 1:58 am
The fact that Turkey is still not in the E.U. is another matter entirely (Europeans are predominantly Catholic except the Pommies but this is only a personal opinion) and has nothing to do with the relevancy of the E.U.
The fact that Turkey is still working on its admission underscores the relevancy of the E.U.
ocho-onda - March 1, 2009 at 2:20 am
Bean-san,
How are you keeping ? Imagine with free mobility of labour and capital in ASEAN you can built your summer Palace by the Mekong river in the Golden Triangle with your own helipad and you can then truly enjoy the best of all worlds and perhaps I will apply to work as your footman or butler, if you deem me worthy.
Have a good one, hombre.
ocho-onda - March 1, 2009 at 2:55 am
This one’s for you, Bean-san. Enjoy !
ocho-onda - March 1, 2009 at 3:20 am
Thanks Ocha-san. That’s enough of a stimulus package. Was wondering if Din Merican had over stimulated himself over the weekend. No music arrr…??
Mr Bean - March 1, 2009 at 7:07 am
Naaah…! Din Merican and I wouldn’t be caught dead in the company of girls that young! We couldn’t even hold a decent conversation let alone feel our way.
Mr Bean - March 1, 2009 at 7:37 am
if you understand women, they are at their best when they are in their early 30s and married!
Mr Bean - March 1, 2009 at 7:45 am
When Din Merican and I were growing up, we loved older women. Many of them are now in their 70s, 80s and even 90s!
Mr Bean - March 1, 2009 at 8:24 am
Bro Din is one lucky bloke,eh, Bean-san ? He’s probably working diligently on his salsa prowess nowadays ,now that he’s got a steady partner in the lovely cik cun, that’s why he’s got no more energy to perform his second role as DJ !?!
ocho-onda - March 1, 2009 at 9:53 am