AL DEVEL ON O TI
READ ASEAN VOLUME 2, JANUARY-DECEMBER 2021
Asian Research Center for International Development (ARCID) School of Social Innovation, Mae Fah Luang University, Thailand
R INTERN FO A
ASEA ENT N R PM
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CH CE NT EAR ES
READ ASEAN Volume 2, January-December 2021
© All Rights Reserved Author : Nichan Singhaputargun, Atirit Thongsai, Nattawan Nakhasupa, Prodpran Phanthasri,
Saw Tun Tun Win and Kanokphon Srisuk ISSN: First published in 2022 by ASIAN RESEARCH CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (ARCID) School of Social Innovation, Mae Fah Luang University 333 Moo1, Thasud, Muang, Chiang Rai 57100, Thailand Tel : +66 5391 7137 Email: arcid.social-innovation.school@mfu.ac.th Website: socialinnovation.mfu.ac.th/social-main/social-arcid/arcid-index.html Facebook page: www.facebook.com/ARCIDTHAILAND
READ ASEAN Volume 2, January-December 2021
“Conflict & Violence: Human Insecurities in ASEAN”
Nichan Singhaputargun Editor
Preface
This academic volume is called “READ ASEAN”. The term READ ASEAN” is an abbreviation of “Regional Efforts for ASEAN Development” and as the direction of this volume. READ ASEAN is an academic volume by the ASEAN Program, it is a research unit in the Asian Research Center for International Development, School of Social Innovation, Mae Fah Luang University. The aim of READ ASEAN is to highlight interesting current affairs of ASEAN through short commentary articles and academic chapters relating to ASEAN development, progresses, challenges, difficulties, and opportunities. This is the second volume of READ ASEAN. The theme of this volume is entitled “Conflict & Violence: Human Insecurities in ASEAN”. This volume is part of student internship under ASEAN Program at the Asian Research Centre for International Development, School of Social Innovation, Mae Fah Luang University. These interns are a capable group of undergraduate students from the School of Social Innovation who have been working with me in the field of Peace & Conflict Studies and they are interested in human security in the aspect of ASEAN. They have become contributors to this academic volume with ten case studies of ASEAN. This is a good opportunity for them to voice out what they see based on human security in ASEAN and at the same time helping them to use and apply knowledge confidently in writing their academic chapters. I would like to thank all contributors and congratulate them as they are already now becoming new graduates of Mae Fag Luang University of the cohort 2021. We hope that this volume would be beneficial for those who are interested in conflict, violence, and human insecurity in ASEAN.
Nichan Singhaputarugn, Ph.D. Head of ASEAN Program, Asian Research Center for International Development School of Social Innovation, Mae Fah Luang University
Contents 1
Introduction: Conflict &Violence: Human Insecurities in ASEAN Nichan Singhaputargun
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2
A Historical Perspective: Political Conflict, Human Insecurity, and Conflict Management by Peace Engineers in Brunei Darussalam Atirit Thongsai
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3
Sihanoukville: the Heaven on Earth (?) Nattawan Nakhasupa
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Indonesian Women Amid Violence Against Women Prodpran Phanthasri
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5
Laos and Security Issue
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Saw Tun Tun Win Racial Conflict leads to Violence and Human Insecurity: Bumiputera of Malaysia Kanokphon Srisuk
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Human Insecurities in Myanmar Saw Tun Tun Win
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“Pagpag” and Food Insecurity in the Philippines Kanokphon Srisuk
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Another Side of the Education System in Singapore Prodpran Phanthasri
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10
The Voice from a Student who Living among Political Conflict in Thailand Atirit Thongsai
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11
Vietnam Economic Development and Human Security Nattawan Nakhasupa
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12
Conclusion Nichan Singhaputargun
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“Conflict & Violence: Human Insecurities in ASEAN”
Chapter 1 Introduction Conflict & Violence: Human Insecurities in ASEAN
Nichan Singhaputargun
1.1 ASEAN and Securities The Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN) has been founded in 1967 with the vision to bring security, stability, and cooperation towards peace in the region of Southeast Asia. Throughout the development of ASEAN, it has been tested for its performance in handling various challenging situations. Security is seen as one of the challenging issues of this region since the colonization era and after most countries gained independence from their colonizers. To be precise, this security is traditional security which ASEAN views as a primary concern as it produces threats that undermine sovereignty, independence, and as well as territorial integrity of nation states in this region. In the present day, threats from traditional security are no longer seen as primary challenges for ASEAN as much as new emerging threats “non-traditional security”. This new form of threat is not over the issue of sovereignty, independence, or territorial integrity of nation states but on human survival, the wellbeing of people, and dignity in various dimensions in nation states (Caballero & Anthony 2016). Non-traditional security brings threats to human in various aspects; social, economics, politics, health, environment, and many other aspects over the issues such as inequality, poverty, economic recession, unemployment, resource scarcity, natural disasters, pollution, climate changes, crimes, transnational crimes, cyber-crimes, pirates, drugs, irregular migration, human trafficking, human rights abuse, political protests, political violence and recently infectious diseases or the Covid-19 pandemic (NTS-Asia 2022). 1.2 Conflict Conflict is always formed with some causes between people in society and it can be seen as one of the causes that form human insecurity. Although the term conflict is commonly used throughout society but it is hard to explain how it brings clashes among people in society or countries and brings human insecurity. In the present day, the conflict 1
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has even become harder to understand because of the mixture of social, economic, and political structures that merged into each other. Conflict can occur between one person and another person or as individual conflict; it can occur on a bigger scale among one group of people and another group of people or as group conflict, social conflict or conflict that forms among nation states over territorial disputes or as international conflicts. To understand how conflict forms human insecurity; a few theories of conflict formation can be applied. Firstly, conflict is formulated through behaviours, attitudes, and contradictions or can be understood as incompatibility based on Johan Galtung’s conflict triangle theory (Galtung 1969). Secondly, conflict takes place when there are incompatible positions or goals based on the Harvard Approach (Fisher & Ury 1997). From these two theories, this volume defines conflict as a situation when parties perceive incompatibilities on people’s positions or goals over various issues based on non-structural causes of conflict and structural causes of conflict in social, economic, and political structures over various issues in one nation state or as domestic conflict or among nation states or as an international conflict. 1.3 Violence Violence always comes after or before conflict takes place and it can be seen as impacts or consequences from human insecurities because violence always harams human one way or another. In this volume, not only is a regular form of violence which is a physical clash, physical violence, or direct violence is highlighted in this volume but also other forms of violence consisting of structural violence and cultural violence are also focused base on Johan Galtung’s violence triangle theory. In his theory, not only direct violence that can harm human but structures, policies, systems, norms, folkways, and cultures are also able to bring violence against human. Galtung has separated violence into three forms; 1) direct violence is seen as a physical attack by the use of force with or without weapons; 2) structural violence can be seen in the situation where people suffer from inequality in political, social, or economic structures or systems and policies and 3) cultural violence occurs when culture is justified as the source that generates violence of that society. Importantly, cultural violence is the type of violence that makes direct violence and structural violence is acceptable in a given society by means of the society’s value system (Galtung 1990). In this context, conflict brings human insecurities while violence brings consequences from human insecurity both on an individual level and a structural level.
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1.4 Human Security It is inevitable to say that most of the time, human insecurity is formed by human themselves and they put each other in danger both physically, structurally, culturally in various situations and different contexts. To consider the dimension of human insecurity from the standpoint of conflict and violence, the UNDP’s Human Security Report 1994 would assist this volume to point out where to look for human insecurity clearer in each nation state of ASEAN. Human security concept is known since 1990s and especially in 1994 by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). This report is seen as a platform for a global human development plan as it puts human at the core of the development through the term security. Human security is seen as one of the platforms of development by the United Nations. The essence of human security is human is the center of development and it would be unable to achieve without security in human life in various aspects. In order to give security to human, well beings and better quality of life must be reached and promoted. Human freedom and dignity must be protected, respected, and empowered under the principle “freedom from fear, freedom from want and life for dignity”. Therefore, the UNDP Report 1994 is aimed to provide security to human in multi-aspects based on human security’s principles covering economic security, food security, health security, environmental security, personal security, community security, and political security (UNDP 1994).
Source: Inter-American Institute of Human Rights https://www.iidh.ed.cr/multic/default_12.aspx?contenidoid=ea75e2bm1-9265-4296-9d8c-3391de83fb42
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1.5 Objectives This volume intends to achieve three objectives by analyzing each case study from ten ASEAN nation states. The first objective is to understand how conflict forms human insecurities in each nation state of ASEAN by using conflict triangle theory by Johan Galtung and the Harvard Approach as a first analytical tool. The second objective is to analyze impacts from human insecurities that have affected human in each nation state of ASEAN with violence triangle theory by Johan Galtung as a second analytical tool. The last objective of this volume is to highlight human insecurities from the standpoint of conflict and violence with suggestions on how to transform human insecurities into human securities in each nation state of ASEAN by adopting the guideline of UNDP’s Human Security Report 1994. With these objectives in mind and after reviewing several theories and concepts as elucidated briefly above, each case study from ten ASEAN nation states now can be conceptualized and analyzed with the framework below. 1.6 Framework
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1.7 Chapters Chapter 2, Atirit Thongsai takes us back to the history of the only ASEAN nation state that governs with absolute monarchy. He has pointed out that political insecurity in Brunei in the past was based on a political conflict that brought all forms of violence before he highlights how this country transforms into a secured welfare state today. Chapter 3, Nattawan Nakhasupa elucidates the impact form capitalism, modernization, and globalization under a highly centralized government’s political and economic development policies in the realm of great powers in Cambodia. This situation brings various forms of human insecurities with structural violence. Chapter 4, Prodparn Phanthasri illustrates personal insecurity that forms over human rights by focusing on how women's rights in Indonesia are abused under the patriarchal culture as part of structural violence and cultural violence. The way out is to raise awareness of gender equality under human security concept with all parties. Chapter 5, Saw Tun Tun Win gives us concern over environmental challenges in a country that is known as a battery of ASEAN. Laos needs hydropower through dam construction for its economic development but in exchange, it brings environmental insecurity with structural violence as a tradeoff for economic growth. The solution is to embrace a concept so-called mutual development as well as inclusive growth. Chapter 6, Kanokphon Srisuk explains a few forms of human insecurity and all forms of violence that formed by the conflict that leads to violence over the issue of inequality and races in the past based on Bumiputera policy in Malaysia. She believes that conflict transformation which gives importance to understanding the nature of conflict and political mechanism with people participation is the way out. Chapter 7, Saw Tun Win analyzes an ongoing political situation in Myanmar from the past until the present, the country where democracy has been absent for decades. Many negative consequences from this situation bring various forms of human insecurities and all forms of violence in political, economic, social, and cultural structures. Democratization and good governance are seen as the foundation in handling prolonged conflicts and handling human insecurities in this country. Chapter 8, Kanokphon Srisuk introduces Pagpag or reproduced food that the root cause is from poverty in the Philippines. Economic insecurity, health insecurity, and food insecurity are seen as part of human insecurities. Pagpag food situation brings both structural violence and cultural violence. In handling these insecurities, human security and sustainable development goals are pathways in managing this situation with international cooperation to solve this problem. Chapter 9, Prodparn Phanthasri links the leader's vision and education policies that lead to violence and human insecurity. This situation forms by the political regime and social values of the so-called Kiasu which brings
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cultural violence and structural violence among Singaporean students. The solution is to address this situation seriously with cooperation from various parties in Singapore. Chapter 10, Arthit Thnogsri explains the political conflict in Thailand since 2020 between youths and the government that is formed by incompatible positions and goals over democracy, governance system, and political regime in which this situation brings personal and political insecurities with all forms of violence. Conflict management by the Peace and Conflict Studies Network would be an alternative to transform, manage, or resolve the political conflict and human insecurities in Thailand. Chapter 11, Nattawan Nakhasupa points out that one of the important policies for the country's development in Vietnam is Doi Moi policy. This policy has transformed Vietnam's economic structure from an agricultural country to an industrial country. However, this policy also brings negative impacts in a form of economic, political, and environmental insecurities with structural violence. 1.8 References Caballero-Anthony, M. (ed.). 2016. An Introduction to Non-Traditional Security Studies – A Transnational Approach. Sage Publications, London. Consortium of Non-Traditional Security Studies in Asia (NTS-Asia). About Non-Traditional Security. https://rsis-ntsasia.org/about-nts-asia/. Accessed November 15, 2021. Fisher, R., & Ury, W. (1997). Getting to yes-negotiation and agreement without giving in. USA: Random House Business Books. Galtung, J. (1969). Violence, peace and peace research. Journal of Peace Research. 6(3), 167-191. Galtung, J. (1990). Cultural violence. Journal of Peace Research, 27(3), 291-305. Inter-American Institute of Human Rights. Possible Threats of Human Securities. https://www.iidh.ed.cr/multic/default_12.aspx?contenidoid=ea75e2b1-9265-4296-9d8c3391de83fb42. Accessed November 15, 2021. United Nation Development Program (1994) Human Development Report. United Nations. http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/reports/255/hdr_1994_en_complete_nostats.pdf. Accessed November 20, 2021.
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Chapter 2 A Historical Perspective: Political Conflict, Human Insecurity, and Conflict Management by Peace Engineers in Brunei Darussalam
Atirit Thongsai
2.1 Introduction Negara Brunei Darussalam, is a small state in Southeast Asia (SEA), one of a few left monarchical states that are still alive until the present. The meaning of the word “Negara Brunei” from Malay language refers to the word “the State of Brunei” in English. Besides, the word “Darussalam” refers to “abode of peace”. When these words come together the meaning of this country’s name should refer to “Brunei Peaceful State” (Information Department, Prime Minister’s Office, Brunei Darussalam, n.d.). Nevertheless, the author would refer to her as shortly as “Brunei” throughout this chapter. Historically, Brunei is located on the North-West coast of Borneo Island, and Malaysia is a neighboring country that is located next to her and shares the same borderlines. Furthermore, Brunei is one of the wealthiest countries in the world because of her discovery of petroleum and natural gases in 1929. However, even though Brunei is a very wealthy nation, it is still under British colonization. In 1958, the British government wanted to form the North Borneo Federation, which included North Borneo, Sarawak, and Brunei together. But the Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien III, the head of the sultanate at that time refused to join the federation because Brunei would be disadvantaged under the deal that the revenue from Brunei’s petroleum exports would be shared with others outside Brunei. As a result, the British proposal failed to accomplish its targets (Saunders 2002). One year later, in 1959, the Sultan promulgated the first written Constitution in Brunei, which allowed Brunei to have a 33-seats’ Legislative Council and election every two years. In the meantime, there was another proposal that could draw attention from the Sultan. This proposal was the proposal of the formation of the “Federation of Malaysia” that would include states in the Malay Peninsula such as Singapore, Sarawak, North Borneo, and Brunei together in which Brunei did not want to be part of this federation (Abdul Majid 2007).
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Nevertheless, in 1962, there was a political conflict that caused a rebellion in Brunei; hence, the Sultan had announced the State of Emergency every year since then to secure Brunei and prevent a future rebellion that could happen. Then later, in 1968, the Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien III abdicated his throne to his son the Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah (the present). In 1971, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah had made an agreement with the British government, which allowed Brunei to gain internal sovereignty. However, the British government was still taking care of Brunei’s foreign affairs until Brunei finally gained independence from the British colony on February 27, 1984 (Singhaputargun 2013). “Negara Brunei Darussalam” or “Brunei Peaceful Country”, although the meaning of the country’s name sounds quite a bit of a fantasy, however, if we look through her history, we will discover the interesting point about her name’s meaning. Therefore, this chapter shall review Brunei’s history from the perspective of Peace and Conflict Studies and Human Security concept. In these senses, the conflict would be considered as a normal phenomenon, and it is formed by incompatible positions and/or goals of conflict parties (Fisher & Ury 1997). While the impacts of the conflict would be analyzed through the theories of Violence Triangle that categorized violence into three forms; including Direct, Structural, and Cultural Violence (Galtung, 1969) alongside the seven types of Human Security approaches; including Economic, Food, Health, Environmental, Personal, Community, and Political Security (United Nations Development Programme, 1994). The data in this chapter that the author analyzed and illustrated were collected from books and websites. The case studies that had been selected were based on “a snapshot of the conflict technique”, only the significant cases would be selected to be analyzed and illustrated in this chapter (Miall 2004). 2.2 The Dawn of the Incompatibility and Political Conflict in Brunei As mentioned in the introduction, there was the proposal to form the Federation of Malaysia in 1959 that could draw a lot of attention from the Sultan of Brunei at that time. This is because Brunei was a state that had the highest Malay’ components in this proposal. For example, the use of Malay as the official language, Islam as the official religion, and people fully and respectively recognized the Sultan as the Head of State. Besides these Malay’ components, there also was the Sultan’s personal preference on the Malay customs (Abdul Majid 2007). Therefore, “it is not quite wrong if we would say that the Sultan had an intention and motivation to join the federation at that time”. Nevertheless, normally, we cannot make every person satisfied, because the Sultan’s intention and motivation to join the Malaysia Federation, had triggered some group of people’s dissatisfactions in Brunei, 8
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especially Azahari and his Party Rakyat Brunei (PRB), a political party in Brunei. Azahari’s demands were rejecting Brunei’s joining Malaysia. Besides, he wanted to restore the sovereignty of Brunei over Sarawak and North Borneo and to gain independence from the British government within 1963 (Saunders, 2002). Thus, this situation even severed, when Azahari and his political party, PRB won a landslide victory in Brunei’s elections in August 1962. So, PRB won 54 out of 55 seats, which allowed PRB to gain the authority to control all over every District in Brunei. Moreover, they also get all 16 elected seats in the Legislative Council. However, this does not mean PRB could take over the government, but the fight on anti-Brunei’s joining Malaysia by Azahari and PRB could cause obstacles to any future negotiation between the Sultan and Malaysia (Abdul Majid 2007). Apart from the PRB, there was the incompatibility between the Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien III and the Barisan Kemerdekaan Rakyat (BAKER), because the Sultan rejected Brunei to be a part of the Malaysia Federation. However, the BAKER demanded Brunei to be a part of Malaysia, because they were offered a better position by the Malaysian government if they could bring Brunei into Malaysia (Abu Bakar 2018). As a result, these circumstances caused a political conflict in Brunei, which led to the Rebellion and violence in Brunei. The Rebellion was called “Tentera Nasional Kalimantan Utara (TNKU), broke out on December 8, 1962, in Brunei. The evidence has shown that TNKU had a linkage with the PRB, a political party in Brunei. The Rebellion’s ultimate goal was to capture the Sultan and Brunei Town. They began to attack the petroleum city of Seria, police stations, and governmental facilities in Brunei. However, after the breakout, not so long, the rebels began to stop within hours. The Rebellion failed to achieve its objectives (Saunders, 2002). Although, Brunei’s revolution was not as severe as other revolutions around the world, such as French, American, and countries in ASEAN but there was violence by the rebellion, which can be viewed through direct violence. Consequently, the revolution caused the Sultan’s decision not to join Malaysia and remains an isolated state until today. Furthermore, the Sultan also erased the Legislative Council from Brunei’s political system and declared the State of Emergency every year since then in order to prevent a future rebellion in Brunei (Singhaputargun 2013). 2.3 The Consequences of the Political Conflict on Bruneian Society The consequences of the political conflict in the past of Brunei could be considered by the concept of Human Insecurity (the opposite of the Human Security concept). So, in the 9
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author’s point of view, there were three major consequences, including Personal, Political, and Community Insecurities which shall be illustrated in the detail with provided examples in each of them later in the next following paragraphs. First and foremost, personal insecurity refers to any physical threat or force that harms human life or property such as violence, crime, terrorism, revolution, and anything like. Therefore, the Rebellion in Brunei between 1962 until 1963 could be considered as the personal insecurity that was a result of the political conflict between the Sultan and PRB during that period. Moreover, the consequences from the Rebellion also produced another form of insecurity in Brunei, which was the political insecurity. Secondly, political insecurity refers to any threat inside or from a political structure both on people and nation. In this case, the political conflict between the Sultan and PRB itself was political insecurity. However, the rebellion in Brunei caused the political insecurity in Brunei to be even more severe. Because after the revolution, the Sultan decided to turn Brunei to become an absolute monarchical state, erased the Legislative Council, and removed future elections from Brunei's political system. This decision caused Brunei to be continued under the British protectorate (Abdul Majid, 2007). In an absolute monarchy, the sole decision-maker is only the Sultan, which means the political rights of Bruneians have been taken away and have less participation in the political system of Brunei. Furthermore, his decision also withdrew Brunei from the democratization process and completely stopped. Lastly, community insecurity refers to any threat or tension on an ethnic, religious, specific community or people's identity. As mentioned earlier, the Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien III had a personal preference for Malay tradition. Therefore, the consequences of the political conflict were not only based on personal insecurity and political insecurity, but also community insecurity. This situation took place because, after the Sultan turned Brunei into an absolute monarchical state, he also had promoted the national building under the concepts of “Malay, Islam, Monarchy” or “MIB” (Saunders 2002). In this sense, it means that the other ethnic and religious identities such as Chinese, Indian, Christian who live in Brunei have been marginalized by their significance under this regime. In this regard, the political conflict in Brunei had caused three forms of human insecurities in Brunei. Nevertheless, it is also fascinating to learn how the Sultan resolved these three Human Insecurities and built all seven-aspects of Human Security in Brunei until the present day which shall be described in the following topic of the chapter.
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2.4 The Conflict Management by the Bruneian Peace Engineers It has been known that Brunei is the only country in ASEAN that the governance system remains as an absolute monarchy. As mentioned many times, Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien III turned Brunei from an electoral state to an absolute monarchy after the rebellion in 1962-63. The main purpose was to prevent any future revolution and rebellion that might have happened in Brunei. This decision that was made by the Sultan caused human insecurities in Brunei, including personal, political, and community Insecurities. However, his decision also could be seen as “conflict management” as well. Importantly, the conflict management by the Sultan could create a win-win situation and peace in Brunei. Moreover, it also built all seven-aspects of Human Security, which is a situation that is rarely found in the world today. The Sultan’s decision turned Brunei into an absolute monarchical state, apart from preventing a future revolutionary. The Sultan also used this opportunity to form a welfare state system in Brunei. To elaborate, Brunei has been a wealthy country from the petroleum exportation and industries for a long time since its discovery in 1929. That means Brunei has very high revenue from the exportation of oils and petroleum industries. So, the Sultan did not waste this opportunity, he used his sole political right to spend the national revenues from the petroleum industries on the welfare of the people, for example, food imports, building hospitals, improving the quality of the educational system, and environment in Brunei. Furthermore, the creation of the state-welfare also has been inherited by his son or the present Sultan of Brunei, the Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah as well. Thus, the formation of the statewelfare has secured the people’s daily life such as the economic, food, health, and environmental securities in Brunei from his father’s regime until the present. Certainly, the creation made happiness among Bruneians who live in this country. As a result, the people in Brunei can live happily in Brunei, the Personal Insecurity has been secured, and the people could accept the national idea of “Malay, Islam, Monarchy”. So, the Political and Community Insecurity has been secured as well as the rest of Human Security. In the meantime, the Sultan could steadily retain his position as the absolute leader of Brunei since then. Therefore, in this case, the decision and action of the Sultan of Brunei could be recognized in the perspective of Peace and Conflict Studies as the “conflict management towards win-win situation”, and it would not be wrong, if we called the Sultans of Brunei as the “Peace Engineer” (Singhaputargun 2020).
