Common IC card public transport tickets in the Far East?

• Contactless IC card tickets for Far East countries (in Japanese), Mainichi Interactive 18/11/02.
  (http://www.mainichi.co.jp/digital/solution/archive/200211...)

An article reporting a very strategic project led by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of the Japanese Government on the promotion (and possibly introduction) of contactless IC card based ticketing system that can be used commonly within the Far East region (namely Japan and ASEAN). This is rather far-reaching from the points of view of the rail operators, but considering the fact that the famous Felica system has not been regarded as ISO standard, this is apparently a right move. However, when the strategy reaches this big, the weak point of Japan suddenly becomes apparent -- the debt-laden and user-unfriendly banking system...