ASEAN YOUTH ORGANIZATION
ASEAN Youth Organization
(A.Y.O.) started from an online
portal created by a Thai student,
Jirapat Khuanson, on August 13,
2011. At first it was just a site aimed
to help Thai students improve
their English language proficiency
in preparation for the launch of the
ASEAN Community in 2015. From
being an ASEAN Community Page,
the site blossomed into the ASEAN
Youth Organization. With its
growth spurt, it needed site
managers and now has capable
administrators as Hareez Haiqal
from Malaysia and Laurence
Alaras from the Philippines. The
interest in the site continues to
grow, and several ASEAN youths
from all over, not just in the region,
currently contribute interesting
content. All of them share one
common interest – ASEAN
Community Integration.
A.Y.O. members know the
importance of social media in
connecting with ASEAN youths in
the region and across the globe,
and in expanding their audience
network to create a stronger bond
among friends and followers.
Fondly, they called each other
ASEANers. Since 2013, the
organization has had more than 40
representatives who actively take
charge of posting and updating
web content. One of A.Y.O.'s
biggest milestones is the official
endorsement from the ASEAN
Secretariat, due to the high and
active web traffic that A.Y.O.'s site
has received. With this
recognition, the group has
maintained its focus to
disseminate information about the
ASEAN Community 2015.
More focused undertaking
From being a site where friends
can collaborate, A.Y.O.'s website is
now a more focused undertaking
that's centered on the ASEAN
Community. Senjaya Mulia, an
Indonesian administrator of
A.Y.O. put forth the idea to turn the
group into a real objective-based
organization. The aim is to use
ASEAN Community 2015 as the
platform to promote better
understanding not only among the
countries that comprise the
ASEAN but other communities as
well. Senjaya Mulia's idea, which
was concurred by the rest of the
A.Y.O. administrators, led to the
establishment of a legitimate
organization among interested
nations, not only within the region
but outside the region as well.
In 2014, Vanna Hay, a Cambodian
student staying in Japan,
organized a meeting for all ASEAN
youth representatives. The result
was a unified declaration for the
official establishment of ASEAN
Community Organization, with
Vanna Hay as president and
Senjaya Mulia as the vice president
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