From 2010 to 2017, there was a thing called #AseanCitizen that we Aseans started as a grassroots movement. We were all bloggers from across, well, #ASEAN or South-East Asia.
Some of us joined together to produce one of the best multi-authored regional blogs. We talked about our cultures, write about what makes the region awesome. As well as, try to address the oftentimes silly and sometimes heated debates.
It's all gone now. Forgotten. The blogs dead or offline. We all grew up, got busy with our personal lives, and moved on separately. And the important reason? We lost interest in it as we started to see ASEAN was, is, and will never be for the grassroots.
That was the end of what was once a vibrant grassroot ASEAN Citizens effort. We did it all voluntarily. Without a single recognition from the top-down organisation that is ASEAN.
But today? ASEAN is still a top-down organisation. They kept trying to get the grassroots involved, but they are always failing. Why? Because it is a top-down organisation, as simple as that. They will never understand until they shift their mindset and approach to bottom-up.
(P.S I want to restart this grassroots movement, but I just no longer have the spark. Give me a very good reason why I should give it another chance. Or, at least, guide the new generation.)
The more I think about it, the more I can't deny that the #Philippines is actually the driving force in laying down the path to a "Confederacy of the Philippines, South #Korea, and #Japan".
You see, #China and the #US (and all our neighbours for that matter) are fully aware of the pre-Colonial #history of the what we know today as the Philippines. And if recent wars are any indication, South Korea exist today because of the #Filipino regiment sent there which halted China's advance, take note, against all odds. Not once, not twice, but multiple times. Obviously, China hates it ever happened and how it was well-documented.
The first soldiers who reached what we know today as the DMZ, or demarcation line, between North and South Korea was, well, the Philippine army regiment too. Yes, it was Filipinos who first guarded it and the #USA was very surprised about it!
That is who the pre-Colonial Filipinos were and that is who we really are. We were feared, and you should even to this day.
Another example.
When China closed its doors to the world in pre-Colonial times, it kept one door opened to pre-Colonial Philippines. And whenever #Japanese pirates came to attack the #Chinese merchants, they hired pre-Colonial Filipinos to defend them. It was well-documented as well how pre-Colonial Filipino "navy" chased the Japanese pirates all the way to Japan. So, yes, Japan is aware of who the Filipinos really are.
Even Korea, #Indonesia, #Vietnam, #Brunei (there was no #Malaysia yet). They hired pre-Colonial Filipinos to captain their ships or to protect them from pirates.
China and the US, vying for world dominance, definitely wants to keep the status quo. And why is that? To keep the Filipino people sleeping. Why? Well, you definitely do not want the Filipino people to wake up and reclaim their identity.
And this is where I think China and the US failed: in their desire to keep the status quo, and to sandwich the Philippines in their foolish world dominance desires, the Philippines has already awoken and silently laid down the path to a certain future "by Asians for a democratic #Asia".
I think Korea and Japan saw this hence they were quick to support the Philippines. Not only economically but militarily as well.
Yes, the Philippines is lacking in modern military aspect. Again, status quo. But Korea and Japan have been helping us in this area for years now, and no one bothered about it, thinking it was "small". But you have to see the bigger picture, it's movement and rebalancing. And giving it to a Nation whose people were once feared in Asia-Pacific, and can be feared again, is a very strategic move and a long-term investment.
Some #ASEAN member nations started to notice this shift, and changed tunes recently. (Except Malaysia, they're stubborn.) Though most are still playing "neutral" and because of the useless ASEAN organisation, the change in tunes itself is clearly a signal they've noticed.
Who was brave enough to bring China to the court regarding their silly claim of the "South China Sea"? Only the Philippines. And this was before other nations started to "donate" military assets. Only the Filipino people are brave enough to face China.
You see, everyone knows China has no claim because it was pre-Colonial Filipinos who guarded the "South China Sea" AND "East China Sea" from pirates. The one who has claims over it are, well, the Filipinos. But we won't.
China is afraid to wake up the Filipino people. The US too. Korea and Japan already positioned themselves as true allies who will aid their ally (UNLIKE THE US, fake allies). The other nations in the area are making it appear they are "neutral" but they already know who they will side with.
The "Confederacy of the Philippines, South Korea, and Japan" will not form because of treaties or forced to do it. It is forming because the Philippines is laying down the path and foundation. Because other nations are rallying to the vision of the Filipino people for a true democratic and equal community, by #Asians for Asians.
It already started years ago. No one noticed it. It just happened, and everything naturally follows.
#CAIRO — After a long journey from #Gaza, more than 100 American citizens and their families have entered #Egypt through the #RafahCrossing. Jonathan Webster, the #USEmbassy in Cairo's consul general, said some of those families are telling him they ran out of food and water during their journeys. #Israel
The ongoing bombardment of #Gaza by Israel’s military following #Hamas’ deadly October 7 attacks has sparked mass rallies in Malaysia and put domestic political pressure on Anwar.
There's a new(ish) video up on Austronesian languages - https://youtu.be/TAa9sT3qxaU - and this comment is such a callout for our people being too online lmao
(Context: for some reason, the word for 'five' is pretty consistently lima/ima/limo/imo across the languages in the family group)
ETA: the video also looks pretty interesting! I'll watch in a bit