THE TEMASEK REVIEW

From our Correspondent

The organisers of the ASEAN Peoples’ Forum/ASEAN Civil Society Conference said that it was “shocked” to learn that Singapore had selected “substitutes from government-sponsored agencies” to the Informal Dialogue with ASEAN Leaders.

On the other hand, five representatives from various civil society organizations in five countries were barred from attending the meeting.

Civic activists said that a leading Burmese activist Khin Ohn Mar and activists from the other four countries in the region who were chosen by the Asean People Forum earlier this week were barred from attending the informal meeting.

Along with Khin Ohn Mar, the civic activists barred from the Asean- civil society meeting are: Nay Vanda of  the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association ; Manichunh Philaphanh of the Laos Bar Association; Sr. Cres Lucero, the executive director of the Task Force Detainees of the Philippines; and Sinapan Samydorai of the Singapore-based Task Force on Asean Migrant Workers.

Singapore’s MFA said Singapore’s CSO representative, Mr T K Udairam, chairman of Mercy Relief, is no “substitute” but was chosen in accordance with these decisions.

The ministry also said it is surprised that the conference organisers now profess to be “shocked” as they cannot have been unaware of the basis on which he was chosen.

In response, CSOs boycotted a carefully choreographed encounter between government leaders and civil society representatives at the summit of the Association of South-east Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Those who refused to participate at this meeting came from Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, host of the 15th ASEAN summit that runs from Oct. 23-25 in this resort town south of Bangkok.

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva opened the summit on Friday morning with a speech reminding delegates from ASEAN’s 10 countries about a pledge made to “build a people-centred ASEAN Community.”

Yet that proved to be empty rhetoric when it came to giving space at this summit to civil society, the group that serves as a voice for ASEAN’s 560 million people. The spoilers were the governments of Brunei, Burma (or Myanmar), Cambodia, Laos, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam.

“We are insulted by the attempts of a majority of ASEAN governments to pick and choose who among civil society can meet them and who cannot,” said Yuyun Wahyuningrum, who was to have represented Indonesian NGOs at this meeting with government leaders but opted to boycott it. “It shows the lack of commitment by these governments to make ASEAN’s goal of being people- centred. We are committed.”

Over 500 NGO representatives from across the region had met here from Oct. 18-20 to highlight issues to be addressed during the interaction with government leaders. They covered human rights violations, lack of democracy, development concerns, the environment and public health.

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