ASEAN CULTURE IS FOR EVERYONE
Good morning Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Immanuel L. Maglasang from Boonwattana School. Today, I would like to affirm to you that ASEAN CULTURE is for everyone. First, I would like to define what culture is. Most of us think that culture is just about Folk Dances, Festivals and Traditions. But culture is more than that. Culture is the characteristics of a particular group of people, defined by everything from language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music and arts. Each country in the Association of South East Asian Nation or ASEAN has its own distinct culture. This difference in culture is what we call cultural diversity. Many people think that this cultural diversity is the reason why
Today’s anthropologist considers all cultures to be equally legitimate expressions of human existence, to be studied from a purely neutral perspective.

Cultural relativism is closely related to ethical relativism, which views truth as variable and not absolute. What constitutes right and wrong is determined solely by the individual or by society. Since truth is not objective, there can be no objective standard which applies to all cultures. No one can say if someone else is right or wrong; it is a matter of personal opinion, and no society can pass judgment on another society.

Cultural relativism sees nothing inherently wrong (and nothing inherently good) with any cultural expression. So, the ancient Mayan practices of self-mutilation and human sacrifice are neither good nor bad; they are simply cultural distinctives, akin to the American custom of shooting fireworks on the Fourth of July. Human sacrifice and fireworks—both are simply different products of separate socialization.

In January 2002, when President Bush referred to terrorist nations as an “axis of evil,” the cultural relativists were mortified. That any society would call another society “evil” is anathema to the relativist. The current movement to “understand” radical Islam—rather than to fight it—is a sign that relativism is making gains. The cultural relativist believes Westerners