From 3 Kingdoms To ASEAN (从三国看东南亚）

The beginning of Chinese epic “Romance Of The Three Kingdoms” (三国演义) said these words:

“话说天下大势，合久必分，分久必合。”

(It is said that all major powers in this world, those in union for a long time would be separated; and those separated for a long time, would unite.)

I was in Changi Airport waiting for my flight, unfortunately due to technical reasons; the flight is delayed for an hour or so. There weren’t too many things to do, so I struck a conversation with an old Singaporean who was destined to Penang to see his grandchildren.

After chatting for a while, our topic somehow switched to how long ASEAN would hold up as a united body. This question is not unfounded because even though ASEAN is a pact and in peace for now, the ASEAN history was not. So without being too serious about this issue, won’t we want to explore the past relationships amongst ASEAN countries?

Historically:

1.      Philippine and Malaysia had some past dispute concerning the status of Sabah.

2.      Indonesia and Malaysia had some past territorial conflicts.

3.      Thailand and Malaysia had some past northern territorial conflicts.

4.      Singapore and Malaysia had some past territorial issues.

5.      Thailand and Myanmar were rivals historically.

6.      Thailand and Cambodia have on and off conflicts with border issues.

7.      Vietnam and Cambodia were at war for sometime…

Now the question put forward is:

For how long can ASEAN hold up as a united nations?

From Feng Shui perspective, ASEAN can hold up for another 150 years or so…

Let me explain:

The center of ASEAN country is the South China Sea. In perspective of Feng Shui, the center place represents central government; so the center place should be solid and quiet. However if the center is an ocean, the relationships of ASEAN would also be volatile such as that of a choppy sea.

We are currently in the 8^th Period and it takes 160 years to get to the 5^th Period. In the 5^th Period, the most influential star in the center of an area and ideally be quiet and at a high spot.

If the central place is a piece of lowland or a wetland, then this place would be in unrest situations. So, in ASEAN perspective; the union would also be volatile during future 5^th period.

In that matter, any countries with their center place is lake or sea would also suffer more than others too: Philippine, Malaysia and Indonesia would have some problems too. Of course, we don’t have to worry about it as it is still more than a century away from now! As long as our leaders are still smiling and shaking hands; then we should not too worry at this time :D!