Why #SEAblings became Southeast Asia’s symbol of digital solidarity
The hashtag went viral following a row over a South Korean band’s concert in Kuala Lumpur in January and protests in Indonesia last year
#SEAblings – short for “Southeast Asian siblings” – has increasingly been used by young Southeast Asians to signal regional solidarity, be it over a controversial concert or a political event. Whether such moments are fleeting or have the potential to morph into a sustainable movement is a subject of debate.
Iim Halimatusa’diyah, a visiting senior fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute’s regional social and cultural studies programme, described #SEAblings as “an articulation of a growing regional identity” among this generation.
“However, it is not that young people ‘discovered’ Southeast Asia as a collective identity overnight. It is the digital platforms that made it possible for this identity to be performed, shared and amplified,” she said.
The hashtag began trending after footage emerged apparently showing a person associated with a Korean fansite using professional camera equipment at the South Korean pop-rock band Day6’s show in Kuala Lumpur on January 31, despite rules banning such devices.