Why Infotainment May Be a Remedy to the Underdeveloped ASEAN Identity
As a UAE-based OFW, the first thing I do when I see a familiar Southeast Asian face is to ask, “Are you Filipino?” If the person says yes, I strike up a friendly conversation in my awkward Tagalog or native Bisaya (whichever applies); if they say no, it’s the end of the conversation. I don’t even ask them where they come from. It wasn’t till I took DEVC242 this semester that I realized that I had very little interest in my ASEAN identity.
Last weekend, I visited the ASEAN Pavilion at the Expo 2020 Dubai. Unlike the other 217 Pavilions on the Expo site, the ASEAN Pavilion attracted very few visitors. I found a few copies of “Poll on ASEAN Awareness 2018” beside the entrance door and browsed through the findings:
- 96% of respondents are aware of ASEAN, but <33% claim to have knowledge of the ASEAN community and its three pillars.
- 2 out of 3 respondents believe that a shared identity is essential in creating a stronger region, but 77% voted economy as the top contributing factor, whereas traditions and values and common vision only garnered 55% and 54% respectively.
- 72% of respondents voted economic growth as the top benefit of ASEAN membership, whereas preservation and promotion of ASEAN culture and heritage only garnered 51%.
The poll findings were consistent with my personal beliefs on ASEAN. They were as disappointing as the ASEAN Pavilion itself which lacked an authentic identity.Among the 10 ASEAN nations, Thailand is arguably the most familiar and culturally relatable to Filipinos, thanks to its widely popular entertainment industry. Filipinos have cried to more than one tear-jerking Thai commercial, idolized the likes of Mario Maurer and Pimchanok “Baifern” Leuwisetpaiboon (both of whom became Penshoppe brand ambassadors), and more recently succumbed to the intriguing BL series.In a 2013 Bangkok Post article, Felipe de Leon, then Chairman of the Philippine National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) commented, “Thailand and the Philippines have commonalities in both origin and culture that make them like two peas in a pod” (Bohwongprasert, 2013).
Affinity between two or three ASEAN nations is not remarkable in itself (by virtue of being geographic neighbors), but what makes the Philippine-Thailand affinity unique is that they don’t share a common language, religion, or form of government. Instead, they share several deeply rooted values communicated through the media.
For this reason, I propose we replicate the success of the Philippine-Thailand affinity by using niche-focused infotainment as a remedy to the underdeveloped ASEAN Identity and realize an ASEAN Collective Mind.
In his paper entitled “Communication, Culture, and the Collective Mind: A Theoretical Framework for the Extra Economic Dimension of ASEAN Integration”, Dr. Alexander G. Flor discusses in detail the elusive nature of the ASEAN Collective Mind. “At present, one cannot discern a Collective ASEAN Mind… ASEAN does not have a center, a Collective Mind that may hold this integration together… A feeling difficult to describe, a feeling of oneness with the multitudes that are there and a grand realization of being an integral part of a profound social force” (Flor & Flor, 2019).
Personally, I can count the number of times I experienced the Collective Mind: twice during Papal Visits and twice more during rock concerts. As strange as it seems, likening two polar-opposite events with one another, I am positive that I experienced the elusive Collective Mind in them, and none of it at the ASEAN Pavilion.
It is precisely because of its elusive nature that pinning any one single definition on the Collective Mind seems inadequate. Instead, Dr. Alexander G. Flor defines it in the light of three dimensions, the Social Dynamics Triad namely: Societal communication, Culture, and Policy. Societal communication encompasses sectoral communication, mass media, inter and cross cultural communication; Culture includes society’s concepts of morality and virtue, values, perceptions (of family, environment, religion, land, etc.) and worldview; and Policy includes the national ideology, the Constitution, the laws of the land, the social agenda, and the leadership. Among the three, “Communication is the basic mechanism of integration into any social system or collectivity.” (Flor & Flor, 2019).
In her paper entitled, “Ten Countries, One Nation?” Dr. Benjamina Flor states that “Communication allows an individual to acquire a sense of self; Mass Communication allows a society to acquire a sense of self” but points to development communication as the concrete approach to ensure holistic integration to educate the ASEAN community about its nature (ASEANness) and expectations. Unlike Mass Communication, Development Communication focuses on intended groups towards social transformation that will eventually lead to behavior change. (Flor & Flor, 2019).
