Beggar Thy Asean

Sin Chew Jit Poh,  MySinchew.com,  Malaysia, 2009-03-08 10:07

POW WOW: Asean heads of state listen during a meeting with civil society representatives at the 14th Asean summit in Hua Hin, Thailand. (Photo courtesy: AFP)

 

The grouping is a dawdling monolith weighed down by expectations and its own ineffectiveness. 

Another year, another summit. By this time next week, it is debatable whether anyone will have noticed that Southeast Asia’s most powerful leaders had gathered for a round of meetings that were likely predictable and formulaic. 

In an era of change, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) is a dawdling monolith weighed down by expectations and its own ineffectiveness. 

For three decades, Asean was a nationally important pillar because the status quo made it so. In other words, it was important not because of its natural significance but because it was positioned as part of the national narrative as defined by the state.

Now with the state unable to define a dogma, the true value of Asean is coming under question. And well it should. 

The 14th Asean Summit in Hua Hin, Thailand, seems to be more of a showcase for the government of Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to have an international stage to legitimise his relatively young administration. After several cancellations due to the political upheaval in Thailand, it is important for the prime minister to restore some regional pride and reclaim Thailand’s role as a regional player and one of the original founders of Asean. 

Other than that, there is little expectation that the summit can produce substantial progress. Routinity is a dangerous habit. Stuck in a cycle of meetings with a dependence on bureaucratic legalese, Asean is entrenched in the habit of habits: meetings, summits, declarations and statements. 

All are important, but in times of crisis and change, conformity is the foe in the needed creativity. 

Southeast Asia is in an era of crisis and change. Asean is reflecting neither. 

There is a sense of deja vu as Asean, as it did in 1997-1998, remains hapless as the gloomy economic clouds gathers and the economic storm now hits regional shores. 

The response of Asean member states to each other during this economic downturn has not been one of better thy neighbour, but beggar thy neighbour. 

Despite all its grand claims and structural achievements, Asean remains stuck in an old-world style of behaviour irrelevant to the new generation of Asean citizens or the challenges they need to face. 

Wedged in protocol, there was no solid action from Asean over the plight of the Rohingya refugees. Silence is golden when political sensitivities are beholden. 

The glimmer of hope that remains is that flesh can placed on the imperfect skeletons of the Asean Charter. 

We believe the charter must be charged to become a living document that is amended and improved to eventually embody the values of its peoples. 

Noting the theme of this year’s summit, ‘Charter for Asean Peoples’, the Thai prime minister during a visit to Jakarta recently said, “The new Asean will work more closely with regional nonstate actors, be they parliamentarians, the private sector and civil society groups”. 

To further enhance and promote people’s participation in the Asean community-building process, Asean leaders, he said, would meet with representatives from these groups, including members of parliament, youth leaders and civil society organisations during the summit. 

All in the name of forging “an Asean citizenship among our people”. We believe such courtesies are superficial and passe. 

The fact of the matter is in the last two decades—despite the grand speeches and cultural exchanges—Asean simply has not invested or even allowed a greater voice for the participation of non-state and civil society actors. 

It may be time for Asean to fess up and concede that it is no more than a bureaucratic superstructure designed to facilitate relations between state power holders. 

Let go of the slogans and empty promises that lead its citizens to believe that this grouping is nothing more than a pow wow to facilitate trade liberalisation and sustain a peaceful hegemony in Southeast Asia. 

Sadly, Indonesia, which has invested so much in this grouping, will have the most to lose. Once a cornerstone of foreign policy, this wonderful assemblage is deteriorating into a liability for a values-based Indonesian foreign policy. (The Jakarta Post/ AsiaNews) 

( The opinions expressed by the writer do not necessarily reflect those of MySinchew )