Level I

Chapter 8
Reading

English | Vietnamese Section

English | Vietnamese
IC3, IT, TOEFL, Best Answer
Self- and Teacher Evaluation

Topic: Development Partners Đối tác phát triển

Guiding Question

What social and cultural changes accompany development,
and whom do you trust in the development process?

Câu hỏi hướng dẫn:
Những thay đổi về văn hoá xã hội nào đi cùng với phát triển,
Ai là người mà bạn tin tưởng trong quá trình phát triển?

Skills:

 In this chapter you will do these things:

 English Language Skills:

• Development Partner Vocabulary
• Internet Reading Strategies for Academic Purposes
• Previewing a Website (Skimming and Scanning)
• Summarizing the Main Ideas
• Sequencing
• Compare and Contrast
• Primary and Secondary Sources
• Venn Diagram

Vietnamese Language Skills:

• Reading Quotations and Discussion

English Language Lesson

Back to Top

Introductory Motivation and Focus: Reading and/or activity for motivation:

There are 6 boxes below. Each box explains what development work an international development organization does in countries around the world. Some of these organizations are Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and some are International Government Organizations (IGOs).

Exercise Part One: Divide into 6 small groups. Each group will be given one of the boxes below. Feel free to click on the website and explore it further. Your task is to summarize the following questions:

1. What development work does this organization do? List the work.
2. How do they do their work?
3. Does this organization have partners in the country where it does its work—in the host country? List the kinds of partners the organization works with.
4. Who benefits from the work of these organizations?

After each box is a list of vocabulary and word phrases. It may help your small group to discuss the vocabulary first. Find the words in context and try to define them. Then use other resources such as dictionaries or the organization’s website to more accurately define them.

Group A

What MCC does http://www.mcc.org/about/what/ MCC's development work around the world is in areas such as education, health, agriculture, peace and justice issues, relief work and job creation. Ten Thousand Villages, MCC's Fair Trade store, purchases crafts from developing world artisans and crafts-persons and makes them available for sale in North America. In North America MCC is involved with immigration, refugee assistance, job creation, people with disabilities, offenders and victims of crime and more. MCC offers help, regardless of race, religion or political orientation. As a relatively small agency, MCC serves those who have fallen between the cracks of larger programs. Local partners Wherever possible, MCC works with the regions local partners. Usually these partners are local church groups, women's groups, farmer's cooperatives and government agencies. MCC sees its role as a facilitator, not as a controller of projects and programs. In North America, MCC also works with local agencies; MCC operates few programs of its own, instead placing volunteers with existing agencies.

Vocabulary Group A:

development work job creation fallen between the cracks volunteers

peace and justice issues local partners facilitator

relief work local agencies controller of projects

Group B

Future Generations About Us http://www.future.org/pages/06_about_us/00_aboutus.html Future Generations, founded in 1992, is a nonprofit educational institution that teaches and enables a process of equitable and sustainable community change in four countries:  Afghanistan , China , India and Peru. The process of community change is designed to facilitate three-way partnerships between communities, government and non-government organizations and to scale-up successful community-based programs to the regional or national level. Future Generations formalized its education programs in 2003 by offering a Master's of Arts Degree Program in Applied Community Change and Conservation. The first class of 16 students are community development practitioners from 12 countries: Afghanistan , Australia , Canada , China , Ethiopia , India , Peru , Nepal , Nigeria , Mozambique , United States of America and Zambia . Future Generations' work is founded upon global scholarship.  In the early 1990s, Future Generations worked with two international task forces to investigate successful community change efforts worldwide. Based upon these reviews, Future Generations staff and task force members articulated the key principles, practical steps and evaluation criteria that can be used by communities to create equitable and sustainable futures. This methodology is called SEED-SCALE (Self-Evaluation for Effective Decision-making--Systems for Communities to Adapt Learn and Expand). The SEED-SCALE process continues to be refined through ongoing international research, collaboration and field application in Afghanistan, China, India and Peru and many other countries worldwide. Future Generations international headquarters are located on North Mountain in Pendleton County, West Virginia. Future Generations works closely with communities, organizations and governments worldwide and with country affiliates: Future Generations Afghanistan, Future Generations Peru and Future Generations India.

