Oleh/By : DATO' SERI DR. MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD
Tempat/Venue : SHANGRI-LA HOTEL, KUALA LUMPUR
Tarikh/Date : 23/10/89
Tajuk/Title : THE DINNER IN HONOUR OF THE
COMMONWEALTH HEADS OF DELEGATION
Your Majesties;
Your Excellencies;
Secretary-General Ramphal;
Ladies and Gentlemen.
This has been for Malaysia and for me a momentous week,
a week of playing host to the distinguished leaders of the
Commonwealth, who are also leaders of the world.
2. We have tried our very best to make not only the
Conference successful but your stay here comfortable and
memorable. You have, as Secretary General Ramphal said,
helped us to pre-launch the 1990 Visit Malaysia Year --
albeit unintentionally. We hope you, your spouses, and the
members of your delegation, have had a good experience
during your stay here.
3. The Conference itself has been most enlightening for
me. It will be another 98 years before I can chair the
Commonwealth Conference again -- and I am not sure whether I
will be the Prime Minister then. I am afraid my successors
are not going to like me for stealing this once in a century
opportunity.
4. We have discussed many things which are of the
greatest significance and concern to all of us and the
world. Though we differed on some points, largely we agreed
with each other. And we have really no differences as to
what we should do with a number of mutually helpful
activities which means so much to the less fortunate of us
here.
5. This Conference is held at a most interesting period in
the history of this world. Many changes are taking place
which will affect us all. Hopefully we will see a better
tomorrow. But tomorrow -- not the distant future -- but
tomorrow, we will sit for our final session, to discuss and
formally adopt the various programmes and resolutions that
we have before us, and issue the final communique.
6. This Conference is memorable also because it is the
last for our current Secretary-General -- Sir Shridath
Ramphal. Sonny has been the longest serving Secretary-
General of the modern Commonwealth. Of course, there has
been only two so far but fifteen years in the service
of the Commonwealth is still a long time, a hefty chunk of
a man's life. Some of us had hoped that he would continue
as Secretary-General for another term, but he himself felt
that the time has come for someone else to have this
singular honour.
7. With his going, goes also what some have regarded as
almost an institution. But Sonny will not be forgotten. He
has seen many Heads of Government come and go and come again
in some instances. I must thank him personally for the way
he persuaded me to recognise the role of the Commonwealth
and to get Malaysia to be active again in it. Sonny can be
very persistent when he wants to, and persistence is a
virtue for the kind of post like the Secretary-General of
the Commonwealth.
8. Sonny will not retire just yet. He will only be
relieved by Chief Anyaoku on July 1st. 1990. But this will
be the last bi-yearly meeting of the Heads of Government
that he will attend as Secretary-General.
9. I am sure that all of you want me, on your behalf, to
wish him and Mrs. Ramphal all the very best and to
congratulate him on his sterling performance as Secretary-
General of the Commonwealth. As Chairman of this meeting, I
am particularly indebted to him for his guidance, his little
notes and his whispered advice. I readily lent him my ear,
perhaps the only loan that need not be repaid with interest,
in fact not at all.
10. We would like, I am sure, to congratulate and to
welcome the Chief, that is Emeka Anyaoku, Deputy Secretary-
General since 1977, who has been elected the new
Secretary-General. With his wealth of experience as a
minister in the Nigerian Government and as a senior civil
servant in the Commonwealth for twelve years, Chief Anyaoku
is bound to be an asset to the organisation. I know him
well and I am sure, so do many of us here. We are glad that
with his unanimous election, the continuity of the
Secretariat will be maintained.
Your Majesties, Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen.
11. I should mention here the officials and the ministers
who had to stay up late in order to make sense of what the
Heads of Government had discussed. Theirs is a behind the
scene activity which is hardly noticed. Yet without them
the CHOGM would have neither beginning nor end.
12. The press too has played their role. They reported the
goings on and, in between, some of them took swipes at some
of us. It is a temptation that they, like all those who
wield absolute power, cannot resist. I say this with
trepidation for in the neo-feudalist world that we live in,
we should not be disrespectful of those who wield the real
power.
13. While we were preparing for this Conference, I had
wished many times that it had come and gone. Tomorrow we
will be ending this Conference and much too soon we will be
saying good-bye to you, the Heads of Government and your
spouses and retinues. There is a sadness which I feel deep
in me. Parting is such sweet sorrow. I have enjoyed your
company and the Conference. I wish you can stay longer to
see Malaysia, its people, and its cultures. However, as
busy leaders, you have no time. But think of Malaysia and
come back again, at least for a holiday. Come back to see
the friends you have made and the trees you have planted.
Langkawi and a thousand places beckon you. You will not
regret playing MacArthur.
14. Before I conclude, allow me to recite a Malaysian
pantun or poem:
CHOGM Malaysia tamatlah kini,
Delegasi pulang ke negara sendiri,
Sehingga berjumpa dua tahun nanti,
Harap datang ke Malaysia lagi.
Literally translated, it reads:
The CHOGM in Malaysia is nearing its end
The Delegations return to their
respective lands,
Till we meet in two years time,
We hope you will visit Malaysia again.
(Poetic licence with apologies to the
Aussies)
Your Majesties, Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
15. I wish you all a pleasant evening and a safe journey
home. Thank you.
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