Malaysian Dewan Rakyat Chairman Tan Sri Dato’ Johari Abdul said that when it hosts ASEAN in 2025, Malaysia wants to see ASEAN become a more active organization.
“We have done a good job for the last 50 years, for many years, but what happens next when we have this borderless world now,” Tan Sri Dato’ Johari said during a special interview with ANTARA in Jakarta on Thursday.
Tan Sri Dato’ Johari explained that ASEAN has 680 million people and this is a bloc to be reckoned with. “A block to be reckoned with and of course what other things we think push ASEAN to a certain level when the economic pendulum swing starts to head east, this will be the Asian Century,” he said.
Thus, he continued, when there is a change in the Asian people, how can ASEAN people take advantage of this situation.
“So we want to see even ASEAN members also take advantage of this situation, both economically, socially, and educationally,” he said.
Tan Sri Dato’ Johari added that there will be a program of cooperation between parliaments of ASEAN countries during Malaysia’s leadership in 2025. “We encourage universities to work together to develop views on areas that we have agreed upon,” he said.
In addition, he said, ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) meetings should be held more regularly to understand the common vision as well as to realize the agreed ASEAN agenda.
Regarding regional challenges such as the Myanmar issue, Tan Sri Dato’ Johari argued that not many people understand what exactly the Myanmar issue is because it is an internal issue.
“The last advice I can give is for us to keep interacting with them. The current government there might want to get more advice from us,” he said.
Meanwhile, regarding efforts to address climate change issues, Tan Sri Dato’ Johari said that there are several important things that must be done immediately.
“Climate issues we have a choice, honestly we should enjoy this choice because alternative energy is very important. We can’t rely on fossils forever. We can’t keep burning charcoal because it has different impacts on the environment,” he said.
“We have hydrogen, solar power that can be utilized as an alternative to fossil fuels. So I believe if we as ASEAN leaders are seriously considering it, I think we should utilize what we have today.