Oleh/By : DATO SERI DR MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD
Tempat/Venue : MANDARIN ORIENTAL HOTEL,
KUALA LUMPUR
Tarikh/Date : 06-03-2002
Tajuk/Title : THE LAUNCHING OF PROMUDA LECTURE
SERIES :"PERSPECTIVES FROM
THE PAST, PARADIGMS FOR
THE FUTUR"
Versi : ENGLISH
Penyampai : PM
Thank you for your kind invitation to launch the
Promuda Lecture Series and to speak on "Perspectives
from the Past, Paradigms for the Future."
2. The future is for the young. The old must go,
whether they want to or not. Youths by nature are
idealistic and often impatient. Sometimes this nature
manifests itself in ways that may blight the very
future that the young will inherit. It is therefore
important that we temper idealism and impatience with
pragmatism and a willingness to learn from the mistakes
and the successes of the past so as to ensure that the
mistakes are avoided and the successes are repeated.
3. Our country, Malaysia, is a young country. For
450 years we were a colony of one country or another.
We were divided then. There was no Malaysia. There
was only a collection of small Malay states stitched
together by the British into what was called by them
Malaya.
4. The Malays in the Malay states owed loyalty only
to their State's ruler. The Chinese still believed
almost until the end that they were citizens of China
although some became Straits British Chinese, vaguely
owing allegiance to the British Crown. The Indians
were citizens of British India.
5. These three communities lived separately, work
separately and seldom cross each other's paths. They
were referred to, for convenience, as Malayans but
there was no Malayan citizenship. Then when the
recession of the 20s and 30s struck Malaya, most of the
Chinese and Indians packed their scanty belongings and
went back to China and India.
6. There was no such thing as racial unity. There
was no sense of belonging. There was no common goal
for the different races in Malaya.
7. In Sarawak and British North Borneo things were
not much different. The British ruled through largely
Malay administrators, while the others were denied
education except by Christian Missionaries. The
Chinese as usual provided the farmers and carried out
what business activities, which were not monopolised by
the colonialists.
8. This divide and rule strategy worked very well.
There was no demand for independence as the races not
only did not get together but also were mildly
antagonistic towards each other and looked up to the
British to settle any interracial problem.
9. The country developed very slowly. There was no
development plan. Whatever infrastructure that was put
in was to serve the need to exploit the tin deposits
and the rubber industry.
10. The peoples of the Malay States, Sarawak and North
Borneo were generally docile until the country was
invaded by the Japanese. The myth of the invincibility
of the white men was broken and ideas about
independence began to take shape in the minds of some
people.
11. It is boring to listen to the naivet. of
Malaysians of the colonial era. But we all sprang from
them, and we may yet learn something from them.
12. When the war ended with the defeat of Japan, the
Malays thought in terms of a return to strictly Malay
ownership of the Malay States for the treaties were
between the rulers of these States and the British. A
small segment of the Chinese wanted a Chinese dominated
Communist Republic. The Indians were largely enamoured
of the struggle for Indian independence. And a
substantial section from all the communities merely
wanted a return to the status quo ante, to continued
benign and paternalistic British rule.
13. But the British decided to annex the whole
peninsular and create a Malayan Union, reducing the
Malay Sultans to Chief Kadis, and ignoring entirely
their commitment to protect the Malays and their rights
as the indigenous people. Indignant over this cavalier
treatment the Malays set aside their loyalties to their
own state and united to oppose the British. And the
Chinese Communists began an armed insurrection.
14. The only thing common between the Chinese
Communists and UMNO was the opposition to continued
British colonial rule. There was no desire to set up a
common front against the British. There was no talk of
racial unity. Each was going its separate way.
15. UMNO secured the dissolution of the Malayan Union
but the Chinese Communists were less successful. To
counter balance Malay unity the non-Communist Chinese,
and the Indians set up their own political parties.
The three racially-based political parties did not see
eye to eye on the future of the country. The
Federation of Malaya which replaced the Malayan Union
was regarded by non-Malays as a step backwards, denying
a majority of them Malayan citizenship. The stage
seemed set for interracial confrontation, which could
be exploited by the British and would delay
independence.
