ASEAN INSIGHTS

NASTASHJA BIANCA I. MELEVOPhilippine Delegate

Editor-in-Chief

KHAIRUNNISA ASH’ARIBrunei Darussalam Delegate

Associate Editor

SYED KAMIL ALHADY SYED MD NASSERMalaysian Delegate

Managing Editor

DUONG NGUYEN DA OANHVietnam Delegate

KANLAYAWEE WAEWKLAYHONGThailand Delegate

NOPPHAWHAN TECHASANEEThailand Delegate

Design and Layout Artists

AKMAI NASRI HJ. KAMALBrunei Darussalam Delegate

THIPPHAPHONE VONGPHOTONGLaos Delegate

Graphics Editors

WILDAN GHIFFARYIndonesian Delegate

NOR HIDAYATI MOKHTAR Malaysian Delegate

Proofreaders

STAFFPHU THI NGOC BICH

Vietnam Delegate PATRICK DANIEL O. LADRIDO

Philippine DelegateANDHIKA PRATAMAIndonesian Delegate

SOUNITA PHIMMASONELaos Delegate

SOUN SREYTOCHCambodian DelegateKHAT SOKUDINA

Cambodian Delegate

PHOTOS BY: AKMAI NASRI HJ. KAMAL

CONTENTS

THE JOURNEY SO FAR 69 WARNING: TEENAGERS BEWARE!

11SO FULL IN BRUNEI

DIARIES

YOUTHS’ ASEAN FAIRY TALE

FROM ASEAN WITH LOVE

14-15

18-20

24

27

22-23

VISIT THE WHOLE OF INDONESIA IN 1 DAY!!!

28-31 PHOTOS TO REMEMBER

ASEAN CORNER IN PRIMARY SCHOOL

This is the goal of the Association of South East Asian Nations-

Committee on Culture and Information (ASEAN-COCI). Subsequently, this is also what the ASEAN communities must uphold. This means that should be united as South East Asian countries and we must be able to know and appreciate the unique identity of every ASEAN member states. The ASEAN-COCI is the body that is responsible for the formulation, implementation and review of projects regarding the promotion of culture and information in ASEAN countries, which of course is subject to the approval of the ASEAN Standing Committee

ASEAN-COCI In brief and its vision and mission:

One •Vision•Identity•Community

I woke up one day in a freezing hotel room staring at a stranger on the other bed. I remember thinking, “What am I doing here? I want to go home.” But what

and where is home exactly?When I was young, I remember being asked in school what the definition of home was for me. I remember looking the teacher straight in the eye while answering “home is where you live.” It wasn’t until a few years ago that I realized that home wasn’t where I lived, neither was it confined to the four corners of a building. Something inside me was telling me that there’s more to it than just that.

I never thought that I would be given a chance to represent my country abroad, let alone, in an ASEAN Campus Journalist/Leaders Exchange Program. I came here with a few dollars in my wallet, armed with my camera and iPod on hand and thinking that I was here for work, not for vacation.Throughout my whole stay in Brunei Darussalam and in Indonesia, I never felt, even for a minute, that what I was doing was work. I enjoyed every minute (Yes! Every second!) with my nine new sisters and six more brothers from eight different countries. We bonded over serious and silly things. Who could forget Sam’s “Oh, my Gosh!” expression, or Kamil’s exotic food questions, or Tata’s contagious smile? Throughout this short period of time, we have learned to love one another.According to a quotation by Dr. William Ward, “A house is made of walls and beams; a home is built with love and dreams.” This is exactly what we have created during the past 14 days. Each country, no matter how different our practices and beliefs may be, has impacted the perspective of each one of us. It has opened our eyes to the fact that we all live in one nation that is ASEAN.ASEAN isn’t just an association of countries sharing the same geographical location, ASEAN is, home. It always was and always will be.

Where is home?Editor’s Note

ASEAN-COCI’s overall mission is to achieve excellence in all aspects of cooperation in the fields of culture and information. It envisions to make ASEAN countries knowledgeable about its heritage, and its historical ties without taking away its common regional identity. So as the next generation of ASEAN countries, we need to do our part and at least be familiar with our neighboring countries and know a something about them. This is precisely why the ASEAN Campus Journalist/Leader Exchange (ACJLEP) was created.

The final phase of ACJLEP was held in Brunei Darussalam and in

Indonesia this year. This program aims to train the youth to know more about ASEAN, its goals, its vision and mission. It is also a very good venue for Campus Journalists because it offered journalism skills training seminars to its participants. The said seminar covered writing for a newsletter, editing, making a features article, and being familiar with the etiquette one must uphold in journalism. The participants also learned leadership skills which they found very useful. This program has 16 students from the different member states of ASEAN. So far the program has reached its expectations from its participants.