Vocabulary Group B:

founded (to found) three-way partnership practitioners key principles

non-profit institution scale-up (opposite: scale- down) task force practical steps

equitable and sustainable community change community-based to articulate evaluation criteria

Group C

ASEAN Overview http://www.aseansec.org/64.htm OBJECTIVES The ASEAN Declaration states that the aims and purposes of the Association are: (i) to accelerate the economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region through joint endeavors in the spirit of equality and partnership in order to strengthen the foundation for a prosperous and peaceful community of Southeast Asian nations, and (ii) to promote regional peace and stability through abiding respect for justice and the rule of law in the relationship among countries in the region and adherence to the principles of the United Nations Charter. In 1995, the ASEAN Heads of States and Government re-affirmed that c ooperative peace and shared prosperity shall be the fundamental goals of ASEAN. Southeast Asia The Association represents the collective will of the nations of to bind themselves together in friendship and cooperation and, through joint efforts and sacrifices, secure for their peoples and for posterity the blessings of peace, freedom, and prosperity. (The ASEAN Declaration, Bangkok, 8 August 1967)

Vocabulary Group C:

ASEAN Declaration cultural development regional peace adherence fundamental goals

to accelerate economic growth foundation respect for justice collective will

social progress prosperous and peaceful community rule of law

Group D

INTRODUCTION http://www.oxfamamerica.org/whatwedo/where_we_work/east_asia/background The Mekong is the world's 10th largest river. Rising on the Tibetan plateau and passing through six countries, the Mekong defines Oxfam's work in East Asia. Today, the river's life-sustaining resources are being stretched beyond their limits. Since 1975, the number of absolutely poor people in East Asia fell by more than two-thirds—a rate faster than any other developing region in the world. Still, a huge number of people—more than 450 million—live in poverty. While larger countries like China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, and Burma have the highest numbers of poor people, smaller countries like Cambodia, Lao PDR, and East Timor remain the least developed in Asia.  Oxfam America's East Asia Program focuses on the Mekong River Basin, home to some of the poorest people in the world . Today, the river that is central to 65 million lives is also the center of rapid development. The people who depend on the Mekong stand to lose a great deal. Consider that, of the millions who live in the Mekong basin, the great majority—more than 75 percent—earn a living from agriculture and fisheries and rely directly on the river’s natural resources to survive. It follows that, when those resources are jeopardized, so are the lives that depend on them. In our efforts to assist farmers and fishers throughout the region, Oxfam maintains a special focus on women and ethnic minorities, who suffer the greatest poverty in the region.

Vocabulary Group D:

life-sustaining resource to fall by two-thirds to rely directly on . . . lives that depend on . . .

stretched beyond limits lose a great deal natural resources

absolutely poor great majority to jeopardize

Group E

http://www.craftlink-vietnam.com/ http://www.tenthousandvillages.com/catalog/artisan.detail.php?artisan_id=36 Founded in 1996 by a group of international nongovernmental organizations, Craft Link works with artisans in an effort to generate income, with a focus on ethnic minorities, street children and artisans with disabilities. Founding organizations include Mennonite Central Committee, Oxfam and the Ford Foundation. Today, Craft Link works closely 47 artisan groups, involving 5,000 artisans in northern Vietnam. Craft Link sells artisans' textiles, stone and smoked bamboo handicrafts locally at a shop in Hanoi and exports their handicrafts to fair trade organizations and commercial companies around the world. The organization's goals include cultural preservation, income generation for small Vietnamese artisans and acquiring new markets in a changing economy. Artisans working with Craft Link receive tools, interest free loans, education, training and literacy classes.

Vocabulary Group E:

founded (to found) ethnic minorities fair trade organizations interest free loans

artisans street children commercial companies literacy classes

to generate income disabilities cultural preservation

Group F

UNDP is the UN's global development network, advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life.   UNDP Practices: Democratic Governance, Poverty Reduction, Crisis Prevention and Recovery, Energy and Environment, HIV/AIDS. We are on the ground in 166 countries, working with them on their own solutions to global and national development challenges. As they develop local capacity, they draw on the people of UNDP and our wide range of partners. World leaders have pledged to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, including the overarching goal of cutting poverty in half by 2015. UNDP's network links and coordinates global and national efforts to reach these Goals. Our focus is helping countries build and share solutions to the challenges of: Democratic Governance, Poverty Reduction, Crisis Prevention and Recovery, Energy and Environment, HIV/AIDS. UNDP helps developing countries attract and use aid effectively. In all our activities, we encourage the protection of human rights and the empowerment of women

