Singapore turns ASEAN into all work, no play

Kornelius Purba and Tony Hotland ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Singapore   |  Wed, 07/23/2008 10:53 AM  |  Headlines

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a very serious organization.

And Singapore's Foreign Minister George Yeo is very serious in ensuring the success of the annual ASEAN meeting, which has been overshadowed by the dispute between Cambodia and Thailand, with Cambodia opting to directly report the dispute to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) before asking her neighbors for help and Thailand refusing to involve the regional group in resolving the conflict at all.

Indeed, the minister is so serious that he will not allow his guests to follow ASEAN tradition and give stage performances, as done in the past by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who played the piano, and former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who gave a rendition of Bob Hope's "Thanks for the Memories": "When you are not so sweet, I call the Seventh Fleet..."

So the host provided his guests with nothing but delicious food when he organized a gala dinner for them on Wednesday.

Before ASEAN received the foreign ministers of China, Japan and South Korea on Tuesday afternoon, Yeo chaired a special meeting for the ASEAN ministers to discuss the Cambodia-Thai dispute.

Their dispute over 4.6 square kilometers of land near the Preah Vihear Temple has embarrassed the regional group at a time it is hosting dialogues with major global players such as the United States, China, Russia, India and Japan in Singapore this week.

Cambodia has asked the foreign ministers of Indonesia, Singapore, Laos and Vietnam to help bring the conflict to an end. But the ASEAN ministers were still confused about how to help the reluctant members, although they have explored the possibility of setting up a contact group to deal with the problem.

"The problem is that the parties (Cambodia and Thai) are not in full agreement on whether or not at this time we need to establish a contact group," Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda said.

In a separate comment, Minister Yeo said that "Both sides reiterated that they would handle the situation in accordance with their ASEAN and international obligations."

Minister Yeo moved quickly to seek outside help. In his bilateral discussions with Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Koumura, he asked Japan's help in persuading the two feuding nations to find an amicable solution to their problem.

Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kazuo Kodama confirmed the request was made because the Singaporean diplomat believed "Japan has very good relations with the two countries".

On Wednesday, ASEAN will receive its guests from 17 countries and organizations before hosting the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) on Thursday.

But for the participants of the ASEAN meeting, something will be missing in Singapore this year.

ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan confirmed that Singapore would not allow the ministers to perform on stage on the night before ending their meeting. Surin indicated that some ministers were too serious in preparing their stage performances, neglecting their main mission as diplomats.

"Some of the dialogue partners took their performance too seriously. They kept their scripts secret and rehearsed sometimes in their bathrooms," Surin said.

In Kuala Lumpur in 2006, Rice performed a classical piano piece and Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso made an appearance as Humphrey Bogart.

Copyright © 2008 The Jakarta Post - PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved.