ASEAN's quest for an identity gains urgency

ASEAN's quest for an identity gains urgency

Shefali Rekhi, The Straits Times, Singapore

Poll highlights need for closer ties but leaves open ways and means of achieving integration

The Straits Times AsiaPoll signals a yearning for a stronger ASEAN identity but also highlights just how much needs to be done to achieve it.

This was the view of analysts and ASEAN watchers who studied its findings.

Mr K. Kesavapany, director of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore, a long-time follower of ASEAN's development, summed it up this way: "Thirty-eight years have gone by, but we have not crossed the bridge."

He added: "I am pleasantly surprised that 60 percent of those polled feel they identify with others in ASEAN.

"But my own feeling is that this consciousness is there among the ruling elite in capital cities. Much more needs to be done to integrate the places elsewhere.

"If at all progress has been made, it is only in the area of trade, and even then, not all countries have kept to their commitments."

In other areas such as services, particularly finance, there is little progress to record, and in the area of transport, the proposal for an ASEAN open skies agreement has long been pending.

"ASEAN countries also have to agree on a set of core values so that everyone knows what the grouping stands for. I am afraid that a lot more work needs to be done before one can, with all honesty, say that ASEAN integration is well and truly in place," he said.

Others shared his assessment. Manila-based researcher Minerva Generalao said policymakers should question the notion people have of ASEAN identity in order to build on it.

"ASEAN is so diverse. There are so many barriers -- historical, linguistic, cultural, religious -- to a common identity. So, is the notion of identity the same and common for the respondents?"

The poll found, for example, that when respondents were asked where they would like to live and work, just over a third -- 36 percent -- made Europe their first preference, while an equal number opted for either ASEAN or the United States.

Many said, more candidly, that they would prefer to work in a non-ASEAN country if they had a choice.

Even while many expressed a desire to visit another ASEAN country, less than half had actually traveled around the region, and only 44 percent said they planned to do so in the next six months.

Thailand and Singapore were the top destinations, followed by Malaysia. Most other countries registered just single digits in terms of being a draw for visitors.

Analysts cited a variety of reasons for these findings. Intra- regional travel remains in its early stages. Road and rail connections are limited, and costs can be prohibitive, not to mention the hassle involved.

Budget airlines are just beginning to take off, but many cities remain unconnected or under-serviced by frequent or even regular air links.

Indonesia's Makmur Keliat, executive director of the Center for East Asian Cooperation at the University of Indonesia, pointed out that despite all the talk about integration, Jakarta imposes a ""departure tax'' of 1 million rupiah (S$170) on Indonesian citizens.

"Actually, other ASEAN governments have pleaded with us to revoke this strange policy because it limits the movement of Indonesians to visit other ASEAN countries," he told The Jakarta Post, Asia News Network's Indonesian member.

ASEAN does not have the equivalent of a pan-regional rail or airline network that would allow young people or businessmen to roam about freely and cheaply.

There are also no regional networks for exchanges among youth groups, and networks now are more often bilateral and ad hoc affairs. Nor are there television stations with a regional reach which might raise an ASEAN consciousness among the people.

But, if the views expressed by the people polled are anything to go by, there seems to be a growing awareness of the need for change, and a desire to see more linkages among member countries fostered.

A blueprint to integrate the region exists in the form of the ASEAN Economic Community, which leaders have agreed to achieve by 2020.

This is envisaged to be a single market and production base where there would be free flow of goods, services, investments and other things.

The importance of achieving this is not lost on most people: It would enable businesses to opt for economies of scale, thus making the region a magnet for foreign direct investments, as well as for tourists.

Achieving this, however, will require major policy changes and dramatic shifts in mindsets. It could also take quite a while.

Apart from conflicting national economic and political interests, fears of loss of respective national identities will also have to be addressed.

But Universiti Putra Malaysia political science lecturer Jayum Javan believes it would work to a nation's advantage.

"In fact, it will further enhance it," he told Malaysia's leading daily, The Star.

"In Europe, Germans, Austrians, Italians, and Greeks, for example, are more eager to distinguish themselves from one another after the (European) Union."

While there seems to be some consensus on the need for closer ties, the critical issue now seems to be how rapidly this should be pursued.

Malaysian political scientist Nidzam Sulaiman believes the process should be gradual to minimize shocks.

"ASEAN countries should be allowed to move at the pace they want. That is what regional cooperation is all about," he said.

Others argue, however, that given the pace of change brought on by globalization and the rise of China and India, ASEAN can scarcely afford a languid pace of integration. They propose a two-track approach: Those more ready and willing might hasten their integration, and the rest can follow at their own pace.

But one thing is clear: ASEAN needs to move together faster, in real and practical ways, if their people's wishes for a closer identity as expressed in the poll are to be realized.