Konrad Lorenz observed in On Aggression, his classic study of animal behavior, that a dog who barks furiously at you from behind a fence is much less likely to bark or growl if there is no fence between you. It's an observation that the governments in Southeast Asia should consider as they contemplate endowing the entire ASEAN region with the perennially promised, "Free Visa Policy" that would issue common visas for non-ASEAN visitors and free visas for the residents of ASEAN nations (Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam).
This is the perfect year to do it because in 2015, those countries are committed to implementing the new guidelines that will begin establishing the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC).
The issues surrounding the AEC are likely to make this week's 34th meeting of the ASEAN Tourism Forum particularly interesting. From Jan. 26 to 29, tourism ministers and tourism officials are flying into the Burmese capital of Nay Pyi Taw for the event along with some 2,000 delegates from more than 50 countries. The conference theme of "ASEAN - Tourism Towards Peace, Prosperity and Partnership," seems particularly appropriate, because as Lorenz pointed out, nothing leads to peace like relaxed borders; just ask Europeans.
After all, so much about the AEC is reminiscent of the formation of the European Economic Community (EEC). One of the best steps that the EEC took along the way was the 1985 Schengen Agreement that lifted border checks between signatory countries. Since its original implementation by 10 countries in 1995, the Schengen region has expanded to cover 26 countries.
As an instrument of peace and security Schengen seems to be working a lot better than the old school Maginot Line ever did, or the Great Wall for that matter. Peace in Europe has become such a given that we are shocked when conflict appears there as it did in the Balkans in the '90s and just last year in Ukraine. Of course, the Balkan countries, the Ukraine and Russia are not within Schengen Zone, but some dogs are going to bite even when there's no fence to anger them.
The people of ASEAN, like the people within Europe, are somehow unified from within their diversity. The cultural differences between a Greek and a Swede or a Briton and a German are enormous, yet we all can see the European essence in all of them. In Southeast Asia, the differences between a Cambodian and a Filipino or a merchant in Ho Chi Minh and a Javanese tradesman are also enormous, but they too share an essential Southeast Asian quality. Like Europe, it's a region with a past history of cross-border conflict that increasingly sees its commonalities more clearly against, and maybe because of, the backdrop of a larger world.
There's plenty of room for honest disagreement. Well-intentioned security zealots will point out that once within the Schengen zone, such security threats as criminals and terrorists can move about freely. I would argue that even the worst of these miscreants are better than an angry nation next door with tanks it wants to test drive.
Other topics are also on the table at the ATF this week such as the Mutual Recognition Agreement on Tourism Professionals, which would allow ASEAN-based tourism people to work throughout ASEAN region no matter which member country they were born in; another proposal will set a regional bar for tourism standards; and the ASEAN Single Air Market (ASAM).
ASAM, urgent though it is, will be the toughest to implement, especially in a region where some 50 percent of the flights are flown by low cost carriers, which tend to be a bit more cavalier about regulations. ASAM, when implemented, will supersede all existing bilateral and multi-lateral agreements between ASEAN member states. The crash of AirAsia QZ8501 will likely condition ASAM conversations going forward.
It's somehow appropriate that 2015 is both the year that AEC implementation begins and the 50th anniversary of Singaporean independence. No ASEAN country was more ahead of the curve of Southeast Asian integration than Singapore. The Lion City, due perhaps to its British Naval roots via Sir Stamford Raffles, has always seen itself as a puzzle piece that can only be completed by interlocking with its neighbors.
Singapore's DNA, from its early 19th century days as a Straits Settlement, continues to inform the modern land, sea and air hub that it has become. Highly skilled labor, visionary urban planning and the spirit of enhancing neighbors rather than confronting them, made Singapore the pioneer of the ASEAN spirit. Happy Birthday Singapore!
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