Oleh/By : DATO' SERI DR. MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD
Tempat/Venue : PUTRA WORLD TRADE CENTRE,
KUALA LUMPUR
Tarikh/Date : 28/05/98
Tajuk/Title : THE HARVARD PROJECT FOR ASIAN AND
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
CONFERENCE 1998
Delivered by Y.B. Dato' Seri Mohd. Najib Tun Abdul Razak,
Minister of Education
Today I have the privilege of speaking to a select
group of young people from Asia and the Pacific
principally and the world. Many of you will be among the
best and brightest of your generation. You attend some of
the leading institutions of learning on earth. You excel
in your studies. Some of the best budding brain-power on
this planet are assembled in this room.
2. I truly envy you, your youth and the idealism that
you possess. You have not become cynical and blase, not
yet at least. You are not like us who have been around
too long. You still believe that you can change things
for the better and create a better world. I am glad for
that for when the young lose hope there will be no future
any more.
3. But remember some of the young can lose hope too. We
see a steady rise in juvenile crimes. We hear of
children killing other children, killing even their
parents. More and more youths are going missing, taking
to drugs and crimes of all kinds. But thank God, Allah
be praised, these are the exceptions. The majority are
still capable of contributing to the advancement of the
human race. And they are better equipped with knowledge
and skills than the youths of yesteryear. Certainly in
terms of information they are better than their elders.
They are less inhibited, approaching their powerful new
tools with none of the fear and lack of conviction of the
capabilities of these instruments. They think everything
is possible.
4. You will therefore be able to contribute much to the
wealth of human knowledge and progress. Many will focus
on the scientific, will discover cures for incurable
diseases, overcome physical barriers, delve into strange
new worlds on this planet and in outer space. You will
travel in space and meet greenman with many eyes, noses
and ears, who will speak through the other end of their
alimentary canals, walk on their hands and absorb energy
from the environment through their pores. You will
converse with them in strange languages and contribute to
the sum of human knowledge.
5. But some of you will remain unscientific, dedicating
yourself to the arts, to producing what is beautiful to
the eyes, the ears and the tactile senses. You will write
poetry, paint pictures and carve strange shapes. Your
ideas of beauty will be quite revolutionary. Ugliness
might become beautiful, new colours will assail the eyes
and new sounds will soothe you or propel you into a state
of frenzy. Art will indeed change, what is new today
will be either the classics to you or discarded as
rubbish.
6. We will not understand you of course. We will be
the squares or may be hexagons which will not fit into
your world. But we know that you too will age and be the
squares and or hexagons of the generations after you.That
is the way of life. We change, our ideas and perceptions
change. The only thing that we will have to acknowledge
is that the pace of change will be faster, the shelf-life
will be shorter, life will be more and more hectic.
7. But through all these I hope basic human values will
not change or if they change they would change back so
that we humans would continue to be human and humane,
would value kindness and sympathy, consideration and
compassion for others, upholding justice and fairplay,
caring and charitable.
8. Although throughout history we see progress almost
as a straight line, almost as if there never is a turning
back, but in actual fact we move back and forth, swinging
like a pendulum. We progress and then we retreat, we
speed up and then we slow down and we swing back. This
is particularly so with human values and systems.
9. We were free and loners at first but the family
emerged, grew into extended families, with small
communities and then into ever larger communities. Some
did not become large because they lacked the skills for
communal living beyond a certain size. They broke up and
formed new small communities. They continued to live in
tribal villages ruled by a primitive system of
chieftainship. The strong ruled, made unwritten laws and
expelled challengers or those who would not submit .
10. But some developed sustainable large communities
governed by complex customs, rules and laws. A feudal
system emerged based on some kind of divine hereditary
leadership. To the feudal lords and kings, total
submission was imperative. But in return there was law
and order, relief from anarchy and the need to submit to
numerous bullies and their arbitrary ways. Life became
relatively safe for the ordinary people, free from
conflicting rules. As more and more people sought to
live under strong single chiefs, they evolved into kings
and emperors using the loyalty of their subjects to
subjugate others and expand their fiefdom. And in order
to be above attack by their people they invented the idea
that the king could do no wrong; that he was above the
law, that he was god's shadow on earth when religions
were adopted.
