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.