The article was published by The Straits Times on January 18, 2017.
It first appeared in the December issue of ASEANFocus, a publication by the ASEAN Studies Centre in ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute, on the importance of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) for ASEAN and challenges for ASEAN in the process. The author, Tan Sri Dr Rebecca Fatima Sta Maria, is Senior Policy Fellow at the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia, and former Secretary-General of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, Malaysia.