LABUAN May 2. Communication and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek has called for a greater awareness of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) among Malaysians in preparation for the country's turn to chair the organisation next year.
Based on a study, Ahmad Shabery said, only 34% of Malaysians had a fair understanding of the regional association which was formed on Aug 8, 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand, with a present membership of 10 countries.
"The study showed that only 34% of Malaysians had a good knowledge of Asean, while even countries like Laos had more than a 90% understanding," he told reporters after a 'Get to Know Asean' programme here today.
Also present was Labuan member of parliament Datuk Rozman Isli. He was commenting on the ministry's role of raising the people's awareness of Asean, especially leading up to Malaysia's chairmanship of the body in 2015.
People need to realise the significance of Asean for Malaysia, the region and the world as a whole and discard the view that it did not matter if the body existed or not, he stressed.
"The Asean Community will be declared next year covering the political and security, economic and socio-cultural aspects.
"So it's important to go down to the grass roots and educate the people on the matter," he said.
Ahmad Shabery described the Asean Community as an interesting economic phase as it would determine how Malaysia and the rest of the member countries could make the 617 million population region their biggest market. Bernama