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its carbon footprint, thus doing its part to keeping global warming to under 2

degrees Celsius by 2100. Other projects backed by the EU include support for
small producers of batik and biomass industries, and the protection of peatland

forests. Scientific collaborations between the EU and Malaysia (and ASEAN)
is provisioned though Horizon 2020 (2014–2020), EU’s instrument for funding

research in Europe and elsewhere. EU’s earlier FP7 (2007–2013) programme

significantly benefited Malaysian scholars and institutions. During this period,
15 Malaysian scientists received the prestigious Marie Curie Fellowship. The

EURAXESS-ASEAN network provides further opportunities for Malaysian

researchers to network with thousands of researchers from Europe and the
world over, in addition to providing opportunities conducting research and

studies in the EU. Through EIDHR, the EU provides financial support to CSOs
to promote human rights and democratic reforms. With SUHAKAM, it has

held an annual seminar on human rights on 9 December, the International
Human Rights Day. In accordance with the UN’s Child Rights Convention,

EU’s Humana Learning Centers provide education to marginalized or stateless

children in Sabah (Commission, 2017; EEAS, 2017c).

Conclusions

The people of the Southeast Asian region have been interacting with one

another over the last two millennia. The Indian (Hindu-Buddhist) influence

over its kingdoms of Srivijaya, Shailendra, Majapahit, Champa, Khmer, Pagan,
Ayutthaya and others, and later the arrival of Islam in the fifteenth century gave

Southeast Asia a certain degree of ‘region-ness’. The porous boundaries and
the various feudal arrangements between kingdoms meant unceasing

interaction between its people (for trade, etc.), leading to the cross-diffusion of
cultures. Add to these the tropical climate, cultivation of rice, folk migrations,

common language families, etc. that further bind the people and hold the region

together as a collective. Hence, the formation and strengthening of ASEAN as
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