Vocabulary Group F:

global development network build a better life to draw on overarching goal to attract aid

to advocate on the ground wide range of partners to coordinate empowerment

crisis prevention local capacity to pledge reach these goals

Exercise Part Two: After your group has made summary lists that answer the questions in Part One, each group should pair with another group. First, discuss and teach each other the vocabulary items from your group work. Then, compare the two organizations work by answering the following questions:

• What development concerns, tasks, partners, populations, etc. do both of these organizations have in common? For example, do they both work with women? Do they both address nutritional concerns? Do they both work with similar partners? Make a list of the ways these two organizations are similar.
• How is each organization different from the other? Make a list.

Now fill out the diagram below. The diagram consists of two overlapping circles. In the part where the circles overlap, make a list of how the two organizations are similar. In the parts of the circles that don’t overlap, make a list of how the each organization is different. This is called a Venn Diagram (see Skill B).

Sample Diagram

Two groups fill out this diagram:

Explanation of Reading Study Skill A (Academic Reading Skill):

Internet Reading Strategies for Academic Purposes

(paraphrased from: http://www.teacher.scholastic.com/professional/teachtech/internetreadwrite.htm)

Reading is a complicated process which takes hard work and a lot of practice. Some people think that a person is either a good reader or a bad reader. But strong readers are not smarter, rather they are readers who use strong strategies in their reading. By learning these strategies and practicing everyday, all students can become better readers.

Although there are many skills needed to become a strong reader, we will concentrate on preview information before beginning to read—recognizing the main idea of a reading selection and summarizing what was read (skimming and scanning). We also will work on two text organization skills—sequencing and compare and contrast.

Big Picture Skills	Characteristics
1. Previewing—Skimming /Scanning	The ability to scan titles, subtitles, captions, and pictures to predict the content of written text.
2. Main Idea/ Summarization	The ability to find the main idea in text and summarize what was read.
Text Organization Skills
3. Sequencing	The ability to recognize the order of events in a story or informational piece.
4. Compare and Contrast	The ability to compare and contrast events, characters, and stories.

Another goal for students is to become engaged readers—readers who enjoy reading, can comprehend and interpret what is read, and read widely for pleasure and information.

Use the Internet to learn these skills!

Previewing--Skimming

Many strong readers approach reading materials with background information and ideas long before they read the first sentence. Even without much background knowledge, a strong reader will glance over materials, skim titles and subtitles, and examine pictures and graphs. So far, we have learned to do this when reading articles and essays. On the internet, reading with strong previewing skills will enhance your search because the Web has so much information. Students must become better judges for what is of value. No one can read all that is available on the internet, so having the ability to pick and choose those things of value is important. Learning to preview quickly is also important.

In previous chapters we have discussed the writer’s point of view or bias. Websites often have links that describe the writer or the organization sponsoring the site. It is good to look at this link to be aware of the point of view or bias of those producing the site.

Internet sites frequently list main topics and subtopics as hot links from a main index page or within a document, another opportunity for reinforcing previewing skills.

Main Idea and Summarization—Scanning

After skimming the website, scan the site for the main idea. There are often clues that help students find the main idea. Since Web sites are frequently organized around chunks of information, finding the main idea requires students to do some higher-order thinking and synthesizing of ideas.

Look for identifying key ideas as a preliminary step to finding the main idea. If a Web page has specific topic areas, examine these topics for clues to the main idea of the text. Look for signal words in the titles such as “Introduction” or “Overview” from the site home page, as well as signal words within the text such as: therefore, in conclusion, and in summary.

Once students have grasped the main idea of a site or a piece of text within the site, practice summarizing what was read. Start with the topic of the reading and add only the most important supporting details.

Sequencing

A story or factual account is often written using a sequence or order of information. Let us find a Web page describing a historical event and we can discuss the chronology of the event. Go to http://www.aseansec.org/7069.htm for an historical account of the founding of ASEAN. (Look to the reading section below for a printout of this section of the website). Look for signal words to recognize the sequencing being used. Examples of sequencing signal words include: first, next, then, before, after, when, now, as, initially, not long after, and finally.

