5.9 Unit 4.2 Pair Discussion by

Answer the following question as a pair.

nhps_2023 — 2025-10-21 02:33:34 UTC

Is there a need for a 4^th pillar specifically targeting at environmental issues so ASEAN as an organization, is more focused?

E.g. (name) & (name)

nhps_2023 — 2025-10-21 02:34:25 UTC

Write your answer as a pair/trio here. - one combined answer.

Be clear and specific. Give at least 2-3 reasons.

nhps_2023 — 2025-10-21 02:34:51 UTC

Jessica & Alexis

2025-10-21 03:22:24 UTC

We think that ASEAN should add a 4th pillar so it can protect their citizens and ensure their health. They can also protect the environment, especially the trees, and also animals' habitats. Having an environmental pillar will also help ensure that we will not run out of resources needed to leave too soon.

Xinyue and Enjun

2025-10-21 03:37:44 UTC

We believe that the environmental pillar is important, but that there are more pressing matters.

Firstly, more important matters are money laundering and that the existing economic and political security pillars are null and void and simply underenforced. Many white-collar crimes have occurred in ASEAN.

For example, Ferdinand Marcos was a Philippine leader who, in his reign, turned his country into a kleptocracy and stole billions of dollars from the country. After his death of natural causes, his family, to this day, are happily holding on to the money. This shows a major problem in the enforcement of these laws.

However, we still believe that the environmental pillar is still important. Climate change is flooding many islands in ASEAN, and more land will be lost in the future. Climate change has also increased the severity of peat fires and forest fires. Finally, it has caused soil degradation and erosion, along with loss of rain-fed livestock, causing a considerable decrease to ASEAN's harvesting economy.

All in all, we believe that environmental changes are far from the only great problem in ASEAN and should be prioritised due to their easier solutions.

Although there are other problem of similar magnitude, it would be best to focus on the easiest problem to solve by erecting an environmental pillar, and should be resolved.

Clarissa & Beining

2025-10-21 03:38:26 UTC

We think there is a need for a 4th pillar. Having a 4th pillar can help countries in ASEAN focus on the environmental problems (e.g. haze, plastic waste) and find and implement solutions to solve them more effectively so that the impacts of the problems ( e.g. environmental, health, economic, social) can be reduced or eliminated.

Harold and Jiankun

2025-10-21 03:41:59 UTC

We are not sure as there are pros and cons to adding a new environmental pillar. Creating a new pillar and organisation will cost quite a lot of money and resources, which can be done for other things, like funding for schools, hospitals, etc. Also, countries of ASEAN already have dealt with haze before, so why can't they continue dealing with them? On the other hand, as the usage of vehicles as a method of transportation increases, the amount of greenhouse gases released into the air also increases, thus increasing haze emissions. Adding an environmental pillar is a great way to counter this problem while also increasing ASEAN's reputation which may boost tourism

Jayna and Chloe

2025-10-21 03:42:14 UTC

We think that an environment pillar needs to be added as the impact of the environmental problems like trans-boundary haze and plastic waste has great impacts on human civilizations like economic, health, social connection. If these problems are not resolved, they would have great impacts on each country in ASEAN. For example, in Singapore, we would not be able to use our space more efficiently as it might be all cluttered up with rubbish. However, if we add a new environment pillar in ASEAN, the country leaders could come up with a consensus on how to solve it as ten brains are better than one.

Jaden Ti & Darrell Ke

ti_qin_li_jaden — 2025-10-21 03:42:36 UTC

By ASEAN adding a 4th pillar, we can ensure that the citizen's health is not affected by the bad environment. The wildlife will also be affected by the worse environment and the destruction of trees.

yuting, wenxuan & leyao

2025-10-21 03:43:55 UTC

we agree on both sides, yes and no. firstly, we agree, as when Indonesia or other ASEAN countries burn down their trees for recources, a haze is produced, and that will pollute the air, and harm people's health when there is excessive inhalation. plus, when doing that, carbon footprint is released, resulting in global warming. secondly, if ASEAN adds the fourth pillar, the marine eco system will also be improved. water pollution will decrease, so marine creatures will get endangered after getting the plastic stuck in their stomach or etc. this will raise awareness among people. However, I think that ASEAN should not add the fourth pillar, as it takes a long to be established. They would have to change the symbol, and adjust to the changes. therefore, we agree that there are both pros and cons to adding the fourth pillar.

Yanning & En Qi

2025-10-21 03:45:08 UTC

An environmental pillar can help the countries to better managed the environment in their country and improve the livelihood of the people in ASEAN countries. It can help the productivity of humans and allow the country a better workforce.
Environment issues affect a country's tourism, people and even economics. An environmental pillar can better detect these problems so they could be solved and so more action could be taken, as introducing it as a pillar will make the issue more widely known and allow people to take it more seriously, also helping to lessen global warming and make ASEAN a better place.
Having a better environment can also ensure better resources, for example wood, fruit, and animals. This can help a countries' economics if the can sell these materials. This could even help them secure trade agreements with countries outside of Asia, benefiting ASEAN greatly.
It can also support the other three pillars better. An unsanitary enviroment results in no tourists, and no one wanting to trade materials with you, affecting the economy negatively. It may also result in conflict between people and countries if it is transboundary, disrupting everyday life in many ways.
A environment with many problems could cause other countries to lose trust in that country and affect agreements and trade
It can also help protect and conserve the nature in ASEAN .A deteriorating environment would require more and more money to maintain,so it should be done early on.Popularity would also increase if environment in ASEAN is protected well

Larry, Cayden & Chengyou

2025-10-21 03:45:13 UTC

We believe that ASEAN should erect a 4th pillar addressing environmental issues, but we believe more pressing matters are at hand and we must tackle these issues first. For instance, Myanmar is currently facing a civil war. Its GDP Per person is barely over $1000. People are living in extreme poverty in countries such as Laos and Cambodia, earning less than $1.25 a day. An environmental pillar would divert funds away from the more important issues and therefore should be only erected when ASEAN and its economy is ready. Besides, the environmental pillar is likely to be ineffective inasmuch as the agreements about transboundary haze in 2015 were ineffectual.

However, we still believe that the environmental pillar is imperative. The environment is a key to economical growth and development. Haze has an adverse effect on the economy due to people going out less and health problems, which kill thousands a year. Without the environment, humans would be unable to survive. Costs of water and food will shoot up and thus invert the current economic growth. All in all, though, we still believe pressing matters should be tackled before an environmental pillar is adopted.

Zhuoming & Jordan

2025-10-21 03:46:08 UTC

We think that ASEAN should add a 4th pillar as recently, there has been a haze issue that has been causing a lot of environmental problems. Schools have been closing and the environment is being polluted because of haze. There have also been pollution problems because of litter generated by people smoking and smoke from factories. Smoke from wildfires is also a great factor of pollution. The smoke would pollute the air, leading to more haze and air pollution. In conclusion, we think it is crucial to add a 4th environmental pillar in ASEAN.

E.g. Title of source

nhps_2023 — 2025-10-21 03:49:52 UTC

Why is this source useful:

Link to source:

hu mingxuan&lechen&raymond

2025-10-21 03:50:22 UTC

we agree to add the 4th pillar. This will allow good health in citizens. This is important because we need citizens to have a routine and try our best not to introduce inconsistencies.