16. It took giant statesmen like Tunku Abdul Rahman
and Tan Cheng Lock to appreciate the need for Sino-
Malay cooperation in the interest of achieving a quick
independence. They were joined by K.L. Devasar from
the Indian community.
17. It is from such beginnings that we built racial
harmony in Malaysia. We have succeeded as no other
multiracial country has succeeded. Today Malaysia is a
model of interracial tolerance and unity. The whole
world marvels at the achievement. Even those races
originally from countries where racial enmity is
prevalent, are able to work and play together in
Malaysia.
18. The ability of the different races to live, work
and play together in Malaysia has contributed to the
stability of this country. And this in turn has led to
its rapid development, making it the best developed of
the developing countries. It makes possible the
achievement of Vision 2020, the vision to make Malaysia
a developed country by the year 2020.
19. The first eight years of the Vision 2020 effort
were great years. We grew by more than eight percent
per annum. Achieving Vision 2020 seemed a breeze. All
we had to do was to keep growing at seven percent per
annum and our GDP would increase by about eight times,
i.e. about as high as the GDP of a number of countries
considered as developed.
20. But in 1997 - 98 came the attack on our currency,
its devaluation and the collapse of the stock market.
We overcame this assault and again grew at eight
percent plus in 2000. But US recession and the 11th
Sept attack undermined our efforts. We still have 18
years more to go before the target date. Can we do it?
Can we make up for the delays, and can we insulate
ourselves against future uncertainties?
21. We are hopeful, but there are some disturbing
signs. The early Malaysians overcame their segregation
and suspicion of each other in order to create racial
harmony and unity. We are seeing now a resurgence of
the old distrust and dislike. There are now people
demanding that no effort be made to bring the people of
different races, especially the younger people, the
people of the future together. Not only should they
not go to the same schools but their schools should not
be anywhere near each other. School children of
different races must not mix, must not come in contact.
There should be a Malaysian apartheid.
22. In the universities students of different races
must not stay in the same hostels, belong to the same
societies or play games together. Racially or
religiously-based activities ensure that students
remain separated.
23. The mushrooming of private institutions of higher
learning has amplified the separateness. Students at
these institutions are often from one race or another,
never a good mixture of races.
24. The NEP designed to reduce the imbalances in
economic development between the races has achieved
minimal success not from want of effort on the part of
the Government, but from a tendency to seek the easy
way on the part of the Bumiputeras. They have become
almost totally dependent on the Government. Sino-Malay
joint ventures exist but many are still Ali Baba in
nature. Bumiputera contractors depend exclusively on
Government contracts. Remove these and they will
mostly collapse. Harassed by accusations of cronyism,
the Government is tempted to abandon the NEP. But the
future generation will have to make this decision.
25. Despite the attempts by the Government Party to
reduce racial politics by coalition of race-based
parties and government by consensus, the racist appeal
of the opposition has retarded the progress towards
integration. Failure to respond to racial appeals may
cause the ruling parties to lose their support.
26. Then there is this so-called demand for an Islamic
State. Actually Malaysia is already an Islamic state
because the official religion is Islam and the titular
heads are all Muslims . And Muslims can practise their
religion without hindrance. In fact they are assisted
in every way by the Government. But an Islamic State
permits the practice of other religions and so the
Malaysian constitution defends the rights of non-
Muslims to their religion.
27. All these have been agreed to by the leaders of
all races and religions at the time of independence.
No one should question the status of race or religion,
language or culture of Malaysia. But these quarters
insist that Malaysia is not an Islamic state and it is
their intention to make it an Islamic State according
to their own interpretation.
28. This in itself is a non-starter for the large
number of non-Muslims would ensure through the
democratic process that the proponents of this so-
called Islamic State would never win and translate
their threat into action. But precisely because they
are not likely to achieve their goal through democratic
process, they have encouraged the achievement of this
goal by other means--namely by violence.
29. Their younger followers, impatient and naive
perhaps have already made two attempts to seize power
by force of arms. The Al Maunah and the Militant group
plotted to seize power believing that when they launch
their attacks the people will rise to support them.
30. They are mistaken of course. The majority of Malay
Muslims, are not so enamoured with their kind of
Islamic State, nor are they keen on a religious
rebellion against the Government. But fanatics are not
likely to be deterred by their own naivet.. They will
try again.