• ANDHIKA PRATAMA

• NASTASHJA BIANCA I. MELEVO

4 ASEAN INSIGHTS | June 2011 June 2011 | ASEAN INSIGHTS 5

Those were the final words that our facilitator, Mr Zainal,

left us with in the final module of the one-week program that we had. After an adventurous week of discussions, trips and lectures, the week ended with a night of cultural performances and dinner. Remembering how we confused each others’ names during the ice-breaking session and our first memorable event (opening ceremony) that got us into the newspaper; it’s amazing how close we are now after only six days together.

We have covered quite an extensive outline of modules: the first day we learned about Brunei Darussalam and ASEAN, and this was followed by a module on Writing for Newsletter. As part of our practical exercise, we discussed the case studies related to various aspects of social media and social networking. Finally, we had a module on leadership, where we learned what makes a leader and how useful it is to possess negotiating and networking skills in many aspects of our career.

No visit to a country is complete without visiting its landmarks: Even the local participants enjoyed the trips we took on a boat ride around Kampong Ayer. We

The journey so far- memories in Brunei

Yes! We reached the final journey of our program “ASEAN CAMPUS JOUR-

NALIST/LEADERS EXCHANGE PROGRAMME.” Luckily Jakarta, Indonesia has been chosen as a host for this program, so we can know more about ASEAN in terms of work activity and what concerns ASEAN has. In our sec-ond day in Jakarta we went to Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (TMII) to have a site visit. In TMII we saw everything about Indo-nesia such as the background of Indonesia, diversity of culture, Indonesia in the past, and many much much more!

TMII is a microcosm of the many varied cultures of Indone-sia. TMII tour guide told us “if you want to visit all of Indone-sia’s islands, you need at least 200 years to visit all of them because Indonesia has more than 17.000 islands.” Wow! We were surprised that Indonesia has a lot of islands, no wonder Indonesia’s population is the 4th largest in the world. We also saw a movie in Keong Emas theater about Indonesia’s cul-ture and history.

On the third day in Jakarta we had the welcoming ceremony at Ministry of information office. Mr Freddy Tulung, Chairman of the Committee on Culture and Information (COCI) gave us a brief explanation of Indo-nesia as a Chairman of a Asean Country and he told us that to be solid we must be able to ac-

Welcome to Indonesiathe chairman of ASEAN’s countries

visited the Kampung Ayer Culture and Tourism Gallery and Kampung Lurong Sikuna. In the evening, we visited Yayasan, Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque and the Waterfront. Lastly, we visited the ASEAN Corner at Mabohai Primary School, who won the ASEAN Corner Competition in 2009. In terms of the site visits we had, the participants learned a lot from the tours we had from Radio Television Brunei, Brunei Press, Information Department and The Brunei Times. Although the visit took place late in the evening, the participants had a great experience watching the Printing Department ‘go to bed’, and were given Pelita Brunei fresh from the printers!

Perhaps the most exciting experience for some of the participants is being on the news and newspaper for several consecutive days, even being interviewed a few times for both television and newspapers. Aside from being able to take home wonderful memories, it also gave us the opportunity to observe how journalists and reporters handle their jobs and their stories. Soon we will start our adventure in Indonesia and we hope that the experience would be just as fulfilling as it has been in Brunei Darussalam.

cept other cultural, and moral values of each ASEAN member countries.

On the next day we were given time to continue writing af-ter having a module that Mr. Ahmed Kurnia. Mr Ahmed told us about advantages and dis-advantages of being a journal-ist. He also told us many things about writing a magazine and shared with us his thoughts about the future of print media. We also had the chance to visit the National Museum of Indo-nesia which showcases the rich culture and history of Indone-sia. Everyone was awestruck by what the museum contained.On the 5th day of our stay in Indonesia we has a module on social media by Mr. Enda Nasu-tion who told us that there is actually no misinformation in the world but more of an over-flow of information because of Social Media. He advised us to know our objectives for using social media and not just using it without a proper objective out of it because “It will not get you anywhere.”We went to Bandung on the fifth day and everyone had a great day sightseeing and shop-ping (and window shopping for that matter). We had the fare-well dinner and finished the lay-out for the magazine.This isn’t the end of the journey, rather a beginning of friend-ships that will last forever! See you next time guys!

• KHAIRUNNISA ASH’ARI • ANDHIKA PRATAMA


Did you know that 55% of the UK’s working population

now accesses social media whilst at work according to www. myjobgroup.co.uk. In fact, Facebook is the most restricted website in universities and in the workplace. This is followed by MySpace and YouTube (www.realworlds.com). Facebook and other social networking sites like Twitter and Tumblr can be very distracting and will make you less productive in school and at work. Not only that, there have been various crime related cases using social media, such as using a fake Facebook profiles to attract vulnerable girls. While the government usually has some control over the mass media, social media is much less constrained by the government. As such, issues can easily spread to other parts of the world, which sensationalizes the stories that influences the opinions of people.

While you may feel that your rights are violated and fun

Using as A Tool for Youth Empowerment

may be taken away, there are various benefits of blocking Facebook and other social networking sites. If you depend less on these sites to communicate with people, it can encourage you to go out to socialize and will help you become more confident while talking. This will help improve your communication skills and the quality of literature and language. People may be too dependent on social networking sites to get shared news online, where the integrity of news can be questionable. Without the sites, it encourages you to make more effort to get updates from credible news websites. Your social life will also not be too exposed when you cut down on the time you can use the social networking sites.

Educators and businessmen are probably nodding their heads off to the benefits of blocking facebook, but wait, there’s also a disadvantage. Some businesses use Facebook to promote their products efficiently, which means blocking facebook would actually

affect their market size. In the International Islamic University in Malaysia, the university took down the ban becauseof the many uses that Facebook has (Lecturers use FB to communicate with their students).

The challenges that schools and businesses face with the increasing trend of banning social networking sites is that going online is becoming very accesible through the use of smart phones and tablets. One way to lessen the use of social media irresponsibly is by creating awareness and educating the youth about cyber-ethics. For those who do not know, cyber-ethics is a code of behavior for using the Internet according to us.norton.com. An example of this is controlling the way you use language while online.

With the tidal wave of cyber invasion in the 21st century, we cannot stop social media but we do not necessarily have to compromise our goals. As long as social media adds value to our lives, we can use it (but remember to use it responsibly.)

In the recent study done by McAfee and conducted by Haris Interactive, they found that 18% of 955 people aged 13 to 17 shared photographs of themselves to strangers. Twelve percent of them even share their cell phone numbers online, while another 24% shared

their email address.

This is where the question of online security lies. Many teenagers do not realize how risky their online behavior is. The results of the said study should be a wake up call to everyone, especially to parents who need to be more aware of their teenage kids’ online behavior. Teenagers also need to realize how dangerous it is to reveal private facts about ourselves even when it’s “only online.” Nowadays crimes do not only occur when outside the house but can also be the result of a single wrong click online.

Apart from the teenagers, parents should be more active to keep on eyes of what their children’s online activities are and install some online security software to prevent them from inappropriate sites on the internet.

Going online is not worth it if it will only threaten your life and invade your privacy. Ask yourself and think about it!

Warning: Teenagers Beware!

• NASTASHJA MELEVOWILDAN GHIFFARY

KHAIRUNNISA ASH’ARISYED KAMIL ALHADY SYED

MD NASSER

• THIPPHAPHONE VONGPHOTONG - ANDHIKA PRATAMA - NOR HIDAYATI MOKHTAR - KANLAYAWEE WAEWKLAYHONG


Do you sometimes feel that you need to do something to use all your youthful energy in? You know you have all those bright ideas of changing the world but you don’t know what venue would be best to voice them out. It might also seem that sometimes that

you just keep on doing your daily routines and you want more of life that just that. You, my friend, should not fret. There are just so many venues for you to make the change you want in this world. One of those is through the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Youth Movement.

This movement is calling for all the young, just like you, of the Southeast Asian region to become part of something big, to become relevant in what is happening to our world today and to become part of the solution to the things that trouble our people. This is a huge opportunity for you!

This new age of social media is a tool for you to do so much at the comfort of your own home, so why don’t you use it wisely? If you just lay there with your Facebook account logged in, chatting with your friends or you’re online on twitter telling the world about your latest haircut or that you just bought a Coke then that wouldn’t achieve what you want to do. Wouldn’t it be nice if you’d rather become part of a network of inspired young people? Now that you’re on Facebook, you could simply key in the search the name ‘ASEAN Youth Movement.’ There you would see the possible ways in which you could cultivate a community of individuals enriching each other by sharing the culture that they have. You could post your favourite cultural dance or a song in your own language which could inspire others to do the same. You can also post photos of activities that you have done for the different sectors of society.

Who knows, another youth from another country could be inspired to do the same because of you! You may tell your friends about this. Don’t keep it to yourself. Inspire them and make them part of this movement. All you have to do is click ‘Like’!

Emptied plates, wiped out chaffing dishes and a cluttered table full of table napkins, utensils and food stains. This is what you get when you put 16 people from different

countries, each with their own whetted appetite, of the ASEAN region in one eating hall and such is the scene every meal time for the participants of the ASEAN Campus Journalists/Leaders Exchange Program Phase IV.

Back in the Philippines, I told myself that I might tighten my belt for this trip because as it said in the letter ‘the organizers will give a per diem for participants to use for their hotel accommodation, food and others.’ At the end of that sentence, I thought that we will be fending ourselves throughout the program and that I have to save since it might be expensive there. But as I arrived in Brunei and checked in at the Seameo Voctech, I was relieved when I found out that the hotel will be serving the food. Now that problem one is solved, on to problem two: what will we be eating?

The lunch the following day from my arrival answered problem two. And from that meal onwards it was nothing but a feast for my taste buds. The aroma, the taste and even just the look of the food prepared will whet your cravings and make you want to go back to the serving table more than twice just to satisfy your stomach!

SO FULLin

BRUNEI

• PATRICK DANIEL LADRIDO

Do youASEAN?• NOPPHAWHAN TECHASANEE

PATRICK DANIEL LADRIDOPHU THI NGOC BICH

SOUN SREYTOCH


Five times a day

The organizing committee must really want us to go back to our home countries looking bigger than before because they’re serving us meals five times a day! There are the usual breakfast, lunch and dinner but they added two tea breaks one for the morning and one for the afternoon. And it’s not any normal tea break, back at home, tea break is just usually coffee or tea and some cookies but here it’s a full on meal, complete with rice and a viand, sometimes though these breaks would be some candied snacks but it would still be heavy. I’m not complaining at all, I love to eat especially food that is traditional from one place and to eat it five times a day is just the cherry on top of a big cake for me.

Food actually reflects the

culture of one place, and I was told that if I were to go anywhere I must taste things that the locals are accustomed to, although Ate Joy, a fellow Filipino that works at the restaurant we are eating at, said Bruneians don’t really eat numerous times in a day, they actually just have the normal thrice a day meals but because we are in a program we have scheduled eating times thus we eat more than the usual, that’s thanks to the organizing committee. Thank you for introducing us to Brunei five times a day!

Spice up your life

From the look of every viand, you can’t help but notice the Malayan culture all mixed well in one dish. The smell of curry from the kitchen just makes our stomachs rumble inside the session room after the talk we would

rush to the dining hall to see wonders such as the Chicken Kurma with Potato, which is chicken bathed in sauce made of coriander, roasted Bengal, aniseeds and other ingredients, or it could be the well-known Beef Rendang. This dish mainly contains the meat of either chicken, cow and buffalo boiled well with kerisik, or toasted coconut paste, until the beef absorbs the spices and then it will be mixed with turmeric leaf, ginger and other spices. In the end what you will have is a meal that transcends race as it makes you feel like you’re just right at home.

Though we have been served a lot of spicy dishes, the spiciest for me is the Curry Laksa. Once you get this curry-based soup in your mouth, steam just goes right out of your ears. You must have a glass of water beside you when eating this. Aside

from the curry in the soup, what makes it spicy is also the sambal chili. We had to prepare this dish ourselves. The buffet table was filled with ingredients and all you have to do is put them in one bowl, the noodle, the meat, the soup, some other spices and finally the chilli. It was a chilli overload that from the first spoon of this meal I finished almost three glasses of water, after that I continued eating without taking any water breaks. I like spicy food but this one made me love it more!

DIY

We had a day off from the lectures and we went around the villages. We came to Kampong Sungai Matan, or fishing village, where we got to see the livelihood of the people in the villages, we got to see how they made their native products but most of all we also saw how they

made their traditional dishes. Among those dishes, what struck me was the Ambuyat.

Ambuyat is a local dish made from ambulong, it looks just like gooey industrial strength paste in one big bowl. This starch is then mixed with hot water and stirred until the consistency becomes paste-like. You have to use a chopstick looking utensil, called candas, to hold on to it; you just have to stick the candas in the ambuyat and swirl until you are satisfied with what you have. Then you have to dip it in a sauce since ambuyat is basically tasteless without the sauce and the other side dishes; the sauce is made from salted durian paste, vinegar, soy sauce, chilli, belacan or shrimp paste, bunjai and tambuyak.

The most interesting part about the ambuyat is how you eat it. Now that you have it in your candas and dipped it in the sauce, you don’t

have to chew it but instead just let it slide down your mouth; because you just let it slide down you instantly feel the hot ambuyat down your throat and the spiciness of the sauce lingers on your tongue. Then you eat the side dishes like the boiled fish, fish curry or fish paste cooked in banana leaf. This dish is very easy to cook that you can do it yourself.

Tapau!

Tapau is Bruneian culture which means to take away food. With so many cuisines placed in front of our eyes I think it’s but appropriate to practice that culture and whenever you come to Brunei don’t forget to bring some delicacies home to your friends and family because even if they didn’t come with you, tasting the food will make them feel they’ve been to Brunei so many times. Tapau everyone!

“Tapau everyone!”


The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was

founded on August 8, 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand. The signing of the ASEAN Declaration by the founding fathers of ASEAN (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand), marked the start of a prospering association. Brunei Darussalam became a member on January 1984, followed by Vietnam on July 1995, Lao PDR and Myanmar on July 1997, and Cambodia on April 1999, which makes up what we now call, the ten ASEAN nations.

Despite the economic crisis, tourism in South East Asia rose by 10 percent last year, amounting to more than 65 million tourists. The ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) continued to be the landmark of annual tourism events in the region. ATF 2011 was held last January in Phnom Penh, Cambodia with the theme: “ASEAN: a World of Wonders and Diversity” was attended by more than 442 international buyers and more than 380 sellers with 512 booths from ASEAN.

