15 Days in Southeast Asia
Spring 2004
As journalists, the first question in our minds is always, "So what’s the real story here?" Government officials, of course, have their own spin on the facts, opposition party members want to emphasize other matters and the average citizen may not have a good understanding of the intricacies of certain issues.
But a recent Asia Foundation tour of Southeast Asia provided us with a good insight into some of the stories behind the stories. Unlike academic trips or other programs, the Asia Foundation gave us a look at the countries we visited from a grassroots level.
The San Francisco-based Asia Foundation is a non-profit organization with more than 350 employees in the U.S. and Asia whose purpose is to support and encourage development in and understanding of the Asia-Pacific region.
According to its mission statement, the Asia Foundation directly supports programs that improve governance and law, economic reform and development, women’s participation, and international relations in Asia. Some of its grants simply pay for English-language books in Vietnam; others are long-term initiatives designed to prevent trafficking of women. Several of its projects involve exchange programs both to the U.S. for Asian nationals while others help expose U.S. residents to Asia.
This AAJA-Asia Foundation collaboration, now in its second year, was not heavy on meetings with government delegates. Although we did have several briefings from professors and some dignitaries, the most educational parts of the trip for me came when we visited remote villages, small businesses and individuals throughout the country.
The 15-day trip, which was funded by a grant from the Freeman Foundation of New York and Stowe, Vt., began with three days in Singapore, more than a week in Thailand and about a week in Vietnam. We not only visited the capital cities of Bangkok and Hanoi but also included many side trips to the "cities less traveled."
In fact, many days began at 5 am or 6 am to make those trips. Our excursions included trips to the southern region of Thailand to meet with Muslim community leaders in rural parts of Thailand and travel to the Mekong delta region of southern Vietnam.
The other seven "Freeman Fellows" on the tour included two attorneys who worked with the Asian American community groups; a deputy director in the Indianapolis mayor’s office; a director at a woman’s advocacy group; and an environmental educator.
It’s impossible to describe all of the locations we visited but our most interesting visits were in the heavily Muslim regions in southern Thailand. Although nationally, 90 percent of the Thai population considers themselves Buddhists, four of the southern provinces in Thailand bordering on Malaysia have a strong Muslim presence.
Many of the village halls in the region consisted of little more than open-air shelters made of thatched roofs and concrete floors. But even here, many of the villagers were updated on the latest headlines from CNN and BBC News. Our delegation often got an earful about what the villagers thought of U.S. policy in Iraq. Despite the Bush Administration’s best efforts to convince the world otherwise, it was clear that these Muslims viewed the U.S. war in Iraq as a direct assault on Islam.
Our delegation particularly benefited from the deep-rooted knowledge of the America-based and local-based Asia Foundation staff. Director of international relations John Brandon, the leader of our study tour, had spent several of his college years in the 1970s studying in southern Thailand and had a rich historical perspective to add.
The Asia Foundation also regularly makes grants to non-profit groups and local leaders in the countries where they operate, so the local staff has contacts and deep knowledge of the changing systems. Some of the past foundation grantees included sponsoring voter-education efforts led by moderate groups in Indonesia; supports programs to nurture small businesses in Vietnam; and clean-air studies in many regions including Ho Chi Minh.
Back in the 1980s, some AAJA members had debated whether our group should team up with other groups on such study tours. The Asia Foundation, for example, had once been funded by the Central Intelligence Agency in the 1950s and 1960s. However, the foundation publicly renounced the connection and severed all ties to the agency in the 1970s. After having seen how carefully the Asia Foundation evaluates its programs and grantees to make sure it serves the Foundation’s mission of promoting human rights, literacy, women’s issues and other programs, I think AAJA members would be impressed with the group’s track record.
If the most recent Southeast Asia trip is any guide, the best way for outsiders to get a look inside the stories less publicized is by having more journalists and U.S. policy leaders learn firsthand what issues are affecting the citizens of the world.
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