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2.5 Conclusion Brunei is one of not so many states in this world that could provide all seven-aspects of Human Security to their citizens. The Human Securities in this tiny state in Southeast Asia did not come by good luck or a great fortune, but they were a product of the “Conflict Management” by the Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien III, a Bruneian Peace Engineer. The political conflict in Brunei between the Sultan and BAKER was formed because of the incompatible goals of both sides. The Sultan refused to join the Malaysia Federation, while BAKER wanted to join the federation. This political conflict led to the Rebellion and Direct Violence in Brunei from 1962 to 1963. The result from the violence caused up to three forms of human insecurities in Brunei, including, personal, political, and community insecurities. Although the Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien III grabbed this opportunity to turn Brunei into an absolute monarchy and used his sole decision-making rights to build better state welfare in Brunei since then. The conflict management by the Sultan formed economic, food, health, and environmental securities in Brunei. At this point, it also has eradicated the other three left human insecurities and transformed them to become human securities in Brunei. Moreover, he also has inherited his legacy to his son, the Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, the present Sultan of Brunei. Thus, the thing that the Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien III had done in the past, he had inherited along with his son as well, which caused Brunei to have very well of the state welfare until the present. At this point, according to the analysis, it has been shown that to be a state that can create and maintain human securities for its citizens; a state does not need to be democratized. Whether democratic or monarchical, both have their own characteristics, advantages, and disadvantages. To conclude, according to the result of the analysis, in the case of the political system of Brunei, they could be a “peaceful country” without the process of democratization. 2.6 References Abdul Majid, H. (2007). Rebellion in Brunei: The 1962 revolt, imperialism, confrontation, and oil. I.B. Tauris. Abu Bakar, N.S., (2018). The merger plan and the survival of the Malay Sultanate of Brunei: 1963 – 1968. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/325262401_The_merger_plan_and_the_survival_of _the_Malay_Sultanate_of_Brunei_1963_-1968
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Fisher, R., Ury, W. (1997). Getting to yes: Negotiating agreement without giving in. Penguin Group. Galtung, J. (1969). Peace by peaceful means: Peace and conflict, development and civilization. Sage. Information Department, Prime Minister's Office, Brunei Darussalam. (n.d.). About Brunei Darussalam. http://www.information.gov.bn/SitePages/About%20Brunei%20 Darussalam.aspx Miall, H. (2004). Transforming ethnopolitical conflict: The Berghof handbook (A. Austin, M.Fischer, & N. Ropers Eds.). Springer VS. Saunders, G. (2002). A History of Brunei. RoutledgeCurzon. Singhaputargun, N. (2013). ระบบการปกครองท้องถิ่น ประเทศสมาชิกประชาคมอาเซียน เนอการาบรูไนดารุสสลาม [The local government of Negara Brunei Darussalam]. National Library of Thailand Cataloging in Publication Data. King Prajadhipok's Institute. Singhaputargun, N. (2020). A ripe moment and peace engineer network for student's protesters and the government in Thailand. READ ASEAN Vol.1 2020. https://issuu.com/imu-mfu/docs/read_asean_vol_1__2020 United Nations Development Programme. (1994). Human development report 1994: New dimensions of human security. http://www.hdr.undp.org/en/content/human-developmentreport-1994
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Chapter 3 Sihanoukville: the Heaven on Earth (?)
Nattawan Nakhasupa
3.1 Introduction The world today is moving forward with money and economic systems from both domestic and foreign trade and investment. The key variables in the world of trade are the Americas and China, which in Southeast Asia are of great geopolitical importance to China, making China a great investment in the region. The following chapter will be written. The author mentions that Chinese investment in Cambodia will create developments in many areas, especially economic and job creation, but at the same time, development has many problems at the same time. The authors highlight the conflict between development and human rights in Cambodia. Since China's investment in Sihanoukville, a number of problems have arisen amongst the indigenous residents, as readers will witness the efforts to control China's economic territories through investments made by the government.
Cambodia
surrendered to that power and looked at the benefits of investment rather than preserving the traditional way of life of the local villagers. In this chapter, the reader will get an in-depth look at the problem of Cambodia's transparent society, which is a problem from the political structure in which the state centralizes power and makes decisions with unilateral power. Readers will see the connection between politics and society including solving the problems of the government with comprehensive power which the result has caused problems in people's lives 3.2 Behind the “IRON CURTAIN” After the end of World War II, the world was divided into two sides: the free world and the communist side. A truce erupted between China-sponsored North Vietnam and American-sponsored South Vietnam. The Cambodian Civil War is a conflict between the Communist Party of Cambodia (Khmer Rouge), the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam), and the Viet Cong on one side, and the government of the Khmer Republic supported by the United States and the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam). The involvement of the Vietnamese People's Army (North Vietnam Army) was to defend the 14
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eastern Cambodian stronghold. After five years of fighting, the Khmer Republic's government was defeated on 17 April 1975, and the Khmer Rouge declared the establishment of democratic Cambodia. The conflict, although being fought in the country, was part of the Vietnam War (1959-1975) and involved neighboring countries such as the Kingdom of Laos and North and South Vietnam. This civil war led to the genocide of Cambodians (ธี ร ะ นุ ช
เปี่ยม. รัฐกับสังคมกัมพูชา (กรุงเทพฯ : คณะรัฐศาสตร์ มหาวิทยาลัยธรรมศาสตร์, 2543). 3.3 Revolutionary Government in Cambodia and Genocide. The first thing the Khmer Rouge did after taking power was a force all Cambodians from Phnom Penh and other major cities to force farming and collective labor in rural areas to classify people who are considered "class enemies" - soldiers, civil servants, royal family, students to eliminate. The act has resulted in between 850,000 and 3 million Cambodian people dying from slaughter, forced labor, and starvation. This has made Cambodia look like a throwback to the Stone Age, which is a metaphor for the intellectual property being slaughtered and innovation and culture destroyed and it takes a longer time to recover. In addition to the Khmer Rouge's sweeping away intellectuals, the systems that had driven the country both administratively and economically were also destroyed, which could not be reset in a short period of time. For example, the Cambodian land system, the Khmer Rouge, has completely destroyed all the title deeds, and once the war is over, they have to start measuring the land again, which takes a lot of money and time. Almost 20 years later, until today, only half of the land title deed has been issued. People are waiting for the deeds to be issued, villagers clashed with each other while foreigners’ private influence relied on the vacuum to take large amounts of land. The Land is one of the business and economic development factors. If the land system is clear, the villagers and businesses will be stable and confident to invest in the land without having to waste time quarreling over land but because the land system was destroyed, Cambodia had to waste time setting up a new system, thus slowing the accumulation of capital and losing opportunities for national development for a decade (Pakpoom Pongbhai 2013) 3.4 Hun Sen's Political Stability. The current political situation in Cambodia is stable (1985-2021). The two main political parties that make up the Cambodian government are Samdech Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party (CPP) and the Funcinpec Party. (FUNCINPEC) of Prince, Norodom Ranarith can cooperate smoothly in both administrative and legislative matters. It is undeniable that in
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his 33 years in power, Hun Sen has played a pivotal role in helping to turn the country's economy back on after the country faced a time of calamity during the Khmer Rouge era, with the brutal massacre of its people in the 20th century. However, at the same time, Hun Sen is seen as a dictator who has widespread human rights violations. He is accused of using courts and security agencies to eradicate political enemies and dissent. It includes killings, assaults, intimidation, and arbitrary arrests among human rights activists who oppose the Cambodian government's use of various means to hand over villagers' land to capitalists (BBC NEWS 2018). 3.5 Sihanoukville In 2008, the Cambodian government declared an area of 3,300 rai in Preah Sihanouk as a special economic development zone. “Bilateral Government Agreement” under the Chinese government's “One Belt One Road (OBOR)” development plan. After that, the Cambodian government began to grant land concessions to private companies, especially Chinese investors, who were free to construct buildings and were able to import Chinese workers into Sihanoukville and provide preferential import and export tariffs to Chinese businessmen as well. As originally planned, the Cambodian government had targeted the SEZ (Special Economic Zone) to focus on the textile manufacturing industry, but Chinese investors saw potential profit from the casino business (Prachachat 2018). Especially when the Cambodian government allows the casino business to be legal there are 156 hotels and guest houses, 41 karaoke facilities, 46 massage parlors, 436 restaurants, almost all of them owned by Chinese businessmen until the city of Sihanouk was dubbed ‘Macau of ASEAN'. China has benefited from direct and indirect investments in Cambodia's coastline. The direct benefit is that China gets money from the profits of Chinese companies investing in Cambodia. Chinese goods are distributed to many countries from ports in Cambodia including technology that comes with China's machinery. The indirect benefit is the reduction of China's resource consumption, with China using resources in Cambodia's seaside areas in the production and distribution processes and leisure (Yossapon Kerdviboon 2020). 3.6 Heaven on Tears The aftermath of the SEZ is the soaring land and real estate prices that the locals cannot reach. Before the announcement of the SEZ land prices in Preah Sihanouk were about $50-60 per square meter, and now land prices are $5,000-6,000 per square meter, a 100-fold
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increase. In addition to the problem of rising land prices, there is also a problem with the state seizing land from the townspeople to let Chinese investors rent and buy. Because in this city, the land is owned by the government, with the caretaker being the provincial governor. Villagers have the right to live only without the right to own such land. The Cambodian government also seizes the land of local residents and sells it or leases it to Chinese investors (Yossapon Kerdviboon 2020). By virtue of the land law gap, which gave the state the right to own and manage land, the inhabitants of this traditional community had the status of mere residents without the legal right to own land. In the villagers' opinion, there is a political issue involved because any house that the family supports the ruling party will not be demolished.
And most
importantly, he said that in this country all land is owned by the state under the law, the government has the right to reclaim it and use it for whatever it wants. By the time Cambodia was under Khmer Rouge rule, from 1975 to 1979, the land belonging to the king and private was taken over by the Khmer Rouge, the private land titles and the king were destroyed. After the Khmer Rouge era ended, Cambodia became a communist-ruled country; all land in the country was vested in the state. At present, the Land Law, amended in 2001, especially the third type of land is State Private Property, which is a law that allows the state to sell land in the country and allow the private sector to lease business. Still, there are still many villagers who seize the opportunity to earn money from their own land by letting the Chinese rent it for decades and then move elsewhere. There are brokers lobbying between locals and Chinese to arrange land leasing and trading. In the factory area of the SEZ, many villagers go to work, but their quality of life has not improved as expected. When there is no arable land and a house. So those families had to work hard to earn money to rent a house and buy food. Some families require their children to drop out of school to help earn money by illegally working in casinos. The boys cleaned or served as receptionists, while the girls dealt cards, cleaned or served coffee. Under Cambodian law, employers are prohibited from employing children and young people whose ages are under 18 years only. However, what has happened, parents will fill out job application names for their children by falsifying their names and wearing birth certificates of those over 18 years old to be able to work at a hotel or casino (Panis Posriwangchai 2020).
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3.7 National Interest Conflict with People Interest. Chinese investment has a negative impact on the environment and the socio-economic community, such as environmental problems loss of housing and arable land, crime and impact on local businesses, as well as human rights issues. In the past, the villagers of Sihanoukville had land in the city, some on the seashore. The main occupation is fishing and driving a tuk-tuk to pick up tourists.
But when China came in at the opening of the
Cambodian government, tens of thousands of villagers were swept into slums and scattered outside the city. As for the seaside area, it has been developed into a completely new city until the original structure remains. The main problem is that the villagers do not have a title deed, only a sales slip with the village headman that has been passed down since the olden days. Of course, these documents were not valid at the national level; so many tracts of land were confiscated and passed on to China for business over a lifetime. When the home state was evicted and unfairly seized land by Chinese capitalists, villagers protest to demand compensation to buy a new home but ended up being arrested. With China's investment in Cambodia's seaside, the benefits lie with elites, capitalists, and elites who have the potential to adapt to Chinese investment waves and take advantage of China's entry. Whilst low-level villagers with no capital, no connections, no professional skills have not benefited from China's entry as it should, such as chasing villagers to build dams and resorts. The entry of China emphasizes economic connectivity but lacks connectivity in social and cultural dimensions, leading to social problems such as environmental problems, crimes, and the problem of misunderstanding/controversy between Cambodian villagers and Chinese. China's entry into Cambodia is therefore not a win-win situation, but a sharing of benefits between the government and Chinese elites and Cambodia. Local residents have been marginalized outside the areas of interest (Panis Posriwangchai 2020). 3.8 Violence The violence was not conspicuous physical violence, but rather indirect violence that the government had committed against villagers in the originally inhabited areas. Violence is a psychological impact and insecurity in life and property. The psychological impact of violence is that villagers lose their homes to the Chinese capital and their lifestyles have completely changed and if resisted they will be unfairly arrested. Violence is also seen in a form of social problems such as robbery, murder, and human trafficking. The Cambodian
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government has turned this peaceful and beautiful coastal area into an economic and tourism area but has failed to engage in local people's opinions. 3.9 Human Insecurities From the above various situations, this chapter highlights several human insecurities covering at least 4 forms of insecurities; economic insecurity, environment insecurity, community insecurity, and political insecurity as follow. 3.91 Economic insecurity It can be said that this is a negative economic impact. The poor and low-income people who are the majority in the area, besides not receiving any benefits, some families also lose many opportunities. The investment from China is only the outer shell development of Cambodia, but if you look at the league in terms of society and people's lives, such development is not consistent with improving the quality of life of Cambodian people, but if it meets the needs of the ruling class who want to benefit from this project. In the future, Cambodia's economy will depend mainly on China because if the Cambodian government has a problem with China or Cambodia has a good attitude toward America, it may lead to a pullback of capital. If so, the Cambodian economy would be catastrophic for sure. 3.9.2 Environment insecurity Cambodia's coastal area is rich in natural resources, including forests, marine resources, including the Peam Krasop Wildlife Sanctuary, and the Southern Cardamom Mountain Tropical Forest and Boutum Sakor National Park in Koh Kong Province and Preah Monivong Bokor National Park in Kampot Province. Chinese investment in Cambodia's seaside areas, especially large-scale projects such as dams and large resorts, and industrial areas which take up a lot of lands and invade the area into the natural forest causing environmental impacts on the Cambodian coast including waste problems. 3.9.3 Community insecurity The investment of Chinese businessmen has also brought crime to Cambodia. In Preah Sihanouk Province, Chinese people have invested in hotels, resorts, and casinos, causing crime in the province. The investment of many Chinese investors allows the Chinese mafia to commit crimes, causing insecurity in the province such as illegal casinos, money laundering, and kidnappings. The arrival of Chinese businessmen has come to compete with
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local Cambodian businesses. In addition, Chinese tourists prefer to subsidize businesses, shops, and restaurants of their own rather than subsidize local Cambodian businesses. As a result, the business of local Cambodians cannot survive. There was a conflict between the Chinese and Cambodians in the business field, leading to dissatisfaction and conflict between Cambodians and Chinese on the other side. 3.9.4 Political insecurity In the future, the Cambodian government has strong economic ties with China and receives a lot of Chinese investment. Of course, legislation or policies may not be as free as they should be due to the fear of China, which is a detriment to domestic politics in the long run. Government revenues that are used to benefit Cambodians and other developments such as education and infrastructure will also be used to invest in China. In terms of security and freedom of the country, it will be reduced as well. 3.10 Violence Triangle and Conflict Triangle The first is a structural problem that causes endless problems. Cambodia's ruling system is one that consolidates total power and eliminates political rivals and dissidents by violence. Therefore, there is no complete democratic system in which there is a balance of power and checks through the parliamentary system. As a result, there are no reforms that will benefit the country's development in the long run, such as land law reform. The problem was that the government used to solve the problem by eliminating only the immediate problems, but not solving the deep root of the problem at all. The government uses a topdown management policy. In some social contexts it is not possible to use this style, but if they have to learn and acknowledge problems from the lower classes the problem in Sihanoukville is not a bloody serious problem, it is a volcanic problem that is waiting to erupt and is only the first chapter of the problem because if the government is unable to constructively solve the problem and do it for the common good, it will happen there will definitely be a big problem and the problem of cultural violence, which is seen as beneficial to the nation and to the country's progress. As a result, these problems were seen by the elite as an obstacle to the development of the country and were overlooked. Because having foreign investment will bring in a lot of money and will make these people well. This is considered a ruling culture that sees that governance should allow the upper class to rule, not the lower class, but what happens next is that the benefits never reach the lower classes. And
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many problems are hidden through the culture of governance and the value of human life in the way that the Cambodian government sees people's values as unequal. 3.11 Conclusion Cambodia strongly wants to develop the country through trade cooperation with China through the project One belt one road initiative; the key is economic development strategies is to allow foreign direct investment, especially in China, where the Cambodian government has allowed free land use and business in many cities, especially in Sihanoukville. But the glamorous visions of elites and business people seem inconsistent with reality and what Cambodians are getting. Since the arrival of China, everything has become more expensive, land conflicts have arisen, and the rich have become richer. The problem of human rights and the problem of exploited labor is a problem caused by China's overreaction in both political and economic terms and it has become a social problem that Cambodians must face. If anyone says colonization is over. These images probably reflect the intense investment in colonization in the region of low-income countries. With China as a major actor in Cambodia, it is interesting how this region's breath can be free when everything seems completely in the hands of others. As the author has written the entire above situations in Cambodia based on human insecurity and human security concepts. In short, the conflicts that arise are caused by the state and state policies, which is a problem in the political structure because there is no strong opposition political party and the use of absolute power to make decisions that make any action in the policy. It is fast but there are conflicts among the villagers who cannot express their opinions freely and that power does not rest with the people but power is exercised by the government. The changes in the economy will not solve the poverty in the area, but if it has created wealth for Chinese capitalists to be richer than before. 3.12 References
อาณาจักรคาสิโน เบียร์หนึ่งดอลลาร์ และราคาชีวิตของสีหนุวลิ ล์ (2020, Feb 11) https://www.the101.world/sihanoukville/
สีหนวิลล์สวรรค์ของคนจีน นรกของคนกัมพูชา (2020, Mar 15) https://waymagazine.org/sihanoukville/
ส่องอนาคต 'สีหนุวิลล์' วันที่ทุนจีนไหลกลับ (2020,Jan 13) https://www.bangkokbiznews.com/news/detail/861766
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ฮุน เซน: จากลูกชาวนาสู่นายกรัฐมนตรี 3 ทศวรรษ (2018,July 24) https://www.bbc.com/thai/international-44541096
เขมรแดง https://th.wikipedia.org/wiki/เขมรแดง
สงครามเย็นในกัมพูชา https://th.wikipedia.org/wiki/สงครามกัมพูชา–เวียดนาม
เขมรแดง การฆ่าล้างเห่าพันธุ์ ธีระ นุชเปี่ยม. รัฐกับสังคมกัมพูชา (กรุงเทพฯ : คณะรัฐศาสตร์ มหาวิทยาลัยธรรมศาสตร์, 2543.)
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Chapter 4 Indonesian Women Amid Violence Against Women
Prodpran Phanthasri
4.1 Introduction ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) is the international cooperation that promotes cooperation with peace, security, economy, knowledge, and socio-cultural based on equality and mutual benefits of member countries. More importantly, ASEAN also promotes gender equality, especially empowering women, which is not only one of the key agendas for the social and cultural development of the ASEAN region but also an important goal under the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community Blueprint 2025 (Latka 2020). Also, women's rights and gender equality are issues that have been increasingly catching the attention of the world because the inequality between men and women continues to be a serious problem in many dimensions, such as economic, social, and political (Latka 2020). In particular, unequal treatment, violence against women, and sexual harassment are still serious problems in Indonesian society today. According to the Global Gender Gap Report 2021 published by the World Economic Forum, Indonesia received 0.688 points and was ranked 99th out of 156 countries worldwide (Government Public Relations Department 2021). When comparing the participation of women within the ASEAN region, it was found that the five ASEAN member states, namely Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Singapore, and Vietnam, had a significantly lower level of political equality (10-20%) than the world’s average rating, indicating that the high gender gap issue still exists in those countries. However, there are various different factors that cause gender inequality which leads to a wide range of violence against women. Recently, there has been an epidemic of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19). This has forced many families in Indonesia to self-isolate at home to reduce the risk of infection. For this reason, they must strictly comply with government regulations. Meanwhile, the Jakarta News reports that the percentage of violence against women in Indonesia has continued to increase during the COVID-19 outbreak. Almost two-thirds of the 319 cases of violence against women were reported by the National Commission (Ayesha, Diva, & Ika 2020).