ASEAN acknowledges the potent power of tourism as a vehicle for development and change in the region, because of this the ASEAN Tourism Strategic Plan was launched (ASTP). ATSP aims to contribute to the goals that ASEAN wants to reach by 2015 through integration and competitiveness of the tourism sector and in deepening cultural understanding within the member states. ATSP provides a balanced set of actions

and activities to realize the following vision:

“By 2015, ASEAN will provide an increasing number of visitors to the region with authentic and diverse products, enhanced connectivity, a safe and secure environment, increased quality of services, while at the same time ensuring an increased quality of life and opportunities for residents through responsible and sustainable tourism development by working effectively with a wide range of stakeholders”

Why travel?

Travelling is a good venue to practice our communication skills and our ability to speak a different language. Also, exploring a new culture makes people more knowledgeable and broad-minded. Firsthand experience is always incomparable with what you see on the television or read from the internet. Also, one important point is that when

travelling, you get to relax and detoxify yourself from stress. There’s always something in store for you when travelling to a new place, one can choose activities that suits his taste.

Potential tourist spots in South East Asia:

South East Asia has a lot of beautiful places, and a very rich culture to offer it’s visitors. In Brunei one can visit the innovative Kampong Ayer, in Cambodia the Angkor Wat Temple (which is listed as one of UNESCO’s world heritage spots). In Indonesia, if one wants to see the picturesque beaches that the country has to offer, Bali Island is a very famous spot. In Laos, one can visit the national monument called Pha That Luang if you want to emerge yourself in the culture of the country. If you want to visit the best white sand beach, you can visit Boracay Island in the Philippines and have the time of your life! If you’re into architecture, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia is definitely the best place for you! If you want to learn about Thailand’s royal families, Rattana Kosin Island is one of the best resources for this. Immerse yourself in the Sword Lake which is considered as Vietnam’s most historical lake and most scenic place.

No matter what activities and interests you have, there is a place that will suit you in South East Asia! Come and visit and be mesmerized by the many wonders that the region has to offer!

“No matter what

activities and interests you have, there is a place that will suit you in South East

Asia!”

SOUTH EAST ASIA is waiting for you to visit!

• SOUN SREYTOCH

ANGKOR WAT, CAMBODIA BALI ISLAND, INDONESIA

BORACAY, PHILIPPINES

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA

PHA THAT LUANG, LÁOSSWORD LAKE, VIETNAM


Youths’ ASEAN fairy taleEveryone wishes for magic to get

overnight fairy tales like Cinderella. If a merciful angel gives her wand to you,

what would you wish for?If I have magic I want to move Thai-land, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam closer so I won’t have to spend a lot of money to visit other countries. I think we can easily see each other, talk and walk with each other. We can make friends better.

Sounita Phimmasone, Laos PDR

If I have magic I want to get the translating jelly from Doraemon because the jelly can make us understand different languages. If you speak in Malay language and I speak in Thai language, we can still understand each other without English language. I think the communication helps us understand people. It can develop ASEAN better.

Kanlayawee Waewklayhong, Thailand

Syed Kamil Alhady bin Syed Md Nasser, MalaysiaIf I have magic I want to understand other languages automatically. I believe language is one of the ele-ments that is very important to en-hance the sense of belongingness in the ASEAN community. We can communicate with each other so we can be like one big family living in different places.

If I have a magic like Harry Pot-ter I want the ASEAN to be a superpower like IRAN, they are braver than America. With su-per power we cannot be control by other superpower countries.

Wildan Ghiffary, Indonesia

Nastashja Bianca Imperio Melevo, The Philippines

If I have magic I wish we identify ourselves as ASEAN because it’ll be easier, people will be able to identify with you more if you say that “I’m ASEAN” instead of saying “I’m Fili-pino”. It shows we are united as citizens of South East Asia

If I have a magic I wish people would not look at each other in the wrong way but in the right way because we only have one community. I want peace.

Khat Sokundina, Cambodia

Phu Thi Ngoc Bich, VietnamIf I have magic I will organize more pro-grams to contact other countries in ASEAN especially the ASEAN youth because the youth is the future. So the future will be better.

If I have magic I want to feed everyone so no one is hungry.

Khairunnira binti Hj. Ash’ari

• NOPPHAWHAN TECHASANEE


Bolkiah and Laila Brunei’s story of honorable love

It was love at first sight when Sultan Bolkiah met her during his cruise. The beautiful Laila Menchanai appeared from the bubbles drifting on the ocean. To celebrate their marriage, the newlyweds sailed on their boat, with the Sultan laying his head on the lap of his wife while she was sewing with a golden needle until he fell asleep. She was so moved by the Sultan’s love for her that she accidently pricked his finger with the golden needle, and killed him. She was devastated by what she had done, so she took the keris (dagger)\ from the Sultan’s belt, and stabbed herself. When the bodies were found, they were buried side by side in Makam Selarong, to be together for eternity.

