Oleh/By : DATO SERI DR MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD
Tempat/Venue : THE HILTON HOTEL, KUALA LUMPUR
Tarikh/Date : 26-02-2001
Tajuk/Title : A NEW GLOBALISATION IN A NEW
WORLD ORDER
Versi : ENGLISH
Penyampai : PM
Almost exactly ten years ago, in the euphoria that
gripped many parts of "the Western world" immediately
after the Gulf War, a president of a great, powerful
and triumphant nation by the name of George Bush made a
historic speech at Maxwell Air Force Base in
Montgomery, Alabama, calling for "A New World Order".
This was a man who had repeatedly called for a "kinder,
gentler America". His son is now President. The new
Bush talks of unity and solidarity and of compassionate
conservatism for the United States. I am sure many
will wish him every success in his mission.
2. This morning, allow a simple Prime Minister from
this small country in what some still call "the Far
East" to make a simple speech in his capital of Kuala
Lumpur also calling for "A New World Order". Let me
also make a simple plea for a world order that is not
only new but that is much more just, much more
productive -- a kinder, gentler world order that is a
lot more caring, a great deal more compassionate.
3. Such a New World Order must care a great deal for
ethics and morality, for liberty and independence, for
equality and mutual respect, and for productive
democracy and comprehensive human rights. Comprehensive
human rights, among which the right to human dignity,
to work and the right to put food on the family table
are as basic and fundamental as any other.
4. Let me make a passionate plea for the unity not of
a segment of humanity but for all of mankind; for
compassionate widespread developmentalism, for the
development and prosperity of all the children of Adam
- for not only the strong, the rich and the incredibly
empowered who should survive and thrive in the fiercely
competitive global jungle but also for the
disadvantaged, the poor and the miserably
disenfranchised who cannot.
5. Let me make a passionate plea for a new
globalisation in a New World Order.
6. The new globalisation that we must foster must
rightly reward enterprise and excellence; but it must
contribute to and not detract from this more just, more
caring, kinder, gentler, more compassionate New World
Order.
7. The new globalisation that we must foster must
contribute to and not detract from greater ethics and
morality, greater liberty and independence, greater
equality and mutual respect, greater productive
democracy and comprehensive human rights.
8. What do I mean by justice? It is not the hallowed
and civilised principle of "special and differential",
for a temporary privilege to be afforded to the
especially weak and vulnerable, that was the hallmark
of the global system for so long. Today, most of us do
not even dare to mention "special and differential".
Today, all that we ask for, is plain old simple fair
play.
9. Even the IMF says that the developed countries
impose the highest trade barriers on the manufactured
goods in which the developed countries have the
greatest comparative advantage. These manufactured
goods are textiles, clothing and footwear. Is this
fair?
10. When the developing world goes to the WTO and asks
for trade liberalisation on textiles, on clothing and
footwear, it is out-stone-walled and it is told that
this is simply not do-able. The political costs to the
Governments of the rich which have to get elected are
simply too high. Is this fair? Is this just?
11. Poor developing countries must move heaven and
earth to liberalise. In fact, when they are under the
thumb of the IMF, they have very little choice but to
move heaven and earth, no matter the merciless
consequences on their people and their societies.
12. Health services must be terminated. Medicines
must be dispensed with. Schools should be closed.
Children should stop going to them. Huge masses of
people should be thrown out of work. And food and fuel
be priced beyond the reach of most people. What are
these things? Merely what the IMF and the well-tutored
economists call "structural adjustment". But for the
rich and powerful, even the most marginal concessions
on textiles, clothing and footwear are not possible.
13. For that matter, for most of the rich, the most
basic fair play on agriculture, the hope of the non-
industrialised developing world, is also politically un-
doable.