Nonfiction material can be sequenced in many ways. For example, paragraphs can be written using a chronological order, written in a sequence of importance, or provide a list. Students can begin to work with the concept of sequencing by recognizing simple sequences in real life, for example the sequence of their typical day. Then move into recognizing sequences in nonfiction material.

Personal Sequence Story(Chronological Order): I first woke up this morning at 6:30, but I wanted to snooze a bit, so I slept for 15 more minutes. Then I got up and got dressed. Next, I brushed my teeth, washed my face and hands, and combed my hair. Finally, I fixed my bed, gathered my books and left my dormitory to find some breakfast on the street.  

From the ASEAN article below, notice the signal words: It was while Thailand was brokering reconciliation among Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia over certain disputes that it dawned on the four countries that the moment for regional cooperation had come or the future of the region would remain uncertain. Recalls one of the two surviving protagonists of that historic process, Thanat Khoman of Thailand: "At the banquet marking the reconciliation between the three disputants, I broached the idea of forming another organization for regional cooperation with Adam Malik. Malik agreed without hesitation but asked for time to talk with his government and also to normalize relations with Malaysia now that the confrontation was over. Meanwhile, the Thai Foreign Office prepared a draft charter of the new institution. Within a few months, everything was ready. I therefore invited the two former members of the Association for Southeast Asia (ASA), Malaysia and the Philippines, and Indonesia, a key member, to a meeting in Bangkok. In addition, Singapore sent S. Rajaratnam, then Foreign Minister, to see me about joining the new set-up. Although the new organization was planned to comprise only the ASA members plus Indonesia, Singapore's request was favorably considered."

Compare and Contrast

Perhaps without being fully aware of it, students compare and contrast while they read. A compare and contrast reading strategy is well-supported by the internet. When students search through multiple websites for information, they compare and contrast the websites and judge these websites according to their needs and objectives. In the introductory exercise, students were engaged in comparisons and contrasts as they created the Venn Diagrams.

This exercise not only allows the students to practice the specific skill of comparing and contrasting, but also to become more critical readers and consumers of information. As they make comparisons and note contrasts, students also begin to evaluate the quality and reliability of different source materials. They discover how primary and secondary sources offer different information and perspectives on the same events, and they observe for themselves the relevance of point of view and author's purpose.

Note: Primary and Secondary Sources Primary Sources: Primary sources are the "materials on a topic upon which subsequent interpretations or studies are based, anything from firsthand documents such as poems, diaries, court records, and interviews to research results generated by experiments, surveys, ethnographies, and so on."* Primary sources are records of events as they are first described, without any interpretation or commentary. They are also sets of data, such as census statistics, which have been tabulated, but not interpreted. Secondary Sources: Secondary sources, on the other hand, offer an analysis or a restatement of primary sources. They often attempt to describe or explain primary sources. Some secondary sources not only analyze primary sources, but use them to argue a contention or to persuade the reader to hold a certain opinion. Examples of secondary sources include: dictionaries, encyclopedias, textbooks, and books and articles that interpret or review research works. Examples of primary and secondary sources: Primary Source Secondary Source Art Original artwork Article critiquing the piece of art History A diary from a soldier Book about the War Literature Poem An essay about the poem Political Science Trade Agreement Essay on the Trade Agreement Theatre Videotape of a performance Biography of a playwright *From Hairston, Maxine and John J. Ruszkiewicz. The Scott, Foresman Handbook for Writers. 4th ed. New York : HarperCollins College Publishers, 1996, pg. 547

Exercises and Activities for Skill A: Copied here is a page from a website. This will be used for the exercises below.

