Public relations practice in the emerging ‘powerhouses’ of South East Asia: Some views from within

Abstract

Much has been written and theorized about public relations practice and the ways in which practitioners view themselves and their work. But little of the available international research has embraced the worldviews and perspectives of practitioners operating in the rapidly developing countries of South East Asia, which include Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, its sister state, Malaysia, the nearby international business hub, Singapore, the increasingly vigorous yet still tightly controlled one-party state of Vietnam, the business-friendly but politically fragile Thailand, and Asia’s only majority Christian nation, the Philippines. The broad social, political, economic and cultural diversity to be found among these major member countries of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) arguably may have important implications for the ways in which public relations programs should be conducted in these locations. This paper reports on a doctoral research project conducted among public relations practitioners working across the ASEAN region, giving glimpses into how successful operators in these locations view their work, their working environments and the challenges they face in seeking to balance sensitive considerations of localism, regionalism and globalism in increasingly fluid cross-cultural environments. The concerns they report confirm some general observations around ‘cultural difference’ raised previously in other quarters, but also highlight more strongly some particular pre-occupations including sensitivities around political power, personal values conflicting with the values of clients, employers and target publics, the importance of understanding local linguistic issues, the distinctiveness of local media systems, and pressures arising from rapidly increasing pace of life in countries of the region. The paper argues that local and regional issues of this nature deserve greater recognition by public relations scholars as a step toward the development of more truly inclusive international theories and models over time.