How to build on Asean's youth bulge
Imagine taking a high-speed train from Kuala Lumpur to Bangkok for the weekend. When you arrive, you rent an "Asean car" to get around as you attend a match between Westport's Malaysia Dragons and Saigon Heat in the Asean Basketball League (ABL).
Think of travelling through Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore without the need for a visa or passport.
Imagine the kind of possibilities as your market opens up to all 600 million in 10 Asean countries, perhaps relying on a borderless Asean bank.
Some of these are no longer pipe dreams but vaunted achievements of Asean.
The 47-year-old organisation is nearing its half-century milestone with quite a few notches under its belt, while facing new challenges for its uniquely young demographic.
At its helm is Malaysia, which will assume the role of Asean chair in 2015.
The Asean car idea has been mooted – most recently by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak; the Asean Basketball League started in Malaysia in 2009. While an Asean bank may be some years off, China recently announced the AIIB – Asian Infrastructure and Investment Bank – which includes all Asean members.
Recently, Asean announced that it has achieved more than 80 per cent of the objectives it set out almost 50 years ago.
These include major achievements in the “three pillars” of security, economic and socio-cultural integration.
Moving forward, Asean’s main challenges lie distinctly in fulfilling the hopes and dreams of its youth.
One thing that all Asean nations share is our youth bulge.
According to a 2012 Credit Suisse report – “Asean’s positive demographics underpins stable growth” – the median age for all Asean nations is below 40. This trend is expected to continue until 2035.
Malaysia, for example, has a median age of 25.1 while Indonesia’s is 27.9.
Another similarity is that most Asean members are going through rapid development. Go to any Asean country and the story is the same – infrastructure projects and exciting businesses opening every day.
When there’s a high number of young people and they are provided employment or business opportunities, the country will experience a “demographic dividend” – a situation where people actively participating in the economy outnumber those who are dependent on it.
However, if their needs are not addressed, the youth bulge becomes a “demographic bomb”, as a large mass of frustrated young people become a source of social and political instability.
First, a few considerations – how do we get resources, jobs and opportunities to the youth? How will Asean address human rights, security or the environment post-2015? How do we create more prosperity for all?
Aside from the basic needs and economic considerations, Asean youths have consistently been vocal about seeking less measurable achievements.
It is no longer enough to be financially or physically successful – it is also a question of how they get there.
While Gross Domestic Product is a direct measure of a country’s wealth, it is equally important that the people are able to find happiness in this community.
This means a solid value system as well as job satisfaction from work that is individually fulfilling.
This could mean focusing on community service, volunteerism and the spirit of conservation. These are “soft” factors but equally important for the well-being of the region and its people.
This is how young people typically want to drive the world forward – by promoting a better future holistically. This is in line with Malaysia’s chosen theme for Asean in 2015 – “a people-centric Asean”.
At a meeting I had in the middle of this year with United Nations Resident Coordinator for Malaysia Michelle Gyles-McDonnough, we agreed that the solution lies in empowering the youth.
“It’s important for a country to really listen to her youth and regularly engage with them, to see how they want their country to be,” she said.
If history has taught Asean countries anything, it is our ability to determine things for ourselves, free of other powers or blocs.
The same approach can be applied to empower the youth to participate in determining where we are headed. Meanwhile, the youth need to step up and answer these and other tough questions themselves.
The rest of us, the policymakers, academics – the incumbent cogs in the machinery of the region – need to provide a nurturing environment for these young people.
How do we employ technology to facilitate dialogue and cooperation between the youth separated by geography or language? What will they need? These are our questions and we have to answer them now.
Online platforms are worth a look, or perhaps we just need to improve connectivity to facilitate conversations. How about an Asean TV channel? A seamless Asean telco network?
The youth may not take kindly to overbearing government presence, so the idea is to create “sandboxes” for them to play and to ready resources when they want to move and do something. For now, the possibilities are endless.