Future Generations, Introduction Integrated Approach , Research         C O N T E N T S INTRODUCTION INTEGRATED APPROACH Research Demonstrate Teach ACHIEVEMENTS ACADEMIC PRO GRAMS COUNTRY PROGRAM PROCESS OF CHANGE LEARNING CENTER ABOUT US NEWS FUN ITEMS Research Community-based work is full of challenges. Questions include: How to do it? What lessons have been learned? Are there key elements that contribute to successes? How to sustain community programs and scale them up to the regional or national level? How to build a global network of successful communities that can teach others? To answer these questions, Future Generations builds upon global scholarship and draws upon a century of experience. In the early 1990s, Future Generations worked with two international task forces that researched the successes of community change. A pattern emerged from this global experience, a pattern long functioning but not fully articulated. This pattern of community change was named SEED-SCALE, Self-Evaluation for Effective Decision-making—Systems for Communities to Adapt Learning and Expand. Based on a review of global evidence, SEED-SCALE offers key principles, practical steps, and evaluation criteria that can be used by communities worldwide.  It also shows how to sustain community change and how pilot projects can become regional action learning and experimentation sites that train more communities.  The pattern of SEED-SCALE was first presented in two monographs at the 1995 United Nations Summit in Copenhagen. It has been further articulated in the book, Just and Lasting Change: When Communities Own Their Futures. It continues to be refined through ongoing research and application in diverse, international field sites. More information on the SEED-SCALE process of community change is found on the following section: <Process of Change>

Exercise #1: Preview or Skim/Scan the Website. (Feel free to use the internet and explore the site further) Answer the following questions and discuss in class:

• What is this website about?
• What are the different parts of the page?
• Who would find this website of value?
• What is the main idea of this page?
• What other questions would you, the reader, have about this website?
• Would you be able to find answers to your questions on this website?
• Summarize what this page of the website is about.
• In the introductory section of this chapter—in the second box, is the “About Us” section of this website. Who are the people of Future Generations? What is their point of view or bias?

Exercise #2 Sequencing: What is the sequencing of this website? Sequencing can be paragraphs written using a chronological order, written in a sequence of importance, or by a providing a list. Other kinds of sequences may come to mind. Discuss the sequences found in this website.

Exercise #3: ASEAN: Quickly Reading the History.

On the ASEAN website can be found this article on The Founding of ASEAN. It is a lengthy article, but to quickly understand its value and usefulness, you do not need to read the entire article.

1. Preview the article by skimming and scanning it. To help you do this, answer the following questions:

• Skim the article (read first and last paragraphs, read the first line of each paragraph). What is this webpage about? What is the main idea?
• What is the sequence of the article?
• If you were researching Vietnam’s history as a member of ASEAN, would this article be useful? Why or why not?
• What other questions would you, the reader, have about this website?
• Summarize what this page of the website is about.

Reading :  

 

The Founding of ASEAN

http://www.aseansec.org/7069.htm

On 8 August 1967, five leaders - the Foreign Ministers of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand - sat down together in the main hall of the Department of Foreign Affairs building in Bangkok, Thailand and signed a document. By virtue of that document, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was born. The five Foreign Ministers who signed it - Adam Malik of Indonesia, Narciso R. Ramos of the Philippines, Tun Abdul Razak of Malaysia, S. Rajaratnam of Singapore, and Thanat Khoman of Thailand - would subsequently be hailed as the Founding Fathers of probably the most successful inter-governmental organization in the developing world today. And the document that they signed would be known as the ASEAN Declaration.

It was a short, simply-worded document containing just five articles. It declared the establishment of an Association for Regional Cooperation among the Countries of Southeast Asia to be known as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and spelled out the aims and purposes of that Association. These aims and purposes were about cooperation in the economic, social, cultural, technical, educational and other fields, and in the promotion of regional peace and stability through abiding respect for justice and the rule of law and adherence to the principles of the United Nations Charter. It stipulated that the Association would be open for participation by all States in the Southeast Asian region subscribing to its aims, principles and purposes. It proclaimed ASEAN as representing "the collective will of the nations of Southeast Asia to bind themselves together in friendship and cooperation and, through joint efforts and sacrifices, secure for their peoples and for posterity the blessings of peace, freedom and prosperity."

It was while Thailand was brokering reconciliation among Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia over certain disputes that it dawned on the four countries that the moment for regional cooperation had come or the future of the region would remain uncertain. Recalls one of the two surviving protagonists of that historic process, Thanat Khoman of Thailand: "At the banquet marking the reconciliation between the three disputants, I broached the idea of forming another organization for regional cooperation with Adam Malik. Malik agreed without hesitation but asked for time to talk with his government and also to normalize relations with Malaysia now that the confrontation was over. Meanwhile, the Thai Foreign Office prepared a draft charter of the new institution. Within a few months, everything was ready. I therefore invited the two former members of the Association for Southeast Asia (ASA), Malaysia and the Philippines, and Indonesia, a key member, to a meeting in Bangkok. In addition, Singapore sent S. Rajaratnam, then Foreign Minister, to see me about joining the new set-up. Although the new organization was planned to comprise only the ASA members plus Indonesia, Singapore's request was favorably considered."

