Asia in Review (AiR)
Online panel discussion on “Social Values and Diversity in Southeast Asia”
The poster of the event
HSF
On Wednesday, 16th December 2020, 4.30 – 6.30 p.m. (Bangkok time), the German – Southeast Asian Center of Excellence for Public Policy and Good Governance (CPG), the Hanns Seidel Foundation Vietnam and the Hanns Seidel Foundation Thailand co-organized an online panel discussion via Facebook livestream on the topic “Social Values and Diversity in Southeast Asia.”
The Resident Representative in Vietnam and Coordinator of HSF’s ASEAN Project on Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP) of the Hanns Seidel Foundation Vietnam Mr. Michael Siegner gave a welcoming speech to all the participants at the opening ceremony. The online discussion focused on the notion of “Asian Values” and conflicts that each Asian region has encountered after the Cold War. In order to establish institutions, fair processes and economic success, the scholars together with those interested were gathered to exchange opinions about the impacts of diversity towards the change of Asian values in four aspects: familism, communalism, authority orientations and work ethic. They also discussed about those values as an obstacle for human rights and an irreconcilable juxtaposition between Asian Values and a Western notion of freedom.
The panelists of this discussion included Prof. Po-Han Lee from the National Taiwan University, Prof. Eugene K.B. Tan from the Singapore Management University, Mr. Zheng Xi Choo, a Human Rights lawyer from Singapore and Dr. Thaatchaayini Kananatu from the Monash University, Malaysia. The moderator was Mr. Jan Kliem, a research fellow from the CPG, the Faculty of Law, Thammasat University, Thailand. There were all scholars and experts in the fields of human rights and social politics, especially in the Southeast Asia.