14. Mr Bill Clinton recently made a speech, one of his
last as President of the United States, at the
University of Warwick, where he spoke passionately,
with wit and a heavy dose of civility, on
globalisation. Mr Clinton was on the side of the
angels when he noted: "If the wealthiest countries
ended our agricultural subsidies, leveling the playing
field for the world's farmers, that alone could
increase the income of developing countries by $20
billion a year." So why not do it? Why not remove the
subsidies? Why not play fair? Why not level the
playing field? Why not give the hundreds of millions
of farmers in the developing world a better chance to
put food in the mouths of their children and a few
cents in their pocket?
15. Mr Clinton, a great champion of globalisation,
himself gave the answer. It is "not as simple as it
sounds," Mr Clinton says. "I see these beautiful
fields in Great Britain; I have driven down the
highways of France; I know there is a cultural social
value to the fabric that has developed here over the
centuries." Indeed.
16. Perhaps the point has also to be made with equal
force and passion that putting food in the mouths of
one's children and a few cents into one's pocket is
also of some "cultural social value". Perhaps it may
even be arguable that this could be of a higher human
value than the beauty of manicured agricultural fields,
which can be admired by all motorists driving down the
highways of Europe - especially since the luxury of
this great "cultural social value" can be secured in
other ways, not at the cost of impoverished farmers in
the poor developing world.
17. So much for justice. How about caring and
compassion, and a more productive globalisation,
focussed on development, in a kinder and gentler world?
18. The market fundamentalists and the globalisation
theologians have elevated what they call "survival of
the fittest" and "economic efficiency", the
maximisation of profits, the making of money as the
most important moral basis of their religion. All too
often survival of the fittest merely means survival of
those with the least scruples. It certainly does not
mean survival of the best or the most worthy.
19. We must throw off the intellectual hegemony of the
globalisation theologians. It is time to put people
before profit, to ensure that in the process of
globalisation there are many more winners and many
fewer losers.
20. It is time to have a new globalisation that works
less in the service of the very wealthy and much harder
in the service of the very poor. It is time for us to
ensure that development is brought to the very centre
of the global agenda as our principal objective.
21. It is time to put our mental house in order, to
distinguish between means and ends, to make sure that
everyone understands that trade and investment
liberalisation, marketisation and competitiveness, the
entire WTO agenda, are means to the ultimate end of
human development.
22. Some may refer to my aversion to gobbledygook,
globaloney and gobblisation - indeed, to all I have
said -- as a return back to basics. I prefer to see it
as an attempt to move forward to the fundamentals.
23. I do realise that this new globalisation in a New
World Order that I advocate is a new paradigm. It is a
strange intellectual universe compared to the dog-eat-
dog world and the law of the jungle that the
globalisation theologians of this day are committed to.
The fact that this is so, the fact that they will
oppose and discredit this new paradigm should fortify
us in our conviction and in our commitment.
24. We must make absolutely sure that we will not
swallow the absolute market fundamentalism that the
globalisation extremists try to ram down our throats,
that the absolute capitalism that the globalisation
extremists want to unleash on this planet will not run
riot, that the absolute globalisation that the
globalisation extremists want to impose on the entire
world will not come to pass.
25. Please do not get me wrong. I do not advocate
abandonment of the market system. I do not advocate
the rejection of capitalism. I do not advocate
opposition to globalisation.
26. I must confess to being a believer in the market
system. I am a believer in the capitalist system. I
am also a believer in globalisation. You don't have to
watch my lips. You don't have to examine the words I
use. You merely have to look around you at the
Malaysia that exists today.
27. Ever since we imposed selective currency controls
on September 1, 1998, the so-called world media and the
high priests of globalisation have been accusing this
country of turning its back on the world. The so-
called world media daily refers to my "xenophobic
diatribes" my antics. No doubt, my speech today will
also be described as a "xenophobic diatribe" designed
to justify putting my former Deputy in jail. Let me
merely state a simple fact: Malaysia today is amongst
the half dozen most globalised and open countries in
the world.
