social activities. Majority of their
workforce are from Singapore and
Myanmar and they personally
participate in all their various
outreach programs in Myanmar. A
standout initiative of the group
was the dissemination of
information about the ASEAN
Economic Community (AEC). The
group contributes to people
empowerment. They have held
more than 70 workshops in the
rural areas of Mandalay and
Yangon to help the citizens of
Myanmar understand that there
are opportunities available to help
improve their lives.
Ray Paolo J. Santiago of
the Philippines
Ray Paolo or Arpee Santiago, is a
member of Ateneo de Manila's
Faculty of Law and the current
Secretary General of a duly
recognized working group of the
ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism.
He is known for handling several
cases involving children, peasants,
urban poor and women. His
"Human Rights 365" slogan, which
he introduced in a Human Rights
Exhibit at Ateneo caught the
attention of a lot of human rights
advocates back in 2014. He wanted
human rights to be prioritized by
everyone, every day of the year, to
build a better nation.
Dr. Saisuree Chutikul of Thailand
Dr. Saisuree Chutikul is a highly
revered figure in Thailand for her
commitment to protecting women
and children's rights. She has
represented her country in various
organizations like the UN-CEDAW
(Convention on the Elimination of
all Forms of Discrimination
Against Women), UN-CRC
(Convention on the Rights of the
Child), and the UN/CSW
(Commission on the Status of
Women). She has served her
country as a cabinet minister and
as senator who was very focused on
women, children and the youth.
Her fearless efforts have earned
her a lot of respect and her
relentless passion has helped her
formulate a number of policies for
Thailand and for the ASEAN.
Nguyen Manh Cam of Vietnam
Cam's recognition and achievement
continues to pile up over the years.
He was born in 1929 and took part in
revolutionary activities in his
country when he was only 16.
Twenty-eight years later he served as
the Ambassador of Vietnam in
Hungary, Austria and Iran in a span
of three years.
He has contributed a lot in
cementing the ties between Vietnam
and the other members of the
ASEAN, years after the World War II
ended. Cam's patriotism and his
unparalled leadership skills has been
the primary reason for his success in
the country and in the region.
Singapore Polytechnic
Their ASEAN Outreach Thrust
enabled Singapore Polytechnic to
get the ASEAN People's Award for
2015. Their aim was to establish a
closer ASEAN community by
building reciprocal awareness and
understanding of issues affecting
the members of ASEAN. Their
project, called the "Overseas Go
Serve Programmes" has initiated
84 community service work
programs in various ASEAN
member countries, wherein 1,885
individuals have participated.
10 ASEAN Life APR 2016
Photo courtesy of www.bernama.com