11. If the King could do no wrong then the wrong that he
did must be right. And Kings became more and more
despotic, oppressive. He ruled through terror, took away
the wealth of his subjects, made slaves of them and
exercised the power of life and death over them.
12. The pendulum swings, went past the centre, getting
further and further away from the ideal; the King as the
protector, the law-giver, the dispenser of justice. The
King and kingship became synonymous with injustice and
oppression.
13. Fear prevented opposition. The few who opposed were
liquidated. Fear was heightened. Brave men emerged to
challenge, to face personal threat to life, to face death
even. The momentum gathered. The swing of the pendulum
was reversed. Several times the kingly ideal was
resuscitated. But kingly extremism and oppression came
back. Finally feudalism and kingship had to be discarded
to be replaced by the rule of the people. But there were
too many people. Someone or some group must rule.
Liberal democracy, socialism and communism were invented
to enable the rule of the people to work.
14. Socialism conferred rights to workers. But workers
abused the rights and the state suffered and went into
decline. Communism gave rise to the dictatorship of the
proletariat. But the dictatorship overwhelmed the
proletariat. The state, meaning the few who gained power
oppressed the people. The state apparatus consumed all
the wealth leaving the people as poor and as exploited as
ever.
15. In the end after almost one hundred years of loyalty
to a system which dispensed injustice and oppression,
socialism and communism were discredited and discarded
leaving liberal democracy triumphant. Will liberal
democracy always uphold liberalism, impartiality and
dedication to justice and fairplay?
16. Actually liberal democracy evolved from blatant
capitalism. Faced with the challenge of Socialism and
Communism, Capitalism presents a more friendly face.
Extreme greed was curbed. Profits were taxed in order
that the less fortunate members of society could get a
fair share. Monopolies were broken up and made illegal.
Regulations were introduced to prevent abuses of the free
market system. Workers were given the rights to bargain,
backed by industrial action. Finally the people were
allowed to choose the different permutations of liberal
democracy. All the while the fear of Communism in
particular kept extreme capitalism at bay, regulated and
controlled. To prevent the elimination of capitalism,
the name was changed. The free market was promoted in
which the capitalist could survive albeit in a controlled
environment. All the while the challenge of Socialism
and Communism forced the out and out Capitalists to curb
their greed and to submit to the people's Governments.
17. But the abuses of Socialist and Communist principles
lead to Socialism and Communism being discredited and
defeated. With this the capitalism-based free market
became free of competitors. The friendly face became
necessary no more. And from behind the mask of
friendliness the ugly face of unmitigated capitalism
emerged. With nothing to restrain it, the pendulum
gathers speed and overcame all the old obstacles to its
swing. Naked capitalism can no longer be obstructed by
Governments or by International agencies or anyone.
18. This is what we are witnessing today. Governments
have abdicated their roles in favour of those who control
capital. From now on the people who control money will
run the world with only one objective -- to make more
money. If it becomes necessary to overthrow Governments
in order to do so, then Governments will be overthrown.
This is the new ideology, so powerful that it is the only
one permitted. No opposition will be tolerated. Still
in order to hide the ugly face of absolute capitalism, it
is now renamed market forces.
19. In the heyday of feudalism, empires were built by
conquest or by marriage between ruling families. In this
new era of unlimited capitalism acquisitions and mergers
achieve the same objectives. Instead of imperial states
there are now empire-sized businesses. Banks absorb
little banks and merge with big ones to become bigger.
And the process will go on until there will be only two
or three banks in the world. Industries will merge or
acquire controlling interests. A few hotel chains and
restaurant chains will cater to all the needs of people
worldwide. Air and sea transport companies will merge
and absorb competitors or put them out of business if
they refuse. The electronic and print media have been
subjected to the same amalgamation and central control.
This is to ensure press freedom, so that everyone will
read the same news from the same free source. News
contrary to those coming from the free source must by
definition be considered not free. And such news must be
curbed, and prevented from reaching the free masses. The
masses must be freed from access to unfree news.
20. There is no conspiracy. It is just that the free
market works that way and brings about that result. The
free press will not tolerate anyone suggesting that what
is happening is caused otherwise than through the
workings of a free market. And the free market is good
for the world. Why should anyone want to say otherwise?
