Granted, not all of the 28 countries of the EU are members of the Schengen Area. Instead of all 10 members being party to such a free-movement area, a couple of Asean members could start the ball rolling. An earlier NST Leader did suggest that Malaysia and Singapore begin the Schengen Area experiment. The Asean summit has come full circle: from the 5th Bangkok summit of 1995 to the 2019 Bangkok summit. Its 650 million population includes 240 million Muslims, 150 million Buddhists, 125 million Christians and seven million Hindus.

Source: New Strait Times November 03, 2019 15:56 UTC