Sawatdi Khrab!

My name is Jusuf, or commonly called Ucup. In this article, I will share my experience in joining the Liberal Arts of ASEAN Seeds Camp III, 9-14 January 2017 organized by Thammasat University in Rangsit, Thailand.

The event was held for six days in several cities, such as Rangsit, Ayuthaya, Kumphaeng Phet, and Sukhothai. There we visited the tourist areas and crafts. While in Sukhothai, we visited Ram Kamhaeng Museum, Sukhothai Historical Park, Sukhothai Airport, Haad Siew traditional weaving industry, and Sukhothai clay craft center. The schedule of activities was quite compact. Every day, the event started at 6:00 am and ended at 8:00 pm, except at a certain time when we were discharged early because we had to move on to the city. read more

Within Southeast Asia, regionalism is now a familiar concept. There are various regional bodies within Asia that have been formed, including the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), South East Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO), Association for Southeast Asia (ASA), MAPHILINDO, and Asian and Pacific Council (ASPAC). However, regionalism has not always been present within the region. In 1979, Wong argued that there were a number of barriers preventing the formation of a regional unity in Southeast Asia. These factors included a strong presence of nationalism amongst states, a lack of regional trust and identity, territorial conflict, and differences in political perceptions between countries. These obstacles prevented unification until ASEAN was finally established. read more

Many people misrepresent Southeast Asia and ASEAN. Some of them think that Southeast Asia is ASEAN, or vice versa. Then what is “Southeast Asia” and “ASEAN”? and How is the origin of “Southeast Asia” as a “study” or “area studies” ?.

According to Dr. Agus Suwignyo, Southeast Asia as an area felt not too well known. The indicator to which he is concerned is that when European societies often refer to Southeast Asians who are coming from different countries identified as the same group. Dr. Agus Suwignyo explains that the actual status of Southeast Asia can be seen from three aspects, namely as a “concept” of politics and defense, historical reality and area study. read more

As a region that is part of the Asian continent, countries in Southeast Asia have characteristics of tropical climates with an enchanting archipelago and year-round sunshine. The landscape ranging from mountains, sea to the beach with white sand and the green tosca water almost can be found throughout this region. Not only that, the region of Southeast Asia has cultural richness of tangible and intangible. It is marked by the existence of 17 cultural heritages which has been written in the List of UNESCO World Heritage. At least, this can be an attraction for tourists around the world. It is proven by the number of significant international arrivals. Data compiled by Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) in 2015 recorded more than 115 million international arrivals by 2015 which is expected to reach 173 million by 2018 with a total growth of 2% annually. Thailand is included in the second rank in the category of Top Five Fastest Growth Destinations 2014 – 2018 with the highest total international arrivals of 36 million, followed by Malaysia 27.7 million, Singapore 16.7 million, while Indonesia, Cambodia, Philippines, Lao, Myanmar, Brunei Darussalam and Vietnam still at the number below 10 million arrivals in 2015. read more

Since the 1970s there have been hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims fleeing from Myanmar, most of them using sea routes to reach neighboring countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. However, the large number of refugees also cannot be welcomed easily by the targeted countries, due to concerns over uncontrolled influx of refugees. Indonesia is one of the few countries that can communicate directly with Myanmar on the escalation of the conflict. Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said “Once again I conveyed Indonesia’s concerns to State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi regarding the situation in Rakhine state,” after being invited by Suu Kyi at her house for dinner while discussing openly the situation in Rakhine . [1] In addition to Indonesia, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak led a demonstration on 4 December 2016 on what he described as”genocide” of the Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar. Najib Razak also invites neighboring countries and the international world to move forward in suppressing the violence. [2] read more

The South China Sea (SCS) is waters area extending from the Southwest to the Northeast, bordering on the south by 3 degrees south between Sumatra Island and Kalimantan Island (Karimata Strait) and the North is bounded by the Taiwan Strait from the north end to the directions of Fukein beach, China. The area of SCS itself is estimated to reach 4 million square kilometers with four sub large islands namely Paracel, Spratly, Pratas and Macclesfield (Asnani Usman and Rizal Sukma, 1997). SCS which is estimated to have great potential in marine biota, tourism, fishery, oil, natural gas and even navigation makes many countries try hard to get legality over SCS. read more

It is undeniable that Southeast Asian films have their own position and have gained the spotlight of the world through various forms of appreciation. Films like “Kinatay” by Briliante Mendoza from the Philippines won the best director category at the Cannes Film Festival in 2009. In 2010, there was a movie titled “Uncle Boonmee” from Thailand made by director Apichatpong Weerasethakul who won the Palme d’Or in the same event . Last year 2016, the same award was awarded to Indonesian filmmakers. The work of Wregas Bhanuteja titled “Prenjak” became the best film on this prestigious film festival . The above facts serve as evidence of Southeast Asian cinema’s success in taking a position on the world cinema map. read more

Southeast Asia is in the spotlight when by the end of 2015 the region officially enforces the ASEAN economic community which is one of the three pillars of the ASEAN Community. But for the international community, Southeast Asia is a region which its knowledge is rarely studied, so that a question arises about what is meant by Southeast Asia? Is Southeast Asia merely an area consisting of countries that are rich in culture, rice-eaters, electronic appliances lovers, and prioritizing family values? read more