If they do then they are against freedom. And people who
are against freedom should not enjoy any freedom. They
must be discredited and punished and rendered
ineffective.
21. When absolute rulers and dictators preside over a
country, law and order is based on fear, varying degrees
of fear, fear for personal safety, fear of deprivations
of one kind or another and fear for the well-being of the
family or the community.
22. Thank God there are no more dictators or absolute
rulers now but new capitalism or market-forces exercise
power in very much the same way i.e. through fear. But
the object and the scale is different. They are much
bigger and they are getting even bigger, involving
nations at first but now whole region and continents.
23. In currency devaluation and depressing the stock
market, the new capitalists have found the most effective
instrument for creating fear. Thus when the currency of
a country is devalued instant poverty can be created. The
capacity of a country, a company or an individual to
purchase anything is reduced by the percentage of the
currency devaluation. It is as if a country with a GDP
of US$100 billion has lost US$50 billion. The per capita
of US$5000 is reduced to US$2500. The assets of
companies shrink by 50 percent if the currency is
devalued by 50 percent. And so if an individual, company
or Government owes money the capacity to repay is reduced
by half. Put the other way round the debts have doubled
without any additional borrowing.
24. Add to this the fall in share prices say by 50
percent, the market capitalisation will be reduced by the
same percentage. The capacity to raise loans based on
assets will be halved. But the local lenders too may
have their capital reduced and not be in a position to
lend. In fact they may have to foreclose if the borrowers
cannot top up. With the economy in recession due to the
currency devaluation the borrowers cannot make sufficient
in order to top up. The shares are sold off by the
lender to a weak market which will of course cause a
further fall in the share prices, reducing further market
capitalisation.
25. The money in the system diminishes in amount but
foreign borrowing to replenish assets would increase the
nation's debt further. If there is high foreign
borrowing then the ratio of debt against GNP will
deteriorate, causing a loss of confidence on the part of
the market. This will start another round of attacks
resulting in further devaluation of the currency and
market capitalisation. Yet not borrowing will result in
no credit being available to the banks and companies hit
by the double whammy of currency devaluation and share
market collapse.
26. The country cannot go against the market forces
because to do so would result in a loss of confidence and
another round of attack. But if money is tight and
interest rates are raised in order to prevent further
devaluation, the businesses will all go bankrupt. Along
with the businesses there will be massive lay-off of
workers including executives. Massive unemployment not
only result in loss of revenue for the Government but
decrease in retail businesses. This in turn affects
supporting businesses such as transport and other
services and of course the import of goods. When goods
are not imported, then import duties will diminish,
further shrinking government revenue. All these add up
to massive loss of revenue on the part of the Government.
Paying the administrative machinery may become
impossible.
27. Obviously a country which is the target of an attack
will be caught between the devil and the deep blue sea.
To maintain the confidence of the market forces it will
have to increase interest rates, reduce credit, increase
taxes and remove subsidies. These measures will bankrupt
companies, throw workers out of jobs and induce riots and
political instability. Eventually the country will go
bankrupt and foreigners will buy up all the good
companies at a cheap price.
28. On the other hand if the country defies market
forces and try to keep interest rates low, borrow money
to replenish the system and rescue beleaguered business
there will be another round of attack by market forces
resulting in further devaluation of the currency, more
capital loss in the market, bankruptcies of the banks and
businesses, further reduction of Government revenue and
economic disaster for the country. There really is no
choice but to submit to market forces.
29. Who are the market forces which can so easily
impoverish countries and undermine the independence of
nations? Are they the people in the market place who buy
and sell goods and services? Are they the wholesalers
and distributors? They are none of these. They are
actually a shadowy small group who trade by changing
figures on computers located in the currency trading
rooms all over the world. No real money is involved. No
money change hands. No money moves anywhere. The
transactions are merely made on computer screens and
recorded through changes in the figure. Millions may be
traded in a matter of seconds or minutes. Millions may
be made or lost. But the effect on whole nations and
people is devastating. Suddenly as a result of the
figures changing, people, nations and even regions become
greatly impoverished. Nations can be bankrupted, with
millions being thrown out of jobs.
30. But when this tragedy is mentioned the only reply is
a bland 'that is what currency trading is all about'.
