Contributor(s): Ahmad Zakii Anwar, Nickson Fong, Yang-May Ooi | This year the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) becomes an integrated economic community. The year caps five decades of foundation and development since the region's formal independence from the West. What are the creative voices contending for the soul of a region where freedom, economic prosperity, civil society, and political maturity continue to evolve in unexpected ways? What forces of rebellion drive the soul of the individual in those societies where economic success - arguably the greatest found in newly-independent states in all human history - has raced ahead of other dimensions of development in the human spirit? What forces drive that spiritual and artistic development in the region more generally? How do these diverge from those along the Trans-Atlantic Axis? What is the culture that sits comfortably with Southeast Asia's place in the global economy? Ahmad Zakii Anwar is a well-known Malaysian ‘urban realist’ artist. His preoccupation with the spiritual or metaphysical aspects of urban life have marked his fine art practice. Nickson Fong is a Producer/Director and the CEO and Founder of Egg Story Studios. He won the Academy Award for Scientific and Technical Achievement 2013. Yang-May Ooi (@StoryGuru_UK) is an award-winning TEDx speaker, bestselling author and story performer. Her work uses the power of personal narrative to help creatives and others develop authentic confidence and become collaborative leaders. Felicia Yap is an Associate of the Saw Swee Hock Southeast Asia Centre and an affiliate of the Centre of South Asian Studies in Cambridge. Established in 2014, the Saw Swee Hock Southeast Asia Centre (@LSESEAC) is an inter-disciplinary, regionally-focused academic centre within the Institute of Global Affairs (IGA) at LSE. Building on the School's deep academic and historical connections with Southeast Asia, the Centre serves as a hub at LSE for public debate and engagement, and research dissemination on issues relevant to the region. This event is co-organised with Her Excellency Chi Hsia Foo, Jin Craven, Cui Yin Mok and Shzr Ee Tan. This event forms part of the LSE Space for Thought Literary Festival 2015, taking place from Monday 23 - Saturday 28 February 2015, with the theme 'Foundations'.