Tum and TeavCambodia’s story of sacrifices

Tum was a monk who travelled to Tbaung Khmum to sell bamboo rice. There he met with beautiful palace singer, Teav, and they fell in love. But her mother has arranged Teav to marry the powerful governor of the province, Archoun. When Teav was singing, an emissary, Rama fell in love with her and the King promised to marry them. Seeing that, Tum sang a song to profess his love for her. Rama was so touched and allowed them to marry. But when Teav’s mother learned about it, she feigned her illness as

a ruse to lure Teav back so she could marry Archoun. When Tum found out about this, he made a proclamation that Tum was her wife. Archoun was so enraged that he commanded his guards to kill Tum and he was beaten to death under a Bo tree. Grief-stricken, Teav slit her own throat and collapsed on Tum's body. People sacrifice everything for love.

Rama and SintaIndonesia’s story of testing love

Rama was a King of Ayodya and he won the Princess Sinta’s hand of marriage in a fight organized by her father to find her a husband. They fell in love with each other but Rahwana also wanted her. After they got married, Sinta saw a deer in front of their house and requested Rama to get it for her. So he went out to hunt the deer, without knowing that the deer was actually Rahwana’s trick. So Rahwana came to kidnap Sinta to make her his wife. Sinta was very devoted to her husband and refused Rahwana. With the help of a garuda, Jatayu Rama knew that his wife was taken by Rahwana. They fought each other and Rahwana got killed. However when everything was well, Rama became curious of Sinta’s virtuosity and asked her to jump into the fire to prove it. Due to her love and determination, she jumped into it and survived with the help of the Fire God. Rama then believed her and they lived happily ever after.

Malong and BachengLaos’ story of love

Bacheng, a great soldier for Laos was deeply in love with the pretty princess Malong. Malong hated him because he was not charming at all, and went to the forest to meet her lover. When the King proclaimed their marriage, Malong escaped with his lover. Bacheng went away to find her, and asked her why she hated him so much. But Malong did not answer. Bacheng was so mad and tried to kill her lover but the lover accidently struck his sword to Malong. Looking at her condition, Bacheng was too hurt and guilty and so he slayed himself. Malong was touched by the love Bacheng showed her, and she drew Bacheng’s sword to kill herself. Malong could have lived with her lover but why did she kill herself? This is how loving someone for no reason, leads to true love. Their love was then monumentalized with two mountains named Malong and Bacheng.

Uda and DaraMalaysia’s story of varying stature in life

This was originally from famous the Malaysian’s poet, Usman Awang’s Gadis di Kuburan. In this tragic love story, Uda fell in love with the daughter of a landlord, the beautiful Dara. Because Uda was so poor, he swore to make himself wealthy so he could marry her. So he left the village. When he came back, he was already a successful man, Dara’s father, Alang, denied Uda because he is not blue blooded. Malays are judged because of their sense of responsibility to fulfil their promise, So due to the oath he took, Uda was determined to fight for Dara and he ended up dying in Dara’s arms after being stabbed by Alang. After he died, Dara lived in despair and wept to death.

From ASEAN with Love

Heart wrenching and tragic love stories from the rice stalks region of the world, South East Asia. Browse through the momentous and moving plots from the ASEAN countries as NOR HIDAYATI MOKHTAR compiled and dished up the best of the legendary tragic love saga. Prepare your tissue!

• NOR HIDAYATI MOKHATAR


ASEAN CAMPUS JOURNALISTS/LEADERS EXCHANGE PROGRAMME, Bandar Seri Begawan – This is unique!! Do we

realize that our language is very unique? For example, if tourists visits an ASEAN country, they want to know our language.

Speaking of ASEAN, did you know that there are at least 8 different main languages in the member countries?. This does not including the different dialects of each country. In the Philippines, its called Tagalog or Malay for Brunei and Singapore. One of the unique fact about languages in ASEAN countries is that we have similar words but with different meanings. Like in the Philippines, salamat means “thank you” while in the Indonesia language, it means congratulations.

With an understanding of language, comes an understanding of culture, so that we can help each other and become stronger. One problem about this is that the language we use is not the native language of our countries. An example of this is in such Brunei, the

MABUHAY

We Start Our Ways From Language

Salamat

asalamualaikum

APA KABAR

XIN CHÀO CÁC BẠN!Badoy and AguedaPhilippines’ story of love and regrets

There was a myth that you can ask a mirror at midnight about the appearance of their future husband, so Agueda recited “Mirror, mirror, show me whose woman I will be,” she was surprised to see Badoy’s face in it, it turned out that Badoy was actually standing behind her. They got married because of this. After the bitter marriage on May 1847, they quarrelled and separated.

