Abstract
Problem statement: The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) envisioned an integrated regional community by the year 2015, following the European Union model. However, unlike the European Community which was formed after years of discussion at different levels of society, institutions and government, ASEAN was rather quick to conceptualize this initiative, without seeking the feedbacks for the public. Consequently, ASEAN Community initiative has been criticized for being elitist in its policy formulation process and for the lack of public opinions regarding this policy. The study examines how people in three ASEAN countries (Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore) view the concept of community building, especially from the perspective of the obstacles that this initiative is perceived to encounter in its formation. Approach: The study employs public opinion surveys to gather feedback from respondents regarding their opinion of the obstacles towards the establishment of the ASEAN community by the year 2015. The surveys conducted in eleven cities in three ASEAN countries, namely Indonesia (Jakarta, Makassar, Medan, Surabaya and Pontianak), Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Melaka, Johor Bahru and Kota Kinabalu) and Singapore. The surveys involved 1256 respondents- 551 from Indonesia, 451 from Malaysia and 294 from Singapore. Results: The study reveals several findings; firstly the low levels of education in several ASEAN countries have been cited as the main factor that hinders regional integration; secondly there has been a lack of initiative to engage the public regarding their opinions on regional integration and thirdly, issues such as lack of economic competitiveness, dependency on develop countries, socio-economic disparity, differences in legal and political systems and technological divide have scored high agreements among respondents-as contributory factors that would possibly slow down regional integration initiatives. Conclusion: The study concludes that ASEAN has remained elitist, with least amount of public participation. As such, it requires legitimization from the population which the regional integration wishes to serve.
Highlights
In 2003, the Bali Concord II has initiated the path for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to engage in efforts to forge regional integration among its members and undertake the project to build an integrated regional community by the year 2015 Declaration of Bali Concord II, 2003
It has been generally noted that the ASEAN Community initiative has been based on the European Union (EU) model of establishing the European Community
There were no structured public opinion surveys conducted by ASEAN countries to gauge the level of acceptance of ASEAN Community
Summary
In 2003, the Bali Concord II has initiated the path for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to engage in efforts to forge regional integration among its members and undertake the project to build an integrated regional community by the year 2015 Declaration of Bali Concord II, 2003. The survey posted 10 suggested obstacles for the have been accused for hastily pushing through this initiative, especially when a majority of its over 584 million population remained almost oblivious of such an initiative To this date, there were no structured public opinion surveys conducted by ASEAN countries to gauge the level of acceptance of ASEAN Community. Major theories of regional integration, namely the transactionalist, neoestablishment of the ASEAN Community by the year 2015 From this list, the respondents were asked to evaluate the items based on three options-definitely, possibly or definitely not. There were no items that registered below 50% agreement responses These figures suggest that there have been overwhelming agreement among the respondents that ASEAN community building initiatives will face the listed obstacles. Indonesians and 92% of Singaporeans shared similar perception-that the lack of education is the most difficult
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