Title: Attitudes and Awareness toward ASEAN: Findings of a Ten Nation Survey
1Attitudes and Awarenesstoward ASEANFindings of
a Ten Nation Survey
- Conducted by
- Dr. Eric C. Thompson
- National University of Singapore
- Dr. Chulanee Thianthai
- Chulalongkorn University
2Overview
- The history and future of ASEAN
- Our base-line survey attempts to measure
- Attitudes toward ASEAN
- Knowledge about the region and the association
- Orientation toward the region and countries
- Sources of information about the region
- Aspirations for integration and action
- Key findings on a nation-by-nation basis
- Summary of region wide trends
3Subjects
- 2,170 undergraduate university students (1064
male and 1106 female) from leading universities
in each of the ten member nations of ASEAN - A sample of 200-220 students per university
- Average Age 20 years old
4Methods
- September to November 2007
- Survey questionnaires were handed to students
from leading universities
Nation University Language
Brunei Univ. of Brunei Darussalam Bahasa Melayu
Cambodia Royal Univ. Phnom Penh Khmer
Indonesia University of Indonesia Bahasa Indonesia
Laos National Univ. of Laos Lao
Malaysia Univ. of Malaya Bahasa Melayu
Myanmar Distance Education Students Burmese
Philippines University of the Philippines English
Singapore National Univ. of Singapore English
Thailand Chulalongkorn Univ. Thai
Vietnam Vietnam National Univ. (Hanoi) Vietnamese
5Findings Attitudes toward ASEAN
ASEAN-enthusiasm ASEAN- positive attitudes ASEAN- ambivalence ASEAN- skepticism
Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam
Singapore and some other countries
Myanmar
Most common across the region
Responses from Myanmar were Bi-modal Positive
and Skeptical
6Findings Attitudes toward ASEAN
- ASEAN citizenship. Over 75 agreed
- Nearly 90 felt that membership in ASEAN is
beneficial to their nation and nearly 70 felt
it was beneficial to them personally
I feel I am a citizen of ASEAN
Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam Strongest Agreement
Singapore Myanmar Least Agreement
7Findings Attitudes toward ASEAN
- Similarities among ASEAN countries
- Greatest sense of similarity
Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia - Least sense of similarity
Singapore, Brunei, Myanmar, Malaysia
Economically and Politically
Culturally Dissimilar Similar
8Findings Knowledge about the region and the
Association
- Overall, students have a strong knowledge about
the region and Association - How familiar are you with ASEAN ?
- Greatest sense of familiarity
Vietnam, Laos - Least sense of familiarity
Brunei, Singapore, Myanmar
9Findings Knowledge about the region and the
Association
- Students could list nine out of ten ASEAN
countries and identify seven on a map of
Southeast Asia. - Nearly 75 could identify ASEAN flag
- Over 80 in all nations, other than Cambodia
(63), Thailand (38) and Philippines (36) - Nearly 50 could identify year of founding
- Most in Laos, Vietnam, Indonesia
- Least in Thailand and Myanmar
1967
10Findings Orientation toward the region and
countries
- Most Salient Countries Thailand, Malaysia
- Most Familiar Thailand, Singapore
- Sub-regions Mainland, Maritime
- Generally, students are most aware and familiar
with countries in their own sub-region - Within Mainland Southeast Asia, other countries
are more salient than familiar - In other words, students in Mainland nations feel
more familiar with some Maritime countries
(Singapore, Malaysia) than with neighbors
11Findings Orientation toward the region and
countries
- Orientations toward Travel and Work
- Interest in knowing about other ASEAN countries.
