ASEAN TV channel to be launched soon

ASEAN TV channel to be launched soon

SINGAPORE (AP): Southeast Asian officials said on Tuesday a satellite television channel representing their countries' unique perspectives will be launched next year, as the beleaguered region seeks a unified voice amid increasing internal discord.

Senior information officials from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations met in Singapore for two days to hammer out operational and financial details for the unprecedented satellite network.

The channel will broadcast six to eight hours a day of programs contributed by member countries, the ASEAN Committee on Culture and Information said in a statement.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The programs will include news and current affairs, entertainment, lifestyle, sports and education shows. ASEAN members will rebroadcast the channel domestically, through local cable or broadcast operators.

Singapore International Media, the government-controlled company that owns all of the city-state's television and radio stations, has been appointed the network coordinator.

Officials also agreed that each member country would help pay for operating the channel with fixed annual contributions. Details of total operating costs were not disclosed.

"This channel is to enable the ASEAN countries to project their points of view to the region and beyond," said the statement.

Many ASEAN members -- notably Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore and Vietnam -- exercise tight control over news and information distributed within their countries, and have complained that Western cultural influences are having a harmful impact.

While the television network could act as a unifying force for the troubled region, which is suffering through its worst economic crisis in decades, it arrives amid growing discord between members.

Presidents Joseph Estrada of the Philippines and B.J. Habibie of Indonesia have openly criticized the treatment of jailed Malaysian dissident Anwar Ibrahim, who was sacked by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad last month. Mahathir has publicly lashed out at this "interference."

Malaysia has also been embroiled in a series of disagreements with neighboring Singapore, over perennial issues like land disputes and the supply of water, and over recent irritants including the relocation of a border checkpoint and alleged military aerial intrusions.

Previously sacrosanct ASEAN policies of quiet diplomacy and non-intervention in one another's domestic affairs have been questioned recently by some of the nations, principally Thailand and the Philippines.

They argue that honest and forthright statements on issues such as human rights in ASEAN are necessary to advance the region into the next century.