Dream ASEAN

FNF Thailand joined the PRD (The Thai Government’s Public Relations Department) for the workshop. To get a broader impression of the 25 attendees experiences, expectations and dreams about ASEAN, FNF Thailand initiated three ice-breaking games. To start off, the participants were invited to take part in a round of “speed dating” to get to know each other better. Sitting in two rotating circles, every participant only has a time range of 30 seconds to talk to their counterpart. Not only have they manage to introduce themselves, but also to elaborate on their expectations for the workshop and interests in ASEAN, before changing their seats to talk to the next person. Above all, the game showed a strong willingness of the participants to connect with each other, as the time never seemed enough for them to interchange.

From this basis and to deepen the understanding of the opinions and personal experiences in ASEAN, the game “spectrum” was played. In this game the young ASEAN citizens were asked to take position in a spectre from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree” placing themselves in the room after being confronted with a statement and later explaining why they chose this position. The question that engaged the widest spectrum of opinions, was that ASEAN should follow EU model to promote regional cooperation. Referring to the uniqueness of ASEAN with different principles and values than EU, almost half of the participants disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement.

Furthermore, the last question showed the importance of workshops like “Dream ASEAN”. Although the majority of participants agreed that they experienced a “people-centred” ASEAN community, the were also some for which the workshop was the first experience towards such a community.

The last game was “timeline” in which the attendees described their personal encounters with ASEAN, building a timeline beginning 1990 with all their travels to other member states, the first time learning about ASEAN in school or even workshops about ASEAN they joined. Besides praising the travels to the member states, Lee Yoong Yoong, Director of Community Affairs of ASEAN, emphasized the participants also have to take an active part to shape ASEAN of the future. Using the games and the input from the ASEAN secretary, as well as from a panel discussion between Dr. Jessada Salathong, Lecturer at Chulalongkorn University and Ms. Ng Yeen Seen from the Malaysia Center for Research, Advisory & Technology, participants were able to express their dreams for future ASEAN, such as equal education, a stable economy and a higher awareness for ASEAN in the media. Analyzing the expressed wishes, five major topics were selected: Human Rights, Education, Security, Media and Economic Developments to discuss further on current problems and possible solutions.

The day was closed with a dinner full of culture richness, with each of the countries presenting either a song, a dance, a play or even the making of a dish typical for their origin. Showing clearly again, a strong connection and interaction within the attendees of the ten member countries. giving the impressions of the young people knowing each other already for a long time.

With this framework in hand, the participants started to work on their own projects about ASEAN, developing media content as diverse as ASEAN itself: songs, viral clips, infographics - all evolved by the participants with guidance from media professionals. Only having two days before the presentation on the last day, the attendees gave it their all, some finishing with a lack of sleep, but happy and proud of their own work. On the morning of the final day, tension was filling the air in the room while some of the participants were still finalizing their projects or practicing their performances.

Undoubtedly the days have been very productive. The outcome: Four individual songs, one short film, 2 viral clips and an infographic presentation. The songs have been written by four participants articulating powerful messages:“Don’t waste time”, “Sacrifice”, “Respect”, “Just do it” - showing that topics like Human Rights, Environment and Encouragement can be made approachable when talking about personal experiences. The whole room was left in goosebumps by the emotional lyrics, telling stories about the pain of being bullied or about a girl that is forced  to marry, even if she wants to follow her own dreams.

The other groups were working in teams on their projects, creating visual content with a high quality and learning all the different steps involved, such as the finding of a topic, the search for information, the making of a plan, the collection of material and the editing. The infographic team put together a presentation about the use of technology to improve education, showing that the infrastructure in ASEAN should be enlarged and new methods like virtual reality can be used. Another project that also focused on education was a video clip produced with the title “Chance”, that thematised the lack of education, showing a poor man living on the streets with no opportunities, who finds a book in a trash can and starts to educate himself.

The two remaining groups showed how a different concept can cause completely different feelings for the viewer. While the group that developed a viral clip wanted to focus on connecting to the people showed the experiences of taking different kinds of public transportation in Bangkok and causing the audience to laugh a lot, the group that produced a short film showed in serious interviews with people on the street, that many people do not know much about ASEAN. The questions like “How many member states does ASEAN have” were hard to answer for many interviewees and with the emotional music that accompanied the film it caused a rather severe atmosphere. Despite of the different approaches of the groups, both of them made the viewer want to engage more in ASEAN community.

However, not only the participants were being creative. After trying to break down what the ASEAN community means, FNF Thailand, The ASEAN secretary Lee Young Young and other organisers put together an own song, that was teached to the participants, initiating the great picture of the whole room singing together in joy. In a last round of reflection, the participants all agreed, that not only they are happy about the new friends they made, they also confirmed, that the workshop has been very useful and not only brought ASEAN closer to them, but also made them want to inspire others and raise the awareness for ASEAN. With all the young ASEAN citizens working side by side, all with their own ideas, they represent what the idea of ASEAN is: A community for all.