This year, Public Action shone a light on several issues and challenges related to ASEAN’s three community pillars. First, the concern about the social and environmental impact in the consumption and production chain of the fast fashion industry considering that most fast fashion industries created their factories in developing countries because the cost is lower. Second, the importance of support for indigenous community’s rights to welfare, especially concerning their access to the public and market. Third, the difficulties in implementing democratic values, especially the freedom of speech and expression in the era of digital democracy.
To talk more about the aforementioned challenges, AIPC invited five speakers with different academic backgrounds. The speakers are Butet Manurung as the Founder of Sokola Rimba, Abigail Limuria, Co-founder of what is up, Indonesia?; Prof. Dr. Erwan Agus Purwanto, M.Si as the Deputy of Bureaucratic Reformation, Apparatus Accountability, and Supervision of the Republic of Indonesia; Damar Juniarto from Southeast Asia Freedom of Expression Network, as well as Chu Wong as the Country Coordinator of Fashion Revolution Singapore.
In the conference, it is said that the three ASEAN pillars come from the public values of ASEAN society. Therefore, every policy based on the pillars needs to include public values — philosophies that champions public welfare — as the foundation. Dr. Gabriel Lele, SIP, M.Si, as the Head of the Public Policy and Management Department said that to overcome the challenges related to the three pillars, innovation in policies is needed as a way to solve the issue, one of them by involving youth. That is why the topic highlighted by this conference is so interesting and relevant in this period, the era of creating an agile government.
On this occasion, Butet Manurung talked about “Preserving the Existence of Indigenous People and Their Culture in the Modern World”. She said that Indigenous People are not vacant entities, but they have their own education system, one that relies on contextual learning based on their geographical and cultural setting. The learning methods that they use are playing, observing, and exploring to create a critical mindset. “We think tribal people deserve better. Help us stop it, (the injustice)” Butet said.