In the ARF, talk is cheap.

(From The Jakarta Post)

from THE JAKARTA POST -- MONDAY, JULY 31, 2006 -- PAGE 6 Such was the apparent disarray during Friday's meeting of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) that instead of eagerly anticipating its results, we are more relieved that it is over

During its initial years, many observers warned the hasty way the group was formed would make it unwieldy, which it is today

Unbending to this criticism, the ARF has instead further expanded its membership, raising it to 27 states. An intimate sorority no more, the ARF is emerging as an obese assembly bloated with pompous rigidity

It has also often been disparagingly called a "talk-shop" and both this and last year's forum have certainly …