(Published in Zamboanga Today on 15 September 2008; posted in http://www.zambotoday.com and http://southernphilippines.blogspot.com)

 The two-week journalism course that I recently completed in Jakarta is one of those challenging and definitely great learning episodes.  Today’s feature sums up the experience, and brushes aside questions on where I had been, and perhaps speculations on alleged resignation from Zamboanga Today—a thought I wouldn’t even entertain, especially since I’ve been part of the newspaper a year since it was born. 

Indeed, this is an overdue semi-travelogue from an alumna of the International Institute for Journalism of InWEnt, whose “professional schooling” so to speak, on Reporting on Regional Integration in Southeast Asia—History, Institutions and Policies of ASEAN, was made possible by the Federal Foreign Office on behalf of the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Sixteen Smiles

There were 16 of us in the class—myself of Zamboanga Today and Allen Sam Estabillo of MindaNews from the Philippines; Boon Eong Leslie Koh and Kian Beng Kor of The Straits Times from Singapore; Muhammad Khairul Anwar Ismail of The Borneo Post from Brunei Darusallam; Meysan Sotheary of Women’s Media Centre of Cambodia, Nhean Moeun of The Cambodian Scene Magazine, and Samnang Bo of APSARA TV and Radio Station from Cambodia; Phonesavanh Sangsomboun of Vientiane Times and the Lao Press in Foreign Languages from Laos; Nguyen Thi Thu Huyen of Vietnam Business Forum Magazine, Vu Thu Ha of Viet Nam News, and Pham Vu Van of Thanhnien Newspaper from Vietnam; Herning Banirestu of Swa Magazine, Masjidi Amin of Hidayatullah Magazine, and Trufi Murdiani of Radar Lampung from Indonesia; and Kittipong Thavevong of The Nation from Thailand.

The organizer, InWEnt, sent who I would describe as its well-chosen ambassadress, Alexandra Klawitter all the way from Frankfurt, Germany, and she was assisted in Indonesia by Ikram Putra of The Jakarta Post.  Both were splendidly organized and most helpful to the letter.

The Course

The two-week training course was for journa­lists from print and online media based in Member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).  The IIJ programme is “conducted in co-operation with the ASEAN Secretariat and is part of a capacity building project that aims at strengthening the process of regional integration and the role of the ASEAN Secretariat as a coor­dinating institution to help facilitate effective decision-ma­king within and amongst ASEAN bodies… In addition, the programme enables the exchange of jour­nalists from various ASEAN member states and gives the opportunity for regional and national networking. It lays the foundation for a further component of an IIJ alumni programme focusing on issues of regional integration.” (Source:  InWEnt)

InWEnt – Qualified to Shape the Future

“InWEnt – Capacity Building International, Germany, is a non-profit organisation with worldwide operations dedica­ted to human resource development, advanced training, and dialogue. Our capacity building programmes are direc­ted at experts and executives from politics, administration, the business community, and civil society.” (Source:  InWEnt)

International Institute for Journalism

“The International Institute for Journalism (IIJ) of InWEnt–Capacity Building International, Germany, has been offe­ring advanced training for print and news agency journa­lists from developing and transitional countries since 1964. In recent times, special courses for online journalists have been added to the training scheme.

The aim of the courses is to strengthen the press freedom in the partner countries of the German development co-operation and thus improve the conditions for democratisa­tion and social and economic development. In this capacity, the IIJ represents a key pillar in the media development work of the Federal Government of Germany.” (Source:  InWEnt)

The Lecturers

Our trainers were Dr. Martin Loffelholz and Ms. Andrea Thalemann.