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Essentially, the most frequent category of violence is domestic violence, which is prevalent in Indonesia. Numerous women and children have been victims of domestic violence, suffering physically and mentally abused by close ones such as parents and husbands. Although Indonesia has enacted a domestic violence law in 2014 under President Megawati's government, it has restrictions on its enforcement and insufficient penalties for those who commit it. The Sexual Violence Bill is now being postponed because there are certain groups that oppose and disagree with that law, which detain the discussion process and it is expected to be resumed in 2021. The author studied and collected the data using a qualitative methodology that applied concepts and theories to analyze the data. Firstly, conflict triangle and violence triangle concepts by Johan Galtung were applied in order to describe three types of conflict and violence: cultural violence, structural violence, and direct violence, which are underlying factors of gender inequality leading to violence against women in Indonesia. After that, the concept of human security was used to understand and explain various effects on insecurity that Indonesian women have experienced from violence in their lives. Finally, the author offers opinions and peaceful solutions to the problem through the collaboration perspective or a win-win solution to achieve the most appropriate conflict management for all parties. This chapter aimed to identify the factors contributing to gender inequality leading to violence against women and the violation of women's rights in Indonesia. The authors conducted the study through the following three questions; 1) what are the factors that lead to conflict and gender inequality in Indonesia? 2) How does gender inequality in Indonesia affect women's insecurity? 3) How do women and victims of violence in Indonesia come out and ask for solutions? The aims of the study are 1) to study the factors that lead to conflicts and gender inequality between men and women in Indonesia, 2) to study the consequences of gender inequality that affect human insecurity of Indonesian women, and 3) to understand and suggest peaceful solutions toward the violence against women in Indonesia. 4.2 Factors of Gender Inequality and Violence Against Women Gender inequality and violence against women are part of human insecurity as they bring about personal insecurity that prevents many women from staying safe and being free from fear and need (HDR 1994 as incited Gomez and Gasper, 2013). The factors that cause gender inequality and violence against women in Indonesia are discussed as follows:
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4.2.1 Religion Islamic belief is one of the factors that create gender norms and define the attitude of men toward women in Indonesian society. Conservative Islamic political parties, such as the National Awakening Party (PKB) and Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), say women should defend themselves against men's desires by wearing veils and dressing appropriately. Women should be polite, and they must return home on time before 9 p.m. The types of occupations that women can undertake are only involving medical services, such as a doctor and a nurse, or volunteer work at non-profit organizations (NGOs). Moreover, wives should not oppose or reject husbands' commands for they should do well as housewives to satisfy their husbands. Due to gender inequality in Indonesian society, women do not have full access to the education system. Women's rights are restricted in many respects within the framework of religious beliefs, laws, and patriarchal values. This situation makes the wife highly dependent on her husband who is the only breadwinner and takes the leadership role of their household. The information from a survey by Eli N Hayati et al. (2011) found that 58% of men think that women should obey men's orders and they have the right to hit women if they disobey. These attitudes were cultivated by religious beliefs that promote the role of men rather than defend women's rights. From a cultural violence perspective, men often use religious principles as a reason to commit violence against their wives. On the Santri approach, women are responsible for reproduction in order to maintain the lineage of the family. Consequently, sexual consent and marital rape are not major issues because Santri regards marriage as the basis of absolute agreeing in sexual intercourse between spouses, but extramarital affairs are unacceptable and a serious offense. As a result, many Indonesian women are at higher risk of facing domestic violence, either sexual violence by their husbands and/or physical violence. They usually suffer from gender inequality in their marriage, in particular women who marry with less-educated men and the society that strongly adheres to traditional norms. 4.2.2 The Inadequacy of Support from the Existing Laws In 1965, the New Order regimen, which is the ideal governance of President Suharto, caused women to suffer a system of violence, conflict, and social injustice. Women, as the victims of this regime, struggle to survive conflict and violence in all dimensions, including the economy, health, education, rights, and access to basic services (UN Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, 2020). The New Order regimen
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is a concept of womanhood that creates a huge gender inequality for women as it has been influenced by Islamic beliefs. As a result, women become subordinated in society and are excluded from participation in political and economic power. The New Order regimen defines that being reproductive and being the housewives are the main roles of women, whereas men have powers on left decision-making and leading their households. It pushes women to become dependent on men and live to serve their husbands and family. Ricarda Gerlach described the New Order regimen as a tool or mechanism used by the government to organize a women's society by building the norm through a patriarchal perspective. Later in the era of President Megawati's government, he enforced the domestic violence law in 2004 to prevent violence against women in four forms, which are physical, psychological, sexual, including marital rape and economic neglect. However, the penalties were very limited and were not implemented to their fullest extent. Since the domestic violence law was founded on colonial legislation, serious physical harm could not be clearly determined as an obviously illegal act. (Hana A Satriyo, n.d. incite Ricarda Gerlach 2020). Despite the “Protection of Women and Anti Gender-Based Violence” law being revised in 2009, it was still unsuccessful and violence against women continues to be seen, presently even more extreme than it was before. We can see that the New Order regimen is a structure built on gender inequality while violating the fundamental freedoms of women at the same time. It is a type of violence caused by structural violence, which is the values that lead to violence against women and the attitude of a man shaped by this concept has led them to see that a good woman is the one who obeys her husband and is devoted to her family. This has caused many women to suffer greatly from living their lives as a wife. Many of them succumbed to the pain of physical and mental abuse, so as not to bring shame on the family and spouse. At the same time, the weak structure of domestic violence law and the Protection of Women and Anti Gender-Based Violence has not led to the solution that would terminate violence against women in Indonesia. The domestic violence law cannot be effectively enforced because it is a law that has restrictions on the use of penalties as well as being unable to clearly determine the offender's guilt. This allows many offenders to be freed after committing crimes. Moreover, the inability of the law to punish them puts the victims’ lives at greater risk of violence. Four years ago, a petition was filed with the government for approval of the Sexual Violence Bill, which covers most types of violence and harassment against women, including supporting gender equality for all groups of people. Importantly, the Sexual Violence Bill
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states strict penalties and enforcement, which stirs dissatisfaction among some groups in Indonesia. As a consequence, the number of cases involving violence against women has increased over the past 12 years. According to the National Commission on Violence Against Women, there were a total of 406,178 reported lawsuits in 2019, which was an 18 percent increase compared to 2018. Of all reported cases, up to 71% of domestic violence were reported in 2019 (Wannawat Em-ong 2020). The member of the House of Representatives of Indonesia recently resubmitted the bill to parliament due to growing demand from the citizens. They insist that the government should make a decision again since the Sexual Violence Bill was suspended during the discussion last year. The National Awakening Party (PKB) and Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) disagree with the enforcement of the law after they found some chapters that are in contradiction to the Islamic approach in the Sexual Violence Bill. They argue that the Islamic approaches alone are sufficient to protect women. In addition, there are religious leaders who convict and punish them based on Islamic laws. In particular, they were concerned that the bill would allow sexual intercourse outside marriage and promote liberal feminist values. Therefore, they view the Sexual Violence Bill as unnecessary for them. However, Indonesian women along with women's rights activists and women's advocacy organizations have high hopes that the Sexual Violence Bill will be formally enforced. Looking at the structure of the Sexual Violence Bill, it can be seen that this law could bring about dramatic changes and termination of violence against women in Indonesia. It may also transform the structure of society and the attitudes of men towards women because this law has a clear objective of promoting the rights and roles of Indonesian women together with calls for full sanctions against the perpetrators. As a result, the Sexual Violence Bill is a legal structure that could generate positive motivation rather than violence that causes damages to one’s life. Similarly to the women in Indonesia, the author also hopes that the government would have the Sexual Violence Bill passed after another meeting by 2021, as the Sexual Violence Bill marks a significant step for many Indonesian women, especially those who have to endure and suffer being victims of violence and harassment all the time. 4.2.3 Patriarchal Culture Patriarchy is a social system in which males dominate and dominant roles in political leadership, moral authority, social privilege, and asset control. In other words, it means that property and titles are inherited by the male lineage. The Patriarchy has powers to cover the roles, behaviors, and ways of thinking of women, men, and other genders and is often present 27
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in social, legal, political, religious, and economic organizations (Sanoh Charoenporn, 2005, cited in Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 2018). Although many countries around the world today focus on the issue of gender equality between the roles of men and women in society, the patriarchal system still exists because the system has been passed on from generation to generation by certain groups, especially in Indonesia where civil servants still live according to the patriarchal culture. A country where patriarchalism is deeply rooted in tradition and supported by the Islamic approach usually defined women as inferior to men. It often has a centralized state structure. In addition, Indonesia has no civil law to control the relationship between husband and wife, as well as the state itself still has no power over Islam, said Patricio Abinales (reference needed). As we can see from the text above, the domestic violence law cannot be used to effectively punish offenders due to the domination of Islamic belief and colonial legislation over the state’s verdict. This is why cases related to domestic violence are prevalent in Indonesian society. Additionally, the study of Soraya Rodpetch et al. found that women under patriarchy were treated with violence by men (Sorraya, Tassanee, & Natthanai, 2018). They must submit to the authority of men because women are unable to support themselves. They were seen as a minority and are less educated than men. To analyze from the perspective of the Violence Triangle, the author views that patriarchal inheritance today is not only an installation of values that leads to cultural violence between males and females but also causes gender oppression, especially discrimination against women over occupation and political participation. This patriarchal culture in Indonesia has forced many wives to be oppressed by their husbands even though there are women who are eligible to get an education and a career. Nevertheless, they also face abuses of women's rights from regulations issued by their employers. 4.3 Violence against Women Cases The beliefs, laws, ideals, and values in society not only create gender inequality but also cause conflicts between men and women in Indonesia. In addition, it has caused direct violence (visible violence) called physical pain that affects the mental health and security of women's lives as well. Here are some examples of violence in Indonesia: 4.3.1 Domestic Violence Domestic violence is the most reported case in Indonesia. But in reality, the number
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of cases that are not publicly reported is extremely greater. Because many women victims are afraid to report to the police or seek help from women's advocacy organizations (NGOs). A recent chapter has found that women who live in urban areas and are highly educated are more likely to experience violence than rural and less educated women. In particular, about a quarter of women have been physically abused by their husbands. While the percentage of sexual violence from others such as teachers, parents, and strangers is as high as 14.4 percent (Voice TV, 2017). In the case of a 19-year-old Indonesian girl, she was physically abused by her brother after he had lost his job because of the COVID-19 pandemic. More importantly, she tried to report the issue to the National Commission on Violence Against Women, but her parents disagreed. They think that family problems should not be disclosed to the public as it will bring shame to the family. This case of a 19-year-old girl shows direct violence committed by her brother and family as a consequence of cultural and structural violence indoctrination. In line with the opinions of the Women's March Jakarta co-organizer, violence against women is the result of traditional Javanese values that teach women to obey men. Meanwhile, legal analysts at the LBH APIK say that inadequate existing laws to protect women from violence and gender inequality are the reasons for the prolonged increase in violence against women (Voice TV, 2017). Also, the threat of economic insecurity caused by the COVID-19 epidemic puts her brother under the stress of lack of income. It made her a target for her brother's violent acts to release his anger. Thus, the situation of violence against women clearly reflects that women are unable to live the life they want and cannot live without fear. These unstable situations are all against the goal of enhancing human security and a fundamental human right “freedom from fear”, as the UNDP deeply recognizes that human beings should be protected from incidents of various forms of violence in daily life. In contrast, women in Indonesia are not getting the support and protection they earnestly deserve. Due to the influence of beliefs, social values, and laws, the role of women is not recognized in Indonesia, thereby increasing the gap between males and females in society as a result. 4.3.2 Sexual Harassment Many women in Indonesia have experienced sexual harassment both online and in real life. According to BBC News, a 24-year-old Indonesian woman has been the victim of revenge porn in which the perpetrator was a man she had secretly been in a relationship with for 5 years. This incident had caused a great deal of fear and insecurity in her life. Since Indonesia has a strict and powerful reinforcement on Bill against Pornography and 29
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Pornographic Acts, and Electronic Information Transaction (ITE). Likewise, the Islamic approach sees sexuality as a prohibited issue and does not accept premarital sex. For this reason, she feels uncomfortable asking for assistance from the police and her family. A volunteer lawyer named Asree Widya, gives comments in the BBC News interview that the Bill against Pornography and Pornographic Acts is too powerful and violates the privacy rights of citizens. And it also aggravates the pain of women who have been victims of violence. In the same way, the author views the existence of the Bill against Pornography and Pornographic Acts, and Electronic Information Transaction (ITE) as a state legal tool that creates personal insecurity for women because legal penalties bring insecurity and violence into the private lives of women rather than protecting victims from violence. 4.3.3 Women's Rights Violation In 2017, Human Rights Watch made an appeal to President Joko Widodo to end the virginity test among women applying to the military and police. Human Rights Watch argues that the methods used to determine the virginity test are not scientifically reliable. Moreover, it is considered a violation of Indonesia's international human rights obligations. The international community regards the virginity test as a violation of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The virginity test has decreased women's values and is an act of gender discrimination. Including, it has caused trauma within the hearts of women who have applied to the military and police. In particular, the virginity test on women shows violence in the form of women's rights abuses. These abuses have been linked to political instability as well because the government cannot make people ``live in a society with honor and dignity and respect for human rights” as stated in Political Security (UNDP, 1994 cited in Manaswee Arachunaka, 2018). Additionally, Nisha Varia, the advocacy director of Human Rights Watch's women's rights division, stated that the Indonesian government has ignored the problems from virginity tests and lacked political intention of protecting women's rights, said (BBC News 2017). 4.4 Addressing the Risks of Violence against Women The author thinks that not only strict laws can address the problem of violence caused by gender inequality. At the same time, communities can also have participated in eliminating violence against women as a collaboration method of conflict management, in order to create
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a positive solution and strengthen the relationship between the parties. The author has the following opinions on addressing violence against women in Indonesia: 4.4.1 Attitudes toward Women Attitudes could be changed through collaboration with the Indonesian government, religious organizations, and family institutions to promote and encourage women's role in every dimension, such as political participation, economic and educational access. As the root causes of violence against women in Indonesia are the beliefs and social norms that reinforce male authority, therefore, the author sees that change should begin with the structure of these societies. This suggestion is supported by the case of two women who live at Bamiyan in Afghanistan. They were criticized and attacked by the villagers because they wanted to ski. Later, they were assisted by the imam of the community, resulting in a change of their attitudes towards them eventually. The imam brought the right perspective of religious doctrine to teach the villagers in order to change the attitude of people towards women and support gender equality. He stated that religious doctrine encourages and gives people the opportunity to do anything they desire, including ski-in this case, as long as it is not against the doctrine He added that the doctrine itself should not be viewed as a tool to keep people from doing leisure activities. At the end of the interview, he emphasized that everyone deserves equal rights and opportunities without gender discrimination (Thuan Travel 2017). 4.4.2 The Indonesian Government and other Stakeholders The government should comply with Human Rights obligations and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). By showing respect and strictly following human rights, the role of women would be increasingly recognized and be more aware of, creating gender equality and preserving the honor and dignity of all people. Governments, religious institutions, human rights activists, and NGOs for women should work together to educate communities about gender equality and violence against women. They should point out the root causes of gender discrimination issues that lead to violence against women, to create a common understanding and awareness of the impact women have to suffer from both physical and mental violence caused by gender inequality. Additionally, the Indonesian government should pay attention to increasing the role of human rights activists and women's advocacy organizations (NGOs), including raising awareness of the values, roles, and power of women. This includes meetings with human rights activists and women's advocacy organizations (NGOs) to find solutions to sexual violence by reducing risk factors and ending
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the problem of violence against women in Indonesia. 4.4.2 In the process of enacting legislation to protect women's rights The government should allow women's advocacy organizations (NGOs) and citizens, particularly Indonesian women, to contribute to drafting a Bill. Also, it provides an opportunity to discuss and debate with the conservatives in order to find the common ground of mutual satisfaction, which would eventually make the law to be effectively enforced. 4.5. Conclusion The violence against women such as sexual violence, harassment, and the abuse of women's rights in Indonesia, is driven by three main factors under the concept of structural violence and cultural violence: social values, religious principles or beliefs, and laws that do not protect women's rights comprehensively. Moreover, these factors have a powerful influence on shaping attitudes that cause direct violence, which is gender discrimination and gender inequality. Consequently, Indonesian women have no role in political, economic, and social development because these roles and statuses are assigned only to men, which also reflects the lack of human security in Indonesia. In addition, the patriarchal culture embedded in beliefs and laws has led people to believe that harassment and violence against women is not a crime. Particularly, domestic violence, which has been prevalent for a long time in Indonesia, is still an unsolvable issue because the government has ignored human rights concerns as well as appeals submitted by human rights activists and women advocacy organizations in Indonesia. Apart from that, addressing violence against women can only be achieved when all parties come together to share ideas, find solutions, and raise awareness of gender equality under the method of conflict management by the collaboration to achieve mutually satisfactory results and to maintain a positive relationship with all parties. 4.6 References Anjali Sen., & Jamshed M. Kazi. (2021). Will we ever end violence against women?. The Jakarta Post: https://www.thejakartapost.com/academia/2020/10/07/will-we-ever-endviolence-against-women.html. (Accessed July 20, 2021). Asean Watch. (2020). North Sumatran women's rights groups have marched on calling for a law against sexual violence.
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https://aseanwatch.org/2020/03/09/%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%A5%E0%B8%B8%E0%B9%88 %E0%B8%A1%E0%B8%AA%E0%B8%B4%E0%B8%97%E0%B8%98%E0%B8%B4%E0 %B8%AA%E0%B8%95%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%B5%E0%B8%AA%E0%B8%B8%E0%B 8%A1%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%95%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%B2%E0%B9%80/.
(Accessed
July 20, 2021). Asia Justice and Right., PASKA., & Papuan Women Working Group. (2020). Violence Against Women in Conflict in Indonesia. UN Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CEDAW/Shared%20Documents/IDN/INT_CEDAW_IC O_IDN_42415_E.pdf. (Accessed July 20, 2021). Ayesha Nadya Muna., Diva Tasya Belinda Rauf., & Ika Krismantari. (2020). Indonesia’s rise in domestic violence during the COVID-19 pandemic: why it happens and how to seek help. https://theconversation.com/indonesias-rise-in-domestic-violence-duringthe-covid-19-pandemic-why-it-happens-and-how-toBINUS University. (2021). Not All Houses are Homes: Domestic Violence in Indonesia during COVID-19. https://bbs.binus.ac.id/international-business/2021/01/not-allhouses-are-homes-domestic-violence-in-indonesia-during-covid-19/.
(Accessed
July
24,
2021). Equal Measures 2030’s Gender Advocates Data Hub. (2019). Gender Equality Context in Indonesia. https://www.equalmeasures2030.org/datahub/2019-sdg-genderindex/country/indonesia/. (Accessed July 27, 2021). Gómez, Oscar A. & Gasper, Des. (2013). Human Security: A Thematic Guidance Note for Regional and National Human Development Report Teams. United Nations Development Programme:
http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/human_security_guidance_note_r-
nhdrs.pdf. (Accessed July 15, 2021). Government Public Relations Department. (2021). Global Gender Gap Report 2021. http://www.aseanthai.net/ewt_news.php?nid=11648&filename=in. (Accessed July 19, 2021). Isabel Dunstan., & Gitika Bhardwaj. (2019). How Women are Transforming Indonesia.
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Chatham
House:
https://www.chathamhouse.org/2019/05/how-women-are-transforming-
indonesia. (Accessed July 19, 2021). Johan Galtung. (1969). Peace by Peaceful Means: Peace and Conflict, Development and Civilization.
https://sk.sagepub.com/books/peace-by-peaceful-means/n17.xml.
(Accessed
June 15, 2021). Lara Owen. (2021). Women victims of 'revenge porn' in Indonesia are not only humiliated but also prosecuted. Thai BBC News: https://www.bbc.com/thai/international-56925734. (Accessed July 16, 2021). Latka Nerthus. (2020). ASEAN and the Promotion of Gender Equality. Law for ASEAN by the Office of the Council of State of Thailand: https://lawforasean.krisdika.go.th/File/files/chapter1dec_genderequalitycooperation.pdf. (Accessed July 20, 2021). Manaswee Arachunaka. (2018). Human development in a global context: Unit 3 Human Security. Nonthaburi: Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University Press. https://www.stou.ac.th/Schoolnew/polsci/UploadedFile/82427-3.pdf.
(Accessed
July 27,
2021). Namira Samir. (2020). Pandemic showcases Indonesia’s systemic gender inequality. The
Jakarta
Post:
https://www.thejakartapost.com/academia/2020/12/15/pandemic-
showcases-indonesias-systemic-gender-inequality.html. (Accessed July 20, 2021). Patricio N. Abinales. (2004). Women, Islam and the law. Kyoto Review of Southeast Asia: https://kyotoreview.org/issue-5/%E0%B8%AA%E0%B8%95%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%B5%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%B4%E0%B8%AA%E0%B8%A5%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%A1%E0%B9%81%E0%B8%A5%E0%B8%B0%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%8E%E0%B8%AB%E0 %B8%A1%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%A2/. (Accessed July 28, 2021). Ricarda Gerlach. (2020). The fight to outlaw sexual violence in Indonesia. Inside
Indonesia:
https://www.insideindonesia.org/the-fight-to-outlaw-sexual-violence-in-
indonesia. (Accessed July 15, 2021).
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Soraya Rodpetch., Tassanee Thantawanit., & Natthanai Prasannam. (2018). Women and Patriarchy in Uthis Haemamool’s Novels. Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 14(1), 53-80. https://so03.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/eJHUSO/chapter/view/131587. (Accessed July 20, 2021). Thai BBC News. (2017). Human Rights Watch urges Indonesia to end 'Virginity test' of female police and military applicants. Thai BBC News: https://www.bbc.com/thai/international-42081869. (Accessed July 16, 2021). Ulf Högberg., Mohammad Hakimi., Mary C Ellsberg., & Maria Emmelin Elli N Hayati. (2011). Behind the silence of harmony: risk factors for physical and sexual violence among women in rural Indonesia. BMC Women’s Health 2011, 11(52), 3-8. Voice Online. (2017). Indonesian women with higher education are at greater risk of experiencing violence. https://www.voicetv.co.th/read/479643. (Accessed July 20, 2021). Wannasingh Prasertkul. (2017). Thuan Travel EP.3 Afghanistan Valley of Bamiyan March 18, 2017 [video]. Available from: เถื่อน Travel [EP.3] อัฟกานิสถาน หุบผาแห่งบามิยัน วันที่ 18 มีนาคม
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Chapter 5 Laos and Security Issue
Saw Tun Tun Win
5.1 Introduction This chapter is conducted on the crux of national survival of Laos PDR (People Democratic Republic of Laos), in re ard of unveiling the limitation of natural resources and the notion for national safety and self-dependent since it has long been isolated to the rest of the world. Water reservoir is, by all means, national survival and income booster therefore Laos has strongly depended on the source since then. However, the issue has later spread and triggered cross-national conflicts, and thus this chapter will mostly emphasize upon. Structurally envisaging, dam construction idea is similar to the step-order system which simply means the partial on-flow of issue from place to place; the threshold of the problem from highland to lowland orderly. Moreover, the inevitable consequences of natural disasters are lying ahead since Laos is also a victim of water-related issues such as drought. In this chapter, the main questions would be 1) what are the current cross-national issues resulting from dam construction? 2) Which lowland countries are affected by the issue? 3) How Laos is affected by its construction and consequences, especially towards Laotians and what are the repercussions and 4) what are the long-term and possible solutions toward the issue?