And so in early August 1967, the five Foreign Ministers spent four days in the relative isolation of a beach resort in Bang Saen, a coastal town less than a hundred kilometers southeast of Bangkok. There they negotiated over that document in a decidedly informal manner which they would later delight in describing as "sports-shirt diplomacy." Yet it was by no means an easy process: each man brought into the deliberations a historical and political perspective that had no resemblance to that of any of the others. But with goodwill and good humor, as often as they huddled at the negotiating table, they finessed their way through their differences as they lined up their shots on the golf course and traded wisecracks on one another's game, a style of deliberation which would eventually become the ASEAN ministerial tradition.

Now, with the rigors of negotiations and the informalities of Bang Saen behind them, with their signatures neatly attached to the ASEAN Declaration, also known as the Bangkok Declaration, it was time for some formalities. The first to speak was the Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Narciso Ramos, a one-time journalist and long-time legislator who had given up a chance to be Speaker of the Philippine Congress to serve as one of his country's first diplomats. He was then 66 years old and his only son, the future President Fidel V. Ramos, was serving with the Philippine Civic Action Group in embattled Vietnam. He recalled the tediousness of the negotiations that preceded the signing of the Declaration that "truly taxed the goodwill, the imagination, the patience and understanding of the five participating Ministers." That ASEAN was established at all in spite of these difficulties, he said, meant that its foundations had been solidly laid. And he impressed it on the audience of diplomats, officials and media people who had witnessed the signing ceremony that a great sense of urgency had prompted the Ministers to go through all that trouble. He spoke darkly of the forces that were arrayed against the survival of the countries of Southeast Asia in those uncertain and critical times.

"The fragmented economies of Southeast Asia," he said, "(with) each country pursuing its own limited objectives and dissipating its meager resources in the overlapping or even conflicting endeavors of sister states carry the seeds of weakness in their incapacity for growth and their self-perpetuating dependence on the advanced, industrial nations. ASEAN, therefore, could marshal the still untapped potentials of this rich region through more substantial united action."

When it was his turn to speak, Adam Malik, Presidium Minister for Political Affairs and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Indonesia, recalled that about a year before, in Bangkok, at the conclusion of the peace talks between Indonesia and Malaysia, he had explored the idea of an organization such as ASEAN with his Malaysian and Thai counterparts. One of the "angry young men" in his country's struggle for independence two decades earlier, Adam Malik was then 50 years old and one of a Presidium of five led by then General Soeharto that was steering Indonesia from the verge of economic and political chaos. He was the Presidium's point man in Indonesia's efforts to mend fences with its neighbors in the wake of an unfortunate policy of confrontation. During the past year, he said, the Ministers had all worked together toward the realization of the ASEAN idea, "making haste slowly, in order to build a new association for regional cooperation."

Adam Malik went on to describe Indonesia's vision of a Southeast Asia developing into "a region which can stand on its own feet, strong enough to defend itself against any negative influence from outside the region." Such a vision, he stressed, was not wishful thinking, if the countries of the region effectively cooperated with each other, considering their combined natural resources and manpower. He referred to differences of outlook among the member countries, but those differences, he said, would be overcome through a maximum of goodwill and understanding, faith and realism. Hard work, patience and perseverance, he added, would also be necessary.

The countries of Southeast Asia should also be willing to take responsibility for whatever happens to them, according to Tun Abdul Razak, the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, who spoke next. In his speech, he conjured a vision of an ASEAN that would include all the countries of Southeast Asia. Tun Abdul Razak was then concurrently his country's Minister of Defence and Minister of National Development. It was a time when national survival was the overriding thrust of Malaysia's relations with other nations and so as Minister of Defence, he was in charge of his country's foreign affairs. He stressed that the countries of the region should recognize that unless they assumed their common responsibility to shape their own destiny and to prevent external intervention and interference, Southeast Asia would remain fraught with danger and tension. And unless they took decisive and collective action to prevent the eruption of intra-regional conflicts, the nations of Southeast Asia would remain susceptible to manipulation, one against another.