28. This did not happen in an extended fit of
forgetfulness. It did not happen by accident. The
world did not descend on us. We had to grab the world
by the throat to bring them to us. We had to work
tirelessly. The fact that we are such an open economy
and such an open society is the result of deliberate
policy, consistent determination and an ocean of toil,
tears and sweat. We are not crazy. We cannot turn our
back from the world from which we earn our living today
and from which our future prosperity depends.
29. Let me briefly outline just how globalised and
open we are, after more than two decades of deliberate
effort.
30. In 1999, our exports to the globe account for 114
per cent of our GDP, our imports for 83 per cent of our
GDP. In terms of trade, we were 10.8 times more
globally engaged than was the United States. In terms
of tourists to population, exactly twice as many
tourists visited Malaysia as visited the United States.
31. Foreign investors play a much much bigger role in
the Malaysian economy than they do in the US economy.
Foreign banks in Malaysia held 29 per cent of all
banking assets in 1999 and accounted for 31.32 per cent
of all bank loans. As a share of total banking,
foreign banks play a role three times as large in
Malaysia as they do in the United States.
32. Let me now turn to the flow of foreign labour.
33. As you know, we are now in the second decade of
the second great age of globalisation. In the first
great age of globalisation from the middle of the 19th
century through La Belle Epoch to the First World War,
there was not only the free movement of goods and
services and the free flow of capital. There was also
the free movement of labour, a point that today's
capital-poor and labour-rich countries will
increasingly note as the globalisation debate heats up.
Does anyone doubt that if the world balance of
political power were different and today's powers-that-
be are India and China rather than the United States
and Western Europe, we will today be discussing not the
freest movement of capital, goods and services but the
unfettered cross-border movements of labour, which no
doubt will be seen as by far the most important welfare
and prosperity enhancing sector of globalisation. The
WTO in Geneva would probably be what the ILO is today.
No doubt the "WLO", the World Labour Organisation,
appropriately situated in Hong Kong or Colombo would be
working day and night, figuring how to get the
stubborn, recalcitrant OECD countries to agree to a new
round of negotiations.
34. In Malaysia, foreign workers account for more than
20 per cent of all workers. For the United States to
be as open, there would have to be an immediate inflow
in excess of 25 million foreign workers.
35. Malaysians watch American and foreign television,
read foreign newspapers and magazines, in several
languages. We sometimes see American shows even before
they are released in the United States. I wonder how
many Malaysians do not know where Little Rock, Arkansas
is, or the names of at least a dozen American
presidents. I wonder how many Americans know the name
of a single Chinese leader or emperor of the last 2,000
years, never mind the name of any Southeast Asian. I
wonder how many Americans watch foreign television,
read foreign newspapers and magazines, even those in
the English language.
36. In the past, before fees were hiked, when costs
were much lower and there was no concern for foreign
exchange, there were years when more than 60,000 young
Malaysians studied abroad. There were years when there
were more Malaysians studying in foreign institutions
of higher learning than in Malaysian institutions of
higher learning.
37. More than 50 per cent of the Congressmen and
Senators in the United States today do not have a
passport. I honestly do not know of any Malaysian
Parliamentarian who has not been overseas.
38. I choose the United States for comparison because
US statistics are so readily available and because the
United States is so clearly a committed advocate of
globalisation, even though it is a comparatively non-
globalised economy and a comparatively non-globalised
society.
39. As a country which has so dramatically marketised
over the last two decades, as a country that has so
dramatically dismantled state capitalism and moved on
to private sector capitalism, as country which has so
dramatically globalised, perhaps Malaysia can speak
with some experience and some legitimacy on the market
system, capitalism and globalisation. As someone who
is somewhat guilty of marketising, privatising and
globalising the Malaysian economy and our society,
perhaps I too can speak with some experience and
legitimacy.
40. The bottom line is this: despite all their obvious
flaws, weaknesses and dangers, the market system,
capitalism and globalisation have a tremendous
potential for good.