This chapter initially poses a pivotal aspect on cross-national and national
issues rendered by dam construction around the Mekong River. And from the perspective of the readers, this chapter will likely convey the current issue of Laos and its national and cross-national conflicts, the meaning of surviving from poverty, and the tendency to thrive as a stand-alone country. Therefore, the readers will be more likely to boost the senses of knowledge in the contextualization of Laos and its ongoing issue; the issue of imitation from China. This chapter elucidates the background of Laos which will mainly accentuate the ongoing impact of dam construction as a high-lander to the lower countries. Also, the inadvisable issues toward itself under the context of political conflict and violence by the means of non-traditional security will be highlighted. Furthermore, the chapter will unveil human insecurity, conflict management, and the provision of solutions as much as possible.
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5.2 Background and National Political Conflict and Calamities Laos has been regarded as one of the stand-alone countries for several years. Moreover, its geographic location unveils the state of being baffled whose location is surrounded amidst rivalry powers as well as regional authorities. Laos is also one of a few countries where the national boundary is distinctly land locked and falls under the category of predominantly impoverished in Southeast Asia. Therefore, it has a constraint number of resources such as crude oil, gemstones, metallic substances, and any oceanic resources. The national resources index is nevertheless uncountable since the exact amount has yet to be collected by WDI (World Development Index), and thus the overall resources are still under review. Also, it is one of the poorest countries ranked after Myanmar which is in the second position in the Southeast Asian index and has long been regarded as the smallest Communist country in Asia that embraces the Marxist ideology of isolationism with the least economic attainment decades ago since 1975. As a result, most Laotians are still subsistent on traditional ways of life and occupation. According to the record of UNDP (United Nations Development Program), 45% of Laotians are farmers whose income per capita is less than 1 USD per day. Laos is in the awakened fear of being swallowed by the adjacent countries since it is relatively small in comparison to any neighboring countries namely, Thailand, Vietnam, and China. In regard to cultural heritage in ASEAN, Laos is recognized as one of the poorest cultural illustrations since its norm and tradition resemble many adhered countries, therefore, the phobia towards being subjugated is somewhat high. In the aspect of the economy, Laos is greatly dependent on auxiliary funds from international donors. China is also one of the great donors of Laos for the rapid-rising scheme in the modern economy, influences especially political ties and many more. Still, Laos remains poor with its slow development impetus and the multitude of rates of corruption from both governmental and civic levels. As a least developed country, Laos attempted to construct many water reservoirs, and one prominent one is in Xayaburi. Notwithstanding, these infrastructural constructions are far from being beneficial towards its neighboring countries. The project of great Mekong or expansion of dam construction in upper Mekong garrison proposing for hydropower generation, water reservation for specific national benefits is the impetus to ignite the flame of conflict to the lower Mekong regional countries, with the fear of negative impacts in the future, therefore, diplomat tension and initial warming are recently conducted. Still, the wording of ignorance is the term to aid Laos for solo development yet remaining water-
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related issues to others, and one of the distinct impacts by the project is greater flood unseasonably as well as for the seasonal lack of water. The construction not only poses hydro issues but aquatic numbers as well. In regard to the issues, the lowland countries of Vietnam and Cambodia are greatly affected by the intention of the dam building in the upper Mekong basin and are conducting negotiations. The negotiation power of The Mekong’s River Commission remains constrained due to the lack of enforcement power and China’s denial of the position of a full member. Moreover, southern China’s irrigation renders a tendency of unseasonal flood and solemn drought in many parts of the country such as Pakse and any southern cities thereof water and any sources are far to facilitate. 5.3 Drought Problem & Human Insecurity Severe drought in Laos has fallen under the categorization of a new phenomenon yet the annual issue, which happened 30 years ago. This problem is also presumed as the consequence of any new construction such as the innovation of dams and the method to reserve water to use in the dry season. However, some other regions still experience unexpected drought while some areas benefited from government provisions. Also, it has never been able to solve this problem with any proper method, and hence it becomes chronic and keeps intimidating people's lives, especially those who live nearby water-sheds or any water-sided villages. The rate of rain is sparse in many regions especially in the north in the early years of 2018 and remains worse in the upcoming years. Some villagers stated that dam existence solved nothing but rampant the condition, and the government likely concentrated on the bigger project rather than the lives of people. According to ASEAN’s report, Laos still confronts drought accounted for 70% of the total population who are farmers and agriculture-related occupations. Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Bounkhong Khan Bounheuang has actively observed the places where droughts occurred and also provided aid and solutions on the issues. The issue makes people even poorer since most of the populations strongly depend on farming therefore drought weakens national strength quintessentially foods for people to subsist as well as the factor to strengthen the rate of self-reliant. In Vientiane, the measured water level was 6.0 meters or 5.54 meters, which unveils the water level fell under the minimum level in comparison to each year. The aforementioned fact rendered hardships and also threatened people who were poor rather than the rich, and somehow it causes social problems which seemingly slow the process of national growth. The forms of violence that occurred according to these issues can be culturally and economically recorded. In the economic
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aspect, it triggers farmers and people to rely on the imports from neighboring countries such as of Thailand and Vietnam, and this makes the country to face currency outflow which later paves the way to the debt. According to problem and its scope, the grassroot individuals who depend tightly on agricultural profession will have less affordability for daily factors such as foods, clothes, medicines, and any crucial accessibility thereof education. As a result, people are unlikely spend money on education for their children, and when the rate of literacy drops, the country will lose brain-drained populations who can support and represent the country in the future. And if the conundrum is still ignored unsolved, the poor will outnumber and the country will lastly be filled with crime and looting resulting from the poverty rate, and thus the sense of security will be soiled and the lives of each individual will mainly rest based on uncertainty with crime and bloodshed situations, therefore, it is the open-door for direct conflict, which lurks to happen in future. Every form of violence stems from small dots of the problems, and in this case, the continuity of drought will pose not only the danger of lives yet ruin the reputation of the country greatly. 5.4 Disaster Management Disaster management and any contingent policy for framework modification are necessary to protect, promote and prevent this issue in the long-term perspective. The overall programming and planning should aim at resilient and timely disaster management, and implement closely between all the related factors both providers and receivers of civil society and the government. Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Bounkhong Khambounheuang should sternly emphasize the effort on the key affected areas rather than implementing the policy or any scheme proclamation due to the most effective method to cope with the problem is the close and interactive contributions. The federal government is in charge of redistributing the aid to the provincial government orderly and systematically in order to logically review and manage any changes. The urgent and reactive approaches are the factors to carry out rather than waiting for the central government's contribution due to many parts of the affected areas occurring around the corners of the country. On the other hand, the government should provisionally inform the officials to help people in the needed areas without further waiting for the issue to happen because it is the annual precedent. Systematically, the federal government should redistribute the auxiliary aids and concentration to the regional government, especially in terms of distribution from any big project to the smaller ones.
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5.5 Neighbor’s Assistant Laos isn’t the only country that faces the impact of drought in the region, yet Thailand and Myanmar. The aforementioned countries have also experienced drought each year, and the affected households accounted for approximately 6,000 among 20 provinces in the north, northeast, and central parts of Thailand. Meanwhile, Myanmar has partly confronted the drought of approximately 2,6000,000 hectares in the southeast region of the country; Karen state. And another region in the south of Myanmar, Mon state. As a result, Laos should cohesively cooperate with affected countries to come up with any new regional policy and implementation as the scheme of regional unity and assistance. Laos should also diplomatically request help from China to deliver and open the gate of the dam in the time of summer or the month in which drought has greatly occurred. This is the system of mutual dependency in the region for the betterment of survival as a landlocked country. Consequently, it should request Thailand and Myanmar to release water timely to the Mekong for solution of drought, especially toward the individuals whose professions are mainly farming and agriculture practices. On reversing concerns, Laos should also consider providing help to neighboring countries by releasing the water to help lowland countries when they need it in order to strengthen ties and cooperation. 5.6 Cooperation with external parties Occasionally, receiving help from external parties or organizations is crucial due to Laos being relatively poor in the region to stand alone. Therefore, external parties should contribute in order to help reduce the issue as well as to promote development in the region. Currently, Laos gains support from China in the part of economic subsistence and UNDP. Thus, the country seemingly depends on others due to the limited budgets and factors to help in crisis and prevention of any calamity in order to completely mitigate the rates of economic and cultural problems which threaten the lives of people from place to place, quintessentially to the poor. More efforts are better than one is nevertheless reasonable and effective wording in terms of dilemma and security because international agents and organizations embrace human rights and democracy, and hence to uphold the innocent lives of Laotians in all aspects such as employment boosting to help people who affect from the drought, supporting the poor for subsistence and triggering the sense of interactions from the government and the people for cooperation and development.
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5.7 Conclusion The Laos PDR water and related issues are agreeably interwoven to the so-called codependent. Multitude layers of poverty, and somewhat insecurities of national and transnational problems triggered the long-term unsustainable development which tends to pose a stern issue in the coming decades if it still remained unsolved. Moreover, it will unexpectedly ignite the flame of conflicts within the region which shaken unity and consistency. Water reservoir construction is the method for Laos to extricate from chronic drought and disastrous issues, still, profound and matriculates consideration is needed to certify that the infrastructure investment is constructive for Laos rather than being a threat that is difficult to surmount in the future. Laos’s future depended and expected greatly on the utilization and exploitation of the remaining and sole natural resources there. The counter should consider the wise use of every inch of them; otherwise, the further problem will occur instead of any beneficiaries. Sustainability and security can take place if the country embraces the wording of mutual development as well as the inclusiveness nationally and internationally with the only recourse in hands. The drought, on the other hand, the consequence of the dams around the country, and Laos seems tightly dependent on multisectorial parts which are both regional and international agencies and organizations in order to uphold unity and resilience as well as to mitigate regional insecurity which poses the intimidation and cultural disintegration for decades. 5.8 References Brunner, J. 2019. Improve Water Management is Central to Solving the Water-Culture-Safety Trilemma
in
Laos
PDR.
International
Journal
Press:
United
State.
See,
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/07900627.2020.1754175. Kang, T. 2019. Laos Hit by Worst Drought in Decades. The Laotians Times: United State. For more information see, https://laotiantimes.com/2019/07/25/laos-hit-by-worst-drought-indecades/?fbclid=IwAR2-L1oCSDtA4SMUR29avOPAnpU5fVI6u8MSM81_VazJYWtlfIZysKBoUM. Scot, R. 2020. Dam projects and disputes in the Mekong River Basin. Federal Foreign Office: United Kingdom. See, https://climate-diplomacy.org/case-studies/dam-projects-and-disputesmekong-river-basin?fbclid=IwAR2-L1oCSDtA4SMUR29avOPAnpU5fVI6u8MSM81_VazJYWtlfIZysKBoUM.
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Chapter 6 Racial Conflict leads to Violence and Human Insecurity: Bumiputera of Malaysia
Kanokphon Srisuk
6.1 Introduction
Malaysia is one of the countries in Southeast Asia with an area of 329,847 square kilometers (2/3 of Thailand) consisting of two parts of the territory: West Malaysia which is located on the mainland of Asia and East Malaysia which is located on the island of Borneo South borders Indonesia, all parts of West Malaysia border Brunei Darussalam with only Sarawak and Malaysia is one of the founding members of ASEAN. Malaysia currently has an overall population of about 32,776,194 (National Intelligence Agency, 2021). Most of them are indigenous Malays, about 29.70 million people, and 3 million non-Malaysian nationals (Jul 2020), divided into 69.6% Malay, 22.6% Chinese, 6.8% Indian, and 1.0% others. So Malaysia is considered a multicultural society that has always influenced the economy, politics, and society. The allocation of interests and roles based on race is determined over time as inequalities become more serious, a problem inherited from the colonial era that has continued before 1957 (National Intelligence Agency, 2021). One of the important policies of Malaysia is “Bumiputera” or also so-called ' ‘Son of Soil' ' means “The Son or Daughter of the country” the name used to refer to a person or group of Malay or other ethnic origins who are traditional Muslims in the territory of Malaysia (Government Public Relations Department, 2015). Bumiputra or Bumiputera policy is a policy that gives privileges to the people of the origins in education and governmental service, etc., in order to be able to find or have occupation equal to Chinese and Indian. This policy is a legacy that is evident from the past or it can be said to have been accumulated since before Malaysia independence in 1957 (Supakan and Adisorn, 2010). This chapter focuses on Bumiputera policy in relation to understanding how human insecurities form up based on this policy? Where did the racial conflict literally begin? Is there any violence
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resulting from this racial conflict, and if any, what kind of violence? These questions will be explained and answered in this chapter. The first objective is to point out the root of the racial conflict by giving information in advance and comprehensive to help for understanding the conflict. The second objective is to explain direct, structural, and cultural violence as consequences of human insecurities including economic, personal, and political insecurities. 6.2 The Beginning of Conflicts According to Supakan and Adisorn, the Malay Peninsula has many port cities as it is located on the trade route between the western world and the eastern world. Both Chinese and Indians travel to trade in this land. Many ethnic Chinese who use their native dialects will be united within the same vernacular Chinese group (Supakan and Adisorn, 2010).
Some
groups of Chinese are able to adapt to the lifestyle of the indigenous Malays very well in terms of culture, language, and way of life or even dress. Some were married to native Malays, resulting in a mix of ethnic and cultural origins. This adaptation effort came from an attempt to contribute to the Chinese economy. In the early 19th century, the Chinese people living in various states began to migrate to the west in search of tin deposits, resulting in the continued expansion of mining operations. The mining owners were often the Malay elite, but the investors were Chinese and Westerners. The economic expansion caused a huge demand for labor, so there was a continuous increase in the number of Chinese people. But the Chinese tend to stay in their niche groups anyway. Indians are another ethnic group that migrated to Malay territory. Many Indian laborers migrated because of the British colonialists (Supakan and Adisorn, 2010). Indian workers are engaged in various occupations such as construction workers. As time went on, the British colonial owners at the time developed agriculture, resulting in the need to import more Indian labor. The influx of Chinese and Indians has had a huge impact on the social structure of the Malay territories, that is, individual immigrants and indigenous peoples live in groups. Preserving the culture and traditions of their own homeland and becoming a visibly multicultural society (Supakan and Adisorn, 2010). 6.3 Bumiputera policy and the 1969 Riots Bumiputera policy is a policy specified in the Malaysian constitution that provides privileges to the Bumiputra group that make up the majority of the population of Malaysia, such as education and civil service. According to The Government Public Relations Department (2015), it is also a Bhumiputra policy as a policy for poverty reduction and social
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restructuring to divide the privileges of the Malays that must be received in various fields, such as the economy; pushing and developing the Malays to play more economic roles. This situation has caused insufficiency to other ethnic in Malaysia, especially Chinese and Indian Malaysians, and has led to racial conflicts due to the fact that since the past, especially during the colonial era under British rule. The distinct ethnicities on Malaysian soil were clearly divided, giving indigenous Malaysians more political and economic rights over time than any other lineage. Malaysians of Chinese and Indian descent wanted greater participation and rights in the politics and economy that these conflicts led to the 1969 riots (Supakan and Adisorn, 2010). Although the Malaysian government led by the UMNO party has tried to solve the issue by drawing a political party representing the Chinese people to rule as a coalition party. After the results of the May 1969 general election, the Chinese gained more parliamentary positions, and many Chinese marched to show their joy in the streets of the big cities such as Kuala Lumpur. It was also expressed with harsh words and racial insults. Numerous altercations have erupted throughout Kuala Lumpur causing members of the UMNO party to gather members to march as well. The riots were getting more violent and widespread. The conflict lasted about two months (May-July 1969), with nearly 200 deaths, property and homes damaged, more than 5,000 people were detained (Prachatai, 2014). 6.4 New Economic Policy to Solve the Racial Conflicts New economic policies emerged after the 1969 riots forced the Malaysian government to seek solutions under Prime Minister Aldul Razak. He decided to perform a social restructuring and, most importantly, to address the differences in the status of each race, especially the poverty reduction in Malaysia. The government is pushing for more Malays to participate in the economy by spreading employment and education to the Malays. In particular, efforts were made to allow Malays to own state-owned enterprises. In 1970, the Malaysian Development Plan from 1971 to 1975 was amended, which the government expected to be a tool to permanently resolve racial issues. The government aims to provide people of all races with equal access to economic activities. But the Bank of Bumiputra was set up as a source of funds for Malays to invest in a business. The tax cuts for trade owners open to all nationalities have made it possible for many Chinese enterprises across Malaysia to not prevent Malays and Indians from employing ethnically equal rights and benefits (เรวั ต ร
หิ น อ่ อ น ,
2559). Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, the Minister of Education at that time provided
educational opportunities at the university and school level to all nationalities. Racial equality has been enshrined in the Malaysian constitution since 1970 in order to make Malaysia a
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multicultural society where people respect racial differences and coexist peacefully (Supakan and Adisorn, 2010). The end of 1990 was the end of new economic policies, which could substantially reduce the wealth and income gap, but at the same time cast doubt on its true neutrality in its efforts to help people. All races because ultimately, each ethnic group that lives somewhere has to adjust its role and status to the new social conditions and situations of the new economic policy (เรวัตร หินอ่อน, 2559). 6.5 Conflict Triangle and Violence Triangle Using Johan Galtung's conflict triangle to describe the beginning of the conflict, using violence to describe type of violence and pointing out how the conflict relates to the violence. The triangle describes all: Direct Violence, Structural Violence, and Cultural Violence. Johan Galtung (1969) defines violence. “An avoidable insult to human needs'', a distinctive feature of the violence triangle describes the three types of violence that resulted from the racial conflict. All three types of them are different but sometimes related to each other. Beginning with Cultural Violence is a form of that arising from cultural beliefs. Each society has different cultures but violence can happen to people of all cultures. The racial conflict in the case of Malaysia was evident from the colonial era of England. There was an influx of Chinese and Indian immigrants, where they were clearly assigned their roles to separate from the indigenous Malays. Due to the completely different language and culture, and the existence of the same group, it took a long time to adjust and had to be further separated from the political duties, economy, and coexistence. Moreover, Malays, who make up the majority of the country's population, love and cherish their own land. Thinking that they own the country, racial conflicts arise, which can be viewed as cultural violence. Inequality in politics and economic participation has brought long-standing discrimination from cultural violence fuses into structural violence which is creating rules or policies that give too much privilege to a particular group and leave other races behind. Structural violence is a type of violence in which a societal structure or organization affects people by preventing them from fulfilling their basic needs (Kathleen M. Weigert, 2008) including ethnocentrism, nationalism, racism, and so on. There is damage in the satisfaction of basic human needs: survival, welfare, identity, freedom, etc. It is caused by a set of structures, both physical and organizational, which do not allow the satisfaction of those needs. Due to cultural differences and being assigned social roles by parents before rules for coexistence in society. In one society, there are many main activities such as politics and the
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economy. In both cases, when one party feels pressured or excluded to participate less while the other is privileged by racial differences, this is violence from the social structure. Finally, Direct Violence is common and easy to spot because It is visible and humans can see it with the naked eye (Rhizome against Polarization, n.d.). The 1969 riots resulted in several casualties as direct violence that was clearly visible because of the fatal injuries, this direct violence was associated with cumulative cultural, and structural violence since in the past. Conflict is a normal part of society; it is present every day in human life. Conflict is not a bad thing, if knowing the management conflict can lead to endless development. 6.6 Human Insecurities The 1994 UNDP report introduced seven so‐called dimensions of human security: economic, food, health, environmental, personal, community, and political security. The traditional perspective of security is based on state security so the idea of human security which the UNDO argues is precisely based on this perception of interrelatedness: Human Security is not a concern with weapons – it is a concern with human life and dignity” (UNDP 1994: 22). In this case, conflicts arising from the past to the present can describe Human Insecurity in four areas: Economic Insecurity; if economic security is a guarantee of a clear income from the work of an employee. Citizens need to be protected and feel safe from participating in the economy, employment, or even legal borrowing. No one must be excluded from participating in economic activities solely by race, color, etc. But what has happened in Malaysia is the opposite, which is that the Malays are not only entitled to privileges over the government's policy. Chinese and Indian races are so limited rights in participation and ability to play an economic role that they feel unequal and insecure, so it is economic insecurity. Trying to give privileges to the natives and also showed a sense of insecurity from the Malay side because the Chinese and Indians play a very important role in the economy. Owns many businesses and is located in all areas of Malaysia. Indigenous peoples and indigenous governments are afraid to let other races dominate the economy. Personal Insecurity and Community Insecurity; insecurity from threats from physical violence that may come from the state in which they live, other states, other racial groups, other religions, or even from other persons. This happens directly to Chinese and Indian descent in Malaysia, or even to natives who believe they own the land. This is a clear example of the 1969 riots in which racial squabbles and violence left many injuries, deaths,