May Day Eve is a short story by Nick Joaquin that turned into one of Philippines’ classic literature. So many years passed and Badoy learned from his grandson that he was described by Agueda as ‘devil’ and Don Badoy told his grandson that every time he looks at the mirror, he only sees a ‘witch’ (Agueda). The tragedy of the story is that Badoy’s heart forgot how he loved Agueda in the past. They were not able to mend their broken marriage because they thought their love was futile. Well, we can always save our love if we are determined to do so. But, not all that’s well, ends well and at the end of the day. Sometimes there is nothing more but rue and regrets.

Maenak and PeemakThailand’s story of forbidden love

Even death can’t stop love. Thai’s famous legend about Maenak is not a usual love story. When Peemak left for war without knowing that his wife was pregnant, she waited for Peemak devotedly. When Peemak came back, Maenak already gave birth but the villagers told Peemak died while giving birth.

Not wanting to accept Maenak’s death, he peaked at Maenak while cooking and he saw

Maenak reaching for a piece of lemon from the ground. Paemak was too sad to know his wife was already a ghost, because he was so touched by the enduring love of his wife. Thus he gathered all the strength and advised her to rest for reincarnation. Although he could not imagine what life would be like for him without her, but he did not want Maenak to be ‘living’ like that. So with the promise to meet again in the afterlife, Maenak obeyed her and they dispersed in the tearful separation.

Hon Vong PhuVietnam’s story of the restraining hope

A long time ago in a small village there was a young woman whose husband had gone to do business. Thus she stayed home and raised her son alone. When the son was four, he asked for his father, where he was and why was he not at home. To make her son happy, the woman pointed to her shadow and told the son, "There, that is your father." From that day on, the son looked to his mother's shadow as his father. Every time he was sad he would talk to the shadow as if he was talking to his father.

One day, the husband returned and he was so eager to play with his son. But the son refused to acknowledge the husband as his father. The son said, "You're not my father. My father is the one that always follows my mother." After hearing that, the husband thought his wife had an affair with another man. Angry for the betrayal of his wife, he left the family. The woman, not understanding why her husband left again, brought her child to the top of a mountain. And there she stood waiting for her husband to come back until she was set into stone. And that was the legend of the Von Hong Phu, meaning "the stone waiting for her husband".

words “Utamakan Bahasa Melayu” (meaning prioritize Malay) are displayed on a busy street, but is overlooked by a lot of people.

Although English is considered as the universal language, as an ASEAN community, we need to be proud of our own languages. Our languages symbolizes our identity as a country and as a community. I know that it won’t be easy to promote our national languages (nothing never is) but if we establish our own identity, we would be respected more in the international arena. We should no longer allow US and EU to influence our decisions because we are free countries and are no longer their colonies.

We pride ourselves for the rich language and culture that ASEAN nations have. Our pride in our region stems out from the realization that our being uniquely Malay, Brunein, Thai or Vietnamese makes our ASEAN community stronger.

• WILDAN GHIFFARYPICTURE BY: KANLAYAWEE WAEWKLAYHONG


I packed my luggage and rode a plane all the way to Brunei, Darussalam to participate in the ASEAN Campus/Leaders Exchange Program. I came with an excited heart and asked myself: “Are you ready to experience a different culture Pae?”

Everything for me was a first, a new adventure! I arrived Brunei before the other participants, which was good for me because I got the chance to visit many places that wasn’t really a part of the program. I also saw so many things from Thailand which really surprised me and made me think that I was home. I was really surprised that Brunei subsidizes most of the basic necessities of its people. According to the backgrounder we had about Brunei, the highest budget goes to Defense to prevent future attempts of invasion in their country.

I was also surprised that Brunei didn’t have any pub or disco clubs, and also the fact that alcohol consumption here is very strict, they do not sell alcohol in the shops. We went to the Night Market on our first day and we saw that there were many colorful desserts and my first thought was not to eat these colorful dessers because “it may be dangerous,” but in reality, you can eat every single one of them! The desserts that I thought that were dangerous to eat were actually very tasty.

To you, it might sound pathetic to be writing this for an article, but for me it’s the fun of trying new things that makes this adventure so memorable. If I had limited myself to the culture that I knew from my country, I would not have had the chance to know how delicious these desserts were. Although my journey here is done, the fact that it opened my mind to learn new things will stay with me forever. As long as you’re alive, you should always learn something new everyday and think outside the box!

New Adventures from a Foreign Land

• KANLAYAWEE WAEWKLAYHONG

7 days is not a long time but it’s enough to get an idea about the country and the people in Jakarta ... find out more about my teenage musings.

Unfortunately, we missed our flight going to Indonesia because we arrived too late. Luckily, the instructor in Brunei bought tickets for us in the next flight to Indonesia. It was a bittersweet day, because we were worried about missing the flight, but we were so touched by the affection and enthusiasm of friends!I arrived in Jakarta at 1 am and my first feeling about this place is that it is like Vietnam too; from the streets, traffic on the climate to weather. Suddenly miss home so much!The group visited Taman Mini Indonesia Indah. Everyone was so mesmerized by what the park has to offer.

