'Lembeh' Asean got a earful from Anwar Ibrahim

 Malaysia Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has been speaking publicly in recent weeks about the country’s goals for ASEAN as it prepares to take over as the grouping’s rotating chair in 2025. CNA

'Asean needs to be unified, speak with one voice, act more rather than rhetoric.

“In these times of great uncertainty, it is imperative to redouble our efforts towards further strengthening ASEAN, to be the key platform in managing regional affairs.'  Anwar.

“We need to move from mere rhetoric to concrete action and focus on seeking ways to deliver on its aspirations,” he said." CNA

What Anwar was saying is that Asean is divided by having cronies of super powers calling different tunes. All the Asean Plus Meetings were just that, meetings, talking and talking but no substance and no action, Asean is now a 'lembeh organisation', unable to do anything because of big power interference.

Not only that, Asean's behaviour is like a puppet on a string pulled by foreign power.  Whatever the foreign power said or criticised Asean, instead of stuffing it back to the interfering power, Asean obediently do what the big power wanted Asean to do, without thinking why. It is like Biden responding to everything Trump said. Whatever Trump wants Biden to do, he just put it on a megaphone and Biden would do as told.

The Americans are criticising Asean for not interfering with Myanmar's internal affair, which was expected in accordance with Asean's Contitution of non interference with member states internal affair. But just because the Americans criticised or showed displeasure for Asean's inaction, Asean now must do the bidding of the Americans, behaves like the trouble making Americans, ...'to interfere into Myanmar's internal affair'. Why would Asean not stick to its own principle of non interference but obediently, like a trained dog, to do the bidding of the Americans?

So, Myanmar, watch out,' lembeh' Asean would not interfere with the barbaric Genocide in Gaza, but would want to poke its fingers into Myanmar, to not let the Americans criticise Asean for not acting against Myanmar's internal affair. Has Asean become a de facto American tool, when the Americans push a button, Asean would move? Can Asean thinks for itself, stand up to American interference, and stand firm to its principle of non interference in members internal affair?

Once this principle, entrenched in Asean's constitution, is breached, it would set a precedence for Asean to meddle with the internal affairs of all its members. And this is exactly what the Americans want Asean to behave, to be like the troublemaking Americans. Asean would only become another tool for the Americans to exploit to destabilise Asean countries and the region.

Asean today did not have a strong and intellectually competent leader to lead it with confidence. Only weak and mediocre leaders with pretension of greatness want to usurp the role of Asean leadership but going no where. Asean would now act and jump at the whims and fancy of Americans and western media.

Are the Asean leaders that stupid to be led down the road of division, confusion and internal strife by the Americans? Or is 'lembeh' Asean behaving like half dead Biden, trying to prove his manhood?