Faith-based organizations dialog on the importance of community in Southeast Asia

Faith-based organizations dialog on the importance of community in Southeast Asia

Keynote Speech by H.E. Ong Keng Yong,  Chairperson of the Governing Board, Human  Rights Resource Centre
Keynote Speech by H.E. Ong Keng Yong, Chairperson of the Governing Board, Human Rights Resource Centre
Jakarta—30 June 2016

Faith-based organizations (FBOs) and their role in building the ASEAN community was the focus of a recent series of dialogues in which the Baha'i International Community (BIC) Jakarta Office was involved.

The dialogues were convened by the Human Rights Resource Centre (HRRC), with the support of ASEAN Foundation and Japan-ASEAN Solidarity Fund.  Held under the title “Introduction to ASEAN 2025: Engaging a Wider Stakeholdership in Enhancing Regional Peace and Security,” they took place over the course of two meetings: a civil society consultation from 26 to 27 May in Bangkok, and a presentation of findings that arose from the consultation to the ASEAN governments on 27 June in Jakarta.

ASEAN 2025 Blueprints (http://asean.org/asean-2025-at-a-glance/), a set of plans endorsed by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Leaders in November 2015, charts the path of ASEAN community building for the next ten years. ASEAN represents over 500 million people in ten countries including Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam.

This timely initiative was welcomed considering the vast diversity of beliefs in Southeast Asia and the deeply-rooted nature of religion and faith in everyday lives of its peoples. Ambassador Ong Keng Yong , the Eleventh Secretary General of ASEAN, stated, “FBOs make a difference on the ground… they are established and they understand the local communities… so FBOs must be the bridge between the government, policies and the local communities.”

With their thoughts centered on the region’s peace and prosperity, an initial group of 26 representatives of FBOs and academia of religious studies from all ten ASEAN countries gathered in Bangkok to consult extensively on two key principles—unity in diversity and shared prosperity. Chong Ming Hwee, representative of the BIC, was part of a group of facilitators who led those discussions.

Not only did the participants agree with the spiritual basis of the two key principles and their pivotal role in achieving peace, they emphasized the urgent need to go beyond tolerance—to delve deeper into real understanding and embracing of religious diversity. One of the ideas offered was to mainstream in educational curricula the principles of unity in diversity and shared prosperity. Another highlight of the discussions was the collective consensus to promote values such as equality and compassion to help narrow development gaps, whether economic or social.

Commending the organizers’ efforts to ground the discussions based on spiritual principles, Ambassador of Japan to ASEAN, H.E. Kazuo Sunaga observed that ASEAN’s peace and stability could be attributed to these principles having become core values of the region.

The participants discussed ways in which they could contribute to the process of achieving ASEAN 2025 goals, such as the promotion of anti-corruption values, and provision of social assistance regardless of recipients’ faith backgrounds among others. They also provided suggestions on how ASEAN governments could continue to engage FBOs.

At the close of the project, Prof. Harkristuti Harkrisnowo, Acting Executive Director of HRRC, affirmed the role that FBOs play in enhancing regional peace and prosperity and called on ASEAN to draw them further into the implementation of the 2025 Blueprints.