AJA born of a meeting of minds

Asia Journalist Association (AJA), founded in 2004, is an international journalist association that operates under the motto of “One Line of Truth through Sweat and Blood” with the goal of fair reporting, protecting freedom of the press, and developing journalism. To commemorate its 20th anniversary, AJA reports a special feature article that looks back on the association’s 20 years history and key events of 20 years of AJA member countries, which is a collaborative content in Southeast Asia and Central Asia. THE AsiaN, an outlet based on the AJA network, reports a special article on the 20th anniversary of the founding of AJA 10 times every Tuesday and Friday starting April 15, 2025. – Editor’s note

SINGAPORE: The Cold War gave rise to two rival blocs of journalists: International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and Federation of International Journalists (FIJ). 

Divided by ideologies of liberal democracy and communism, the IFJ and FIJ vied for influence among media practitioners in Asia.

The Brussels-based IFJ had a head start over FIJ in recruiting members from so-called free-world countries, including India, South Korea, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.

At one point, a top official from FIJ, Sergei Artyemov, made contact with us in the Singapore National Union of Journalist (SNUJ), then hosting the rotating presidency of the Confederation of ASEAN Journalists (CAJ) He was keen for FIJ to take part in CAJ activities.

SNUJ was neither an IFJ nor FIJ member. But the Press Club of the Philippines was affiliated to both federations, and one of its prominent officials was inducted into the FIJ policy-making ranks.

Interestingly, during a CAJ meeting, he proposed a resolution on establishing a nuclear-free zone in South-east Asia. It was, to me then, a political issue outside our purview.

Despite not being a member, SNUJ was contacted by the IFJ regarding the plight of a Vietnamese editor who had fled Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) after the Communists took control in the 1970s.

Ho Van Dong was rescued from a boat at sea by a Norwegian vessel and taken to Singapore where he was offered temporary asylum at the Hawkins Road refugee camp. I was able to get permission for Ho to leave camp and spend time with him. I brought him to visit the Straits Times newspaper office as well as my home. He became uncle Ho to my children and he is fondly remembered since his departure for the United States.

Affiliates could count on IFJ to speak out or act on their behalf.

Nevertheless, seniors in the Asian fraternity felt it was time we weaned ourselves off this dependence and take charge of our affairs.

While attending the IFJ XXV World Congress in Greece in 2004, Eddy Suprapto, from the Journalists Association of Indonesia (AJI) and Lee Sang-ki, from the Journalists Association of Korea (JAK) broached the subject of an autonomous grouping of journalists from the Asian region.

The idea picked up momentum when Sang-ki, an activist at the Hankore Daily (People’s Voice), became   president of the 1,000-strong JAK and projected a more assertive public role for the media.

His advent came at a perilous time in the Korean Peninsula. Tension was mounting over North Korea’s testing of nuclear-tipped inter-continental ballistic missiles. This was seen as a provocation by the North in the decades-long imbroglio that involved the United States, Russia and China – parties that had fought in the Korean War (1950-1953).

On-and-off trouble-shooting talks to get the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to end its nuclear weapons programme had flopped.

The new JAK president saw the urgency of highlighting the nuclear arms race as a threat to the peace and prosperity of Asia.

Since other Asian nations were in the firing line of the nuclear threat, they needed to play their part in pushing for the peaceful resolution of the Korean conflict.

The platform for rallying journalists to the cause was the Peace Forum hosted by JAK. Sang-ki dispatched his deputy Kang Seok- Jae to Hanoi for the CAJ general assembly at which SNUJ was handing over the presidency to the Vietnamese Journalists Association.

Given the floor, Seok-jae briefed delegates on the Korean nuclear issue and JAK’s move to rally Asian media behind the peace campaign.

Enjoining the delegates to rally to JAK in fulfilling this mission, he invited them to make their presence felt at the East Asia Journalists Peace Forum in Seoul.

Sensing the drum beats of war, CAJ top officials from Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam made their impact at the Seoul forum by deploring the sabre-rattling and nuclear posturing and called for peace and reconciliation in the Korean Peninsula, giving a boost to the JAK and Sang-ki’s initiative to project the Asian media’ solidarity.

Seoul-based China and Japan correspondents, plus guests from the US Society of Professional Journalists raised the profile of the international gathering.

Sang-ki charmingly created a homey atmosphere for participants who hit it off with one another.

For newcomers, in particular, the ice-breaking came when they took to the floor and poured out their souls during the lively post-dinner karaoke (live jamming without a band).

At the conference, cases of civil war and violence were cited by delegates. On the nuclear stand-off in East Asia, they agreed the media in Asia can step up together and push for peace and a freeze on nuclear proliferation.

In the face of a common threat to peace and security in East Asia that could escalate and engulf the whole continent, the delegates displayed a palpable sense of solidarity and committed to take on the peace-making mantle as a media fraternity.

The outcome of the East Asia Peace Forum had exceeded the expectations of the hosts and delegates. As envisioned by Sang-ki, the ambitious idea of an Asia-wide regional grouping appeared within reach.

While the Forum itself had not set out this as a target, the idea has all this while been at the back of our minds. The prevailing mood and meeting of minds among delegates seemed optimum and the timing was right. There might not be such a successful gathering for a long time to come.

The climax came at the closing dinner. As dessert and coffee were being served, Seok-jae, acting on cue from Sang-ki, took to the podium.

The seemingly relaxed delegates sat up to catch Seok-jae’s pronouncement that the time has come to establish an independent, pan-Asian organisation of journalists. This common platform will enable the diverse Asian media representatives to speak with one voice on regional and world affairs.

“Please give us your full support,” he called out to a now-attentive audience. Presented with the proposal for the first time, delegates engaged in quick exchanges over whether to say “yes” immediately or do so later after getting an official mandate from their respective organisations.

The vote could go either way. Still, we wanted to play by the rules. At this critical moment, I joined Seok-jae on the podium. Together, we decided to cut through the dilemma by having delegates endorse the launch of the Asia regional journalist outfit with the provision that they could come back if there was a change of mind.

An Asian grouping of journalists was an idea whose time has come. With Sang-ki as prime mover, we had seized the moment and, like midwives, delivered ‘baby’ AJA in dramatic fashion.

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