If this is the Official ASEAN Anthem...it Sucks!

Ok, I have to admit; this is the very first time I heard this. Not that I'm not interested, but I just knew there would be a boo-boo in the selection process.

Listen to this first and I'm sure you would agree with me on some of my feedback --






... HORRIBLE, isn't it?

*rant starts here*


What was that all about?!!! Is that all you guys at the Headquarters can come up with? What is this? -- A chorale competition?

You let a "choir" sing the ASEAN anthem like any western group of people doing a western artform of group singing? The way it was sang DOES NOT represent Southeast Asia AT ALL!

We need some leader-shifting! We NEED NEW and YOUNG leaders over there! You old blokes at the HQ need to retire already and listen to your choir songs in Nursing Homes! Horrible, horrible taste!

And WHY IS IT SANG IN ENGLISH? It should be sang in Bahasa! The most widely-spoken language of the region. Aren't we pushing for it to be the official language? Where's your consistency?

I have nothing against choir singing, but this DOES NOT represent ANY of the countries in the ASEAN. Hey, you people at the ASEAN HQ -- you have been wondering for decades why ASEAN never appealed to the majority of the youth...


...well, here's one of the answers. Bodoh!

*Rants ends here*
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SOUTHEAST ASIA'S TOURISM SLOGAN MANIA

The slogan mania for tourism in Southeast Asia started in 1997 when Thailand came up with "Amazing Thailand" to promote our lovely country and attract dollar spending tourists. It was one of the world’s most successful tourism campaigns which gave Thailand its first million visitor mark. Almost 10 years later, it’s still in use.

Neighboring countries soon followed and invented new and improved slogans in their sorry attempt to imitate Thailand, but in many cases the slogans themselves have proven somewhat ridiculous, even today!

What does Malaysia mean with their current slogan "Truly Asia?" Are they implying that the rest of us are somehow “not really” or less Asia? Or is this just to tease Singapore? Nevertheless, the slogan proved to be one heck of a success for them.

The Philippines went with "Philippines Wow" which said absolutely nothing about their country. WOW WHAT? A few more words won’t hurt. “Wow naman pare! Wow talaga!” LOL. I'm almost pretty sure the one who came up with it was holding a bong! -- the old "Pearl of the Orient" is one of the best I have ever heard. But Hong Kong started to use it in the late 80's and I'm not sure why the Philippines didn't say anything about it. It was an obvious robbery! "Emerald Islands of the Orient"? Hmmm...very Irish. They should snatch it back from Hong Kong! NOW!

My favorite weekend destination came up with – Uniquely Singapore. That lovely little island bullied by Malaysia. Hey! DON’T QUOTE ME ON THAT! It came from my friends. I’M quoting them. Anyway, Uniquely Singapore is the bomb! Nothing can beat that, I must say. So, way to go Singapore!

I noticed lately that ... ALL of our neighbors have already come up with their own slogans!... I thought it was just limited to a few. Wasn’t it just last year when Vietnam conducted a nationwide contest to come up with a slogan for luring tourists? As it turned out the winning entry is this – Vietnam, The Hidden Charm.

Ok, simple, rhyming and intriguing. But what’s the big idea with Laos – Jewel of the Mekong? How many people in the whole world know what the heck a Mekong is? I know what it is but do you? And that guy across the room? – I don’t think so.

I say it’s a sloppy job they did coming up with that. But hey! Still better than the “WOW”. (I’m am so dead to my Filipino readers) LOL. They should’ve opted to MY OWN slogan – Laos, The Enigma of Southeast Asia. Now there! That’s a slogan. Take that!

Indonesia - The Ultimate in Diversity... It sounds playing safe. 13,000 islands with almost equal amount of different cultures must be stressed to explain it. I always thought Indonesia is the land of brave warriors. Power, fire, water! This is what I envision when I think of Indonesia. They should’ve capitalized on it.

Brunei, the Kingdom of Unexpected Treasures. To be quite honest, I have seen their tourism website only TODAY, just before I wrote this. Not that I’m not interested but uuuhmmm…nothing, just forget it…ok, I’ll say it…It’s just that I always thought that Brunei is so rich, they don’t need any tourists at all! When I was in Bandar SB all I see is golden this and golden that. Huge palaces, splendid mosques… and whatever treasures they say was unexpected – must be oil, yeah?

Cambodia, Home of World Heritage. Hmmm…lame! How many World Heritage sites do they have? 2? 3? 69? How many? And the slogan sounds out of tune to me (if ever it is a song). Totally out of tune! Huh? WAIT! I get it!—it’s because the Angkor Wat WAS the first ever World Heritage site? OH YEAH! I get it now!...but still lame, lame, lame. But this slogan is never in their tourism official website. Who came up with it? Bring him to me NOW for some serious questioning! OOPS!-- I think that's a bad thing to say to a Cambodian (Pol Pot and all). Sorry :-(

Mystical Myanmar. Ok…cute. But I still prefer the name Burma. That’s all I can say.

Timor Leste-- Discover the World’s Newest Nation. Now that’s catchy! But how long can a new country stay new? 5 years? 10 years? Or until another country goes to war and declare itself independent? How long are they gonna capitalize on this slogan? They better have a back up.

So there, a round up of the slogans that lured tourists to our paradise. I really enjoyed it. I hope you did.

In addition, although these slogans play a great part in "baiting" tourists...an efficient and effective tourism program wraps it all up. AND -- the safety reputation of course.

Do you know the slogan that sums it all up?

East Timor was obviously left out.

They should come up with the membership fee very soon.

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P.S. Please note that starting tomorrow, Sofia Dansk would be posting entries on this blog. I'm flying to Brussels today -- lotsa activities; Pasar Malam Besar in Den Haag and of course, the annual, World's Most Annoying Song Contest... the Eurovision!!!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY, MOM!

Catch y'all later! Take that!

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