41. But the bottom line is also this: the absolute
market system, untempered by responsibility and
civilisation, is a grave threat to mankind; absolute
capitalism, inconsiderate of humanity and caring, is a
monster machine for misery and injustice; absolute
globalisation, unguided by rationality and sound
judgement is perhaps the greatest danger to the world
at the dawn of our new century.
42. I have spent some time on ends and objectives.
Let me now turn to means, measures and action.
43. It is quite obvious that to ensure the new
globalisation in the new world order that we must have,
we must work at the global and international level, at
the regional level, and within the boundaries of our
own national jurisdiction. We must work on all three
fronts.
44. At the global and international level, we must
obviously work to strengthen the solidarity of the
South. We must not forget the entire South, even as we
must build effective, more compact core-groups and
action coalitions, which can concert and mobilise on
specific issues and agendas - from indebtedness to
commodity prices and terms of trade to the digital
divide.
45. As members of the South, we must also build
specific action coalitions with Northern NGOs,
governments and interests, when and with whom we share
a common cause.
46. We must exploit the small strategic window of
opportunity that exists this year and in 2002, afforded
by the Fourth WTO Ministerial Meeting, the UN High
Level Event on Financing for Development and the Rio
Plus Ten Summit on Environment, besides the important
annual meetings of the WTO and the IMF/ World Bank.
47. We must not be mere responders to the agendas and
negotiating drafts of others. We must be pro-active in
forwarding our own agendas and our own proposals, to
which others will need to respond.
48. At the WTO, it is absolutely critical that we hold
firmly to the firm position taken in Seattle that the
present grave imbalances be rectified and that the
implementation issues be resolved. We must not agree
to a new Round until these issues are satisfactorily
settled and until we can all agree to the agenda for
any new Round. We need to ensure adequate negotiating
and action capacity in Geneva before we enter the
perilous halls of negotiation. We must work together
to strengthen not only our heads but also our hearts
and our hands.
49. We must beware of the Trojan Horses lining up
outside the WTO building. We must be especially
careful of the seemingly innocuous issues - such as
transparency in government procurement - which are
merely first steps down the slippery slope, which will
finally end up in our loss of capacity to pursue our
national social and socio-economic policies.
50. We must build upon the Havana Programme of Action.
We must ask UNCTAD to join the process of moving
forward to the fundamentals. There are many who have
been convinced by the-powers-that-be that the old
issues of terms of trade are old hat, passe, relics of
the past. They are in fact critical keys to our
future. We must all fully examine the costs and the
consequences of business cartelisation and the
escalation of mega business mergers, and a lot more.
51. At the regional level too, there is little time to
be lost.
52. In Asia, I believe that the idea of Asian regional
economic cooperation -- which was ridiculed and the
unwelcome recipient of political bombardment of
megatonnage proportions when I first proposed it more
than ten years ago - is progressing apace. It must be
given greater depth and greater width.
53. I strongly believe also that it is high time for
Asia to establish the Asian Monetary Fund, whatever we
choose to call it. We are privileged to have in our
midst today one of the inventors and architects of this
historic initiative.
54. As I have stressed, we must work on three fronts
to ensure a new globalisation in a New World Order. The
third front, for those nations that are still free and
not yet colonised, is our own domestic jurisdiction.
Let no-one hoodwink us into thinking that the nation
state is dead. It is not. It is alive and kicking. I
believe that it is also the most crucial action front.
55. Let me wish this conference well. Let me leave
you with one parting thought.
56. It is probably a universal fact of life that no
one can do anything to us worse than what we can do to
ourselves. Fortunately, it is also probably as true
that no one can do anything for us better than what we
can do for ourselves.
57. We must not let absolute globalisation roll all
over us. We must make sure that productive
globalisation will work for us and for the bounteous
benefit of our people.
58. The most important helping hand that we need is at
the end of our own right arm.
Sumber : Pejabat Perdana Menteri
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