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and property damage. It is both violence from the state and racial conflicts from the past. It is personal insecurity for a particular race to live in a state where it feels insecure or subject to physical harm. Community security needs to protect the traditional practices of each race. A group or ethnic group must feel safe in their own way. It can be seen that since in the past when England colonized. Each race has a clear separation of duties. Each race lives in such a way that it continues to be affected until one day, in addition to the need for equality in other areas of society, the Malaysian government wants to limit the growth and economic participation of races. Others are considered community insecurity as well. Political Insecurity: Political Security is addressed following the Human Development Report 1994. Political insecurity is insecurity in defense of fundamental human rights. Human rights violations, especially during times of political unrest and unfair repression by the government. Basic human rights, of course, included equal participation in a society where no one had to be excluded from their participation just because of their race. The 1969 riots were caused by race. Chinese and Indians are excluded from political participation and want to increase their roles on equal footing with indigenous races (Supakan and Adisorn, 2010). At least It is about basic things like elections or choosing the representative you want. Feeling safe participating in politics is not only a matter of choosing the representatives you want, but politics can affect other areas of people's lives as well. Choose the future and the society that the chosen one wants. The Malaysian government's limitation on the role of Indian and Chinese races is political insecurity. Moreover, it is not just ethnic Chinese and Indians who feel insecure. Even Malays themselves feel insecure because Malays believe they own the land; they may fear that if they let other races who migrate after they have the same right to dictate politics. The landlords may have created fear for indigenous groups that they would be controlled by others. The author thinks that in the era before the ideas were not developed that indigenous peoples considered themselves to be in the country, it is not strange at all, but when the world turns into a new era, racial exclusion should no longer exist. and should live together equally under the same rules and without fear. Apparently, the emergence of this policy was at least an attempt by the government to address racial issues. Management solved this problem by using collaboration (win-win) conflict management by creating the vision 2020 policy, the main goal is to reduce the wealth and income gaps of the people, as well as boost the industrial economy to push Malaysia as a developed country. This policy could not avoid racial issues during the British colonial era, with the agreement that the Malays were granted political rights while the Chinese had
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economic roles, these roles and duties were clearly divided, but there were restrictions. It is doubtful that the vision 2020 policy takes the form of an effort to promote and increase the role of the Malays in all its forms, the most important of which is the unfair use of the patronage system. However, vision 2020 affects Malaysians of all races. Racial differences are in a better situation, entering an era of greater acceptance and cooperation in politics and economics. All races play an important role in developing and driving the country, the conflict that once occurred is an important lesson for all Malaysians. It is an attempt for both parties to disagree, although not all of them have everything they want, but no one loses all the benefits either or gains the benefit of both parties. Malaysian politics today, although racial conflicts are less than before, must admit that they are still in a racial group style, which is to require political parties to act to maintain their interests and individual status. Interracial political parties have also gathered votes by introducing policies that cater to their own racial groups. Transformational conflict management is about understanding the nature of conflict and how to deal with it instead of thinking about how to deal with it or resolve it. Opposition parties (Chinese parties) were elected to the parliament more and more. What we can say is that the people were more dissatisfied with the nationalist policies of the Malay government. In addition, the Chinese parties are campaigning for more votes by promoting the policy of equality for all races. It is good to understand the problems or reasons why racial groups experience conflict and insecurity in their activities within the state if they are found to be caused by inequality. The most legitimate and peaceful problem is the electoral regime. 6.7 Conclusion This chapter is using human insecurity, peace, and conflict studies theories and concepts with Johan Galtung conflict and violence analysis. Malaysia is one of the countries in Southeast Asia. Most of them are indigenous Malays, about 29.70 million people, and 3 million non-Malaysian nationals (Jul 2020), divided into 69.6% Malay, 22.6% Chinese, 6.8% Indian, and 1.0% others. So Malaysia is considered a multicultural society that has always influenced the economy, politics, and society. “Bumiputera” also so-called ' ‘Son of soil' ' means “Son or daughter of the country” the name is used to refer to a person or group of Malay or other ethnic origins who are traditional Muslims in the territory of Malaysia. Bumiputera policy is a policy that gives privileges to the people of the origins in education
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and governmental service, etc., in order to be able to find or have occupation equal to Chinese and Indian. The Malay Peninsula has many port cities as it is located on the trade route between the western world and the eastern world. Both Chinese and Indians travel to trade in this land by themselves and by the British colonial. After the results of the May 1969 general election, the Chinese gained more parliamentary positions. They were expressed with harsh words and racial insults. Numerous altercations have erupted. The riots were getting more violent and widespread. The conflict lasted about two months (May-July 1969), with nearly 200 deaths, property and homes damaged; more than 5,000 people were detained. New economic policies emerged after the 1969 riots forced the Malaysian government to seek solutions under Prime Minister Aldul Razak. In 1970, the Malaysian Development Plan from 1971 to 1975 was amended, which the government expected to be a tool to permanently resolve racial issues. The end of 1990 was the end of new economic policies, which could substantially reduce the wealth and income gap, but at the same time cast doubt on its true neutrality in its efforts to help people. Johan Galtung's conflict triangle is used to describe the beginning of the conflict to the point of violence, the triangle describes all: direct violence, structural violence, and cultural violence. There was an influx of Chinese and Indian immigrants, where they were clearly assigned their roles to separate from the indigenous Malays. Malays, who make up the majority of the country's population, love and cherish their own land. Thinking that they own the country, racial conflicts arise, which can be viewed as cultural violence as there is inequality in political and economic participation. Long-standing discrimination from cultural violence fuses into structural violence which is creating rules or policies that give too much privilege to a particular group and leave other races behind. Direct Violence is common and easy to spot because humans can see it with the naked eye. The 1969 riots resulted in several casualties as direct violence. In this case, conflicts arising from the past to the present can describe human insecurity in four areas including 1) Economic Insecurity; Chinese and Indian races are so limited in their participation and ability to play an economic role that they feel unequal and insecure. 2) Personal Insecurity and Community Insecurity; a clear example of the 1969 riots in which racial squabbles and violence left many injuries, deaths, and property damage. Each race lives in such a way that it continues to be affected until one day, in addition to the need for equality in other areas of society, the Malaysian government wants to limit the growth and economic participation of races and 3) Political Insecurity: Chinese and Indians are excluded
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from political participation and want to increase their roles on equal footing with indigenous races. The Malaysian government's limitation on the role of Indian and Chinese races is political insecurity. Even Malays themselves feel insecure because Malays believe they own the land, they may fear that if they let other races that migrate after they have the same right to dictate politics. 6.8 References Des Gasper and Oscar A. Gómez. (n.d). Human Security: A Thematic Guidance Note for Regional and National Human Development Report Teams. Retrieved June 3, 2021, from http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/human_security_guidance_note_r-nhdrs.pdf Rhizome against Polarization. (n.d.). The definition of violence according to Johan Galtung. Rhizome against Polarization. Retrieved June 7, 2021, from https://rap.education/en/background-knowledge/violence/ Weigert, K. M. (2008). Structural Violence. Science Direct. Retrieved June 7, 2021, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/social-sciences/structural-violence
ศูนย์ข้อมูลข่าวสารอาเซียน กรมประชาสัมพันธ์. (n.d.). ศูนย์ขอ้ มูลข่าวสารอาเซียน. ศูนย์ขอ้ มูล ข่าวสารอาเซียน. Retrieved June 4, 2021, from http://www.aseanthai.net/main.php?filename=index
สานักงานแรงงานในประเทศมาเลเซีย. (2010, April 26). ต้นแบบเศรษฐกิจใหม่ของมาเลเซีย (New Economic Model). ส า นั ก ง า น แ ร ง ง า น ใน ป ร ะ เท ศ ม า เล เซี ย . Retrieved June 6, 2021, https://malaysia.mol.go.th/news/%E0%B8%95%E0%B9%89%E0%B8%99%E0%B9%81%E 0%B8%9A%E0%B8%9A%E0%B9%80%E0%B8%A8%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%A9%E0% B8%90%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%B4%E0%B8%88%E0%B9%83%E0%B8%AB%E0%B8% A1%E0%B9%88%E0%B8%82%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%87%E0%B8%A1%E0%B8%B2% E0%B9%80%E0%B8%A
สานักข่าวกรองแห่งชาติ. (2019, December 24). มาเลเซีย-ข้อมูลพื้นฐานของต่างประเทศปี 2564 สานักข่าวกรองแห่งชาติ National Intelligence Agency. Retrieved June 2, 2021, from https://almanac.nia.go.th/page/30
อัฟฟาน ตุลยศักดิ์ (2014, May 21). ความไม่เท่าเทียมทางสังคมและชาติพันธุ์ในมาเลเซีย
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(กรณีศึกษานโยบายภูมิปุตรากับคนจีน). ประชาไท. Retrieved June 4, 2021, from https://prachatai.com/journal/2014/05/53364
เรวัตร หินอ่อน (2015). นโยบายเศรษฐกิจเพื่อภูมิบุตร: มาเลเซียภายใต้นโยบายเศรษฐกิจใหม่ (New Economic Policy) ค.ศ. 1971 - 1990. วารสารประวัติศาสตร์, August 2015-July 2016(40), 143157. e-journals SWU. Retrieved June 6, 2021, from http://ejournals.swu.ac.th/index.php/JOH/issue/view/807/showToc
ศุภการ สิริไพศาลและอดิศร ศักดิ์สูง (2553). ภูมิปุตรา : ประวัติศาสตร์ความขัดแย้งและกระบวนการพัฒนาประเทศของ มาเลเซีย. สานักงานกองทุนสนับสนุนการวิจัย.
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Chapter 7 Human Insecurities in Myanmar
Saw Tun Tun Win
7.1 Introduction Myanmar is well-known for its scandalous political conflict between civilians and government. The issue has long remained and chronically corroding reputation and the sense of safety in the entire region as well as to the international society. With the conflict, the country has broken into many opposition groups and parties – within minorities and majorities otherwise. The flame of political conflict has never been perished since then, and hence many conundrums and casualties happened. One of the prominent conflicts is ethnic cleansing which received condemn and despise from many countries, and that conflict is Rohingya crisis and further beaconed the reclaim of Nobel Peace Prize from the former icon of peacekeeper Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the chancellor and head of NLD (National League of Democracy). As a result, this research will mainly emphasize on political issues which occurs from the flames of opposition between ethnic groups of whom claim personal mobility and emancipation as well as the insecurities resulting from this long-last conflict such as economic downturn and food insecurity, which weakens national sense of security and trigger the figure of empire rather than a nation or country. In this chapter, there are a few questions about the situation in Myanmar that this chapter would look through. Is burmanization a core factor depriving the country unity among minority and majority in Myanmar? What is the original source of conflict which leads Myanmar to the long-last political opposition? Is there any possible resolution for the ongoing issue in Myanmar? What is the process of it and what are the repercussions of political conflict in Myanmar? And how does it affect the country? This chapter is designed to elucidate the wave of political conflict in Myanmar from the aspect of Burmanization and power seizure. Therefore, this chapter will provide the facts of negative consequences befallen by the conflict. Also, it deliberately presents the fact of human insecurity, and the speech of basic rights has never blatantly existed in the country. The chapter will cover the 52
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topic of background which briefly elucidates the history of Myanmar and how the conflict and opposition take place. Consequently, the issues which happened from this conflict and the solution to possibly solve the problem. 7.2 Background and Political Conflict For the entire spatial of pre-historic records of Myanmar, the country was at times filled with the diction of multi-dimensional insecurities and instabilities. And decades ago, discreetly after the independence, Myanmar was found and regarded as a great nation that attempt to surmount the power of a coup (dictatorship) especially military rule with the powers to not against and defy yet to coercively concede. This happened sharply after the seizure of political might accordingly during the decade of dictator Nay Win who unrightfully took control of national power and isolated the entire country from the rest of the world. Therefore, Myanmar has been recognized as one of the longest political struggles in Southeast Asia, and also one of the poorest nations in the region enduring from absolutism and isolationism. Back in the year of 1962, the timeline of start-point (power shift), the country was ruled under one-party ruler (Tatmadaw) or so-called military force, and distinctly showed the great emergence of military power which mainly displayed the predominance in economy, politic, culture, and state bureaucrat. The constitution of 1974 was deemed as the power shift to absolute one-party governance in the country (Burma Socialist), and the descendant of power from the main party to the unrightfully party of government (Program Party), which had been established since 1962. Still, the aforementioned party, the elected government, was rather hybrid in power relations between civilian and military until 18, September 1988. The nationwide state uprising had befallen directly after the year of constitutional alteration of order and governance (soon recognized and renamed as State Peace and Development Council). At times, the nation was burnt in the flames by two different parties from the distinct political perspectives (the civilian and government). The military junta nevertheless retained and regained national power and managed to further dictate the country until the official re-emergence of NLD (National League of Democracy) in 2011, the power was then transferred to the Union Solidarity and Development Party. The wording “socialism” is the hidden terminology of isolation and injustice, power restoration, quintessentially in the hands of military government rather than civil response. As socialism, the country managed to close national gates from receiving any international aid as
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well as foreign influences, and thus the nation unjustly remained as a single-leader authority or an absolute prosperity in a family. The centralizing power was in the custody of the junta, and redistribution of wealth has never been improved under the unrightfully might of the military government. Therefore, the civilians’ lives were treated unjustly with the demoted system of taxation and tribulation which later led to migration and opposition. No mention the basic security in Myanmar due to the wording of it had never been officially addressed, and most of the poor citizens lived under 2 USD per day, which basically denoted that the country had less national employment therefore civilians were subjected to subsistence on the money forces from neighboring countries. 7.3 Ethnic Minority Perspective Apart from political and historic crackdowns, Myanmar had also confronted the unproportionate section of power relations or the so-called Burmanization. Myanmar is a diverse country consisting of dominantly more than 100 tribes, as well as the distinct cultures and spoken languages, that differ from one another greatly. Majority of Burma or Burman holds the two-third national privileges over the rest of minorities, and also enjoys its supremacy in both political ordinance and military mobilization. As a result, ethnic minorities are the subjection of any discriminatory intimidations and are the subjects of insulation and victimization. This is the system of Burmanization which illustrates the form of national exclusion of any other’s cultures and regions. The attainment is mainly focused in the center of the country, not the rest and that increases the rates of urbanization which later triggers incrimination and racial issues. Most of the minorities experienced both major discriminations from Burmans and military oppression. Directly after independence, discrimination and exclusion had remained and were acknowledged as cultural contextualization in the national constitution with the systematic entity. For instance, the rule of citizenship was based upon the year of residence which was roughly before 1827. That basically means those who were born or resettled after the aforementioned year will likely face exclusion and could, to some extent, become homeless individuals according to the law of 1827 and this situation literally means, only in the time of British occupation was the law of citizenship for any ethnic group who could later receive citizenship. Resulting from this regulatory ordinance, many minorities were entitled to be stateless, and one example case was Rohingya, although they arrived and had been living in Myanmar during the era of colonialism, they were still entitled to a non-ethnic group of Myanmar. And that was distinctly the function of racial exclusion rather than any regulatory
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acknowledgment. Under 2008 constitution, there was the speech of full-citizen and halfcitizen in Myanmar, and it was mainly the expressions of either the full-obtainable right or by half. The full right was granted to the sole Myanmar citizens in 100%, while the ones who possessed half or none were excluded from any claimable rights such as; nondiscrimination, equal opportunity, and any basic rights of expression, religion, and marital status. The constitution also constrained none citizens from participating in elections and voting. The country regarded itself as Buddhism, and posed any threats to the non- Buddhist minority. As a result, many Buddhist extremists emerged and disregarded any opposite religions, and the most affected religion was Muslim at times. Anti-Muslim was on a high level elsewhere and this rendered the sense of insecurity towards life to every inter-Islamic tribe – the Islamic minorities from different tribes in entire country. The hatred in word and action spread throughout the country aiming at promoting discrimination and exclusion towards any Islamic people. One despised word is “gala”, which literally referred to any Indian-like people, also who were physically Indianized and were related to the minority of India with brown skins and were non-Buddhist. The word also conveyed the message of inferiority which rendered the speakers to be superior and in return, orally insults the listeners who were none of Burmese. 7.4 Economic and Food Insecurities As a geological feature of a low-grade industrial country, Myanmar is regarded one of a low-middle income country, and predominantly occupied by the garment industries, crude oil instillation, gemstones, and tourism. Illicit drug smuggling and trading weaken the countries greatly, especially in the rural and village-liked areas due to multitude rates of violence and crime. Many borderline cities are the targets of drug trade due to the geological availability which is seemingly an open-door for any related drug trading, and later trigger the area to be insecure towards life and property. For the service sector, it makes up 42% in total. However, the quality of the service is still relatively low from place to place according to the locations of any city. With the outdated technology, the service seems to be low in function and unlikely to attract many foreign tourists since the machines take more time to operate. Myanmar also features a great deal of industries which accounted for 34% in general, and agro-industry is roughly made up of 22%. According to geographic features, Myanmar has more land-base for agriculture than any other industry, and most of the industries are located in big cities namely, Yangon,
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Mandalay, Mawlamyaing, Tong Kyi, and Hpa-An. Myanmar has been exporting textiles natural gasses and raw materials for more than a decade to many neighboring countries such as Thailand and China. Recently, gasoline and any illegal jewelry are seen to be an export to Thailand which accounted for 70%, and still many additional materials such as teak and ivory. After all, Myanmar remains poor due to corruption and single-party of trading. This remains the gap between the rich and poor in the country – the rich have more than demand, whereases the poor has no money to live their lives. Myanmar’s food especially the ingredients is presumed unsafe due to the low rate of cleanliness as well as the status of each chemical substance. The foods are either too greasy or salty which systematically bring about any abrupt disease such as heart disease, high colleterial, high blood pressure, and more. Regarding poverty, food security in Myanmar is even worse amidst all ASEAN members recorded in 2007 by FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations). Food consumption method is also another unclean topic due to most households and selling stalls using bare hands for food consumption and preparation. Vulnerability to natural hazards, conflicts, internal tensions, and the economic impact resulting from COVID – 19, are the core indicators of food insecurity in Myanmar since January of 2021. Before global pandemic, 28% of the Burmese faced food insecurity, and most of these people were poor and from minority sections. Notwithstanding, during the pandemic, the rates of malnutrition had risen triple due to the key factor of economic collapse and turmoil enduring from political instability and civil disobedience. Civilians were more concerned about national phenomena than anything at times, therefore, food security fell out of the enshrinement, and people were left with boney figures, while some were forsaken to death without any assistance from the government or international organizations. According to WHO (World Health Organization), more than 40% of populations experienced insufficient food consumption in the entire country. 7.5 Democratization The entire globe has now faced away from Myanmar because political situation which is ongoing and perceived to be chronic to reach the objective. Many innocents lost their lives for the discord of an intrinsic democracy, and also the remains are fighting and supporting each other on the frontline with foreseeable desire of what they have long been awaited “democratization”. However, the embattlement in Myanmar, especially in terms of politics, renders it difficult for any other political party but a military regime – the one-party ruler. Although NLD has now and then won the landslide vote, still it is not under consideration to
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govern the country yet to accede as a consultant or in the position of lower stance in the congress. The party is even accused to have fraudulent voting support without offering any evidence, and occasionally, political leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her allies are held under custody. Some scholars even question such circumstances “why do we need election as we all know that the party, we vote for will never represent us?”. This section will mainly elucidate the logic to mitigate Myanmar’s political, economic, and socio-cultural issues. For Myanmar, the country where democracy has been absent for decades yet replaced by political dictatorship followed with many negative consequences which we can see today. Therefore, democracy or democratization is what people need the most, and thus all of the civilians fight for it with blood and tears. Restoring Democracy is crucial in Myanmar to safeguard and respect all the rights of people from different ethnic backgrounds. The following categories explain the point of why democracy is necessary for Myanmar, especially in this dilemma, 7.5.1 Government and Accountability It can structurally create and guide the government to work accountability. With the existence of democracy, the government's function can be more accountable since all their works and procedures are checked and monitored closely by the representatives of civilians. This is all means to embrace the wording of trust for the people who vote for the government to represent them in congress. 7.5.2 Democracy vs Tyranny It promotes and supports the multiparty entity, and it is the phenomenon Myanmar should have due to the political situation in Myanmar since the past until now has never been better under the absolute ruling of the military junta. Imagine Myanmar without absolutism, the country will likely move farther towards development. As the concept of democracy (government of people, for people, to people), the congress wouldn’t merely fill with people from the same backgrounds or of any ethnicities but to have representatives from the entire countries in the processes of governing with fewer possibilities of corruption. 7.5.3 President for the People It enables us to choose someone to represent us. It also enables us to speak directly to our government because we choose who we can entrust; therefore, the one who we chose should work for us. President of Myanmar in recent years is not elected rightfully by the
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people yet by themselves. Therefore, democracy will seemingly change this aspect of election from favoritism to nationally democratic governance. We choose the one who is expert and capable of some specific matter therefore the issue can be mitigated punctually by the meaning of a government who listens to the voices of the people who elected them. And by all the aforementioned facts, the sense of safety in terms of food, life, and property can be guaranteed and revered. 7.5.4 Reduction of Cultural Conundrums. Myanmar has long been struggling with cultural issues (religion issues), and hence with the recognition of democracy, the country will likely move forwards rather than step backward as we can see today. The issue of Rohingya will be solved, and all of them will be regarded as one of the minority as in the past therefore they can live happily in Myanmar, the country where they were born. 7.6 Conclusion All in all, the return of greatness is in the hands of civilians of the country because Myanmar is now chronically suffocated with political crackdown. Therefore, this is the last opportunity for all citizens to preserve and promote the speech of fairness at both governmental and national levels in order to uphold the future of the country. Also, all of the conundrums can likely terminate if the wording of democratization is maintained and respected. Subsequently, many countries that possess and recognize the definition of democracy will possibly manage to thrive in any aspect of human security and ethnic acknowledgment. Ethnic issues in the Myanmar case will no longer remain if the country decides to systematically maintain the procedure of good governance as well as listen to the voices of people. 7.7 References Yan Aung, W. 2019. The Day Ne Win Won Nobel Peace Prize. Yangon: Institutional Press. See,https://www.irrawaddy.com/specials/on-this-day/day-dictator-ne-win-won-asias-nobelprize.html. Yi, B. 2021. Myanmar Economic Fallout. Yangon: Governmental Press. More information, https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Myanmar_Report_on_Ec onomic_Fallout_-_Apr_2021.pdf.
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Chow, J. 2015. and
Myanmar’s Democratic Backsliding in the Struggle for National Identity
Independence.
The
Asian
Forum.
London:
University
Press.
https://theasanforum.org/myanmars-democratic-backsliding-in-the-struggle-for-nationalidentity-and-independence/.
