ASEAN Turns 47 And Closer To Regional Roadmap

As ASEAN celebrates its 47th anniversary tomorrow, the realisation of an ASEAN Community by 2015 draws closer.
With Malaysia assuming the ASEAN chairmanship next year, Wisma Putra is focusing its strategy on promoting 'ASEANness' among Malaysians.
"We have spoken to marketing, advertising people, think-tanks, non-governmental organisations to get their feedback," a ministry official told Bernama today.
He added: "We need to simplify ASEAN to the masses and make the subject 'sexy' to them and not just some old dry subject.
"We want to highlight ASEAN success stories like the ASEAN Open Sky Policy (hence cheap air tickets within ASEAN) and the efforts ASEAN has made in other fields such as Education, Women and Children etc, not just the political side of ASEAN."
He said the ministry was "definitely not satisfied with the level of ASEAN awareness among Malaysians", particularly when it was bidding to make the 10-member organisation a household name by 2015.
"We are aware of the survey done by the ASEAN Secretariat that put us in the bottom when it comes to ASEAN awareness," he said.
Following the survey outcome, the ministry requested for some allocation from the government to undertake outreach activities, he said.
The Roadmap for an ASEAN Community which began in 2009 envisages the establishment of an ASEAN Community by December 31 next year.
The ASEAN Community encompassing almost 600 million people, would be premised on three pillars of cooperation -- ASEAN Political-Security Community, ASEAN Economic Community and the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community.
Formed on Aug 8, 1967 by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, the membership had expanded to include Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.
-- BERNAMA