Skepticism about the shape of future cooperation among Southeast Asian nations is healthy, as it helps move the organization and community forward, a top Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) official said.

"If we were all pessimists we would not get anywhere, but if we are half-optimists we can do business," ASEAN Secretary General Surin Pitsuwan said here on Tuesday.

There has been growing skepticism following the full ratification of the ASEAN Charter. The Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand became the final signatories to the charter at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta on Nov. 12, 13 and 14 respectively.

While officials from the ASEAN Secretariat are convinced that the charter will bring about real changes to the shape of future cooperation among ASEAN member states, skeptics have expressed doubts about its ability to do so effectively.

Speaking to a group of journalists from a number of ASEAN member states attending a course on the association, Pitsuwan said that everything had to be viewed in relative terms.

"The fact that the leaders have committed themselves to a set of rules in the form of the charter is already great progress," he assured.

He said that things would not immediately change simply because the charter had been ratified. He added that signing the charter, the legally binding personality of the organization, was just a beginning to written commitments by leaders of ASIAN's ten member-states.

"We want to make a difference. Without that (the charter), we do not have any point of reference," he said.

The people of ASEAN, he went on, deserved to feel enthusiastic and encouraged about the development. "Skeptics could probably just say its baloney", he added, "but we've got to begin somewhere.

"How do you motivate 570 million people (the cumulative population of ASEAN nations), if you don't start with a document, a commitment, a signature of our leaders," he said.

Pitsuwan also highlighted the role of non-government organizations, the media and academics in pressuring for changes in ASEAN through questioning and awareness raising.

"That's all I ask for: be skeptical, but be active, dynamic, question and push. Healthy skepticism is helpful to any organization, that's the way changes are made" he said.

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