The ASEAN

CEBU, Philippines - The ASEAN Ministers Responsible for Culture and the Arts has selected Cebu City to be the Association of Southeast Asian Nations “City of Culture” because of our creative industries and cultural heritage. Cebu City is also an important regional destination for business and leisure tourism.

In line with this, a series of events related to the ASEAN City of Culture Program has taken place from this month to July of next year. The official launch of Cebu City as ASEAN City of Culture was held at the Radisson Blu Hotel last July 15.

A parade of nations took place at the SM City Cebu North Wing Covered Parking Area on the night of July 15. Prior to this, the hosts of the program asked the audience, who were students from various high schools in the city, some questions. Dangling a price of P100 for the right answer, the hosts asked students to enumerate the 10 member-nations of the ASEAN. Quite a number of students rushed to the stage to give out their answers. However, it took some five minutes before one Justin Manatad, a junior student from the Mabolo Night High School, was able to give all 10.

Some students included in the list “Japan” (huh?), some even mentioned “Sri Lanka” (omg!), while others named “China” as part of Southeast Asia (toinkz!). In the first few seconds of the impromptu quiz game, the errors were funny. But after some time, hearing the wrong answers became annoying because this only proves two things: So many students have reached high school not knowing where Sri Lanka or Japan or China is exactly on the map/globe; and that quite a number are not truly proud of something we are long a part of!

Kids, don’t wait for graduation time before you could identify our neighboring countries. Here’s a guide to help you remember them all:

* Philippines. Capital City: Manila; Head of State: President Benigno Simeon Aquino III

* Malaysia. Capital City: Kuala Lumpur; headed by Prime Minister Yang di-Pertuan Agong

* Indonesia. Capital City: Jakarta; Head of State: President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono

* Laos. Capital City: Vientiane; headed by Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong

* Brunei Darussalam. Capital City: Bandar Seri Begawan; headed by Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah

* Vietnam. Capital City: Hanoi; headed by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dong

* Cambodia. Capital City: Phnom Penh; led by King Norodom Sihamouni

* Union of Myanmar (Burma). Capital City: Naypyidaw ; Head of State: President Thein Sein

* Singapore. Capital City: Singapore; headed by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong

* Thailand. Capital City: Bangkok; headed by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra