Oleh/By : DATO' SERI DR. MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD
Tempat/Venue : NIRWANA BALLROOM,
KUALA LUMPUR HILTON
Tarikh/Date : 27/05/98
Tajuk/Title : THE OFFICIAL OPENING CEREMONY OF
THE COMMONWEALTH YOUTH
MINISTERS` MEETING
Delivered by YB Tan Sri Dato' Hj Muhyiddin bin Hj Mohd
Yassin, Minister of Youth and Sports
Firstly, I would like to extend a very warm welcome
to the Hon. Ministers of Youth from the Commonwealth
countries and the Secretary General of the Commonwealth
to Malaysia. I am indeed honoured to be invited to
address this distinguished audience . I also wish to
thank them for voting Malaysia to be the host of this
Meeting in Kuala Lumpur today, the last host being the
Republic of Trinidad and Tobago in 1995. Malaysia is
appreciative of the confidence placed in it to host the
world's second largest sporting event -- the Commonwealth
Games, in September this year.
2. As members of the Commonwealth, we share certain
common background and values. Most of us fought hard for
our independence and we now want to be and remain truly
independent. We do not want to be recolonised by other
means. This freedom and real independence must therefore
be defended. This is especially true with the onset of
globalisation and trade liberalisation, something which,
unproperly handled may result in some of us losing part
of our independence.
3. Global challenges which will confront us as we move
into the next millenium will be tough and will take many
forms. Our success will be a function of many factors.
For us to take on these challenges we must develop and
fully exploit our human resources -- those of the young
in particular. I hope this Meeting will be able to
address issues involving youths and come up with ideas
and policies which can make important contributions
towards achieving peace and stability worldwide and
prevent the exploitation of the weak which can cause
social tensions and social disintegration. Indeed the
Commonwealth countries are in a unique position to
consult each other, to learn from each other's cultures
and to exchange knowledge and experiences. A meeting
such as this will go a long way towards building a more
equitable world.
4. The young generation of today is faced with a number
of unprecedented challenges. Scientific discoveries from
biotechnology to the microchips may bring about a lot of
benefits but their abuse can result in human misery,
sometimes on a massive scale. We have seen in this
region whole countries becoming impoverished overnight
almost. We have seen invisible external forces wield
more power than the democratic process in determining
issues. While the ease of communication and the Internet
have enabled us to reach out directly to our colleagues
and others worldwide, they have also been the means to
spread false news and rumours and to character assasinate
individuals, their faiths and their loyalties.
5. Society and Governments are no longer in a position
to protect and mould the future generation. Not only has
it become technically impossible but massive campaigns
have made any effort to keep national identities and
values as undesirable and constitute a denial of human
rights.
6. In our attempt to achieve a better quality of life
for our people, a new set of values for a new
civilisation must be forged. We therefore need to build
up a new generation of high calibre visionaries to lead
the world. The youth of today are the political,
societal and corporate leaders of tomorrow. The youths
of today must equip themselves with all the knowledge
and analytical skills so they may assess, accept or
reject present-day values and concepts and conceive new
and more relevant values in keeping with the Information
Age that we are moving into. While the old may no longer
be suitable, the new may also be harmful if care is not
exercised and the choices made or conceived are based on
shallow knowledge or experience.
7. We cannot afford to make too many mistakes
remembering that so many of the ideologies conceived at
the beginning of this century, Socialism and Communism
for example, had retarded the growth and development of
so many countries. Indeed these ideologies had resulted
in hot and cold wars, killing millions of people and
destroying much of the wealth of many nations.
8. If the younger generation are prepared to accept a
new mission and vision, they will be able to contribute
towards the development of themselves and their
countries. For Malaysia we have a clear vision of the
direction and the objectives we want to achieve. We want
to become a developed country in our own mould. And we
want to achieve this by working with other countries in a
kind of partnership which we call smart partnership, i.e.
a partnership in which all the partners gain, not one in
which one partner gains at the expense of the other.
9. It is good that today the focus of Governments
everywhere is economic development and the well-being of
their people. But the achievement of economic
development need certain initiatives and strategies. Some
developing countries have apparently found the right
formula. We should not keep our winning formula to
ourselves. We should share it with everyone for sharing
is smart. It is smart because the prosperity and success
of one country benefits other countries. For a trading
nation like Malaysia having poor trading partners is no
good at all. We feel that it is in our interest to help
our trading partners to prosper. It is also good for
our partners and that is a bonus which we have no
objection to.
10. History is a record of changes which take place
within human society, within units of human society, big
and small. The most successful units are those which are
prepared to change and to adjust to changes. Conservative
societies become ossified, resisting change and refusing
to adjust. In the tussle between the conservatives and
the progressives, almost invariably the progressives, the
ones who accept and make use of changes, win.
11. As the new millenium approaches the variety of the
changes and the speed with which changes take place in
every field have increased. Accepting and adjusting
become more difficult and many will be side-lined and
left behind.
12. Unfortunately changes are not always for the good.
Unless a society is skillful at evaluating the changes it
may regress instead of progress.
13. Globalisation has now become a catchword which it is
fashionable to mouth. What globalisation means is that
countries and nation states have become passJ and
outdated. In the globalised world global players will
dominate. They will determine the direction and the
progress of the world. They will brush aside
Governments, whether elected or otherwise.
14. We are already seeing this happening. Governments
are now being disciplined and even deposed by market
forces, the name given to those who control international
capital. The cost in human misery is irrelevant. The
important thing is that market forces as an element of
globalisation must not be obstructed.
15. To criticise market forces is to blaspheme and
become a heretic. Through the control of the apparatus
of mass communication the heretic will be denounced and
ex-communicated.
16. Yet globalisation can be a factor for the good of
all. Imagine if all the capital and technology belong to
the world and not to any particular country, then all the
profits and the royalties will accrue to every world
citizen. Unfortunately the present interpretation of
globalisation does not accept this.
17. The picture I have painted may look grim. But there
can be no denying that the recent attacks on a nation's
currency and the free movements of vast sums of money
across borders have resulted in more than 20 million
workers, executives and professionals losing their jobs.
In countries too poor to have unemployment benefits that
means no money to buy food, medicine, milk for the
children and eventually clothing and shelter.
18. The Governments of these countries may be blamed.
But these self-same Governments had developed their
countries until they are recognised as economic tigers.
Could their robust economies collapse suddenly if their
currencies had not been grossly devalued and their
companies bankrupted through depressing their share
prices?
19. You are the future. You are the ones who will live
fully in the globalised world and the new theology. You
may not agree with what I have said. But I hope before
you dismiss it you will study it carefully. For nearly
100 years a good part of the world accepted socialism and
communism as the answer to the inequities in human
society. It wasn't easy to counter and discard a
universally accepted ideology. Millions had to die and
millions more suffered poverty and deprivation because
those with vested interest in the ideology did not allow
criticism or contrary ideas to flower. If we don't
examine now the new religion that are being foisted on
the world, very soon we will be forbidden from doing so.
Then it will be too late.
20. On that note I hereby declare the Commonwealth Youth
Ministers' Meeting open.
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