Birth of Asean: a pivotal point in Southeast Asia

"The name sounded good to me, like a crescent moon covering the entire Southeast Asia," Sompong disclosed yesterday at the seaside resort town of Cha-am. "But [then-Indonesian foreign minister] Adam Malik suddenly said the acronym did not sound nice in Malay. And suggested: 'Why don't we use Asean instead. It sounds better'. And everybody agreed immediately."

So, Asean was born on August 8, 1967.

"We give birth to the concept of resilience," Sompong said, adding that Asean had the quality of improving on its mistakes.

Thailand's then-foreign minister Thanat Khoman, Philippine's foreign secretary Marciso Ramos, Singapore foreign minister Sinnathamby Rajaratnam, Indonesia's Adam Malik and Malaysian deputy prime minister Tengu Abdul Razak signed the document, establishing the region's most powerful grouping on August 8 at Saranrom Palace, the former home of the Foreign Ministry.

Sompong, one of Thanat's closest aides, said two ministers from Sri Lanka were waiting in an adjacent room at the Lam Taen meeting. "I remember one was an economics minister. He waited there anxiously for a signal to join the discussion but it never came.

"It was Rajaratnam who was against the inclusion of Sri Lanka," the 75-year-old retired professor said.

"He argued that the country's domestic situation was unstable and that there would be trouble. Not good for a new organisation."

Rajaratnam, of Tamil descent, was born in Sri Lanka but moved to Malaya with his father shortly thereafter.

Thailand and the other founding members did not voice any opposition to Sri Lanka.

"Indeed, we would have welcomed Sri Lanka as a member. If you look at the map, it's not far from Southeast Asia. It is also a Buddhist nation," Sompong explained.

But the idea of having all 10 Southeast Asian nations together was always at the back of the founders' minds - even though, at that time, the region was divided into three sections: non-communist Southeast Asia, communist Indochina and isolated Burma.

"We knew in our hearts that they would all be part of Asean one day. That is why, towards the end of the Bangkok Declaration, we invited all Southeast Asian countries to join," he explained.

The expansion of Asean began in 1984, when Brunei joined, followed by Vietnam in 1995 and Burma and Laos in 1997. Cambodia signed up in 1999.

It is interesting to note that East Timor has expressed a strong interest to join Asean in 2012. If that happens, it will be Asean's 11th member. Will the grouping expand any further? A few years ago, Papua New Guinea, which has been an Asean observer since 1986, expressed the desire to join but was turned down.

Sompong said all the credit should be given to Thanat for forging the idea of a regional organisation, following years of conflict and disturbance among neighbouring countries. Thanat, the only surviving signatory, was unavailable for comment due to poor health.

The so-called konfrontasi between Indonesia and Malaysia and the crisis between Malaysia and the Philippines was still fresh in people's memories.

"Thailand was in a position to move forward and work for the creation of Asean," Sompong said. "We were an independent nation and had friendships with all non-communist neighbours. They liked to use the good offices of Thailand."

Asean was preceded by an organisation called the Association of Southeast Asia, or ASA, an alliance consisting of the Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand, which was formed in 1961 but was disbanded a year later. "We were able to persuade Indonesia, which had just emerged from the crisis of 1965, to become part of Asean," he said.

Indonesia had a 120-million strong population at the time, a mammoth country.

Sompong recalled Thanat asking him to put together a draft of the declaration, which was then sent to all original members. Indonesia was the only country to make amendments, all pertaining to foreign military bases. At that time, all members including Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand had foreign bases and were signatories of Western military alliances.

In retrospect, Sompong said, Asean has progressed at the right pace, without imposing rapid changes on its members.

"The Bangkok Declaration had everything," he said.

After 42 years, across the Gulf of Thailand from Lam Taen in Cha-am, Sompong will today join his former colleagues to witness the opening ceremony of the 14th Asean summit. By his side will be retired Thai diplomat Saowanit Kongsiri, retired Filipino diplomat Rosario Manalo, and Malaysia's Zainal Abidin Sulong. The current Asean secretary-general, Surin Pitsuwan, has also invited three of his predecessors, namely Ajit Singh from Malaysia, who oversaw Asean from 1992 to 1997, Rodolfo Severino of the Philippines (1998-2002) and Ong Keng Yong of Singapore (2003-2007) to commemorate the occasion.