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Youth-women-netizens: ASEAN's post-demographic actors?
Although Southeast Asia is culturally quite diverse, we believe that, in general, there are three “post-demographic” actors that play a critical role in the region.
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Considering the rapidly expanding internet and mobile penetration in Southeast Asian countries, public opinion is no longer directed by the mainstream media, but is also influenced a great deal by social media and netizens’ active participation. (Shutterstock/Chinnapong)
D
emographically, ASEAN is a hugely diverse market. The diversity encompasses not only social-economic characteristics but also extends to culture, language and religion.
Indonesia, for example, is almost 90 percent Muslim, while the Philippines is more than 80 percent Roman Catholic and Thailand is more than 95 percent Buddhist. With time, the cultures in the region have been molded into a gigantic melting pot of Indian, Chinese, Portuguese, Spanish, American and indigenous Malay influences, making it one of the most interesting places in the world.
Although Southeast Asia is culturally quite diverse, we believe that, in general, there are three “post-demographic” actors that play a critical role in the region. Their presence and strong influence is a common trend that exists across ASEAN member countries, despite the demographic diversity in the region.
The three actors include youth (the “opposite” of senior), women (the “opposite” of men) and netizen (the “opposite” of citizen).
The first actor is youth. This community is increasingly challenging the domination of seniors amid a declining population of baby boomers worldwide. ASEAN is powered by more than 600 million people, most of whom are young.
More than a quarter belong to the 15- to 29-year age bracket, about 10 percent are children aged 5 years and younger, while only 6 percent are seniors 65 years old and older.
Today, youth play an important role in “leading the mind” and they are able to do so because they are more attuned to “sense and respond,” instead of “command and control,” as is commonly done by the senior generation.