They, the traders act according to herd instincts. If
they see movements in one direction then everyone moves
in that direction. If someone sells then everyone sells.
And so the devaluation gains speed. Get their leader to
regain his confidence and everyone will follow.
31. It is a sad commentary on the level of human
development that people, intelligent people, should
behave like herds of cattle. But they seem to glory in
their herd behaviour. People who criticise them are
regarded as financial ignorami, as dim-witted and
deserving of whatever ill-fortune may befall them or
their country.
32. This conference is not going to put an end to this
exploitation of the poor by the market forces. It is not
even going to bring relief to the beleaguered East Asian
countries, the former tigers and dragons. But this
conference is about Asian and International Relations.
Obviously it has to examine the relations between Asian
countries and the rest of the world and also between
themselves.
33. What I have tried to illustrate is the distance off-
center that the capitalist free market pendulum has
swung. We have become such believers in the system that
we no longer care for the original objectives or the
obvious results. A system that was designed to free
people from stifling Governmental regulations and enable
them to prosper through their own initiatives and labour
has now resulted in the suppression of that very freedom
and brought about misery for the people instead. And
that misery is very real. Millions are suffering, whole
nations and even regions are suffering. All that is
offered by way of justification is that they have
suffered because their Governments are not open and
democratic.
34. It reminds me of a television report on the shooting
of demonstrators by the law enforcement forces of a
certain state. At the end of the episode, the
commentator said by way of mitigation "But at least this
is the only democratic state in the region". Being
democratic excuses all, even the killing of people. If
you are not democratic then even if you bring prosperity
to the country and the people, you must still be
considered wrong and you must be disciplined and
chastised.
35. The free market system is good. Certainly it is
better than the centrally planned economy of the
Communists. But the free market now translates into
unrestrained dominance of the rich over the poor, the
strong over the weak. Apart from calling capitalism
"market forces" it is no better than the inconsiderate
capitalism of the past; the capitalism that brought about
the violent reactions and the birth of socialism and
communism.
36. Can the relation between nations be entirely based
on the free market and market forces, which is
capitalism by another name? Can market forces really
discipline Governments when the principal objective of
the market is to make profit, maximum profit?
37. For centuries feudalism was sustained through
propagating feudalism as a God-given and God-sanctioned
system. The Kings were the defenders of the faith, the
symbol of Gods rule over this earth. The people must not
complain even if the feudal oppression was contrary to
the teachings of the faith. If you question, worse still
if you rebel, then you are a heretic. Many were the
unfortunates who were burnt at the stakes or had heir
heads chopped off for being heretical.
38. Today the religion is liberal democracy and its
corollary, the free market. The priests are the ever
more liberal democrats and the free marketeers. They no
longer burn heretics at the stakes nor chop off their
heads. They merely apply sanctions or devalue the
currency. The results are the same -- people and states
live in fear. They submit rather than resist.
39. In the past religions and sacred books were used to
cow people. Today the media does a better job. As in
the past when only the priests could read and interpret
the holy books anyway they liked, today the media is
manipulated by the media-moguls in the same way. Heresy
and opposition of any kind is forbidden by them. Conform
or be silenced eternally. If given an opportunity to air
your heretical views, then those views are immediately
debunked and debunked until the heretic himself begins to
doubt his own views and his sanity. It is brainwashing
on a worldwide scale and it is made possible by the new
capitalism which promotes oligopolies on a world scale
in the media industry.
40. If an idea is mooted that will further strengthen
the grip of the oligopolistic system the world's media
would take it up, argue in its favour, propagate it and
make sure the contrary views are negated. There was a
time when the world was divided between a number of
western empires. It was justified because it was said to
be civilising. It is the white man's burden to bring
modernity to the backward ignorant peoples who knew no
better. Of course in the process the white man made a
tidy profit for themselves and their own countries. But
the point is their colonisation brought the fruits of
civilisation to the backward people.
41. But somehow or other the conflicts between the
imperial west lead to new thinking about the white man's
burden. It was exposed as nothing more than an attempt
to justify exploitation. Gradually this debunking gained
ground and there was a crusade to dismantle empires. And
so the colonies gained independence.
