TV channel to promote ASEAN culture mooted

TV channel to promote ASEAN culture mooted

SINGAPORE (DPA): The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) may set up a satellite television channel to showcase the region's cultures, reports in Singapore said Wednesday.

ASEAN representatives will discuss the idea at the ASEAN Information Ministers meeting in Bangkok in July, a Singapore official said.

The satellite channel would be part of an ASEAN drive to "exploit broadcasting and information technologies to promote an awareness of our cultures cost effectively", Singapore's deputy secretary for information and the arts, Choo Whatt Bin, said in an interview with the Straits Times newspaper.

"If the ministers are all keen and anxious to have the satellite channel up, it can be done quite quickly," Chew said.

"The programs are all ready. You just need to rent a transponder and take them from the national broadcasters" in each country, Choo explained. He was speaking to reporters at the start of a four-day meeting of the ASEAN Committee on Culture and Information in Singapore.

ASEAN includes Brunei, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

About 10 satellite and cable broadcasting companies - such as music channel MTV and the educational Discovery channel - have set up their Asian headquarters in Singapore, for production and transmission of their programs throughout the region.

Satellite dish antennae are strictly banned in Singapore itself because authorities are concerned that unlimited access to some satellite programming could have a detrimental effect on society.