Terrorism in Southeast Asia

Nowadays, various kinds of terrorism is still a frightening issue to many states around the world, including Southeast Asian states. Its damage and spectrum still give solemn attention to address this issue.

Destructive damage that is being posed by terrorism was also recognized by ASEAN membes states. There are many regional cooperations implemented by ASEAN member states to encounter terrorism, especially after 9/11 tragedy. The first regional cooperation was the establishment of ASEAN Declaration on Joint Action to Counter Terrorism in 2002. And then, ASEAN member states established the ASEAN Convention on Counter Terrorism (ACCT). Last but not least, ASEAN member states agreed to establish ASEAN Political-Security Community (APSC), a security community in Southeast Asia concerns to encounter terrorism issue in Southeast Asia.

In your opinion, do you agree if we state that terrorism is still a relevant issue to be encountered by ASEAN member states, for nowadays and future? Are those regional cooperations established by ASEAN member states effective to encounter the problem of terrorism in Southeast Asia? Will the establishment of ASEAN Community, with APSC being one of its pillar, be able to improve the effectiveness of regional cooperations in order to encounter terrorism issue in Southeast Asia?

(Trigger issue by: Jauhari)

English as ASEAN Official Language: Agree or Not?

source: en.ost.co.th

Language is one of most important elements when we speak about identity.

Entering 2015, we are now one step closer to the ASEAN Community.

Regionalism project has become more intensed, but language remains problem in realizing one ASEAN Community.

ASEAN Countries have different lingua franca, divided into 3 big dominant families of language:

1. Tai-Kadai (to which the Thai language belongs),

2. Austronesian (such as Bahasa Malaysia and Indonesia as well as most Philippine languages), and

3. Austro-Asiatic (e.g. Khmer and Vietnamese).

these 3 families have different phonology and morphology, hence it will be very difficult to unify them.

Therefore, ASEAN agreed to use English as official language of ASEAN.

But, is English the best language policy?

English is actually not the original language spoken in ASEAN Countries. It enters the region simply due to the colonialization and globalization. Most of ASEAN people still have difficulties in speaking and writing English.

Later, in the late 2015, English will be officially spoken and written in all countries. So, each country has to prepare their people, otherwise they could not compete with other countries. Only with good english, people or country will benefit more and ‘win’ the game, especially in economic competitions, in which language remains best attraction for visitors, investors, and so on.

In the end, will the use of English as ASEAN language unite or disunite the people?

What do you think?

TOP 10 Must-Visit-Places in ASEAN!

As you can see in the map above, ASEAN is an archipelagic region, there are a lot of beautiful places in each ASEAN countries that we must visit at least once in our lifetime. This article is going to show you TOP 10 Must-Visit-Places in ASEAN (in no particular order). Let’s begin our journey!

1. Angkor Wat, Cambodia

2. Bagan, Myanmar

3. Luang Prabang, Laos

4. Halong Bay, Vietnam

5. Istana Nurul Iman, Brunei Darussalam

6. Mount Kinabalu, Malaysia

7. Gardens By The Bay, Singapore

8. Palawan, Philippines

9. Mount Rinjani, Indonesia

10. Krabi, Thailand

So, which place do you want to visit the most out of those TOP 10 places? Or probably, is there any other places in ASEAN that you’d highly recommend to us to visit?

Let’s arrange our itinerary to explore ASEAN!

ASEAN wants to be a Single Tourism Destination! Really?! WOW!

HELLO GUYS!
Do you know that ASEAN has an ASEAN Tourism Strategic Plan (ATSP)?

The current ATSP (2011-2015) will end by the end of this year. Now, ASEAN National Tourism Organisations and the ASEAN Secretariat supported by tourism experts are working closely to develop the new ATSP (2016-2025).

The ATSP vision is “By 2025, ASEAN will be a quality tourism destination offering a unique, diverse ASEAN experience, and will be committed to responsible, sustainable and inclusive tourism development, so as to contribute significantly to the socio-economic well-being of ASEAN people.”

By this vision, we can see that ASEAN has a goal to be a single (entity) tourism destination.

What do you know about that? What kind of improvement that ASEAN needed? What kind of contribution that we, as an ASEAN-people, can do to help our government? Share your thoughts!

Your opinion is extremely important, this is our region, we are the people and we should do the best that we can to support our government!

Child Sex Tourism in ASEAN

Tourism in ASEAN has become great potentials for the economic development in the region. The beauty of various tourism sites in ASEAN, be it beaches, mountains, and cultural heritages, has attracted many visitors from all over the world to visit and stay in ASEAN countries.

Unfortunately, this huge potential is not followed by great development in social aspect. Tourism in ASEAN has also increased the trafficking and prostitution of children, which is associated with the widely known “sex tourism” phenomenon. It happened since brothels are frequently found in places where large transient groups of potential customers such as truckers, military personnel or tourists are known to pass. With a sense of freedom derived from the anonymity of being in another country, these tourists transform into uninhibited pedophiles. Most of them usually come from developed countries.

In Asia itself, there are more than 70,000 children being used by sex tourists, mainly in Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand.

So, how do you guys think about the problem?

The Golden Triangle?

Have you ever seen this picture?

This is neither a regular map, nor a treasure map!

For a more specific map, you can see the picture below

Well, as you can see, this is a Southeast Asia map, but this map specifically pay attention to a few countries.

This type of map usually known as The Golden Triangle where two-thirds of the world’s Opium is being cultivated and trafficked.

Nowadays, our region is facing several transnational crimes such as drug trafficking, illegal migration, money laundering, transnational prostitution, piracy, terrorism, corruption, arms smuggling and others. But sadly, drug trafficking might be the most serious transnational crime that we faced.

This might be the most dangerous problem for our generation. ASEAN and member states have created some cooperations to tackle this problem. But, is it enough? What do you think about that? Share your thoughts with us and let’s discuss it!

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1. Emmers, Rafl. 2003. “The Threat of Transnational Crime in Southeast Asia: Drug Trafficking, Human Smuggling and Trafficking, and Sea Piracy” dalam UNISCI Discussion Papers.

Towards Drug-Free ASEAN

How Would You Like To Live Your Life?

Successfully Finishing Your Study?

Working For A Job You’ve Been Dreaming Of?

Travelling Around The World?

Living With A Happy Family?

Enjoying A Healthy Lifestyle?

If you would really like to live your life in those ways, then…

D O N ‘ T  L E T  D R U G S  T A K E  Y O U R  L I F E  A W A Y!

As Kurt Cobain Said:

Let’s have a discussion about drugs abuse in ASEAN! How can we do to stop it?

You may leave your opinion in comment section below this post.

#SaveMaryJane Campaign, What Do You Think?

pict. credit to: www.rappler.com

By the end of April, the world was shocked by the Indonesian’s government decision to execute some of drugs dealers. One of them was Mary Jane Velonso, a woman from Philippine, who was believed to be one of trafficking victims. Many human rights activists and organizations organized massive protest and campaign to urge Joko Widodo, President of Indonesia, to cancel the execution of Mary Jane since she admitted that the drugs found in her bag were out of her recognition. The campaign produced controversy among Indonesians, as well as Phillipinians and other people around the world. At first, Indonesia’s government seemed to be sticked on their stances to fight drugs, but last Wednesday, the execution of Mary Jane was postponed due to surprised presence of two people admitting their involvement in the Mary Jane cases. However, Joko Widodo asserted that the execution was not cancelled, but was being further reviewed.

Share us your opinion!