A 21-year-old Bachelor of Arts graduate of Ateneo de Davao University, the Philippines, Murphy P Caballero, has taken first place and $1,000 in prize money in the 3rd Annual Asean Youth Video Contest for a video titled Asean in the eyes of the youth.

Structured to mark the 50h anniversary of the signing of the Asean Declaration in Bangkok on August 8, 1967, the 2017 Asean Youth Video Contest challenged entrants to produce a 60 second long video around the theme ‘What does 50 Years of Asean Mean to Youth’, while also depicting what their aspirations and hopes are for the next 50 years.

Supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the US Mission to Asean, and the Asean Foundation, entry was open to any Asean member country citizen aged between 18 and 30 who was not employed in the video production industry at the time.

From the 137 entries submitted a judging panel whittled the list down to the nine entries which they felt most adhered to the theme, with the videographers taken to Singapore for a four day all expenses paid video production training workshop.

The nine were then tasked with expanding their original 60 second long clip into a two minute long production, with $2,250 in prize money up for grabs.

Mr Caballero’s submission, seen at the top of the page, features a young woman explaining how her dreams, aspirations, and opportunities had changed as a result of the formation of Asean and the “infinite possibilities” stemming from the integration of different races and cultures.

The first runner-up prize and $750 in cash was awarded to 28-year-old Aekarak Sethi, a business development officer in the Bangkok office of business advisory and tax services firm Grant Thornton for his entry, Asean’s Ambition, A Journey through faces, seen immediately below.

Mr Sethi’s video looks at the risks to the people of Asean and how resilience, determination, and a willingness to make sacrifices will ensure its future success.

First runner-up prize was awarded to 28-year-old Aekarak Sethi of Thailand for his video ‘Asean’s Ambition, A Journey through faces’

Second runner-up and recipient of $500 in prize money was Chế Trọng Minh Đức, a 20-year-old student at the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City (UEH), Vietnam, for a video titled News from the Future.

Taking the form of a mock news report set in 2067, the ‘history of Asean’ over the last 100 years is examined, including a period in the future where a series of devastating events hits the region. However, according to the ‘news report’, Asean unity and cooperation help the region overcome the challenges, making the Asean Community stronger and more resilient heading into the next 50 years.

Second runner-up was awarded to 20-year-old Chế Trọng Minh Đức from Vietnam for his video ‘News from the Future’

See more of the 3rd Asean Youth Video Contest 2017 on the Asean Secretariat Facebook page, and here for all nine finalist video submissions in the 3rd Asean Youth Video Contest.

Videos uploaded to YouTube by Asean Secretariat

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