"We the nations and peoples of Southeast Asia," Tun Abdul Razak said, "must get together and form by ourselves a new perspective and a new framework for our region. It is important that individually and jointly we should create a deep awareness that we cannot survive for long as independent but isolated peoples unless we also think and act together and unless we prove by deeds that we belong to a family of Southeast Asian nations bound together by ties of friendship and goodwill and imbued with our own ideals and aspirations and determined to shape our own destiny". He added that, "with the establishment of ASEAN, we have taken a firm and a bold step on that road".

For his part, S. Rajaratnam, a former Minister of Culture of multi-cultural Singapore who, at that time, served as its first Foreign Minister, noted that two decades of nationalist fervor had not fulfilled the expectations of the people of Southeast Asia for better living standards. If ASEAN would succeed, he said, then its members would have to marry national thinking with regional thinking.

"We must now think at two levels," Rajaratnam said. "We must think not only of our national interests but posit them against regional interests: that is a new way of thinking about our problems. And these are two different things and sometimes they can conflict. Secondly, we must also accept the fact, if we are really serious about it, that regional existence means painful adjustments to those practices and thinking in our respective countries. We must make these painful and difficult adjustments. If we are not going to do that, then regionalism remains a utopia."

S. Rajaratnam expressed the fear, however, that ASEAN would be misunderstood. "We are not against anything", he said, "not against anybody". And here he used a term that would have an ominous ring even today: balkanization. In Southeast Asia, as in Europe and any part of the world, he said, outside powers had a vested interest in the balkanization of the region. "We want to ensure," he said, "a stable Southeast Asia, not a balkanized Southeast Asia. And those countries who are interested, genuinely interested, in the stability of Southeast Asia, the prosperity of Southeast Asia, and better economic and social conditions, will welcome small countries getting together to pool their collective resources and their collective wisdom to contribute to the peace of the world."

The goal of ASEAN, then, is to create, not to destroy. This, the Foreign Minister of Thailand, Thanat Khoman, stressed when it was his turn to speak. At a time when the Vietnam conflict was raging and American forces seemed forever entrenched in Indochina, he had foreseen their eventual withdrawal from the area and had accordingly applied himself to adjusting Thailand's foreign policy to a reality that would only become apparent more than half a decade later. He must have had that in mind when, on that occasion, he said that the countries of Southeast Asia had no choice but to adjust to the exigencies of the time, to move toward closer cooperation and even integration. Elaborating on ASEAN objectives, he spoke of "building a new society that will be responsive to the needs of our time and efficiently equipped to bring about, for the enjoyment and the material as well as spiritual advancement of our peoples, conditions of stability and progress. Particularly what millions of men and women in our part of the world want is to erase the old and obsolete concept of domination and subjection of the past and replace it with the new spirit of give and take, of equality and partnership. More than anything else, they want to be master of their own house and to enjoy the inherent right to decide their own destiny ..."

While the nations of Southeast Asia prevent attempts to deprive them of their freedom and sovereignty, he said, they must first free themselves from the material impediments of ignorance, disease and hunger. Each of these nations cannot accomplish that alone, but by joining together and cooperating with those who have the same aspirations, these objectives become easier to attain. Then Thanat Khoman concluded: "What we have decided today is only a small beginning of what we hope will be a long and continuous sequence of accomplishments of which we ourselves, those who will join us later and the generations to come, can be proud. Let it be for Southeast Asia, a potentially rich region, rich in history, in spiritual as well as material resources and indeed for the whole ancient continent of Asia, the light of happiness and well-being that will shine over the uncounted millions of our struggling peoples."

The Foreign Minister of Thailand closed the inaugural session of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations by presenting each of his colleagues with a memento. Inscribed on the memento presented to the Foreign Minister of Indonesia, was the citation, "In recognition of services rendered by His Excellency Adam Malik to the ASEAN organization, the name of which was suggested by him."

And that was how ASEAN was conceived, given a name, and born. It had been barely 14 months since Thanat Khoman brought up the ASEAN idea in his conversations with his Malaysian and Indonesian colleagues. In about three more weeks, Indonesia would fully restore diplomatic relations with Malaysia, and soon after that with Singapore. That was by no means the end to intra-ASEAN disputes, for soon the Philippines and Malaysia would have a falling out on the issue of sovereignty over Sabah. Many disputes between ASEAN countries persist to this day. But all Member Countries are deeply committed to resolving their differences through peaceful means and in the spirit of mutual accommodation. Every dispute would have its proper season but it would not be allowed to get in the way of the task at hand. And at that time, the essential task was to lay the framework of regional dialogue and cooperation.

