This year marks the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)’s 50th anniversary as well as the regional bloc’s 40th anniversary of its partnership with the United States.
ASEAN — which is comprised of the Philippines, Brunei, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Myanmar, Cambodia, Singapore and Indonesia — seeks to promote regional peace and stability to accelerate economic growth, social progress, and cultural development in the region.
To celebrate this milestone, the ASEAN Association of People’s Association of Los Angeles (ASEAN PAC) will hold a golden jubilee gala on Saturday, September 9.
All proceeds from the event will go toward a new cultural center in Los Angeles, Nellsen Young, founder and president of the ASEAN PAC said.
“It exemplifies the dedicated commitment in promoting the diverse and rich traditions, art and culture of the ASEAN community in the United States, particularly in Los Angeles,” Young told members of the media on Thursday, August 17.
The guest of honor on the Sept. 9 gala will be Amir Shah ibni Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah, the crown prince of Selangor, Malaysia. Honorees include Nina Hachigian, former U.S. ambassador to ASEAN; Dato’ Seri Mohamed Nazri bin Abdul Aziz, minister of Malaysia’s tourism and culture; Sonita Lontoh, Silicon Valley technology executive; and Dr. Connie Mariano, former White House physician.
The Philippines, which is the chair of ASEAN this year, will host the summit and related meetings in November with the theme “partnering for change, engaging the world.”
“This [gala] is a private initiative but since the Philippine is the chairman of this year’s 50th anniversary of ASEAN, we have extended as much effort as possible for the event’s success,” Philippine Consul General Adelio Cruz told the Asian Journal.
Leading up to November, the Philippine Consulate General in Los Angeles will be working toward informing local Filipino Americans about the “value and importance of ASEAN,” Cruz said.
The United States, which began a partnership with ASEAN in 1977, has spent over $4 billion on development programs to benefit member states throughout the past five years.
In California alone, there are 2.5 million ASEAN Americans, with the largest group being the Filipinos.
Despite brewing tension between the U.S. and North Korea and the ongoing disputes in the South China Sea, Cruz added that events like this ASEAN gala show the “the strength that we can share with the country we’re in right now.”
Thursday’s press conference was also attended by Richmond Jimenez, Philippine Department of Tourism Director in LA, and Michelle Narvaez, the area manager of Philippine Airlines, which is a sponsor of the gala.
The event on Sunday, Sept. 9 is co-organized by the Network of Myanmar American Association (NetMAA) in cooperation with the local consulate offices of the ASEAN member states, and will be held at the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills from 6 to 10 p.m. Please visitwww.aseanpac.org for more information.