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See,
Chapter 8 “Pagpag” and Food insecurity in the Philippines
Kanokphon Srisuk
8.1 Introduction Food Security is one of the human security issues facing many countries around the world, especially in developing countries. Principles of human security and human rights, every human being on the planet have access to good and clean food as a fundamental right. Regardless of what financial status or where they live in the world, they should have access to clean food. There are many people in the world who are unable to access clean food because their income is insufficient due to poverty. Especially in developing countries where poverty is caused by inequality, social gap, and structural problems which make the poor people remain in poverty no matter how diligent they are. Extreme poverty is a condition in which people have no access to food or basic clean food. Even worse to the level of eating food made from the leftovers. This chapter explains about food called 'Pagpag' which is a popular food for poor communities in the Philippines which is related to the food (in)security, poverty, and social gap. In this chapter, health insecurity and food insecurity will be focused on after identifying the cause that arises from conflict. This chapter also points out a form of violence that originates from Pagpag by using Johan Galtung’s violence concept. And the last one is Sustainable Development Goals: goals 1: No Poverty, 2: Zero Hunger, 3: Good Health and Well-being, and 10: Reduced Inequality. These goals are used for analysis and explained about the international concern. Therefore, this chapter will start with 1) Introduction 2) “Pagpag” food (from) waste, poverty, and social gap, 3) Health (in)security, Food (in)security and Right to (clean) Food, 4) The concept of violence by Johan Galtung is related to the situation. 5) Sustainable Development Goals and 6) Conclusion. 8.2 “Pagpag” Food (from) waste, Poverty, and Social Gap The Philippines is one of the countries in Southeast Asia and it is located in the Pacific Ring of Fire, a strong earthquake and volcanic zone. It has a population of 108.11 million (National Intelligence Agency 2020). The majority of Filipinos are Roman Catholic. The national languages are English which is mainly used for Official, Business and Education 60
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(National Intelligence Agency, 2020), and Tagalog (General people, especially in the central regions). According to the National Intelligence Agency (2020), The Philippines is governed by a presidential republic and the head of government is directly elected by the people. The term of office is 6 years, limited to only one term. A free economic system using market mechanisms and agricultural products as the main source of income. Economic policy is aimed to promote the tourism industry, alleviate poverty, and increase agricultural productivity to enable food self-sufficiency. The main dish of Filipinos is rice. Spain once colonized the Philippines and introduced Western food culture so the foods are popular. Fast food restaurants derived from the Western culture such as Pizza Hut, Burger King, KFC are successfully popular. There are also successful local fast-food restaurants like Max's Fried Chicken (Department of International Trade Promotion 2014). “Pagpag” is a food made from leftovers from a restaurant or fast food place, recooked in different ways to make a new dish. The leftovers are generally collected from fast food restaurants' garbage. The person who bought it might be a middleman, food vendor, or those who want to sell Pagag. For example, the leftovers that are commonly used to make pagpag are ‘fried chicken bones’ which are then separated (from the garbage) and put in plastic bags to be re-cooked. The leftovers trading often takes place in the middle of the night. Besides chicken bone scraps, other fast food scraps such as Pizza, Spaghetti are also traded and re-cooked. Taste or cooking method differs depending on the needs of sellers and consumers. Most of the poor are aware that Pagpag is sold in their area and have tried it at least once. At least 10 out of 15 participants ate Pagpag three times a week and often ate chicken and vegetables. Eating out of the menu is the most economical way to eat something that tastes close to the standard fast-food taste that ordinary people eat (Chua 2018). How does unhealthy eating affect the body? There are a lot of contaminated toxins that are harmful to the body, both short-term, and long-term or chronic which will lead to various diseases as well such as severe diarrhea, food poisoning, or even cancer. But the interviewees insisted that they had less fear of a health problem or disease than fear of hunger, so long as Pagag can get them out of hunger, they will continue to eat it (Chua 2018). The Philippines has a relatively high poverty rate. More than 16% of the population is under the standard level of poverty. Their income mostly relies on agriculture. Wealth distribution inequality so the large populations struggle to buy basic necessities (The Borgen Project 2018). Poverty occurs both in rural areas and in capital cities, especially rural and indigenous people, often with high rates of uneducated and unemployment. They have limited options
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for finding a job. Much of the Philippines' economic growth is concentrated only in the capital region and neighboring provinces (The Borgen Project 2018). Even in the capital, there is economic growth. The poor living in Manila will have a bad living environment. Most are in crowded areas and slums. They don't have the right amenities to live (Diane 2018). Manila has a population of 1.7 million and an area of less than 10 square miles, so it has a population density of over 170,000 people per square mile. Manila is the capital city of the Philippines and home to the banking and commerce industry. 600,000 people live in slum areas plagued by disease and malnutrition (Jessie 2018). Many of the poor who live in slum areas do not have access to adequate clean water, lack of sanitation, education, health, and employment. Millions of children under 5 in Manila are underweight due to malnutrition or inadequate access to healthy food, and of course, one of the favorite foods of the poor is Pagpag (Ashley 2018). 8.3 Health (in)security, Food (in)security, and Right to (clean) Food. Why Human Security? The Commission on Human Security or CHS is adopted in this chapter because there’s a report in 2005 named Human Security in Theory and Practice by the United Nations Trust Fund for Human security or UNTFHS. In the report, it contains the concept of human security and its added value which is a modern concept of human security that explains the advancement of human security which helps readers to understand this concept easier. CHS also set a new paradigm of security into two dynamics. Firstly, human security begins with the complexity and coherence of both old and new security threats from chronic and persistent poverty to ethnic violence, health pandemic, and more. Such threats should be addressed through international cooperation rather than military cooperation. Second one, a comprehensive approach is needed to expand new opportunities for dealing with threats. Human security requires the interdependencies between development, human rights, and national security. The CHS defines Human Security as “...to protect the vital core of all human lives in ways that enhance human freedoms and human fulfillment and protect human fundamental freedom”. The CHS re-conceptualizes security in a fundamental way by shifting from traditional security that focuses on military and statecentered to people-centered. Individual security, a multitude of threats, highlighting security, development and human rights, advancing peace, and international cooperation. In this chapter, only two securities were collected as the main idea for the analysis here including Health, and Food (in) securities. Do you think that you, your family, and the
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people around you are living with human security standards with safety and sufficient meals? Health security becomes very important for humans as it affects health, and the definition of Human (in)security in this context is highlighted that food security and health security are related and vital for human survival one way or another. A low risk of diseases due to access to good food means that you have a certain level of health security. Do you think that poor families in the Philippines who eat Pagpag have food and health security? The poor having food to fulfill their hunger doesn't mean they are stable in life. Food from waste is dirty and dangerous. It is not even a fundamental human right. It is far below basic rights. Safe clean food or healthy food with very low or no risk of foodborne illness can be called access to basic human security. Therefore, I give a ‘NO’ to the question. What the poor people in the Philippines face as I described above is clearly human insecurity. Food insecurity is a lack of opportunity to access basic food so it directly affects hunger leading to the purchase of unclean food and lack of nutritional value. As a human being, I find it sad to recognize that they have to suppress their hunger by eating the food scraps from the garbage. I am aware that hunger may be able to enable humans to do anything, but when compared to the basic right to (clean) food, it is highly unacceptable. Next is health insecurity. It is about non-access to basic healthcare and service. It is clear that everyone knows that the food they eat directly affects their health. I've experienced foodborne illness (food poisoning) a couple of times. I admit that I suffer a lot. It is true that humans have different immunity. Some are very strong, some are weak. But who wants to get sick because there's no choice to eat? I can choose what to eat, access to clean and good food, but those poor people in the Philippines rarely have a chance to choose. No matter what the financial situation, no one wants to risk their own life by eating unclean food, isn't it? By using the CHS concept to suggest solutions, I would like to apply the idea of people-centered, individual security, a multitude of threats, highlighting security, development and human rights, advancing peace, and international cooperation. Peoplecentered and individual security is adopting a bottom-up approach. Involve the impacted communities in the data collection on their needs, vulnerabilities, and capacities. Individuals' and communities' resilience should be strengthened. In the previous section that economic growth in the Philippines does not cover much of the rural areas and even in the major capital cities there are slums of people living. The reason may be due to the inequality that no matter how big the economy is. The rich remain rich even richer, the poor remain poor even poorer.
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The government should focus on the concept of being people-centered. Focus on solving problems that people are really facing together with GDP growth, reducing inequality. Improve the livelihood of people. The multitude of threats is simple: governments should cover many aspects of human security, not just state security but also human security Governments should focus on improving and solving human security problems and advancing peace. Instill the idea of peace in both the state and the people to prevent violence that could lead to conflict later. 8.4 Pagpag and Violence Is it seen as violence for the poor in the Philippines to eat Pagpag? The answer is 'Yes'. I would like to use Johan Galtung's concept to describe violence from Pagpag with Galtung's violence triangle. Mostly direct violence is seen as the form of violence that people can see. Direct violence is physical harm directly to people with intention such as people punching each other (Jorgen Johansen, 2014). Structural violence is another form of violence and it refers to a form of violence that harms humans is seen as victims or as a result of society’s structures such as from justice that many times brings injustice in our societies (Johansen 2014). It is violence that cannot be seen with the own eyes that this violence can be seen as structural problems or social problems. Food insecurity in the Philippines can be seen as unhealthy foods that come with risk of disease. This is a violence caused by social structures and governments that administer the economy to inequality and poverty. Finally, cultural violence is the violence refers to justifications for direct or structural violence that are culturally based. It is the deepest source of violence. It refers to aspects of a culture that can be used to justify or legitimize direct or structural violence, and maybe exemplified by religion and ideology, language and art (Johansen 2014). In this case, Pagag is clearly the most structural violence, in part pointing out that cultural violence will be where eating embryos in the Philippines has become the 'food culture' of the poor communities. It is presented worldwide and can be viewed on social media about this food culture. 8.5 Sustainable Development Goals are an international concern In handling food and health insecurities, it needs international cooperation. It is true that each country has its own government and sovereignty to manage with non-interference principle based on ASEAN Way. However, when the government adopts human security and Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs, these are guidelines in handling this problem by following them in order to protect food and health securities for the next generation (Jarvie
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2014). In achieving a sustainable development approach, it has three key elements: economic growth, social inclusion, and environmental protection. A sustainable economy and environment without leaving anyone behind by 2030 is the key to handling food and health securities for the Philippines. Sustainable Development Goals: SDGs guide countries to act together. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which in this chapter, several goals would be highlighted and there are goals 1, 2, 3, and 10 (National Economics and Social Development Council 2021). Goal 1: No Poverty; eliminate poverty in all its forms everywhere. The eradication of poverty in all its forms remains a major challenge for the world's population. Many people still lack access to food. Clean drinking water and adequate hygiene. Economic growth lifts the population out of poverty, but it is not consistent. SDGs aim to eradicate poverty in all its forms by 2030. Basic resources and services obviously, the main story of Pagpag is poverty. The poor in the Philippines do not have enough income to access clean food. Goal 2: Zero Hunger; achieve food security, promote sustainable agriculture by eliminating all forms of hunger and hunger by 2030 to ensure that all people, especially children and the many disadvantaged, have access to adequate and nutritious food. In addition, this goal also promotes sustainable agriculture. Improving the livelihoods and productivity of smallholder farmers to access arable land technology and marketing equality In addition, international cooperation is essential for investment in infrastructure and technology to increase agricultural productivity. It is clear that the poor communities in the Philippines face hunger and therefore eat unclean food for their livelihood and including the rural poor who do farming have little access to farming technology, so they can't upgrade their status. Goal 3: Good Health and well-being; ensuring the health and well-being of all people of all ages by 2030. Access to safe and effective medicines and vaccines for all by supporting vaccine chapters and development is an important part of this process, as well as ensuring the health and well-being of all. Accessibility to affordable medicines, but the poor in the Philippines, besides eating unclean food are also at risk. Foodborne illness is something that can happen to those people and, of course, poverty prevents them from accessing health care services. This should be the world's concern. Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities; Reduce inequality both within and between countries. According to the UN, income inequality should be increased globally with 10 percent of the
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wealthiest earning 40 percent of total global income. In developing countries, the inequality increased by 11 percent in line with population growth. Tackling the growing inequality requires appropriate policies to strengthen low-income populations and promote economic inclusion for all without distinction of gender, race, or ethnicity. Additionally, global cooperation is needed to improve regulations and regulate markets and financial institutions. Despite the Philippines' economic growth rate, GDP cannot be used to measure the quality of life and well-being of the entire country. It is also a country with high inequality; it is possible that the Philippines' economic growth may clearly reflect the social gap. 8.6 Conclusion This chapter is about Pagpag food in which the root cause is on poverty in the Philippines. Pagpag” is a re-cooked food made from leftovers from a restaurant or fast food place. Poverty occurs both in rural areas and in capital cities, especially rural and indigenous people so Pagpag is the only choice for poor people. This chapter shows health and food insecurities by the CHS concept that is part of human security and it helps to explain a new paradigm of human security into two aspects. Firstly, human security begins with the complexity and coherence of both old and new security threats. Secondly, a comprehensive approach is needed to expand new opportunities for dealing with threats. The CHS is a reconceptualized of human security in a fundamental way by shifting from traditional security that focuses on military and state-centered to people-centered. Also in this chapter, only two insecurities were collected as the main idea for the analysis. Health insecurity is non-access to basic healthcare and service. Food insecurity is a lack of opportunity to access basic food so it directly affects hunger leading to the purchase of unclean food and lack of nutritional value. The concept of violence by Johan Galtung in describing that violence can be seen in various aspects not just only physical clash but structural and cultural aspects and in handling this insecurity, sustainable development goals are the pathway in managing the Pagpag food situation with international cooperation to solve this problem. 8.7 References
สานักข่าวกรองแห่งชาติ. (n.d.). สานักข่าวกรองแห่งชาติ. Retrieved July 30, 2021, from https://www.nia.go.th/newsnow/almanacfiles/static/pdf/2564/%E0%B8%9F%E0%B8%B4%E0%B8%A5%E0%B8%B4%E0%B8%9 B%E0%B8%9B%E0%B8%B4%E0%B8%99%E0%B8%AA%E0%B9%8C_2564.pdf
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The Borgen Project. (2018, May 6). COMBATING POVERTY IN THE PHILIPPINES. The Borgen Project. Retrieved July 30, 2021, from https://borgenproject.org/tag/poverty-in-thephilippines/#:~:text=The%20Philippines%20has%20a%20fairly,living%20below%20the%20 poverty%20line.&text=From%202015%20to%202020%2C%20the,poverty%20to%2014%25 %20by%202022. Commission on Human Security. (n.d.). United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia. Retrieved July 31, 2021, from https://archive.unescwa.org/commissionhuman-security EDUCATEPARK. (n.d.). วัฒนธรรมประเทศฟิลิปปินส์. EDUCATEPARK. Retrieved
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philippines/%E0%B8%A7%E0%B8%B1%E0%B8%92%E0%B8%99%E0%B8%98%E0%B 8%A3%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%A1%E0%B8%9B%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%B0%E0%B9% 80%E0%B8%97%E0%B8%A8%E0%B8%9F%E0%B8%B4%E0%B8%A5%E0%B8%B4% E0%B8%9B%E0%B8%9B%E0%B8%B4%E0%B8%99 Health Care Thai. (n.d.). อันตรายจากการกินอาหารและการป้องกัน: ปัญหาเรื่องอาหารจากสารพิษ . บทความการ
ดู แ ล สุ ข ภ า พ แ ล ะ เ ค ล็ ด ลั บ สุ ข ภ า พ ดี . Retrieved July 30, 2021, from https://www.healthcarethai.com/%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%B1%E0%B8%99%E0%B8%95% E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%A2%E0%B8%88%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%81%E0% B8%81%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%B4%E0%B8%99%E0%B8% AD%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%AB%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%A3/ Jarvie, M. E. (2014, April 28). Brundtland Report | publication by World Commission on Environment
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พั ฒ นาที่ ยั่ ง ยื น . ส านั ก งานสภาพั ฒ นาการเศรษฐกิ จ และสั ง คมแห่ ง ชาติ . Retrieved July 30, 2021, from https://sdgs.nesdc.go.th/ Office of the National Economics and Social Development Council. (n.d.). ประเทศไทยกั บ การ
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United Nations. (2009). Application of the Human Security Concept and the United Nations Trust Fund for Human Security. In HUMAN SECURITY IN THEORY AND PRACTICE (pp. 1-79). United Nations. https://www.unocha.org/sites/dms/HSU/Publications%20and%20Products/Human%20Securi ty%20Tools/Human%20Security%20in%20Theory%20and%20Practice%20English.pdf
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Chapter 9 Another Side of the Education System in Singapore
Prodpran Phanthasri
9.1 Introduction Singapore, also known as the Republic of Singapore, was one of the poorest countries in Asia after its independence and separated from Malaysia in 1965. Due to a high illiteracy rate, only the elite have access to education. Also, restrictions on the size of the country's area result in scarcity of natural resources such as oil. For this reason, human resources are the only thing that can help drive the country. Therefore, the government must push human resources to the highest potential in order to improve the livelihood of the people and create a quality population to meet the demands of the labor market, resulting in a shift in the country's economic status (BBC News 2018). Singapore is now a member of ASEAN and has become a developed country with stability in politics, economy, and society. Importantly, Singapore has a good education system that is widely accepted all over the world (BBC News, 2018). After the government has seriously reformed education since 1965 so that people could access fundamental education thoroughly. As the Singapore government sees that, the country's success and progress can only be achieved when citizens are full of potential and efficiency. In other words, human resources are an important key to developing the country (Salinee 2018). With the vision of the Singapore government leaders and the ministry of education's mission, they want to provide students with a balanced and well-rounded education, which aims to help students learn and discover their special talents and to create awareness of their potential. They expect that students would grow up to be citizens who are readily devoted to the country. Additionally, most of the educational policies are established from the vision of Singapore's leaders in each era, which has led to the development of curricular and issuing of educational policies that continually motivate students, while pushing for the expansion of the domestic labor market to cover almost every field of study (Busaya 2020). At the same time, it causes pressure and anxiety in both parents and students. Moreover, the democratic system of governance that differs from Western concepts is the emphasis on Asian values,
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enabling the state to exercise its absolute power to control the rights and freedoms of the people through various mechanisms. Furthermore, the social value known as the Kiasu attitude contributes to the concern among parents that their children would not be able to survive in a highly competitive society. Therefore, many parents decide to send their children to extra classes at tutorial schools at a high cost as they expect mistakes would never happen in their children's lives (Thanyawat 2018). Many children have to comply with the educational system and life schedule provided by their parents in order to pass the national examination. On the other hand, children who fail their exams face disappointment that is from themselves, from their families, and also the pressures of society. Finally, when they couldn't stand it anymore, some students have chosen to turn their backs on this world (BBC News 2018). This is the underlying violence in Singapore's education system. Although Lee Hsien Loong's government has revised its education policy under the name "Teach Less, Learn More" (TLLM) to reduce pressure and tension. However, Singapore's rate of suicide among teenagers after 2018 has not dropped to a significant satisfactory level. Also, this problem has still caused concerns to many people nowadays (Min 2021). The objective of this chapter is to study the linkage of the leader's vision and education policies that lead to violence and human insecurity as well as the political regime and social values. Moreover, the data was analyzed using the violence triangle concept by Johan Galtung (1969), which consists of 1) cultural violence, 2) structural violence, and 3) direct violence, to describe the three levels of violence that are hidden in the leaders' vision, educational policies, political regime, and social value. Also, the incompatible position approach by Fisher and Ury (Fisher and Ury 1997) was applied to point out what kind of conflict and who is involved in arising problems. In addition, the concept of Human Security (UN, 1994) was used to distinguish and to determine how the vision of the country's leaders, education policy, political system, and social values thus affect the human insecurity of students in political, economic, community, health, and personal. Additionally, the author offered opinions on solutions for conflict management by implementing the School of Conflict Transformation and collaboration approach (Win-Win solution). 9.2 Vision of Country's Leaders, Political Regime and Education Policy The problems and violence among Singapore students posed by the education system are rooted in politics: the vision of the country's leaders to exercise power through the regime
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in order to issue education policy. According to Salinee (2018), she stated that the vision of Singapore leaders is a key factor influencing the quality of education in Singapore. This factor is supported and driven by a democratic system that is different from the general western concept, namely the emphasis on Asian values or Asian democracy that provides limited freedom. The government exercises absolute power through mechanisms to control the behavior and thoughts of the people without physical violence. For example, to make the unity of the people in the nation, the government cultivates the notion of communitarianism that emphasizes glorifying the nation rather than the individual. If we view from the perspective of the violence triangle by Johan Galtung, the Singapore government's notion is built on cultural violence, which is violence that brings both direct and structural violence, such as social values, beliefs, religions, symbols, etc. They instill values that make people admire the nation's values over their own lives. The Asian democracy is also structural violence that has deprived Singapore citizens of certain fundamental rights. As a result, citizens must strictly follow the law to maintain discipline in society and bring stability to the country. Therefore, parents and students must cooperate and follow the educational policies created under the vision of the country's leaders. In addition, the Asian democratic regime has made people highly confident in the government. Hence, it is difficult for people to have doubts and distrust of the country's leaders. Singapore's education system is constantly being developed to keep pace with the advancement of new technologies. Also, it is more advanced than other countries in Southeast Asia as the Singapore government aims to make the country a Global Schoolhouse (Salinee, 2018). Several outstanding visionary Singapore leaders have created education policies that fully empower the population. For example, Former Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong announced a vision that focuses on building the country into a learning society and has a school that focuses on teaching students to be thinkers called “Thinking Schools, Learning Nation” (TSLN). Chamaphat (2013) explains that this vision has created a number of educational policies that contribute to the improvement of the entire education system, for example, changing the education paradigm from focusing on an efficiency-driven paradigm to an ability-driven paradigm to help students develop their full potential within their individual limits. Later in 2004, the Singapore government under Mr. Lee Hsien Loong announced a new vision in line with the previous government's TSLN vision. Chuenjit (n.d.) explains that a vision of “Teach Less, Learn More” (TLLM) is focused on teaching less, but students would be able to learn more and apply it in their daily life. This is a shift in teaching that focuses on quantity to focus on quality instead because the government of Mr. Lee Hsien
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Loong believes that teaching that focuses only on quantity will not provide enough learning for children. In addition, TLLM has resulted in a variety of teaching and measurement designs based on learners' interests to create experiences and lifelong learning for students. Moreover, TLLM also nurtures a unique identity so that each student can develop themselves to excel in their areas of expertise for future success (Chuenjit, n.d.). It can be seen from the foregoing that the leaders of Singapore and the government have never ceased to improve the domestic education system in order to increase the efficiency of human resources. It is managed mainly by the Ministry of Education and a government agency, which is responsible for overseeing the issuance of core curriculum and national tests as well as many other areas related to education, such as academic management, budget management, and personnel management, which is considered centralized decentralization. It has decentralized to small organizations at a lower level. As a result, only a handful of schools and universities are exempt from strict controls. We can obviously see that the cultural vision of these leaders has led to many structured educational policies with the good aim of promoting the academic potential of citizens in the country. Furthermore, it caused a change in the design of teaching styles and educational measurements that emphasized quality over quantity. It makes Singapore a very competitive country as they are constantly subject to tests, such as the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) and the Programmed for International Student Assessment (PISA), to develop their potential. Singapore has shown interest and proven that students can get high scores on the test. This is one of the positive outcomes of students in Singapore receiving a consistently good quality education because the government values education and cares for its citizens. However, the leadership's vision and educational policies could create conflicts, such as stress and anxiety, among students and their parents. 9.3 Kiasu Attitude The meaning of Kiasu is fear of failure or defeat. It is a value that has helped Singapore overcome poverty and resource shortages. It motivates them to be serious about their lives and take good responsibility for their duties to survive in the future (Thanyawat, 2018). In particular, the Kiasu attitude is a deeply-rooted value in Singapore society. And when it is included in the education system, it has raised serious concerns about its impact on the students. It causes many parents to expect their children to excel in academics with no mistakes in life. Kiasu attitude is one of the cultural violence that is embedded in Singapore's various systems even in everyday life. Of course, fear can be a great motivator to survive in a
