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Reach out to the youth to promote ASEAN values
Promoting a spirit of unity and belonging in Southeast Asia, especially with the youth in mind, cannot be outsourced.
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Representatives from Maybank Group and the ASEAN Foundation pose together for a photograph after signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Southeast Asian youth empowerment on Aug. 8, 2019. (Courtesy of Maybank Indonesia)
I
still believe that the idea of promoting a spirit of unity and belonging in Southeast Asia, especially with the youth in mind, cannot be outsourced to a foundation as the ASEAN Secretariat is doing with the ASEAN Foundation.
There is nothing wrong with having a philanthropic foundation at the core of regional action to promote youth empowerment and the overarching idea of a more youth-tuned and inspired ASEAN identity.
I personally love the motto being promoted by the ASEAN Foundation: “Think, Feel and #BeASEAN”. It is smart, cool and catchy, and I wish it could be embraced and adopted by all primary, secondary and higher-level institutions across the 11 member countries of this community.
If you are well read in ASEAN matters, you will have noticed that, actually, the members of the bloc are 10, but I have not lost hope that someday soon Timor Leste will also be finally welcomed into the family, because it deserves it.
Certainly, there is a case for further expanding the work of the ASEAN Foundation so that it can become a recognized and visible “engine” for the promotion of a sense of common belonging, especially among the youth.
For example, look at its work in the field of education. There is no doubt that it is important work, but in order to make it even more relevant, it has to be expanded significantly.
For example, the foundation runs, among other initiatives in this area, a scholarship program, the Chulabhorn – ASEAN Foundation Scholarship, the result of a partnership with the Chulabhorn Graduate Institute based in Bangkok. This could become a flagship initiative, no matter how tiny it is, with its 10 seats available for citizens of ASEAN countries, with the exception of Thailand.
