For many people around the world, Southeast Asia might just be a far-off exotic corner of the world, full of oddities and foreign tongues. To us, it’s home. 

Southeast Asia is an incredibly diverse region, made up of different nationalities, ethnicities, cultures, languages, food, traditions, religions and beliefs. An average Southeast Asian lives his/her day-to-day life with at least a basic awareness of the multi-cultural society in which we all live. But just how much do we know about each other, and how much does the rest of the world know about us?

Although our governments are united by the formation of ASEAN, the peoples of Southeast Asian countries might not always interact. Despite being from the same corner of the world, we might not understand or know much about one another’s countries, cultures or practices due to complexity of our society, built on heterogenous communities. But with an increasing number of opportunities for cross-cultural exchange, the youth of Southeast Asia are fast rising to prominence in the movement towards more connectivity, networking, sharing and understanding. Which is where SEA Youth Say So (SEAYSS) comes in.

As an online magazine, we feature contributions from young people all over South East Asia, sharing their views, opinions and perspectives on a variety of topics. Our various categories – ranging from politics and current affairs to food and lifestyle – allow for engaging and interesting exchanges on issues and subjects as diverse as the region itself.

Through SEAYSS, we want to ask, “What does it mean to be Southeast Asian?” and to examine what makes us “same same, but different”. At the same time, we would also like to give the rest of the world a window into our region and all it has to offer.