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highly competitive life but too much adherence to the Kiasu attitude can result in people being framed in society and living under exceedingly constant pressure. In the end, the violence caused by this Kiasu attitude can lead to physical violence, including suicide. 9.4 Conflicts Arising from the Education System Although having an effective education system has a positive effect on driving the country towards progress, students in Singapore face a lot of pressure. It is not only the expectations of parents but also government policy that their students are expected to excel in every field of academic disciplines. Later, learner’s development-oriented education was replaced by exam-oriented education, as a result, parents have to seriously find tuition schools for their children. Even though the students actually achieve better scores, the stressful environment and focusing on getting high scores on the test can affect the child's development in other areas as well. Moreover, the exam-oriented education also does not support the students’ discovery of their own passion and identity because they have to live according to the education system that the government and their families have grounded for them in the first place. According to the interview with a parent in Singapore who used to work as a teacher, she told BBC News that she had decided not to bring her children to the conventional education system but chose to teach her children at home (home-schooling). Her perspective on studying under the conventional education system is that it would make her children unhappy with learning because her children may have to worry about their grades all the time. It was wrong and cruel for her child. She added that education measurement and evaluation should be properly determined according to their age because the examination standards set by the government are too high for children. At the same time, she expects her child to gain full knowledge from the national curriculum taught by herself and they would pass the PSLE exam eventually (BBC News, 2018). The above interview illustrates the conflict between the government, parents, and students. As described by Fisher and Ury (Fisher and Ury, 1997), conflict can arise from an incompatible position or having different goals. In this case, both the government and parents share the same goal, which is to develop students’ potential and to prepare them for a highly competitive society. Likewise, the government and parents also expect their children to have a stable life and diverse talents but with an education system that focuses on grades, competition, and age-inappropriate testing, some parents do not agree with it. In addition,
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education policy creates controversy about student well-being, especially mental health, affecting their development in many ways. Students’ mental health is the biggest concern of MOE and MSFsince the number of youth suicides in Singapore has been rapidly increasing. The problems leading to selfdirected violence have also been implicated in the Singapore education system as students never get enough rest. Parental pressures, as well as social values, make them endure and compete with each other all the time in which they could obtain a stable and high-paid career. Meanwhile, the Singapore government has not ignored the conflict and violence caused by the education system. They try to reduce the stress and the competition as much as possible, so students could have more time to learn and live their own lives without having to beat anyone. Singapore's education minister Ong Ye Kung has confirmed that improvements in the education system will help reduce stressful conditions among students, such as canceling mid-term and final exams, and getting rid of exam score ranking for primary school. Besides, the government has shifted focus toward increasing creativity among students instead because having the stability of a student's physical and mental growth is the most important foundation of education (Thanyawat, 2018). 9.5 Factors Affecting Students Security The perspective of the human security concept is “human security calls for peoplecentered to strengthen the protection and empowerment of all people and all communities to have freedom from fear and want” (HDR 1994 cited in Gomez and Gasper, 2013). The competency-focused education policies established by the vision of Singapore leaders together with Kiasu attitude have affected Singapore students in the following areas: 9.5.1 Political Insecurity A democratic regime that limits citizen autonomy has encouraged governments to exercise power to the fullest through various mechanisms. This can be clearly seen in the case of education regulation. The Education policy was established from the vision of the country's leaders alone without any engagement of the student's policy proposal. Also, most schools and universities are managed by the government as Singapore manages the country through centralized decentralization. 9.5.2 Economic Insecurity
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With the education policy that puts excess emphasis on exam scores and competitiveness, the tutoring school industry is in high demand and earns a fair amount of money ever since. Not every family in Singapore has enough income and resources to bring their children to tutoring school, thus causing inequality in education. One of the qualifying requirements for future job applications is still based on grades. Although the government says that all schools are equally good in quality and do not focus on grades, it is undeniable that many organizations in Singapore still adhere to these things, especially working under the government that is the biggest employer in Singapore. 9.5.3 Health Insecurity Regarding mental well-being among Singapore students as reported by Lainey Loh (2019), many primary school students in Singapore are experienced stress and anxiety at school due to having to spend many hours in school, doing a lot of homework, and studying extra hours with a private tutor. This fact could be witnessed by the student who gave an interview on the news. Amelia, a 6th-grade student, spends 15 hours a week on extra classes. The reason why she has to study hard is to pass the PSLE exam (CNA Insider, 2016). Moreover, they are unable to consult a specialist or psychiatrist when having depression. Many families in Singapore are reluctant to admit that their child has a mental illness. Therefore, many parents do not provide proper assistance to their children because it makes them feel embarrassed. 9.5.4 Community Insecurity Kiasu attitude is a value that scares Singaporeans from failure in life. Hence, they devoted their mental and physical strength to compete with others in society. In my opinion, this value should be changed because it has created such a harmful impact on people in Singaporean society, especially parents and students. Many students have to bear the expectations of their parents at all times. When they fail, they become ignored in society and are treated unequally. The worst thing that could happen is they find no one to stand by them, even their family, when they need support. 9.5.5 Personal Insecurity The issues and conflicts of political, economic, health, and community insecurity could also decline students' personal security. The effective education system in Singapore does not make students feel safe and secure in life but the pressure and competition in society
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are getting significantly higher instead. This may be due to the fact that educational policies are inconsistent with the child's age and lifestyle. Many students have to sacrifice their personal time and lose their development in other areas because they have to focus on achieving good grades and being successful in life as expected by their parents. Moreover, they have to constantly compete with others to meet the needs of the labor market where high-potential workers get higher compensation rates. Besides, the aforementioned human insecurity issue has led some students to be involved in violence, namely suicide. This is another type of violence that Johan Galtung has described as direct violence, which is developed from cultural violence and structural violence. In this matter, such violence refers to educational policies, including teaching design and expected learning outcomes, dominated by the vision of the leaders could lead to physical violence among students, specifically self-directed violence. More importantly, teen suicide is still a serious concern within the society in Singapore. The government, schools, and parents must work together to find solutions to stop this vicious cycle. According to the teen suicide rate statistics of 2018, there were 8.36 teens committing suicide in every 100,000 Singapore residents (CNA, 2019). The rate has increased as compared to the report of 2017 (7.74 cases/100,000 residents). The 2019 report shows that the rate has reduced to 8.00 cases/100,000 residents, however, the results are still not very satisfactory (CNA, 2020). 9.6 Recommendations for Reducing the Risk of Teen Suicide The author views that the violence issue caused by education systems and policies can be solved through a conflict transformation approach and collaborative approach to bring about the appropriate ways of conflict management. First of all, the Singapore government should revise the TLLM policy so that teaching and testing designs are in accordance with the child's development ability by age. The decentralization of schools and universities should be implemented to receive feedback and suggestions for continuously improving the education curriculum. Moreover, governments should be open to students and public opinions to discuss the problems existing in the education system. Also, they should provide psychiatrists and specialists to advise students who are experiencing high stress and depression conditions in order to prevent self-directed violence. Secondly, from my perspective, I think the PleaseStay group should be supported by the government because their actions can make changes in Singapore's society and education
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system, as well as reduce unnecessary competition in society. The PleaseStay is a group of parents who lost their children by suicide (BBC News, 2020). Their purposes are to help resolve suicide and mental health problems among young people because these parents see youth mental health issues as a growing concern in Singapore. The number of young men who commit suicide has increased in recent years (Min, 2021). They try to change their attitudes towards children through discussion and understanding of the child's point of view rather than putting pressure and high expectations on them. They also encouraged other parents to take their depressed child directly to a psychiatrist since It is not something that is embarrassing, but something that deserves attention. I also believe that the change that starts within the family could transform society and nation. If parents are concerned about mental issues that their child has to bear with and give their child the right treatment, then the physical violence problem will be lower and will not occur eventually. Thirdly, required qualifications for a job application should be reconsidered. Employers should view overall performance, including extracurricular activities, experiences, special abilities, rather than judging based on grades. Personally, I think that the potential of a person could be valued more than just the grade itself. In general, grades allow us to see what a person's education is like. On the other hand, not everyone with good grades can perform well at their work. Therefore, employers should also stress the importance and value of a person's potential over their academic performance alone.
9.7 Conclusion The stress and pressure faced by most Singaporean students come from cultural violence and structural violence, which are the political regime, educational ideology, and policy built on the vision of the country's leaders, as well as the social value known as Kiasu that contributes to a highly competitive environment in Singapore. All of these factors have effects on the human security of both parents and students in the following areas: political, economy, health, community, and personal life. Specifically, the mental health of students is a serious concern among Singaporean society because stress and anxiety caused by education systems have led to self-directed violence or suicide among youths, in which its rate has been progressively increasing every year. Therefore, the solution to the problem of violence and human insecurity in Singapore should be addressed through conflict management by implementing the conflict transformation and collaborative approach that requires cooperation from governments, activists or movements (PleaseStay), parents, and students, so
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that students would be able to grow up to be physically and mentally stable amidst the existing competition in Singapore. 9.8 References Ang Hwee Min. (2021). MOE, MSF ‘very concerned’ about spike in youth suicides; experts say more support and awareness necessary. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/moe-msf-very-concerned-about-spikeyouth-suicides-experts-say-more-support-and-awareness-necessary-862516. (Accessed June 22, 2021). BBC
News.
(2018).
Singapore
Education:
What's
Behind
Its
Success?.
https://www.bbc.com/thai/international-45722540. (Accessed June 22, 2021). BBC News. (2020). Mothers who lost their child to suicide form a' PleaseStay' group to help children stop thinking about their own lives. https://www.bbc.com/thai/international-54109035. (Accessed July 21, 2021). Busaya
Gray.
(2020).
Singapore
and
the
development
of
education.
https://researchcafe.org/development-education-in-singapor. (Accessed June 21, 2021). Chamaphat Sittiamnaul. (2013). Management of Education in ASEAN Community and Dialogue Partners: Singapore, Brunei, Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Myanmar and Laos: China, India, Japan and New Zealand. Bangkok: Dhurakij Pundit University. Channel News Asia. (2020). Number of suicides among those in their 20s is highest in Singapore. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/suicide-sos-samaritans-singaporeyouths-aged-20s-608181. (Accessed June 21, 2021). Channel News Asia. (2019). Suicides in Singapore up 10% last year, record high among boys.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/suicides-number-2018-teenagers-boys-
highest-1319911. (Accessed June 21, 2021). Chuenjit Pongpool. (2015). The Applications of Teach Less, Learn More in Teaching Food Science and Technology Program. Faculty of Agricultural Technology and Industrial Technology, Nakhon Sawan Rajabhat University. http://apr.nsru.ac.th/Act_learn/myfile/09062014173434_3.pdf (Accessed June 20, 2021).
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Des Gasper and Oscar A. Gómez. (2013). Human Security: A Thematic Guidance Note for Regional and National Human Development Report Teams. http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/human_security_guidance_note_r-nhdrs.pdf. (Accessed June 20, 2021). Jeraldine Phneah. (n.d.). What are some flaws which make the Singapore education system so stressful?. https://www.jeraldinephneah.com/why-singapore-education-system-so-stressful/.
(Accessed
June 17, 2021). Johan Galtung. (1969). Peace by Peaceful Means: Peace and Conflict, Development and Civilization.
https://sk.sagepub.com/books/peace-by-peaceful-means/n17.xml.
(Accessed
June 15, 2021). Lainey Loh. (2019). The Dark Side to the Education System in Singapore. https://www.unreservedmedia.com/the-dark-side-to-the-education-system-in-singapore/. Accessed June 15, 2021). National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2019). Self-Directed Violence and Other Forms of Self-Injury. https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/disabilityandsafety/self-injury.html. (Accessed December 3, 2021). Pak
Tee
Ng.
(2020).
The
Paradoxes
of
Student
Well-being
in
Singapore.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2096531120935127. (Accessed June 15, 2021). Salinee Kuakiatwong. (2018). Analysis of Singapore's education system. Professional Level Civil Officer Scholarship Report. Bangkok: Office of the Civil Service Commission. Samaritans of Singapore. (2020). No drop in total suicides in 2019, Suicide deaths for those in their 20s remains highest amongst other age group. https://www.sos.org.sg/pressroom/sosmedia-release-2020. (Accessed June 22, 2021). Thanyawat Ippoodom. (2018). Learn to know life - Not for competition, when Singapore changes education for the future of the nation. https://thematter.co/social/singaporeeducation-reform/62722. (Accessed June 17, 2021).
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Chapter 10 The Voice from a Student who Living among Political Conflict in Thailand
Atirit Thongsai
10.1 Introduction Thailand is a country where the political environments have been surrounded by conflict and violence. Back then, in 2005, a group of people who wore yellow T-shirts gathering on the street to protest the Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, and in 2006, another group of people who wore red T-shirts gathering on the street again. However, this time, it was not for protesting the Prime Minister Thaksin, but to support his government and regime. After that, there were various incidents that happened in the past. This is a situation of political conflict that is still consciously perceived that there were conflicts and violence in my country. There were confrontations between Thai people against Thai people, and there were Thai people hurting each other just because of the shirts’ color. As a result, the turmoil caused military coups in Thailand twice in 2006 and 2017 as conflict management by the military (Singhaputargun, 2019) to stop political conflict and violence in Thailand. It is true that the military coup in 2014 led by Prayut Chan-o-cha, a retired Royal Thai Army general officer, besides his crew, the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) could stop Direct Violence (Galtung, 1969) in Thailand. But political conflict is still going on and never stops, because the way that the military handled the conflict and violence was against the democratic principles in Thailand, which caused political insecurity in Thailand to be transformed until the present day. Moreover, the administration of Prayuth’s government has failed to handle Thailand’s economy, so that caused economic recession and insecurity during his regime. Unfortunately, in 2020, the spread of the virus “COVID-19” caused the situation in Thailand under Prayuth’s regime to become even worse. Prayuth's government has failed to handle the spread of the virus, which has caused a lot of Thai people to be infected and caused health insecurity in Thailand. Therefore, there were a lot of Thai people who felt insecure because of his regime. Put these all incidents together and as a result, in 2020, there were political movements led by university students in Thailand named “Free Youth” and “United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration (UFTD)” to protest on the street
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against Prayuth’s regime with nonviolent action and this is where the political conflict between government and youths has begun. In this chapter, the author would like to illustrate the political conflict that caused human insecurity in Thailand. Besides, providing the method that might be able to address human insecurity, and identifying the efforts to find a mutually collaboratively win-win situation’s conflict management. The data in this chapter that the author analyzed and illustrated were collected from books and websites. The case studies that had been selected were based on “a snapshot of the conflict technique”, only the significant cases would be selected to be analyzed and illustrated in this chapter (Miall, 2004). Importantly, the contents of this chapter are based on the approach of Peace and Conflict Studies and Human Insecurity concept. In these senses, the conflict would be considered as a normal phenomenon, and it is formed by incompatible positions and/or goals of conflict parties (Fisher & Ury, 1981). While the impacts of the conflict would be analyzed through the theories of Violence Triangle that categorized violence into three forms; including Direct, Structural, and Cultural Violence (Galtung, 1969) alongside with the seven types of Human Insecurity approach; including economic, food, health, environmental, personal, community, and political security (United Nations Development Programme, 1994). 10.2 The Political Conflict in Thailand In 2020, there were political movements in Thailand that developed from Facebook pages, namely “Free Youth” and “United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration (UFTD)” (Free Youth, n.d.; United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration, n.d.). At the beginning, both Facebook pages only mobilized the political and social movements through online platforms and social media. However, there was a turning point that decreased the tolerance of these young people to join on the street and protested the government onsite with nonviolent action after various incidents. One of the incidents that would be seen as a trigger point was the incident in which the government privileged the Egyptian diplomat’s family to freely travel in Thailand without 14 days quarantine during the first spreading of the COVID19 in Thailand (Thongsai, 2020). While Thai people lived with suffering because of the economic downturn caused by the pandemic, besides, the stresses caused by the fear of COVID-19’s infection. As a result, there was an emergence of the first onsite nonviolent political movement led by the Free Youth at the Democracy Monument, Bangkok on July 18, 2020. The movement declared three demands from the government, which are 1) the demand of parliamentary dissolution, 2) the demand that the government must stop intimidating
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suppression of the people, and 3) the demand of drafting a new constitution of Thailand (Free Youth, n.d.). Depressingly by the young generation, the government did not give any response to the demands of the protesters. Thus, because of this reason, there was a nonviolent protest again led by the UFTD at Thammasat University Rangsit Campus on August 10, 2020. The purpose of the protest was to declare ten demands from the government (United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration, n.d.). Nevertheless, this protest was different from any past protests in Thailand’s history, because all demands that had been declared by the UFTD were related to the institution of Thai monarchy. Therefore, after the protesters’ demands were broadcasted to Thai society through television, media, and online social networks. It caused a lot of Thai people to be shocked because the institution of Thai monarchy is an institution that is untouchable and unspeakable, especially in the public of Thailand due to the culture and the tradition that it inherited since in the past. After the protests led by both the Free Youth and UFTD had declared their demands from the government and the institution of Thai monarchy. Then, later August 16, 2020, there was another nonviolent protest led by the Free People, which was the former Free Youth movement that transformed to be a political movement that included every generation of the people in Thai society. So, there were no more age barriers that polarized Thai people by the gap of ages or the generation (Free Youth, n.d.). This time, the movement declared the three demands from the government again, but it was combined with the ten demands of the UFTD. Thus, it was “the three demands with the two positions and a single dream”. The three demands remained the same, and the two positions: 1) the position against a military coup and 2) the position against the military regime. Lastly, dreams that they want to see monarch truly be seen under the rules of a constitution as the same as the people (Free Youth, n.d.). 10.3 The Root Causes of the Political Conflict in Thailand At this point, the demands of the protesters are the reflection of the root causes of the political conflict in Thailand. In other words, it reflects the incompatibilities between Thai people and the government that is seen as the root causes of political conflict formation in Thailand. Firstly, the incompatibility is based on the demand of the parliamentary dissolution versus government’s refusal to parliamentary dissolution. Secondly, the incompatibility is based on the demand that the government must stop intimidation suppression on the people versus the government’s intimidate suppression on the people. Thirdly, the incompatibility is
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based on the demand for drafting a new constitution versus government’s refusal to draft a new constitution. Fourthly, the incompatibility is based on the position against a military coup versus the position of the government that came to power by the military coup in 2014. Fifthly, the incompatibility is based on the position against the military regime versus the position of the government that is the military government. Lastly, the incompatibility based on the demand (a dream) that the monarch must be truly under the rules of a constitution as the same as the people versus the culture and tradition of Thai society that the monarch is not truly under the rules of a constitution as the same as the people. As a result, all these incompatibilities are the root causes that formed the recent political conflict between the protesters and the government in Thailand. 10.4 The Impacts of the Political Conflict on Thai Society Unfortunately, the government still did not give any response to the protesters’ demands. In this regard, the protesters kept protesting and expanded the size of the protests to put more and more pressure on the government by nonviolent means. While government responded to the nonviolent acts of the protesters by using forces that can be seen as direct violence (Galtung, 1969); the high-pressure water guns, tear gases, and rubber bullets to disband the protests (Thongsai, 2020). Moreover, the government also used power through the political exploitation of the national law’s loophole, the “Chapter 112” to charge every protest’s leader which resulted in structural violence and cultural violence (Galtung, 1969). Chapter 112 is the law that prohibits the people from defaming, insulting, and offensively expressing acts toward the institution of the monarchy in public. The problem is there is no clear boundary about the words “defaming, insulting, and offensively expressing acts”, so the governmental authorities could use this no clear boundary of the law to charge every protest’s leader until no one left. In this situation, the political conflict caused the political violence, and the political violence caused human insecurities in Thailand, especially “personal insecurity” and “political insecurity”. Firstly, there was a personal insecurity in Thailand during the protests. For example, there was a protest at Pathumwan Intersection, Bangkok on October 16, 2020. The government responded to the protest by using high-pressure water guns against the unarmed protesters, while the protesters could only raise their umbrella to protect themself from the power of the water guns (Thai PBS, 2020). Furthermore, the government did not stop at just this level of violence, because on November 17, 2020, there was another protest at the New Parliament House in Kiak Kai, Bangkok, and the government escalated the violence
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to be more critical, for example, the used of tear gases and rubber bullets (Thongsai, 2020). So, from the evidence, it has shown that the recent political conflict caused Thai people’s personal insecurity due to the harm from the state during the protests. Secondly, the political insecurity which it is the most crucial one because the root causes of the protests themselves were developed from the political insecurity in Thailand such as the military regime versus the people’s unacceptable on the constitution. However, the acts of the governmental authorities that arbitrarily arrested the protest’s leaders caused the political insecurity in Thailand even worse. There were various arbitrary arrest cases, for example, the case of Parit Chiwarak on August 14, Anon Nampa on August 25, and Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul on October 15, all of the mentioned names were the protest’s leaders that got arrested by the governmental authorities with the Chapter 112’s charge (Free Youth, n.d.; United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration, n.d.). They got charged because of their public speeches during the protests that referred to the institution of Thai monarchy. From my point of view, the political structure in Thailand during the recent political conflict was significantly unstable and insecure according to the various emerging situations. 10.5 The Conflict Management by the Peace and Conflict Studies Network To resolve the human insecurities in Thailand, we must look at the root causes of the human insecurities. In this case, it is a political conflict, so the conflict was formed by the incompatibility between two (or more) conflict parties. Therefore, there should be someone that could play a role as a mediator to prevent a direct confrontation between conflict parties. As mentioned earlier, the incompatibility of positions and/or goals formed the conflict, so it is not wise to let conflict parties manage or deal with the conflict or to confront each other without a mediation process, because the incompatible positions and/or goals could be an obstacle that blocks the negotiation processes and worsen the conflict and bring direct violence. The question is, “who could be seen as a mediator?” Another important question is, “how can we ensure that the selected mediator would be qualified and being neutral during a process of negotiation?”. From these questions, the author would like to suggest the model of mediation and negotiation processes through “the Peace and Conflict Studies Network” (PCSN). The PCSN is the network of the people that considers a conflict as a normal phenomenon, while violence is unacceptable and must be prevented. Besides, the PCSN’s ultimate aim is “to bring a positive peace to a society and the world”; peace in this sense
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means the absolute absence of all forms of violence in a society, including direct violence, structural violence, and cultural Violence. In the network shall contain of a variety of people in the academic field of peace such as scholars, politicians, students, people who are interested, and including conflict parties who are soft-liners and have willingness to be in mediation and negotiation processes. The PCSN would act as a mediator and play a vital role in building peace, so called “Peace Engineers” (Singhaputargun, 2020). Apart from the role of mediator, the PCSN would be seen as an incubator to produce peace engineers as mediators for society through the process of training and learning based on the Peace and Conflict Studies. The institution will provide skills for trainees such as listening and negotiation skills, creativity, critical thinking, equanimity, and the most importantly, the conflict management skills in interests of conflict parties, not positions / goals (Singhaputargun, 2020). As a result, after a lot of training, an ordinary person will transform to be a peace engineer, who is ready to jump on the field works, and will be the proactive actor that is able to transform, manage or resolve a conflict in a society with peaceful means. 10.6 Conclusion The political conflict in Thailand in 2020 between youths and the government is formed by incompatible positions and goals. They demanded the security of their life, while the government could not provide what the people wanted. As a result, there were clashes between them, and later huge protests on the streets. They protest by nonviolent means, while the government responds to the people with power and violence which bring direct violence, structural violence, and cultural violence. Therefore, the violence from the state both manifest and latent violence caused human insecurities in Thailand, especially personal security, and political security. The human insecurities from the government caused the political conflict, while the political conflict caused violence in Thai society, and the violence caused human insecurities in Thailand. So, the efforts to address the human insecurities in Thailand, would be addressed at the root causes of it, which is at the political conflict by the conflict management by the Peace and Conflict Studies Network that may be the alternative for the society to transform, manage, or resolve the political conflict and human insecurities in Thailand.