In general, over 90 - Strongest in Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Philippines
- Weakest in Myanmar
Category Country Rankings
Travel 1st Singapore, 2nd Thailand, and 3rd Malaysia, 4th Vietnam
Work 1st Singapore, 2nd Malaysia, Brunei, and Thailand
12Findings Sources of informationabout the region
- Primary Sources
- Television, School, Newspapers, Books
- Secondary Sources
- Internet, Radio
- Others Sources
- Sports, Advertising, Friends
- Least Important Sources
- Family, Travel, Movies, Music, Work
13Findings Sources of informationabout the region
- Notable Trends
- Everywhere, Internet rated less important than
television and newspapers - Importance of Internet reveals a linguistic bias
(rather than wealth bias) - Media environments differ, for example Radio is
especially important in Cambodia, Vietnam and
Laos but not so elsewhere
14Findings Aspirations for integration and action
- Economic Cooperation
- Tourism
- Development Assistance
- Educational Exchange
- Security and Military Cooperation
- Sports
- Cultural Exchange
- Political Cooperation
Most Important to Least Important Aspects of
Integration and Cooperation As ranked by Strong
Agreement of students across the region
15Findings Aspirations for integration and action
- Issues Crucial to Cooperation and Awareness
- Most important
- Poverty Reduction
- Education Exchange and Improvements
- Science and Technology Development
- Moderately important
- Natural Resource and Environmental Management
- Low importance
- Cultural Preservation and Promotion
16Findings Aspirations for integration and action
- Issues Crucial to Cooperation and Awareness
- Notable variations across the region
- Health and Disease Control
- High importance in nations seeing it as a threat
(Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore) but low were
problems are endemic (Vietnam, Cambodia) - Science and Technology Development
- Very low importance in Singapore, but high
elsewhere - Disaster Prevention and Relief Regional Identity
and Solidarity also highly variable
17National Summaries
- Brunei Students knowledge of the region is very
good. Attitudes are mostly positive, sometimes
range toward ambivalence. Brunei remains one of
the least well known countries. - Cambodia Students are among the strongest
ASEAN-enthusiasts. Objective knowledge of the
region somewhat less than elsewhere.
18National Summaries
- Indonesia Generally positive attitudes toward
the region. Responses in the middle range of
those region-wide. Some affinity for Malay-Muslim
neighbors but not to exclusion of the rest of
the region. - Laos Among the strongest ASEAN-enthusiasts and
strongest objective knowledge of ASEAN.
19National Summaries
- Malaysia Generally positive attitudes toward
ASEAN, with some ambivalence. Overall in the
middle-range of region-wide responses. - Myanmar Evidence of two distinct attitudes
Skepticism among a substantial minority,
generally positive attitudes among the majority.
Weaker knowledge of ASEAN relative to the
regional average.
20National Summaries
- Philippines Relatively weak knowledge of the
region and Association but generally positive
attitude and interest about the region. - Singapore Trend of ambivalence toward the
region. Least likely to see ASEAN members as
similar least likely to see themselves as
citizens of ASEAN below average knowledge about
the region. But, rate the benefit of their
nations membership highly. Singapore also the
most desirable destination for travel and work.
21National Summaries
- Thailand Generally positive attitudes toward the
region and Association. Somewhat strong but
uneven knowledge about the region and
Association. - Vietnam Among the strongest ASEAN-enthusiast and
most knowledgeable about the region and
Association. Some evidence of Vietnams emergence
as a site for work and travel (but still less
than Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Brunei)
22General Summary
- ASEAN is in potential if not in fact, more than a
diplomatic talking shop - Students display
- High knowledge about ASEAN
- Positive attitudes toward ASEAN
- Consider themselves Citizens of ASEAN
- Strongest ASEAN-enthusiasm among the newest,
least-affluent members (with the exception of
Myanmar)
23General Summary
- Trend to associate up and dissociate down
- Trend to see region as a threat in Malaysia,
Brunei, Singapore but not elsewhere. - Need for greater familiarity among Mainland
nations - However, overall there is a strong trend in
commonality of responses and overall positive
attitude toward ASEAN throughout the region.
24Attitudes and Awarenesstoward ASEANFindings of
a Ten Nation Survey
- Conducted by
- Dr. Eric C. Thompson
- National University of Singapore
- Dr. Chulanee Thianthai
- Chulalongkorn University