THINKING ALOUD : Asean not yet a united entity for Singaporeans

The Straits Times, February 24, 2007

By Paul Jacob, Deputy Political Editor



THE celebrations launched here last month to mark Asean's 40th anniversary were decidedly different from anything previously staged.

No parades and flag-raising ceremonies, or a march-past by contingents decked in national costumes waving flags or bouquets with national colours.

There was, instead, the bang of drums, riffs from electric guitars and vocals of jeans-clad frontmen, as the best bands from the 10 Asean countries launched a five-day music festival.

Diplomats, minus suits, mingled with equally casually clad youngsters at the Hard Rock Cafe event billed as 'Asean Rocks'.

As Asean secretary- general Ong Keng Yong said at the time, what often springs to mind when people think of Asean are images of meetings, high- powered talks and gatherings of leaders from the region and beyond.

'So it's very hard for the young to relate to what Asean is all about,' he said.

Upping the hip quotient represented an attempt by the regional grouping to broaden its audience, reach and appeal among a younger crowd - the region's next generation.

Foreign Minister George Yeo noted at the event: 'It's important to bring the idea of Asean down to the younger generation (so that) it'll be meaningful to them.

'It's something that they should aspire to, and hope for, in the coming years. Asean should not just be something that's meant for ministers, officials or business leaders. It's something important for ordinary citizens.'

Mr Yeo recalled a conversation with a senior British official, who told him that his son 'feels more European than himself'.

'This is what we should strive for; that the next generation of Asean would think of themselves as Asean citizens, much more so than this generation.'

There is no disputing that sentiment.

It is a worthy and necessary goal which leaders and officials alike have been encouraging for some time now, particularly at the level of schools and other educational institutions through exchange programmes, project collaborations and the like.

However, the view of Asean from the ground level is shaped not so much by the pronouncements of its teachers and officials as it is by the realities of what they see, read and experience on their own, and in the company of friends and relatives.

For close to 60,000 people at the National Stadium last month, it was associated with the behaviour of a group of players who walked off the soccer pitch because of a disputed penalty; and by the atmosphere which built up ahead and during the second leg of that match early this month.

For readers and viewers, attitudes have been shaped by the action and accusations of governments and politicians who chose to blame Singapore for environmental degradation, flooding and electronic wire-tapping, rather than look at the efficiencies, or otherwise, of their own systems and processes.

Singaporeans, pummelled by such a constant stream of rhetoric and finger-pointing, are apt to grow resentful and cynical about Asean solidarity the longer this continues, much like when the haze hit last year.

It has been unfortunate that in recent months, they have seen a number of Singapore's interactions with its neighbours and partners in Asean as spats - and that these developments are by no means the last in a series.

These serve as a reminder that there has been a constant stream of potshots fired across Singapore's bow.

Even if they recognise that neighbours living in close proximity are bound to have disputes at one time or another, these developments have the effect of eroding the sense of goodwill they may have had.

It has led many to question why, for example, Singapore had been quick to render assistance, when calamities struck abroad, to governments of nations which appear to have short memories.

Singaporeans as yet do not have a view of Asean as a single entity, a community of nations.

Rather, their neighbourhood, and their sense of it, is defined by and associated with the individual actions of the countries which make up its whole.

And when, at one point last month, three countries were barreling down on Singapore over one issue or another, that put a negative spin on how they would have regarded Asean.

I do not envy those whose job it is to now go out and promote Asean among the masses here ahead of its actual 40th anniversary in August - which is also when Singapore takes over the grouping's chairmanship for a year.

Aspirations of moving towards a common market, a single community by 2015, of shared values, of a Charter that will serve as a mini-Constitution will continue to be followed with keen interest by scholars, and by students whose General Paper teachers want them to win the next regional essay competition on 'What Asean means to me and to Singapore's economic development'.

Despite the reality that these regional goals are going to eventually come about and affect the lives and well-being of Singaporeans - for the better - the notion of Asean for many here will continue to be shaped and affected by the actions of its individual members towards Singapore.

To my mind, the effect of what has been happening thus far is to bring Singaporeans closer together and move them towards being a more unified people, which is never a bad thing.

But the flip side is that it can also make the necessary goal of living and operating in a flatter, more open and connected regional community an uphill task and that much harder to sell.

pjacob@sph.com.sg