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RI youths show ASEAN leaders how to build community
The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Tue, 11/07/2006 11:43 AM
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Perhaps bloody conflicts, violence, discrimination and even the annual haze problem in Southeast Asia could be fought more effectively if leaders spent more time listening to young people.
Full of enthusiasm, Inayah Wulandari, 23, explained that she and her friends had established an organization called Positive Movement to raise the awareness of pluralism among young people in Indonesia and Southeast Asia.
""Many people complain about the bad conditions in Indonesia, but they always just blame somebody or something else while doing nothing. If we want to see more pluralism in the country, for instance, we must do something. Instead of being busy blaming each other, we decided to take concrete actions,"" she told participants of a youth discussion organized by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Foundation here Monday.
Students from several universities and organizations gathered in the foundation's office to talk about what young people can do to strengthen the ASEAN community, and to propose ideas to solve problems in the region.
Inayah, the youngest daughter of former president Abdurrahman Wahid, said the lack of appreciation of pluralism had created discrimination and open conflicts throughout the country. She citing church burnings and the violence against the Ahmadiyah group as examples.
""Indonesians see differences as problems, but we try to tell them that they are a great advantage, since we have many elements to build something better. We can never be mature and prosper as a nation until we overcome our differences,"" she said.
Another member of Positive Movement, Ignatia Widhiharsanto, 23, argued young people should not wait for the government or the United Nations to change the situation.
Realizing that conflicts resulting from a lack of understanding of pluralism occurred throughout ASEAN countries, members of Positive Movement, which was established last year, visited all the countries in the region to witness the problems their neighbors were facing.
""We found, for instance, that Thailand has problems with its southern region while the Philippines and Myanmar also face similar situations,"" Inayah said
Ignatia said in January the organization would host a youth camp aimed at helping young people, especially those from conflict areas, understand each other. In July and August it will organize similar events for youths throughout the region.
While proposing ideas about how to involve more people in ASEAN activities or how ASEAN can help alleviate poverty and conflicts, most participants also volunteered to raise people's awareness of the regional organization.
""Many people here know more about the United Nations than ASEAN. I think it's time more people knew about the organization so that they could benefit from it. Take the haze problems as an example. I think it is ASEAN members which should address the problems, since they are the ones that are affected,"" said Meiky Saputra Teja, 22, of the Buddha Darma Indonesia Foundation.
The chairman of the ASEAN Foundation, Apichai Sunchindah, who was busy writing down ideas during the discussion, frequently looked surprised to hear the participants' ideas.
""The ASEAN Foundation was established by ASEAN leaders to promote greater awareness and interaction among ASEAN people to achieve an ASEAN community. Youths are the movers and shakers, the drivers of ASEAN in the years ahead. So their wonderful ideas and voices should count. I will try to bring their proposals to the leaders at the next ASEAN summit,"" he told The Jakarta Post.
The leaders of ASEAN will meet in an annual summit in December in Cebu, the Philippines, to discuss ways to tackle regional problems and enhance cooperation.
Sunchindah said the foundation would try to hold similar discussions in other ASEAN countries before organizing the ASEAN Student Leaders Summit in Angeles City, the Philippines, in January.
