Toward an Asia Pacific NGO network

Toward an Asia Pacific NGO network

The Jakarta Post was invited to attend the First Pacific Asia
Congress in Seoul from Oct. 28 to Oct. 29. The following and
three other articles on this page are reports from the congress.

By Harry Bhaskara

SEOUL (JP): In recent years, thriving economic activity in the
Asia Pacific region has resulted in more extensive people to
people contact, along with its political, social and cultural
implications.

A group of 20 scholars and society leaders meeting here last
week were determined to face these multifaceted implications
through the founding of an international network linking leading
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the region.

"It will be a terrible mistake if we expect the government to
solve all our problems. Governments are quite effective at
certain things, and quite ineffective at others," said Dr. Sonu
Chung-ho, president of Seoul National University, at the
congress.

Governments are good at diplomacy, war and alliances, he said,
but most economic and social activity is, by its nature,
individualistic and entrepreneurial.

The delegates from 14 countries meeting at the university's
Faculty House envisioned a network of public sectors who share
the vision of a regional community.

Among them were Frank Gibney and Abraham Lowenthal of the
United States, Rawdon Dalrymple of Australia, Chen Luzhi of
China, Hadi Soesastro and Djuhari Wiranatakusumah of Indonesia,
Agapito Aquino of the Philippines, Akihiko Tanaka of Japan, Dao
Huy Ngoc of Vietnam, Yu-han Chu of Taiwan, Ramli Nik of Malaysia,
Sanjiin Bayar of Mongolia, Gaffar Peang-meth of Guam, Pang Eng
Fong and Chia Siow Yue of Singapore.

Dr. Sonu and Senior Secretary to the President for Foreign
Policy and National Security Yoo Chong-ha presented their views.

Yoo said South Korea is fearlessly introducing self-rule and
deregulation into all aspects of state affairs under the banner
of Segyehwa, or globalization.

Discussions in the two-day congress were centered on defining
the network's program and how to kick-start it.

Fund-raising for the network has been going on since 1994 when
the Pacific Asia Society, which organized the present congress,
was founded. It came primarily from private donations and a
US$125 annual membership fee.

Participants were enthusiastic to get the network's program to
work immediately, but were equally aware of the huge challenges
lying ahead.

Setting up a network of NGOs in even one country is
challenging enough, never mind in a region comprising many
nations and a multitude of cultures. Indonesia, with some 200
ethnic groups, can serve as an example. It now has some 8,000
NGOs dedicating themselves to different sectors, and even those
working in a similar sector are not always able to cooperate, due
to different points of view and motivations.

Besides, funding for many NGOs in Indonesia poses a problem
because most donors are from developed countries. This often
creates an unhealthy dependency and tension among NGOs, who vie
for the attention of donor countries.

The Korean-initiated NGO network seems to be self-sufficient,
but it is running the risk of being dominated by representatives
from the initiator country.

Nevertheless, as Hadi Soesastro of Indonesia said, any gesture
for cooperation in any field is good for the region.

Various suggestions were brought up at the congress, ranging
from exchanging students to setting up public broadcast systems.

Frank Gibney, president of the U.S.-based Pacific Basin
Institute, said it would be ideal if the network would develop as
an "early warning system" in the region by having the freedom to
consider problems and pushing for solutions.

Singapore Ambassador to the European Union Pang Eng Fong
recommended efforts to foster a sense of community in the region
through networking, face to face dialog and the building of a
shared values.

Soesastro emphasized the need for organizations that are
people oriented.

"There is a concern that the government has become the
instrument of business," he said, citing several regional
economic organizations.

Akihiko Tanaka suggested that the network should foster a
mutual understanding of the history of southeast Asia by
commissioning historians in the region to write its history
together.

"I don't mean only history of the recent past, but in the long
term: in the last millennium, or 1000 years," he said to the
cheers of other delegates.

Some Japanese neighbors, notably China and Korea, are known to
be not very happy with the way history is taught in Japanese
schools.

What do outsiders think of the network?

"The Asia Pacific is too much an extensive concept," said Kim
Myong-sik, managing editor of Korea Times, in a separate
interview. "The region has too much diversity. On one side, you
have the United States and Canada. On the other, you have, among
others, Japan, Korea, the Philippines and Thailand."

Because of its diversity, he said, it's important for the
leaders in the region to build a sense of community among the
people.

"The Asia Pacific virtually means every culture in the former
colonies. I think it is not going to be easy to forge this sense
of community. But the world is changing now, and we need to know
each other better," he said.

Nevertheless, he said, it is a good endeavor if someone is
going to take the initiative to do it, because it will unite the
region.

That initiative has been taken by Kim Sang-chul, a noted
lawyer and a former mayor of Seoul whom, together with his
colleagues, have been the prime movers of the congress.