Dr. Loffelholz is “Chair of the Department of Media Studies, Director of the International Crisis Communication Research Group at Ilmenau University of Technology, and Chairman of RECODE, a consulting company based at Erfurt (Germany).  Since his first stay in Asia in 1980, Dr. Loffelholz has lived and worked more than ten years in various Southeast Asian countries, particularly in Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.  He studied at the University of Munster (specializing in journalism and intercultural communication).  From 1981 to 1988, he worked as news editor at daily newspapers in Germany and Sri Lanka, the German Press Agency (dpa) and as TV and radio reporter at Westdeutscher Rundfunk, Cologne.  After earning his Ph.D., he has taught at universities in Germany, Indonesia, Philppines, and the United States of America.  He participates frequently in the German-Arab and the German-Indonesian Media Dialogues organized by the German Federal Foreign Office.

Ms. Thalemann has been covering global business, trade and European Union issues for print, radio and television media in Asia, Eastern Europe and Western Europe for 14 years.  She holds a Master of  Science in Journalism from the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University, New York, a diploma in Southeast Asian and development studies from the Freie Universitat Berlin; a Reuters Fellowship from the University of Oxford, U.K., and a Master of Philosophy in Musicology from the University of Cambridge, U.K.  Andrea has worked as a correspondent in Bangkok, Thailand, and Budapest, Hungary, for Asia Times, the first global Asian-owned, English language business newspaper, covering international business summits of ASEAN, APEG, and ASEM, Asian foreign policy and Asian investment in Eastern Europe.  Following the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997, Andrea set up an award-winning feature programme on globalization for the English Service of the Deutsche Welle Radio.  She then moved to France where she was editor at EuroNews Television in Lyon and won a Reuters Fellowship for her work.  In 2002, she relocated to Brussels, Belgium, to set up EUi Media, a subscription-based publishing company focusing on EU regulatory affairs with readers in government, industry and legal practice all over the world.  Andrea has been a trainer at the International Institute for Journalism of InWEnt for six years.  In addition to teaching courses on the WTO and global trade, she is the lead tutor of the IIJ’s six-month online training course,  ‘Economy and Financial Reporting’ and has developed an e-learning course on European and Asian trade relations.”  (Source:  InWEnt)

ASEAN as a Learning ‘Coverage’

The Association of Southeast Nations (ASEAN) is per se not a new subject for me to read about.  Philippine Information Agency Undersecretary Leo Omoso has been very diligent in sending me media releases on ASEAN news.  Gauging from the expressed remarks of my classmates, I thought that I had just a little more readings (yet, hardly enough) on ASEAN news than the rest of them did.  But just like most of them, I also came in ‘zero’ when it came to ASEAN reporting.

The ASEAN Secretariat, as a partner of IIJ, was most enlightening.  To begin with, ASEAN Secretary-General Dr. Surin Pitsuwan accommodated us well, answering the queries of a few of us who were fortunate to have been able to bring up issues with him.  (My concerns were on ASEAN’s state of regional security and where the United States stood at the ASEAN—a separate feature, I’d say.)  In addition, the ASEAN Secretariat sent over as resource speakers for our learning sessions Dr. Thermsak Charlermpalanupap, Special Assistant to the Secretary-General; Mr. Quang Anh Le, Assistant Director of the Bureau for Economic Integration and Finance; Ms. Carla Budiarto, Senior Officer of the Research and Information System Unit; ASEAN Foundation Executive Director Dr. Filemon Uriarte, Jr.; then Assistant Director of the Bureau of External Relations Coordination Raul Cordenillo; 

Two practicing media colleagues addressed us in two separate occasions.  Professor Danilo Arao of the University of the Philippines College of Mass Communications provided an assessment of the ASEAN media, and his comparative notes opened insights to all of us participants—and also opened avenues of discussion in the succeeding days during breaks.  Jakarta-based Moritz Kleine-Brockhoff, Southeast Asia correspondent of the Frankfurter Rundschau, shared his media experiences and observation of ASEAN from a European journalist’s perspective.

The World Food Program sent over the country director for Indonesia, Ms. Angela Van Rynbach, who discussed food security in the ASEAN region.

Apart from the General Headquarters of the ASEAN Secretariat, we also had one great opportunity in visiting the headquarters of the European Commission to Indonesia, where we had an interview with Cecile Leroy, its policy advisor, and project officer, Economic and Regional Cooperation of the European Union’s Delegation of the European Commission to Indonesia and Brunei Darussalam, as well as a learning session on the trade relations between ASEAN and the European Union with Asa Larsson, trade adviser in the Economic and Trade Section of the European Union’s Delegation of the European Commission to Indonesia, Brunei Darussalam and East Timor.

Each speaker laid down before us rich fields of information on ASEAN, or relative to ASEAN, most of which are worth sharing to all readers.

In our visit to The Jakarta Post, we were welcomed by Meidyatama Suryodiningrat, its managing editor, who briefly and comprehensively shared with us 25 years of newspaper journalism.

Within the duration of the training, some of us found ourselves “working from overseas” as we sent stories all datelined Jakarta.  A few of us did share that these got published or aired while the training was going on, but we admitted as well that there was more reporting to do now that we are all home.

Learning from the Tours

The guided as well as our exploratory tours in Indonesia were the add-ons to the training course, but these provided the opportunities for all sixteen of us to get to know each other, and learn about our respective cultures.  Some of us blended well with the others, and some who were initially reserved and shy, if not critical, somehow found ourselves feeling relaxed and comfortable (as expected) by the second week.

A few tours (to include shopping) were a little exhausting, but the laughter that went along with each ‘togetherness’ came as the best relief for the tiredness, if not boredom brought about by the dreaded traffic jam.

The tours essentially showcased some of the best of Indonesia—although we also couldn’t help having a glimpse of its worst (traffic jam, population, and even economy).  However, Indonesia, being the seat of ASEAN, and its people being Southeast Asians whose culture bore a lot of similarities with ours here in the Philippines, was the best location for the training.

I couldn’t bear the chilis and the hot sauces that were essentially Indonesian and Thai cuisine, but the Japanese, Chinese, and Italian food (and yes, The Colonel was there—thank God for Kentucky Fried Chicken!) were a great help to stuff us up.

Among the great perks too were the sneaky trips that some of us did whether individually or in smaller groups—and if I may add, the sharing of photographs, some shots of which were totally priceless…and indeed, hilarious.

Parting Ways

It was a formal meeting that brought us together, but it was music that sealed the bond of friendship at the close of the course.

Fingering through the keyboard of Hotel Ambhara’s (our home for the entire fortnight) grand piano, singing songs during waiting moments, and daring without batting an eyelash to push aside the likes of Celine Dion, Phil Collins, James Ingram, Whitney Houston, plus of course the unforgettable Ricky Martin, and the rest of “that lot” we call “top caliber singers with a K”—while enjoying Indonesia’s best beer, Bintang, all sixteen of IIJ’s alumni for the August-September Class of 2008 found ourselves in harmony.  We had to concede, that despite the differences we had in personal and cultural background, in journalism experience, and even in personalities, we blended well as a team of learners.

Our memories of the InWEnt-ASEAN experience will never be complete without mentioning Martin (whose knowledge of Southeast Asia was impeccable, making me think of him as the epitome of an Asianized German or European; someone kidded he was the Asian euro), Andrea (who really brought us back to journalism school), Alexandra (a stunningly beautiful person inside and out), and Ikram (a wonderful fellow PECOJON alumnus).  I personally also express warm gratitude to Ajie Akhmad Wahidin, Programme Officer of the ASEAN Foundation, Wuri Parmaitri, Technical Assistant of the Public Affairs Office, and most especially, Tran Dong Phuong, Director of the Trade and Facilitation Cluster of the Bureau of Economic Integration and Finance, Aveline Low Bee Hui, Senior Officer in the Public Affairs Office all of the ASEAN Secretariat (who arranged my interview, thank you), for the distinctively hospitable Southeast Asian assistance.