31. Despite all these travails Malaysia has managed to
make tremendous development and progress. At
independence the per capita income was less than 300 US
Dollars, the population only five million, the economy
totally dependent on rubber and tin. The roads were
poor, electricity and water supply available only in
the bigger towns. There was no manufacturing industry
to speak of and unemployment was high, as was the level
of poverty.
32. Today the per capita income is 10 times higher at
almost 4000 US Dollars, the population has grown to 24
million and there is full employment. Expressways,
frequently six laned criss-cross the country. Water
and electricity is supplied to all towns and 90 percent
of the rural area. Electric trains, LRT and motor
coaches provide transport to every corner of the
country.
33. Air travel is common and modern airports dotted
the country. Kuala Lumpur the capital is now a
vigorous metropolitan city. From a population of
300,000 at independence, we now have almost two million
people in the Wilayah and altogether about four million
people in the Klang Valley.
34. This is where we stand today. We are not without
serious problems, problems of national unity, of
imbalances between the races, of threats of extremism.
But we have also been able to maintain peace and
stability, to develop and progress and to contain
extremism .
35. We had adopted various strategies and policies,
some of which have worked but all of which have
defects. Perhaps the defects are in the policies and
the strategies themselves; perhaps they are due to
human failures. We definitely have a need to study
them closely, to identify their weaknesses and to make
adjustments where necessary. Perhaps we should just
drop some or all of these approaches to Malaysia's
major problems, but before we do so let us not be
carried away by the idea of change for the sake of
change.
36. Change is always disruptive and we have to be
careful not to fall into the trap of changing simply
because the failures are highlighted. Whenever
something is done many will be quick to point out the
failures and to condemn. But there is no perfect
alternative nor perfect solutions. The alternatives
and solutions themselves will soon be condemned as
implementation shows up their imperfections. Then the
whole process will have to be gone through again.
37. Reengineer by all means; shift the paradigms, and
entertain brilliant new ideas, but remember today's
much criticised ideas and policies were yesterday's
perfect ideas and solutions. By the same token the new
ideas of today will be the subject of much criticism
for their imperfections in the future.
38. A society regresses, stagnates or progresses
because of the culture of that society, the values that
society holds and practises. Most frequently it is not
the strategy or the policy that is at fault, it is the
society which fails to implement it successfully. It
fails because it does not have the right values and the
right attitudes. In such a case introducing new plans
and approaches is not going to do any good. They will
all fail again.
39. Vision 2020 will not be a success if only a
segment of the community achieve developed status, if
only a part of the country progresses. To be
meaningful all the people in every part of the country
must gain from the developed status of the country.
40. Because of this we cannot apply a uniform plan or
single strategy. We have to focus on the capacities of
the different segments in order to benefit from the
plan and the development.
41. Still a matter of concern is the seeming inability
of the Malays and the Bumiputera community to benefit
from the opportunities created for them. They tend to
abuse the opportunities and to be too dependent. They
like to seek the easy way out. And plans and policies
for their development are likely to fail. They are
likely to fail because they have the wrong set of
values, the wrong ethics and culture.
42. These have to be corrected. They can be
corrected, not overnight of course but over a
reasonable period of time. They must be made to
realise the need to put in maximum effort. The recent
decision to admit students into the Government
universities based on merit is one such strategy. It
is not that they don't have the ability. It is just
that they do not try, thinking that the Government is
always there to look after them.
43. The 2020 Vision can be achieved but it is not
going to be easy. The people who are going to inherit
this country, the young people, must realise and
appreciate this responsibility and do their bit.
44. In history great empires have been set up which
eventually failed. If we care to study their failures,
we will find they are due to a loss of stamina, a
change in values and culture, and a lackadaisical
attitude of the succeeding generation. Life became too
easy and no more effort is put in to pressure and
sustain what had been built in the past. And so the
empires collapse.
45. The same things are happening to countries. The
moment complacency sets in then the process of decline
will follow.
46. We are encouraged that Malaysia's young people are
concerned enough to begin thinking about the future.
This is a good sign. And I am sure this is going to
result in the desire to achieve greater things than
those achieved by our forebears and ancestors.
47. With this I have pleasure in launching the Promuda
Series of Lectures.
Sumber : Pejabat Perdana Menteri
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