Love thy neighbors

Once upon a time there was a neighborhood called Southeast Asia. Some years ago, five of the 10 households in the neighborhood got together to form an association. ASEAN, or the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, became a forum in which they could address just about every issue that they wanted to discuss, from common problems to bilateral relations -- anything to enhance their livelihoods. The association also became a forum in which the heads and senior members of the households could forge not only cooperative ties, but also a common stance on issues which arose in the increasingly complex global village around them.

Over the years the association became so successful that all other households in the neighborhood joined in, with the exception of one. Even then, it is only a matter of time before the one remaining house joins to make the group one big, happy neighborhood family.

Down the years, members of the ASEAN community lived on the principle of not meddling in the domestic affairs of the other households. As one of the principles governing their relations, non-interference is widely regarded as an important underpinning of the association's success story. In simple terms, the principle states that one should refrain from making any act that resembles interference in the domestic affairs of the other households. Since even comments could be construed as interference, it was better for members to stay quiet rather than risk incurring the wrath of their neighbors.

But with relations within the neighborhood and with other neighborhoods in the global village becoming more and more complex, some of the households in Southeast Asia are now questioning the wisdom of maintaining silence on the internal affairs of their neighbors, especially if those affairs touch their collective conscience. If one of your neighbors beats his wife and children, for example, should you keep silent and act as though nothing has happened the next time you meet? In the past, the answer was an obvious yes. It was none of your business, no matter what happened inside your neighbors' houses. But one or two households are now asking whether this should be so. Shouldn't the line be drawn somewhere? Don't you feel any sense of duty or responsibility if your neighbor inflicts suffering on his wife and children?

This is the question that ASEAN foreign ministers must now address during their annual meeting in Manila this week. Thailand broke the taboo by making harsh comments on Myanmar's recent crackdown on pro-democracy dissidents. The Yangon regime, a newcomer to the association, in turn lashed out at Bangkok by invoking the non-interference rule. Thailand responded by saying that it was time to change the rules of the game, and came up with the concept of "flexible engagement" which it hopes to discuss in Manila. The Philippines has expressed support for the concept, while Indonesia has strong objections to the plan to review the principle during the meeting.

We trust ASEAN diplomats meeting in Manila will come out with a compromise solution to this question which is to the satisfaction of everyone, just as they have always done in the past when burying or peppering differences. But they have to bear in mind that rules governing the relations between nations have greatly changed and so in this light they would be wise to review the nature of their own multilateral ties.

Human rights and democracy, for example, are no longer issues that can be regarded as purely internal affairs. They are issues of concern to everyone. When these universal rights are removed or violated, conscience may compel individual nations to speak out in protest.

Loving thy neighbors should not be taken simply to mean respecting the privacy of your neighbors, especially when taken to a point which prohibits interference in other countries' domestic affairs. Loving thy neighbors also entails living up to your responsibility as a member of the community. That often means speaking out when your conscience tells you to do so, even when at the expense of incurring the wrath of your neighbors.