On Monday (Feb 1), within hours of the Myanmar military seizing power, Brunei, as ASEAN chair, issued a statement expressing concern. It referred to the principles of democracy and protection of human rights in the ASEAN Charter. Observers noted that the statement was swift by ASEAN standards, given the 10-member bloc’s practice of non-interference and taking decisions by consensus. Former ASEAN Secretary-General Ong Keng Yong, who is now Executive Deputy Chairman of the RSIS, said: “We went through the pain of dealing with the boycott of Myanmar when I was the ASEAN Secretary-General. Many of these developed countries who were ASEAN dialogue partners refused to have anything to do with Myanmar. And because we insisted on the 10 of us (ASEAN members) to be there, there were no meetings in some cases and no interaction in other contexts.”