On the ASEAN Utopia Quest

A Personal Perspective

Growing up in Vietnam, I had little, if no exposure at all to the so-called Southeast Asian culture.  I knew Singapore and I knew the SEA Games.  But that’s about it.  Later on, as people in Vietnam became wealthier, Vietnamese tourists traveled more to Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia.  Yet, at the heart of it, in Vietnam, the ASEAN spirit hardly exists in our everyday life.  Those are “other” countries, and the thought of how the thrives and bumps of those economies could affect the local Vietnamese lives rarely come up in media or in public debates.  In the Vietnamese perception, the fates of China and the U.S. affect our business lives.  To our investment sources, Korea and Malaysia are important; yet, the talk on whether ASEAN integration is important stays at the government meetings level.  

In college, I have been given many opportunities to know about our Southeast Asian friends.  To me, the Philippines is not just the Philippines.  It is Lorra, Ryan, and Andrew.  Thailand is Top, Art, Ping, Job, Pao, etc.  Malaysia is Jianwei and Atiqah.  Cambodia is Seihout, Hok, and Heng.  Indonesia is Dian and Eliza.  Singapore is YF, JH, and many of my SEALNet teachers.  We bonded over durian, laksa, Thai chicken curry, Vietnamese Pho.  Among my international friends, I hardly had any Chinese friends, which left me wonder: What’s that common value that bonded our Southeast Asian group so well?  Is that value something special to Southeast Asians only?  Or it is more an external value – the so-called service spirit for the region – that has been well cultivated and inspired by our mentors to us?  Whatever it is, one valuable lesson remains true: Should ASEAN want to replicate that solidarity, our common values have to be renewed and reinvigorated.  Only from those values that visions can be aligned and driven, visions ambitious and lofty enough to overshadow individual countries’ interests.  The E.U. was united by their belief in equality and the environment.  What are our common beliefs? 

Coming back from the ASEAN 100 Leaders Forum, I was given a confirmative message: ASEAN will become more integrated after a long dormant period.  It is a critical period, given the rise of China and India, for ASEAN to build the seed of either an altogether stronger block, or a disintegrated region with failing states living hands in hands with rich nations.  As any partnership, conflicts happen.  Inter-ASEAN conflicts are still there.  Yet, facing with a survival threat, ASEAN countries have no choice but to leave aside the conflicts in order to not only survive, but also to bring their countries to the next level of development, be it middle-income or rich nations standards.   

As with other things in my life, should I be given the decision-making power for this issue, I would go ahead and do what can be done first, then figure things out along the way.  High on my agenda of projects (Unlike fighting corruption, reforming regulations, or building an ASEAN university, these projects don’t take 10 years or more to be completed!), inspired by the ASEAN 100 Leaders Forum, are:

• Building the ASEAN brand to external parties: ASEAN Food/Products Standards – Depending on economic analysis, I would choose the strong industries that ASEAN countries share to promote those industries to the world.  In my humble knowledge, those would include: new innovation to move our abundant agricultural resources up the value chain (healthy products? As opposed to food from China), and secondly, to move beyond energy resources extractions (clean tech?)

• Strengthening internal education so that if we can't innovate today, we will tomorrow. It has to start somewhere. Our ecosystem doesn't lack the intellectual leaders. The brightest and most privileged minds have been educated abroad and have been back. Yet, the inadequacy of the K-12 education quality has refrained ASEAN from reaping the potential of their 500 million people market. Lacking consumer sophistication, skilled and creative teams, the most brilliant minds will stay a lonesome bunch for a while. 

• Encouraging the ASEAN connectivity: Special ASEAN Tariff Promotion, ASEAN high-speed trains, ASEAN student fellowship.  

How does this issue apply to Vietnam?  It shall remain to see how much the integration will impact our countries' other priorities, which I'm in no position and with no knowledge to comment on. Perhaps, another conference? Or when I have the luxury of time to write a critical and analytical piece...