Last month, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) welcomed a new member: East Timor.
I first learned about Asean as part of my civics education in primary school. Back then, Asean was made up of only five countries: Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, the founding members who created the association in 1967.
In 1984, Brunei joined after it achieved full independence. Between 1995 and 1999, the mainland Southeast Asian nations of Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Cambodia became full members, and “Asean-10” was, for the next quarter of a century, a catchy label for the organisation.
