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.