| Azlan Othman |
THE newly founded York Asean Society, in collaboration with the York Indonesian Society, hosted a forum on ‘Asean Integration: Achieving the 2025 Vision’ last Monday evening at the University of York’s Law and Management School.
The event was attended by Dr Rizal Sukma, Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia to the United Kingdom who was also the keynote speaker for the forum. In attendance were a number of students from University of York and other universities across England such as University College London (UCL), Warwick, Surrey and Leeds.
The event began with a choir of the Asean anthem performed by a group of students from Southeast Asian countries and a solo performance of the Betawi dance, also known as Jakarta’s traditional dance, by a member of the Indonesian Society.
A welcoming speech was given by Awangku Syafi bin Pengiran Abu Bakar, the President and co-founder of York Asean Society in which he also expressed the commitment of his society in promoting the interests of Asean and doing its part in contributing to a more integrated region.
In his keynote address, Dr Rizal reiterated the importance of a university-wide Asean community, applauding the efforts of the York Asean Society in building one. According to the ambassador, who also used to study in the UK, Southeast Asian youths generally have a positive perception of Asean and should capitalise their time at international universities to build lasting relations with other students from the Asean region.
A forum titled ‘Asean Integration: Achieving the 2025 Vision’ held at the University of York’s Law and Management School last Monday
Dr Rizal Sukma, Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia to the United Kingdom, in a group photo with attendees. – PHOTOS: AZLAN OTHMAN
He further asserted that for Asean to reach its full potential, the regional identity has to be pushed further to infiltrate other parts of the region where it is not fully embraced yet.
Dr Rizal then participated in a panel discussion on the 2025 Asean Community blueprint with four other panel speakers: Bhaksook Charoonsak and Gracia Paramitha, both PhD holders in Politics at University of York who spoke on Asean Political-Security Community and Asean Socio-Cultural Community respectively; Hafiz Adenan, a member of Aseanite from the University of Warwick who spoke on Asean Economic Community; and Simon Baron, a French student at University of York reading BA in History who gave a comparison between Asean and EU integration.
The forum was moderated by Dr Claire Smith, a lecturer at the University of York’s Politics Department who specialises in Southeast Asia.
Some of the issues raised in the forum included the Rohingya refugees crisis, the inclusion of East-Timor in Asean, free movement of people in the region and the South China Sea dispute.
The event ended with the presentation of a token of appreciation to Dr Rizal by the President of York Indonesian Society Rudi Asep Casmana, followed by a networking session.
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