Win U$20,000 and Be Part of History

On Sunday, 2007-November-25, I wrote the A Citizen's Summary of the 1st ASEAN Constitution and gave suggestions about the ASEAN Anthem which according to Article 40: ASEAN shall have an anthem – meaning that we do not have an Anthem yet. Some people have mistaken the ASEAN Hymn Song of Unity and ASEAN Community Song Let Us Move Ahead as the ASEAN Anthem, however, the ASEAN Charter says otherwise.

ASEAN Hymn: Song of Unity

ASEAN Community Song: Let Us Move Ahead

Article 40: ASEAN Anthem

This one, the ‘new’ ASEAN Anthem is still to be written and composed. I strongly suggest to our Secretary-General that you make this an open competition for all ASEAN Citizens. Entries must be recognized as “Asean", not as “Filipino/Philippines", “Singapore", “Laotian", “Khmer", and so on. Then open a fool-proof voting system online and let the people take part in the voting for some percentage. Then the other percentage will be taken from the decision of the high-level and/or top-level ASEAN Ministers.

For the ASEAN Citizens, I suggest you start writing and composing, then gather everyone’s contribution together, I am listening to three ASEAN songs while writing this.

The time has come for all ASEAN Citizens to submit their compositions for the ASEAN Anthem! The winning entry will be played and sung during the ASEAN Flag Raising Ceremony on the 14th ASEAN Summit in Thailand and will receive U$20,000.

Format of Competition

This is an Open Competition - open to all the Nationals of the 10-Member Countries of ASEAN.

Competition Rounds

• 1st Round: National Competition in each member countries. Only 20 compositions will be selected for each country
• 2nd Round: Regional Competition in Thailand in mid 2008-October. Only 20 compositions will be selected
• Final Round: Of the Final-20 Compositions, one will be selected as the Official ASEAN Anthem

Criteria

• Language: English
• The Anthem should incorporate the following elements:
  
  • Should reflect ASEAN Dignity, Coopration, and Solidarity;
  • Reflect ASEAN's diverse culture and ethnicity;
  • The ASEAN Anthem should be an original composition;
  • Must be no longer than 60 seconds

Form of Entries and Timeline

• Entries to be sent with score and sheet music (note and lyrics) with voice and musical instruments (preferably piano) recording submitted on CD;
• Submission of compositions is open from the date the Member Country decides but will be only until 2008-September-20 for all;
• Thailand, as host of the competition, will be responsible for rearrangement of the winning entry, as well as adaptation into a full orchestra version for use at the 14th ASEAN Summit in Thailand in 2008-December
• Entries should be submitted to the ASEAN National Secretariat - visit this Official List to know the address and telephone numbers of your ASEAN National Secretariat

Copyright

The selected composition can be revised and rearranged into the Anthem of ASEAN. The ASEAN Anthem will be the Reserved Copyright of ASEAN.

Prize

The winning composition will receive U$20,000 (Twenty Thousand US Dollars).

ASEAN Composers Forum

We require that National representations to the ASEAN Composers Forum are able to judge on both lyrics and melody of all entries.

Thailand will convene an "ASEAN Composers Forum" consisting of one prominent composer from each Member Countries plus up to three prominent musical experts from a musical institution in a neutral country, in mind 2008-October.

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Sources:

• 14th ASEAN Summit, BANGKOK 2008
• Joint Communique of the 41st ASEAN Ministerial Meeting
• South-East Asian Community comes of age
• ASEAN Anthem Competition
• Asean Anthem Competition
• Competition to look for an ASEAN anthem
• The ASEAN Charter - Bulleted Summary
• A Citizen's Summary of the 1st ASEAN Constitution

VietNam, 6th Country to Ratify the ASEAN Charter

==Ratification of the Asean Charter==
For the 1st Asean Charter to become legally binding, it has been agreed upon that all ten member nations must ratify the Charter before the next ASEAN Summit this December 2008. The Charter will become effective on the 30th day after the 10th "Instrument of Ratification" has been submitted to the ASEAN Secretary-General, Dr. Surin Pitsuwan.



To date, the following countries ratified and submitted the "Instrument of Ratification":


Remember what I said before in this post: 5th Country to Ratify the ASEAN Charter?

The next five that will ratify it are (in the following order of my prediction): VietNam, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Myanmar.

VietNam ratified the ASEAN Charter last March 6th and submitted the Intrument of Ratification on March 14th. It was signed by VietNam President Nguyen Minh Triet and submitted to ASEAN and the Foreign Ministers of member countries by VietNam Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem.

Four countries left, namely - Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, and Myanmar. With the recent developments, I am more inclined that Thailand will ratify the Charter before Indonesia. The road for the new ASEAN is getting clearer, and slowly, the heavy burden is being put on the shoulders of Myanmar. The next three countries (Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines) are the founding fathers of ASEAN, if Myanmar ratifies the charter before them, then that will be big news.

Let's all hope for the best!

Member State	Government Ratification	Deposit of Instrument of Ratification	Signed by
Singapore	Tuesday, 2007 December 18	Monday, 2008 January 07	Prime Minister
Brunei Darussalam	Thursday, 2008 January 31	Friday, 2008 February 15	Sultan of Brunei Darussalam
Malaysia	Thursday, 2008 February 14	Wednesday, 2008 February 20	Foreign Minister
Lao PDR	Thursday, 2008 February 14	Wednesday, 2008 February 20	Prime Minister
Cambodia	Tuesday, 2008 February 25	not yet submitted	?
VietNam	Tuesday, 2008 March 06	Friday, 2008 March 14	President

ASEAN Reports 2008-02-18

This first ish are links to reports related to the ASEAN that we found to be interesting for ordinary people like YOU and me. This will be a regular thing, and I call this the "ASEAN Reports". I originally envisioned this on a supposed to be a "group blog" called "ASEAN Citizens" but I'm moving it here.

Next issues could be reports written by YOU, so just submit it to us with the subject "ASEAN Reports". Proper credits will be given. So without further ado:


ASEAN air force chiefs sign declaration of support to address terrorism
Summary: Air Force chiefs from all 10 member natios reaffirmed their commitment to fight terrorism together. They will share information, train together, and keep the communication line open. (Personal note: This could pave way to a real "Asean Air Force (AAF)" sometime in the future.)

Asean capital market forum kicks off today in Hanoi
Quoted: Participants will seek to engender legislations for businesses to issue shares in other countries to facilitate free-flowing capital within a manageable regional framework.

Now, the BEST news I've read today is:
Malaysian agrees to ratify Asean Charter
Summary: Simple, Malaysia is the 2nd member Nation (and one of the founder of ASEAN) to ratify the 1st ASEAN Charter/Constitution. (Personal note: My dear Philippine leaders, please, as one of the founder of ASEAN, and as a respect to our ancestors to whom the idea of a regional body originated, please ratify the Asean Charter!)


That's all for today!

Always remember: ASEAN: One Vision, One Identity, One Community