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?

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?

#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!