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10.7 References Fisher, R., Ury, W. (1997). Getting to yes: Negotiating agreement without giving in. Penguin Group. Free Youth. (n.d.). Home [Facebook page]. Facebook. Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/FreeYOUTHth/ Galtung, J. (1969). Peace by peaceful means: Peace and conflict, development and civilization. Sage. Miall, H. (2004). Transforming ethnopolitical conflict: The Berghof handbook (A. Austin, M. Fischer, & N. Ropers Eds.). Springer VS. Singhaputargun, N. (2019). Conflict transformation: A case of Thai political conflict and conflict management by the military. https://www.academia.edu/42985741/CONFLICT_ TRANSFORMATION_A_CASE_OF_THAI_POLITICAL_CONFLICT_AND_ CONFLICT_MANAGEMENT_BY_THE_MILITARY Singhaputargun, N. (2020). A ripe moment and peace engineer network for student's protesters and the government in Thailand. READ ASEAN Vol.1 2020. https://issuu.com/imumfu/docs/read_asean_vol_1__2020 Thai PBS. (2020, October 16). ลาดับเหตุการณ์สลายการชุมนุมแยกปทุมวัน: ที่นี่ Thai PBS (16 ต.ค. 63) [The chronology of the protest disbanding at Pathumwan Intersection: On Thai PBS (2020, Oct 16)] [Video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jb8Tn0GSTY Thongsai, A. (2020). 2020 Nonviolent Struggle for Democracy and Reform in Thailand in the Perspective of Gene Sharp’s Nonviolent Action. Mae Fah Luang University. United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration. (n.d.). Home [Facebook page]. Facebook. Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/ThammasatUFTD United Nations Development Programme. (1994). Human development report 1994: New dimensions of human security. http://www.hdr.undp.org/en/content/human-developmentreport-1994
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Chapter 11 Vietnam Economic Development and Human Security
Nattawan Nakhasupa
11.1 Introduction After the end of the Vietnam War, North Vietnam was victorious. Vietnam was united and was under a communist government. In 1986, the Communist Party of Vietnam began to rebuild its economy and politics, allowing Vietnam to join the world economy. In 2000, diplomatic relations with all countries were established and since the year 2000, Vietnam's economic growth rate is considered to be the country with the highest growth rate in the world. A successful economic restoration led to its joining the World Trade Organization in 2007. Vietnam is also a member of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation and the International Organization of the French-speaking bloc. Vietnam was reunified in 1976 after 20 years of fighting with the United States and 50 years earlier with former colonial France, for a total of 70 years that Vietnam had been at war and had no peace. Millions of Vietnamese have died for freedom. The victor's Communist Party of Vietnam stayed on for 10 years in peace after the war until in 1986 a major change was made in the Communist Party of Vietnam's "Doi Moi" policy. In this chapter, it discusses about the country's development in Vietnam after the war, how economic development, and how the leap-forward economic development has negatively impacted social and environmental conditions. 11.2 Doi Moi Policy Vietnam is becoming a country with outstanding economic growth among ASEAN member states. From a country that was colonized and traumatized in the Vietnam War, its gross domestic product (GDP) in 1985 was only $14 billion. But it was able to raise it to $244,948 million in 2018 and quickly become a middle-income country within three decades. Such economic developments are the result of the "Doi Moi" (Renovated Policies) reform policy enacted in 1986, which shocked the Vietnamese economy. Especially in the export sector, which has reduced or eliminated a large number of customs duties the private sector is allowed to participate more in the production and export processes. At the heart of Doi Moi's 87
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policy is a combination of liberalization, institutional restructuring, and economic restructuring. It aims to stimulate exports, promote investment by the Vietnamese private and state enterprises to attract foreign investment, control inflation, and allow Vietnamese people to own land, etc. (Chayanee Chavanot 2021). Moreover, the Doi Moi policy has transformed Vietnam's economic structure from an agricultural country to an industrial one. In 1985, before the introduction of the Doi Moi policy, the share of Vietnam's agricultural sector was about 40.17% and dropped to 23.24% in 2001. At the present day, the agricultural sector is 15.34%, the service sector is 41.26% and the industrial sector is 33.4%. Vietnam's top exports are not agricultural products but electrical machinery, textiles, apparel, shoes, etc. (Chayanee Chavanot 2021). 11.3 Obstacles in Development Vietnam is trying to push itself to be a "New industrialized country", which has reached a certain level. But today it faces a variety of challenges, including inflation, money depreciation, excessive government expansion, a lack of skilled labor, lagging infrastructure and inefficient state-owned enterprises. But Vietnam's biggest problem is "Corruption" is pervasive and permeates all organs of society, from the central powers of the Communist Party and government to the grassroots of which both Vietnamese and foreign investors have always been concerned. Vietnam is therefore ranked as one of the most corrupt nations in the world. A UN report in 2009 said the bribery rate in Vietnam had not dropped at all since the last Communist Party meeting. and corruption is widespread at all levels, both public and private sectors. Aside from corruption, poor farmers complained in unison that despite the government's claims of GDP figures that the country's economy has grown steadily, their lives have not changed from the past to being poor. (Grobthailand 2018) 11.4 Environmental Impact In the midst of a leaping economic development policy, the operation of an industrialled economy and the openness to investment from both the private and foreign sectors has created many problems, whether it be social or environmental. It can be seen that the conflict in Vietnam is not a violent conflict but it is an environmental problem. The air pollution problem that Vietnam faces in many cities across the country including Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City has caused economic damage to the country each year at a high value of about 10 billion to 13 billion US dollars, or about 400 billion baht. The cause of pollution in Vietnam is caused by three main reasons: the energy sector. As Vietnam's rapid economic growth has
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resulted in the production, industry, and service sectors across the country, energy demand has increased dramatically. 2006-2014, energy demand increased by 13%. Vietnam is facing an alarming problem with air pollution. Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City have now become 2 of the 15 cities with the worst air pollution in Southeast Asia. This has forced Vietnam's environmental agencies to come up with measures to address the problem, but the government has only been able to identify short-term solutions. Vietnam has been confronted with air pollution problems for many years. The government has not solved the problem at the root cause. Focusing on the root cause, for example, in September 2019, the PM2.5 concentration in Hanoi was in the health hazard range. Instead, the government works to identify and assess the root cause of the problem and find a solution. But the Vietnamese government has advised residents to stay indoors, close windows and refrain from exercising outdoors with mask anti-pollution masks when going out and use saline nasal irrigation for both children and the elderly. (Ladawan Kaikum) 11.5 Problems Arising From Government Policy Vietnam does not have a single powerful person holding the reins. But there are four important positions that help run the country: Communist Party secretary, prime minister, president, and chairman of the National Assembly. The vote to elect the four ascendants moves them to the top of the pyramid of power. Every five years, 1,600 delegates vote to elect 200 members to the central committee. It is the Central Committee that elects the Political Department's committee, which has about 20 members, including the nominees for the four top positions. Although it appears to be a bottom-up democratic process, there is usually a pre-comprehensible political arrangement and selection is predetermined. As political change is tightly controlled and manipulated, so too will anything perceived as criticizing the authorities. This is nothing new in Vietnam. After all, Vietnam is a one-party ruled country without true freedom of the press. (BBC NEWS 2021) 11.6 Development against Freedom Freedom of expression of the media is an important factor for the development of the country and the mentality of the nation. The function of the media is to present truthful information to the public. However, some facts are forbidden in countries with low freedoms, so news agencies can only offer the views the state wants. The presentation of that information is like an examination of the work of the government and also to receive
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feedback from the public sector. Therefore, when taken together, the freedom of the press will have a greater effect on the long-term development of the country than the harsh bans and penalties. Although Vietnam has a high social media user rate, but it is also being criticized for restricting freedom of expression, with internet bloggers jailed in recent years for publishing articles critical of the Communist government. Three independent journalists have been found guilty of spreading anti-Vietnam propaganda. and served a sentence of between 11 and 15 years in prison. In part, this may be attributed to the capabilities of the military cyber unit, Task Force 47, which has been targeting online critics of the government since 2018. In addition to banning independent political parties and human rights organizations, Vietnam passed a law in 2013 prohibiting people from discussing the current situation on the Internet, allowing social media and blogs to be used only for sharing personal data. Such problems may not be widespread because most of the people are still satisfied with the continued economic growth, so human rights issues are not of much interest. But if one day the Vietnamese economy has a bubble like Thailand in 1997, whether it will be possible for Cambodians to come out and call for changes to problems against the government? If the government views public criticism as necessary, other problems will be less. (BBC NEWS 2021) 11.7 National Interests vs People? For years, residents of Dong Tam village, not far from Hanoi, have resisted an army attempting to build an airport by invading parts of their area. Land disputes are common in Vietnam, but violent clashes are rare. The state owns all the land in communist Vietnam, meaning the government can in principle use the land for anything, be it military or civil projects, but the villagers say they use the land.
This piece has been cultivated from
generation to generation and has not been properly compensated. As many as 3,000 security personnel quickly deployed to the village early in the morning. There were government officials dressed in police uniforms, carrying sticks, batons, guns, and shields. Another eyewitness said police set fires, fired tear gas, blocked exits, and beat women and elderly people. Vietnam's military has begun building Miao Mon airfield near Dong Tam village. Villagers say that in the process of building the airport, more than three hundred hectares of their land was unfairly confiscated and given to the Viettel Group, a transportation company
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managed by the Vietnamese military. The village of Dong Tam first made headlines in 2017 when four villagers were arrested on suspicion. Villagers responded by detaining 38 government officials, including police among them, about a week to release them after reaching a deal with the state. The government and state media have tried to make villagers into rioters and terrorists and police officers to sacrifice their lives. People showed their support for the government in video footage of the clashes posted on social media. The government wants to remove the video. Articles and comments about this police operation left. Vietnam's great economy, if viewed as a whole, maybe good for the country, however, the picture of the country's development of the elite in Vietnam counters human rights. Including Vietnam's style of governance is centralized power and implements a top-down policy that will result in problems and conflicts. In this way, foreign investment requires political stability and proper law, because the communist regime in Vietnam's form actually ensures political stability. With sudden political changes, major economic problems will follow. (BBC NEWS 2020). 11.8 Dreams vs Realities Although Vietnam has a high and attractive economic development compared to other ASEAN countries. However, the conflicts that accompany development are undeniable worker internal and external conflicts. Trouble in the South China Sea, Vietnam has a dispute with China over sea power, with both sides claiming ownership in the Paracels and the Spratly Islands. Therefore, its position towards a superpower like China has caused Vietnam to face security problems and has to invest heavily in military budgets and create patriotic values that are unsuitable for the younger generation within the country. Infrastructure developments are concentrated only in the cities but in the rural areas, civilization and development are still inaccessible. In some areas there is no electricity and no roads. The urbanization of urbanization would lead to the movement of workers from rural areas to cities, which would cause a number of problems such as conges garbage crime, garbage, pollution and state insufficiency. And another important point is that the value of using the products of one's own country is very low. Consumer goods in daily life also rely on imported products from, Thailand, Japan and Korea. Vietnamese people view products from Thailand as being of high quality and that products from their country are not of good quality. Restaurants and products often claim Thailand's name, whether it's a restaurant or even a chili sauce. The resulting conflict is a conflict between society and the economy that does not go in the same direction. The Vietnamese government has extreme economic hopes, but at the 91
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same time, social development and Vietnamese roots are not linked to rapid development. (รุ่ ง
สิทธิ ธัญญสิทธิ์ อารยา เเซ่ลุ่ย และกัญญา ภูภักดิ์ 2017) 11.9 Conflict and Violence Political conflict in Vietnam brings structural violence because it is political, economic, and cultural. Many things when put together, although not direct violence, but conflict and violence that engulfed under the carpet, which was pressed by the carpet of the structure to not erupt, but conflict. They have not gone away, just waiting for the day and time when these problems will explode if the government does not address the social structure and the winds of change. Structural conflicts originate from a single-party communist style of governance, resulting in no development in governance due to lack of competitors and transparency, resulting in embedded corruption deeply rooted in society. This type of governance is not favorable for bottom-up development because the new generation with different ideas cannot break these ceilings, making it dependent on foreign investment. This kind of conflict is a contradiction in itself because while the elites want to show the development of the country, ideas and freedoms are still suppressed by the political structure. The next conflict is the conflict in the economy and the environment which brings structural violence. In implementing economic policies by setting goals and dreaming of the future, there will be a pattern and rapid economic development. In this manner, natural resources will be consumed immensely and quickly until they lose the natural balance and the pollution problem that Vietnam is currently facing is due to the factors of Vietnam's national development. Political structure is also seen as an important factor because the government's inability to allow protests or NGOs within the country, as well as the censorship of information criticizing the government, has left the problem unresolved with harsh penalties. Thus, Vietnam's structural conflicts are interrelated in all aspects, and the people's sector has no power to fight for its own life but has to accept and tolerate the situation given by the state in exchange for the country's interests. 11.10 Human Insecurity In short, the human insecurity in Vietnam is not so clear, but if we look deeper it can be seen that Vietnam is like many other developing countries that conflict is the caused that it comes in form of a cobweb. One conflict is connected to another conflict from political
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conflict towards economic conflicts in which structural violence is seen as the impact of these conflicts. Political and economic insecurity is tied with political institutions, economic policies come from policies from the political parties or elites and this policy is top-down and it is not a bottom-up approach. Vietnam's governance model has made economy as a whole better but only of foreign investment that prefer stable politics. However, this kind of economic development hinders the fundamental economy and the unicorn business that comes from the new generation because the political institutions are like a glass ceiling that makes the development from a small bottom unable to upgrade. People are not in the center of development in which the government officials enforce what is to be done by law in order to achieve what the state wants without people participation. There are also restrictions on freedom of the press and harsh penalties that violate human rights. The problem of centralized development will also cause congestion in the urban society and subsequent crime. 11.11 Conclusion After the end of the Vietnam War North Vietnam, the country has adopted communist rule. Vietnam has set up a number of policies to revitalize and develop the country, one of which is Doi Moi. Doi Moi policy has transformed Vietnam's economic structure from an agricultural country to an industrial one. However, Vietnam has many social and economic problems that hinder the country's development, the most important of which is corruption that is rooted in all aspects of society. In addition, the environmental problems that followed after industrial developments which had a detrimental effect on public health in terms of air pollution and toxic dust. The issues of human rights and press freedom in Vietnam are particularly dire, and violence is rampant against political dissidents. What is shown in the report is the inconsistency in the country's rapid development and its clear goals; however, the problems tucked under the rug have never been solved well enough to make that development unstable. 11.12 References
สงครามเวียดนาม ทาไมชาติเดียวถึงรบกันเอง ฝ่ายไหนชนะ? (2021, May 3) https://thestandard.co/podcast/8-minutes-history-ep17/
การค้าเสรีจากนโยบาย 'Doi Moi' (2019, October 10) https://www.posttoday.com/aec/scoop/603228
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นโยบายปฏิรูปเศรษฐกิจเวียดนามกับการพัฒนาอุตสาหกรรม (2021, July 14) https://researchcafe.org/rc20331/ SDG Insights | ส่องเพื่อนบ้าน III : ฝุ่น PM2.5 ในเวียดนาม https://www.sdgmove.com/2021/05/08/sdg-insight-neighbour-watch-vietnam-pm25/
ปัญหาอากาศพิษทาเวียดนาม สูญเงินแต่ละปีเกือบ 4 แสนล้านบาท (2020, Jan 16) https://www.posttoday.com/world/611869
นโยบายปฏิรูปเศรษฐกิจของเวียดนามกับการพัฒนาอุตสาหกรรม https://researchcafe.org/rc20331/
ความท้าทายของเวียดนามในการบรรลุเป้าหมายการเติบโตทางเศรษฐกิจ https://globthailand.com/vietnam_0105/ SDG Insights | ส่องเพื่อนบ้าน III : ฝุ่น PM2.5 ในเวียดนาม https://www.sdgmove.com/2021/05/08/sdg-insight-neighbour-watch-vietnam-pm25/
พรรคคอมมิวนิสต์เวียดนาม และการเลือกผู้นาชุดใหม่ https://www.bbc.com/thai/international-55842727
ชาวบ้านเวียดนามลุกฮือ ปะทะตารวจ หลังทางการยึดที่ทากินหลายชั่วอายุคนมาให้กองทัพทาสนามบิน https://www.bbc.com/thai/international-51136509
จีน-เวียดนาม ความสัมพันธ์ “ทั้งรักทั้งเกลียด” https://workpointtoday.com/จีน-เวียดนาม-ความสัมพัน-2/
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Chapter 12
Conclusion
Nichan Singhaputargun
One of the purposes in establishing ASEAN is to provide security in the region to handle threats from both external and internal. For at least five decades, ASEAN has successfully protected sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity based on traditional security in the region. In order to handle traditional security, a priority is given to military of each nation state in preventing potential threats that undermine independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of their nation states. ASEAN and its member states have managed these threats with ASEAN Way in which one of the main principles is non-interference principle. ASEAN Way has prohibited its member states from using forces, violence, invasion, intervention for internal affairs among nation states in ASEAN with tolerance and consensus as collaborative method and conflict management. Although recently in 2008, there was a failure of ASEAN Way in handling territorial dispute which took place between Thailand and Cambodia over the Phra Vihere. Nonetheless, ASEAN is seen as quite successful in managing a number of traditional threats in the region. Although, ASEAN is able to secure and handle threats from traditional security but in the present day the essence of security in the region has constantly transformed to non-traditional security with new emerging threats. Non-traditional threats are seen as impacts from a rapid change of regional and global development within a complicated economic structure, political structure, and social structure under the stream of capitalism, modernization, globalization, and democratization. This phenomenon leads to conflict that forms human insecurity and violence inside and outside ASEAN. Non-traditional threats in ASEAN can be categorized in three manners; 1) Non-traditional threats that formulate inside a nation state of ASEAN and it affects people in that nation state. 2) Non-traditional threats that formulate inside various nation states of ASEAN and it affects the region as a whole. 3) Non-traditional threats that formulate outside ASEAN nation states and it affects people in a nation state of ASEAN or various nation states of ASEAN.
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Conflict can be seen as one of the phenomenon that forms human insecurity and it can be categorized in two forms; 1) domestic conflict within a small or a large group of people in a nation state and 2) international conflict between nation states or among various nation states inside and outside ASEAN. On both forms, conflict is formed by contradictions, attitudes, and behaviours of people in a nation state or among leaders among nation states in which incompatibility is seen as a source of conflict that brings incompatible positions or goals between government vs people as for domestic conflict and between one nation states vs another nation state or various nation states vs various states inside and outside ASEAN. Their positions or goals have become incompatible over ecoissues issues, social issues, cultural issues, political issues, health issues, and environmental issues that eventually form human insecurities in which this situation form human insecurities in the region. Thus, human insecurity is directly harmed human’s survival in many ways and it can be seen through various issues covering all aspects of human security in ASEAN; 1) Economic Security, 2) Food Security, 3) Health Security, 4) Environmental Security, 5) Community Security, 6) Personal Security, and 7) Political Security. In this volume, these human insecurities are seen through various cases such as poverty, unclean food, economic recession, unemployment, resource scarcity, natural disasters, climate changes, illegal migration, inequity, human rights, violence, political conflict, and democratization that have become problems of our region. Violence is seen as another phenomenon that arises after or before human insecurity takes place after domestic conflict and international conflict form up. Direct violence, structural violence, and cultural violence are seen as a consequence of human insecurity as it blocks freedom from fear, freedom from what, and life with dignity based on human security principle. Nowadays, ASEAN is confronted with non-traditional threats and human insecurities in the region. ASEAN requires more collaboration with a new strategy that gives ASEAN a bypass in handling these non-traditional threats and human insecurities. This new strategy must contain sharpness cut through important issues or crisis in ASEAN. Crossingtransboundary is seen as an important strategy that ASEAN shall be considered in managing non-traditional threats and human insecurities. The new strategy is required because the ASEAN Way which is seen as a strategy in handling security in the past, in various cases seems to block collaboration in handling this problem in the region. ASEAN, nation states inside and outside ASEAN or external parties are unable to provide help to handle nontraditional threats and human insecurities because of the non-interference principle.
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Changing the strategy is not enough but the approach is also important for ASEAN. In order to handle non-traditional threats and human insecurities more effectively, ASEAN and its nation states must balance two approaches equally between state-centric approach and human-centric approach. So far, there is no balance between these two approaches which this situation brings a situation of human insecurities in the region. Without a balance between these approaches, it would be unable to resolve non-traditional threats and human insecurities; it might be contained for a time being but sooner or later it would be manifested or even worst. It is important to increase more momentum for a human-centric approach to increase human security and equalize between these two approaches in ASEAN. This approach must be seen as the main paradigm in transforming human insecurity into human security in ASEAN. This approach would help to handle non-traditional threats and human insecurities as noted in General Assembly resolution 66/290, “human security is an approach to assist member states in identifying and addressing widespread and cross-cutting challenges to the survival, livelihood, and dignity of their people.” It calls for people-centered, comprehensive, context-specific, and prevention-oriented responses that strengthen the protection and empowerment of all people or are based on the principle “freedom from fear, freedom from want and life for dignity”. In addition, human security is seen as a guideline for every nation in pursuing sustainable development frameworks. In fact, human security can be considered as a foundation and advancement of later development plans by UNDP; namely Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that have embraced human security framework into these two development plans along with other new elements in order to bring a sustainable development approach for ASEAN and the world.
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