The two-page Bangkok Declaration not only contains the rationale for the establishment of ASEAN and its specific objectives. It represents the organization’s modus operandi of building on small steps, voluntary, and informal arrangements towards more binding and institutionalized agreements. All the founding member states and the newer members have stood fast to the spirit of the Bangkok Declaration. Over the years, ASEAN has progressively entered into several formal and legally-binding instruments, such as the 1976 Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia and the 1995 Treaty on the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone.

Against the backdrop of conflict in the then Indochina, the Founding Fathers had the foresight of building a community of and for all Southeast Asian states. Thus the Bangkok Declaration promulgated that “the Association is open for participation to all States in the Southeast Asian region subscribing to the aforementioned aims, principles and purposes.” ASEAN’s inclusive outlook has paved the way for community-building not only in Southeast Asia, but also in the broader Asia Pacific region where several other inter-governmental organizations now co-exist.

The original ASEAN logo presented five brown sheaves of rice stalks, one for each founding member. Beneath the sheaves is the legend "ASEAN" in blue. These are set on a field of yellow encircled by a blue border. Brown stands for strength and stability, yellow for prosperity and blue for the spirit of cordiality in which ASEAN affairs are conducted. When ASEAN celebrated its 30th Anniversary in 1997, the sheaves on the logo had increased to ten - representing all ten countries of Southeast Asia and reflecting the colors of the flags of all of them. In a very real sense, ASEAN and Southeast Asia would then be one and the same, just as the Founding Fathers had envisioned.

This article is based on the first chapter of ASEAN at 30, a publication of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in commemoration of its 30th Anniversary on 8 August 1997, written by Jamil Maidan Flores and Jun Abad.

Further readings in ASEAN History:

Thanat Khoman, "ASEAN Conception and Evolution", in the ASEAN Reader, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, 1992.

S. Rajaratnam, "ASEAN: The Way Ahead", in The ASEAN Reader, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore, 1992.

Exercises and Activities for Skill A:

Exercise #4: For Discussion—Whom Do You Trust?

Throughout this chapter, students have been practicing previewing, summarizing, and making comparisons between websites. Explore these websites further using these reading strategies. You may want to explore other NGOs or IGOs you’ve heard about who work in your region of Vietnam or whom you have heard about in current and global affairs. This website, http://www.ngocentre.netnam.vn/cgi/master.asp lists all the NGOs working in Vietnam presently. Explore their websites, or if you do not have access to the internet, use the materials offered in this chapter and answer these questions:

• What are the characteristics of a good development partner?
• Who chooses Vietnam’s development partners?
• Whom do you trust as Vietnam’s development partner(s)?
• ­­­

Explanation of Reading Study Skill B:

Venn Diagram

http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/score/actbank/tvenn.htm

The Venn Diagram is made up of two or more overlapping circles. It is often used in mathematics to show relationships between sets. In language arts instruction, Venn Diagrams are useful for examining similarities and differences in characters, stories, poems, etc.

It is frequently used as a prewriting activity to enable students to organize thoughts or textual quotations prior to writing a compare/contrast essay. This activity enables students to organize similarities and differences visually.

Exercises and Activities for Reading Study Skill B (comprehension):

Exercise #3 Compare and Contrast: On the Internet, find two homepages for NGOs or IGOs. You may use one of the organizations used in the introductory section of this chapter (all websites are indicated), or you may find other organizations by using a search engine such as Google. Use search words such as “Vietnam Development” or “Mekong River Delta Development” or words for specific development questions you may have. Some examples of specific development questions may include: agricultural rice development, cultural development, poverty eradication programs, educational development, etc. If you wish to specify your search to Vietnam or the Mekong Delta or Red River Delta, etc., be sure to use those locations as search words. For a list of NGOs working in Vietnam presently, go to http://www.ngocentre.netnam.vn/cgi/master.asp.

Compare and contrast the websites by filling in the Venn Diagram below These question may help you find the similarities and differences:

1. What characteristics can we compare and contrast from these two sites?
2. How are these two sites alike?
3. In terms of the most important qualities, are these two Web sites more alike, or more different?

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