A proposal to put all Asean countries on one time zone was officially put on hold Sunday as most people in most countries just aren’t into the idea.
A meeting of foreign ministers of Kuala Lumpur ended with the proposal shelved over differing views on implementing a common time zone, according to Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman.
“I think we came to the conclusion that it’s not something that we can take further right now but we should continue looking at it,” Singapore Foreign Minister K. Shanmugam said.
The Asean region now has four time zones, and under the proposal all members would adjust their clock to Singapore time, which shares the same time Malaysia, Philippines, Brunei and China (Thailand is an hour behind) to support the regional economic community.
The common time zone was first proposed by Singapore in 1995, and Malaysia earlier this year revived the idea with countries including Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar and Laos saying they needed more time to study the idea before agreeing to move their clocks, Bangkok Post reported.
Photo: Palo
