‘Raise public awareness on Asean’

KUALA LUMPUR: The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) must intensify efforts to raise public awareness on the creation of the Asean Community (AC) by end-2015, said former Asean secretary-general Ong Keng Yong.
The outgoing Singapore High Commissioner to Malaysia said the people of Asean must be given sufficient information on the role of the bloc, as well as a deeper understanding of the establishment of the regional body.
"The critical dimension is how the people understand Asean and what more we need to do. I think awareness (among the people) is not very strong. We should continue to promote awareness and, along the way, get people to appreciate what Asean is doing, especially if it's a practical project (and outcome) so that they can feel Asean is important to them," he said.
Such efforts played a highly important role in embedding Asean in the population in every member country, he said.
Malaysia is to take over from Myanmar as the chairman of Asean next year.
As for the role of the Asean Secretariat in promoting the AC, Ong said engaging more "Asean-oriented" staff could help create a good and supportive team of "Asean officials" to enhance the effectiveness of the secretariat, including in the promotion of the AC.
Asean was founded on Aug 8, 1967, with five countries as members, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Subsequently, the membership expanded to encompass Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam. – Bernama