The thing I love the most was the shopping trips. I bought so much. Everything is very cheap and nice; Here are some tips for you to buy gifts in Jakarta: First, you should change money in the trade center because no you can’t use a different currency for shopping. Markets places sell goods for cheaper prices than the major shopping places. Here, you can bargain from 15-30% per item. In return, the commercial center has many discounts so if you have time, do not let this opportunity pass. You should buy goods such as woven cloth, dress, or cavat but inspect carefully before buying it. In my opinion, shopping in Indonesia is cheap, considering the quality.After hours of fun, the team must complete the magazine and some learning exercises. At home, I never go to bed so late, but now it’s 1 am, but I have not yet finished my article. Even though we have to wake up at 7 am for breakfast but I think that it is a good opportunity for me to explore my full potential!

Seven days in Jakarta

• PHU THI NGOC BICH

DIARIES OF ACJEP JOURNEY


I had just finished my practice teaching last April 24th 2011 at S.R Kupang, Tutong. Throughout my teaching practice, I never

had the chance to take a peak on the ASEAN Room and I am glad that I had the chance to visit it and take a closer look at the school’s ASEAN Corner in Mabohai Primary School. For me, the trip was more towards Know Your Country (Kenali Negara Kitani). We went to visit the school on June 16th 2011 and arrived at 10:30. We were greeted and welcomed by the school’s officers. They briefed us about the school’s background and also its ASEAN Corner Room by CikguHj. YusofHj. Mat Rais, the headmaster of Mabohai Primary School. We were told that the exhibition for ASEAN Corner is open every school day for the public viewing. Even though the subject Georgaphy was excluded since SPN-21 (The National Education System for the 21st Century), ASEAN Corner can still be used for the new subject, Social Studies. This can benefit the ASEAN when teaching about the cultures, religions, languages, delicacies or even the way of life of other ASEAN countries. ASEAN Corners acts as a resource room, teaching aid for the students as well as for the teachers.

ASEAN CORNER in PRIMARY SCHOOL

The aims and purposes of ASEAN Corner in Primary School in Brunei are:

1. To strengthen the foundation knowledge about Brunei Darussalam for students in Primary School.

2. To encourage the students to know more about Geography.

3. To be a resource room and teaching aid for the teachers.

4. To promote ASEAN among younger generations.

5. To promote active collaboration and mutual assistance on matters of common interest in the economic, social, cultural, scientific and administrative fields.

6. To entice the learning experience in interactive way.

To my surprise, the budget for the ASEAN Corners exhibitions was mostly collected from the pocket money of the teachers.

• AKMAI NASRI HJ. KAMAL

• THIPPHAPHONE VONGPHOTONG


This spectacular park will explain the uniqueness and the diversity of the Indonesian culture; it showcases

Indonesia’s 27 provinces and their outstanding heritage, which is depicted through the unique architecture which systematically divided into different areas of the park. This huge park stand over 100 hectares of land located in East Jakarta. Here, we are able to see thousands of ‘small’ islands of Indonesia through the cable car, which is ‘gratis’(free) for all visitors. These man-made islands is on a beautiful lake. Each piece of land represents the main islands of Indonesia in its real shape, such as Sumatera island, Java island, Bali island and many more. You can also see some orchid gardens where hundreds of Indonesian orchid species grow. One cannot deny that the Indonesian identity is really strong and the goverment really has the intiatives to preserve it for future generations. Overall, the park’s centerpiece is a beautiful artificial lake to be visited with family.

Your visit to the park is not complete without entering the ‘Keong Emas’ (a golden snail building).

VISIT THE WHOLE OFINDONESIA

Have you ever wanted to visit a country like Indonesia in just ONE day? Is that even possible? The answer for the most Jakarta residence will be “yes,” because at Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (Beautiful Indonesia in Miniature Park) you will be able to see the magnificent archipelago of Indonesia in just one day!!!

Here, visitors have the chance to watch a special documentary film on various Indonesian tribes and their origin on a wide screen cinema as if we were in the real situation. This exciting place and documentary was initiated by Madam Tien Soeharto, a former first lady of Indonesia.

There are also other interesting places inside the park such as the a bird park with a walk-in aviary, water theme park, military museum and many more. Despite this, the main tourist attraction here is the Museum Indonesia. A beautiful building, with Bali-based architecture, it houses contemporary arts and crafts and traditional costumes from the different regions of the country.

Cultural performances, events, and even local delicacies from the provinces are showed regularly, especially during weekends and holidays, to showcase Indonesia’s rich cultural heritage. The park is open seven days a week, giving guests enough time to explore and enjoy the sights.

IN 1 DAY!!!• SYED KAMIL

PHOTOS BY: NOR HIDAYATI MOKHTAR

PHOTOS BY: NOPPHAWHAN TECHASANEE


MADE BY NOPPHAWHAN TECHASANEE


MADE BY NOR HIDAYATI MOKHTAR


ASEAN INSIGHTS

Documents

Transcript of ASEAN INSIGHTS