ASEAN must focus on big issues<\/p>\n
The Nation, Asia News Network, Bangkok<\/p>\n
A time of crisis or of great change requires exceptional
\nundertakings and the exercise of courage. In many ways, this is
\nwhat the people expect of their leaders. Can the three nations of
\nASEAN with, as Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong put it,
\n\"less domestic priorities\" get together and pull ASEAN out of
\nlimbo? In many ways, the Singapore prime minister was quite right
\nwhen he told editors from the Asia News Network, an alliance of
\nleading English-language newspapers in Asia, that if ASEAN
\nleaders could just sit down together and exchange their
\nexperiences in handling the economic crisis and subsequent
\ntransition, the world would see that the region has a chance to
\n\"click together and therefore pull economies up\".<\/p>\n
But the leaders are not talking frequently or frankly enough.
\nIn fact, instead of cooperating, some are even competing with
\neach other for business. For the region this is a zero sum game
\nas the game is not always about Malaysia or Thailand versus China
\nbut ASEAN versus China. Likewise, the opportunities are not
\nalways about an individual ASEAN nation and China but the entire
\nregion and China.<\/p>\n
So what needs to be done to get the leaders of the three ASEAN
\nnations to meet and discuss strategies to lift ASEAN
\neconomically. For one thing, Singapore and Malaysia should
\nquickly agree on their new bilateral agreement package and ease a
\nrecent phase of antagonism.<\/p>\n
Secondly, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, as the
\nmost senior of the ASEAN leaders, should take the lead in
\norganizing the get-together. His Malaysian legacy is well
\nestablished and he now needs to do the same for ASEAN. If he and
\nGoh Chok Tong look over their shoulders, both will see that some
\nof the ways they are competing against one another to win
\nbusiness -- port and airport fee discounts, for example -- is
\ndestructive in the long run.<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra almost certainly will move
\nwith the two. He is, after all, the youngest of the three and
\nwants to get Asian nations to act as one. But one has to start
\nnearest to home. Following his government's effort to improve
\nrelations with Burma, ASEAN is an obvious stepping stone for his
\nvision of Asia-wide dialog.<\/p>\n
There are a host of reasons why the three most stable ASEAN
\nnations could meet. It does not mean the neglect of other members
\nsuch as the Philippines and Indonesia. Whatever the three ASEAN
\nleaders decide, the meeting will reflect positively on other
\nASEAN members as well.<\/p>\n
Last but not least, improved dialog may not be about any
\nparticular rationale but a means of overcoming the egos of
\nindividual leaders and an exercise in courage to pursue long-term
\ninterests for the region. In the final analysis, there is no cost
\nto having a frank exchange of views and to seeing others as
\ncommitted partners.<\/p>\n
But if they do not act, it would be a form of self-
\ncondemnation -- they cannot blame anyone but themselves.<\/p>",
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