Language Matters | Speaking in tongues: why Asean members stick to English
Why the 50-year-old association, whose 10 members encompass 1,000 dialects, continue to converse in a foreign language
Tuesday marks the 50th anniversary of Asean – the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Formed in 1967 and at the time incorporating Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, the body has since added Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam to now boast 10 member states. The regional political and economic entity is of such significance that a World Economic Forum on Asean was convened recently and the future of the association was discussed, with particular regard to the new global order, connectivity and youth.
The absence of language issues on the agenda was – for some of us – slightly curious.
Asean, with 630 million people within its geographic footprint, is characterised by diversity. Its charter seeks to promote an Asean identity by fostering greater awareness of the region, its 14 principles including “respect for the different cultures, languages and religions of the peoples in Asean, while emphasising their common values in the spirit of unity in diversity”.
Different languages indeed. Some 1,000 are spoken in Asean territory – there are reportedly 726 across the Indonesian archipelago, about 150 in the Philippines, 130 or so in Malaysia, 84 in Laos and 73 in Thailand, just to mention the countries with the most languages. Member states have between one and four official languages, collectively including English, Filipino, Indonesian, Khmer, Lao, Malay, Putonghua, Burmese, Spanish, Tamil, Thai and Vietnamese.