Parting ways was most difficult, since we exchanged business cards on Day 1, with mouthful attempts to read our names, and even figuring out which was our first name, and our surname.

As we spent our last day together, completing the course, we all made a toast to our new-found friendship.  It would probably be long before we would be together again as a class—and only InWEnt and the Federal Republic of Germany can make that possible.

As I bring this page to a close, I toast to a possible reunion in the future, along with my wishes that unlike our stories, the bond of our friendship will never sign off, nor reach -30-.  (Frencie L. Carreon, Editor-in-Chief, Zamboanga Today, Philippines)

JAKARTA—When a Filipino journalist joins a small circle of colleagues in the profession coming from Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, and Singapore, one finds in bonding moments, notwithstanding differences, commonalities which I believe should not be taken for granted.

There had been earlier reports on the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) but not too many among us still appreciate the role of ASEAN and how we in Zamboanga  (City, Philippines) can actually play a significant part in the upcoming trade and investments program(s), with our city being a commercial hub in the southern Philippine frontier.

The ASEAN media has thus a pivotal role in heightening awareness on issues and information concerning South East Asian nations, how they can be interrelated, and how ASEAN member-nations can work together as one regional community in providing solutions.

ASEAN Special Assistant to the Secretary-General Termsak Charlermpalanupap yesterday acknowledged that ASEAN “needs the help of media to attract support and awareness on ASEAN, its benefits…and (increase awareness so that) later on (we can all) work together towards regional cooperation and development.”

This he said before journalists all over Southeast Asia who attended the two-week training on Reporting on Regional Integration in Southeast Asia, a journalism capacity building program organized by Inwent’s International Institute for Journalism (IIJ).

Earlier, Assistant Professor Danilo Arao, a practicing broadcast journalist and currently the Director of the Office of Research and Publication in the College of Mass Communication of the University of the Philippines, addressed the journalists and presented an assessment of media in the ASEAN region.

“The media situation of the 10 ASEAN member-countries shows the uneven levels of development which, at first glance, makes it hard to make comparisons among them. The Philippines and Singapore, for example, are diametrically opposed when it comes to the media’s role in national development and the concepts of freedom of expression. There are governments that look at media as simply tools of the state and that they should only report on the “positive” and the “favorable,” an attitude that is not entirely different from the occasional of demand of media consumers for the “good” news,” Arao said.

Charlermpalanupap, who presented a position paper at the 6th ASEAN People’s Assembly in Manila on October 24 last year, cited forty good reasons why citizens in ASEAN member-countries should be happy about ASEAN. His presentation capsulized the essence of ASEAN.

Taking a quick review at his “list” one immediately finds striking interest on Reason Twenty, which states, “ASEAN business people actually stand to gain from economic integration in ASEAN. For example, most of them can now enter ASEAN countries (except Myanmar) without having to secure visa prior to arrival. Professionals in liberalized service sectors will soon be able to move freely and find jobs where they can under the AEC. Movement of skilled labour is also being facilitated. Some member states, particularly the Philippines and Indonesia, want to go all the way of having free movement of labour in ASEAN. This is certainly a worthy goal to be achieved in the ASEAN Community beyond 2015.”

I was hardly surprised when Charlermpalanupap made that appeal to the media in South East Asia. After all, the general feedback from citizens of ASEAN member-countries taken collectively would be, “Who cares about ASEAN, when we have individual lives to work on and struggle for?” And heightening awareness on the programs if not the value of ASEAN is indeed a great challenge for those behind it, and those who are in the organization itself, especially since, as Charlermpalanupap highlighted, it is a “people-oriented organization”.

International media—not only those who are here in Jakarta right now—must perhaps start considering now an increased coverage of ASEAN reporting, not just for the sake of promoting the organization, but most importantly, for the citizens in ASEAN to appreciate it better and get involved themselves. After all, all the programs (economic, security, and socio-cultural) are directed for all of us in the region as a community of diverse cultures with a common vision. (Frencie L. Carreon)