Dr. Benjamina Flor also poses the question, “Can the media in ASEAN achieve regional integration?” and quotes Kavi Chongkittavorn’s argument of the underappreciated role of media: “ASEAN leaders seldom appreciate the role of media in the process of integration… In Europe, North America, and Latin America, media are the major driving force behind regional integration and the sense of belonging” (Flor & Flor, 2019).
The power of media and communication have in any form of society can be explained by the concept of media imperialism which refers to the use of media to advance the interests of a dominant country over a subordinate nation. For the Asian media, this consolidation and transnationalization of media means tough competition. The challenge is to find niche topics and add value in providing news, information, and entertainment to targeted audiences (Flor & Flor, 2019).
This brings me back to my initial proposal of using niche-focused infotainment as a remedy to the underdeveloped ASEAN Identity and realize an ASEAN Collective Mind. Why infotainment you may ask? Because despite the differences of worldviews, ideologies, values, and social structures, ASEAN nationals share a love for escapism. Escapism can be defined as the tendency to “avoid reality by imagining exciting but impossible activities” (Cambridge Dictionary). This may be rooted in our common history as Western colonies (with the exception of Thailand) and as developing nations (with the exception of modern-day Singapore).
This idea is supported by a 2019 journal entitled, “Regionalization through Media Consumption: The Consumption of Thai and Filipino Soap Operas among Vietnamese Audiences” by Nguyen Thi Tu Anh of the Center of Asia-Pacific Studies in Vietnam National University.
“Through watching Thai and Filipino soap operas, Vietnamese audiences can generate an understanding on those two nations and can especially recognize both cultural affinity and cultural differences between Vietnam and Thailand and the Philippines. It is also evident that the regionalization process in Southeast Asia can be promoted not only through top-down integration which accentuates the roles of member states with leader commitments but also through integration driven by people that appreciates the contributions of citizens in member nations. In order to promote regionalization among ASEAN member states, it is necessary for citizens in each ASEAN member state to establish the awareness of belonging into the region” (Nguyen, 2019).
But the challenge of finding “niche and [adding] value in providing news, information, and entertainment to targeted audiences” (Flor & Flor, 2019) remains. While tear-jerking commercials and cliché-loaded soap operas make for effective vehicles of communication, their message needs to be aligned with ASEAN’s vision of “One Community”.
An example of a niche infotainment content is Dr. Jose Eleazar “Jojo” Bersales’ “Kabilin” series, a groundbreaking show that features the rich Cebuano heritage from old churches, historic buildings and ruins, to folklore, folkways and traditional Cebuano arts and culture. It used to air on community TV channel Sugbo TV but is now exclusively online. In my chance encounter with Dr. Bersales years ago, I approached him and told him how much I enjoyed his TV series. In typical Cebuano fashion, he brushed it off and said it was taken off the air already, as if that made his cultural contribution any less remarkable.
Kabilin’s success lies in its appeal to the Cebuano values of cultural pride. Not all Cebuanos are especially nationalistic, but most (if not all) of us take pride in our culture, history, and heritage. Similarly, “ASEAN values religion, health, respect for elders, well-being, and education… ASEAN integration can happen by capitalizing these values” (Flor & Flor, 2019). These values can be used as the bases of niche infotainment content that appeals to all ASEAN nationals, educate them on their ASEANness, and may even go on to serve as the elusive center to realise the ASEAN Collective Mind.
Note: This essay was originally written for my postgraduate class in Communication and Media in the ASEAN Context (DEVC 242/ASEAN 231).References:
- Flor, Alexander G. and Benjamina G. Flor. 2019. ASEAN Convergence. Towards an ASEAN Identity: Discourses on Communication and Culture.
- Nguyen, T. 2019. “Regionalization through Media Consumption: The Consumption of Thai and Filipino Soap Operas Among Vietnamese Audiences”. Journal of Social Sciences, Faculty of Social Sciences, Chiang Mai University 28 (2):175-205. https://so04.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/jss/article/view/165469.
- Bohwongprasert, Y. (2013). Cultural Connections. Bangkok Post. Retrieved March 12, 2022, from https://www.bangkokpost.com/life/social-and-lifestyle/360424/cultural-connections.
- Escapism. (n.d.). Cambridge Dictionary. Retrieved March 12, 2022, from https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/escapism.
- The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). (2019). Poll on ASEAN Awareness 2018. Jakarta, Indonesia; The ASEAN Secretariat.