42. For a time they enjoyed their independence. Some
messed up things but there were others who profited from
these independence, developed and even challenged their
former masters in their own backyards. Their
impertinence was made possible by the Cold War when the
champions of both sides felt a need to prevent the other
from gaining influence in the new independent countries.
These countries also made full use of the options to
defect.
43. Then the bipolar world ended leaving a world
dominated only by the liberal democratic free marketeers.
The need to win support from the small nations
disappeared. Without the options to defect the weak
nations had to submit to the sole remaining system.
44. Without the restraining effect of the competition
the winners have begun to run wild. The old ideas about
the need to civilise the backward people have returned
with a vengeance. Only this time the pressures are
stronger and more widely spread.
45. Democracy is still evolving. New ideas are being
thrown up all the time. Deregulation, liberalisation and
globalisation are now being equated with the freedoms of
democracy. It is the right of the peoples of the world
to have free choice of the best of goods and services.
The Governments should not deprive their peoples of this
right. They should not use their borders to protect
inefficiency and inferiority of goods or services. They
should open up their borders, should deregulate, should
liberalise in order to allow access of the biggest, the
best, and the most efficient.
46. And as usual the cry is taken up by the free world
media. They promote these new concepts and tolerate no
opposition. Anyone who opposes the words of the free
media must by definition be against freedom. If the free
media promotes liberalisation, deregulation and
globalisation, then opposing them would be opposing
freedom. There should be no freedom to oppose freedom.
47. If globalisation, deregulation and liberalisation
seems to profit the rich and the powerful, as in the past
and civilising the natives gave profit to the propagators
of the civilising work, that is coincidental. It so
happens and the fact that it happens should not detract
from the good that was intended.
48. But you, the idealistic young, do you think that we
should ignore the fact that all these new twists to
liberal democracy are not only enriching the already rich
at the expense of the poor or should we take into
consideration the results also? Can international
relations be based entirely on good intentions while
ignoring the bad results?
49. Asians have dared to speak about Asian values. We
dared to say that Asian values made tigers and dragons of
our countries. We dared to assert that Asian values are
superior and are actually the right universal values.
50. Today all the Asian countries are in a state of
turmoil and regression. Many say that Asian values have
been the cause of this regression. Asians condoned
corruption, nepotism, crony capitalism etc. But is it
true that Asian values and practices brought the
misfortune that are faced by them today? Isn't Western
greed also responsible? Isn't the new capitalism, the
market and the forces that move it, the single-minded
quest for profit not equally or more responsible?
51. In the conduct of international relations can we
afford to be just fanatical followers of an ideology or
should we examine the results as well? How many times
have our systems and our ideologies gone wrong?
Feudalism, Socialism, Communism -- these are all systems
which were fervently believed to be right and good for
human society at one time. They have all failed. Could
it not be that the new ideology, the free market and the
market forces, globalisation, liberalisation,
deregulations, absolute freedom etc could eventually be
proven equally wrong, that they will lead to human
misery, to the strain in the relations between nations,
to war even as the oppressed struggle to liberate
themselves once more from their erstwhile colonisers.
52. You are here to discuss a subject that is very
relevant and important to the future of relations between
nations in particular Asian countries and international
relations. You are not going to solve any problem
overnight. But your deliberation and findings will have
some bearing on the thinking about current issues and
human relations.
53. There are many things you can discuss. The United
Nations, arms control, nuclear and conventional,
eradication of poverty, human rights, etc. etc. Certainly
the subjects I have mentioned are among them. You may
regard them as irrelevent and unimportant. That is your
right. But it is also my right to draw your attention to
the great injustice perpetrated on the innocent peoples
of Southeast Asia in the name of democracy and the free
market.
54. It seems therefore that you have a great many things
to mull over and to think about if you want to make a
difference with your lives. Some of the things you will
decide to do may require great moral courage and even
sacrifice. You may have to stand up against powerful
odds. Tremendous pressures can be put upon you to desist,
to conform and not to rock the boat or criticise the
prevailing scheme of things. You can be labelled and
stigmatised.
55. But there is also great satisfaction to be had from
working for the good. Few things of moment are achieved
without a struggle. And if some stand against you, there
will also be many who will stand by and with you. In the
end history will reward you.
56. Ladies and gentlemen, do not ever be tempted to take
the low road. Choose the higher path. May God be with
you every step of the way.
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