October 31, 2019
All country speakers were asked to meet with Ms. Anna Coren, of CNN International at 8:15 am at the Cellar Room on the mezzanine floor of Grand Hyatt Erawan.
Anna is an Australian journalist, news anchor and a multi-awarded international correspondent of CNN currently based in Hongkong.
I was late for 7 minutes. I arrived at 8:22 am. The elevator took forever to come up to my floor, and when I got off on the M floor, no one knew where the Cellar Room was. The hotel cleaners brought me to the opposite wing.
When I entered the room, Anna Coren was already there interacting with my co-speakers. She wanted to make sure she doesn’t mispronounce the speakers’ names. She was diligent, making sure she would be able to moderate the discussions properly. She brought with her printed notes and as we discussed, she was taking down more notes. CNN is a respected news network, and all its broadcasters are professionals and nothing but excellent. This is why. They prepare well in advance.
She mentioned the #MeToo movement as one of her questions. The Vietnamese representative suggested that it should not be discussed because in their country they don’t talk openly about sexual harassment. The Thai speaker seconded by suggesting that politics should not also be discussed. I voiced my opinion. I said if there is a specific topic or question they are not comfortable discussing, they don’t have to answer. I said in the Philippines we don’t mind discussing topics on sexual harassment or politics.
Among the ASEAN countries, the Philippines is one of the more liberal countries in terms of freedom of speech. We voice out our thoughts, insights, and opinions on a wide range of topics, be it about politics, religion, love, sex, etc.
