Oleh/By : DATO SERI DR MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD
Tempat/Venue : DAVOS, SWITZERLAND
Tarikh/Date : 23/01/2003
Tajuk/Title : THE PLENARY SESSION ON "TRUST AND
GOVERNANCE FOR A NEW ERA"
Versi : ENGLISH
Penyampai : PM
The subject for today is "Trust and Governance for a
New Era".
2. In the world today there is no trust or little
trust and governance, world governance that is, is not
good. We have in fact made a mess of the world. Two
millenium of experience and mountains of knowledge have
not made us much more capable at managing our affairs
than stone age people.
3. We now live in fear, every one of us. We fear the
terrorists and the terrorists, their supporters or
alledged supporters fear us. We fear flying, we fear
traveling to certain countries, we fear night-clubs, we
fear letters, parcels and cargo containers, we fear
white powder, shoes, Muslims, pen knives, metal
cutlery, etc etc. They, the other side, fear
sanctions, starvation, shortage of medicine. They fear
military invasion, being bombed and rocketed, being
captured and detained.
4. People who are neutral, not involved, innocent -
they too live in fear. They are the collaterals. Just
as the Afghans and the Iraqi civilians are collaterals
the passengers on the hijacked planes and those people
working in the World Trade Towers are also collaterals.
5. Actually we are in the midst of the Third World
War, not the war against terrorists but the war between
terrorists and the peace loving anti-terrorists
alliance, the war between the Axis of Evil and Satan.
Both sides are convinced that they are right, that
theirs is the fight against evil. Evil and Satan must
be destroyed.
6. Frightened, the world is taking measures to secure
and defend at tremendous cost. But the main result is
not security or freedom from terror attacks. The main
result is to disrupt life, undermine investments and
business, and generally to adversely affect economic
growth world wide.
7. It is going to be a long war because hatred, anger,
bitterness rules our hearts. We both want revenge. We
both will retaliate. You kill our people, we will kill
your people. And so it will go on and on. Sanity has
deserted both sides.
8. The world has become small. It is said to be a
village. But we have not made much progress in the
management of our world despite its diminished size.
Just as in the stone age the man with the biggest club
rules, in our modern and sophisticated global village
the country with the biggest killing power rules.
9. When the Cold War ended we thought that the world
would see peace and prosperity. After all the people
who believe in peace and universal justice won. The
evil Empire has been overthrown.
10. But the loss of a counter balance has resulted in
the great exponent of justice and fair play to become
unbalanced. While the Communists were there the
Capitalists curbed their greed and avarice. They
showed a friendly face.
11. But now there is no more other side. The friendly
face of capitalism is not needed any more. Now
capitalists can do what they like and what they like is
simply to make more money for themselves.
12. Why is there a need for borders? Why should
countries protect their puny inefficient economies?
The world has become too small to be divided into
countries with different system of Governments and
laws. There should be just one global entity and one
system, the great democratic system and the freedom
that is supposed to go with it. If the new democracies
do not know how to manage the system, that is too bad.
Democracy is such a good system that everyone must
adopt it. It is blasphemy to say anything against
democracy. If you do, if you resist then you will be
considered a heretic and starved to death, or bombed
out of existence.
13. In a free world there must be competition. The
strongest and the most efficient will win. If you are
small and weak and inefficient it is best that you go.
In athletics it may be reasonable to have different
classes of competitors. But in the competition between
countries and corporations there should be no
categorisation or classification, nor should handicaps
be given. The biggest and the most efficient should be
allowed to dominate and take all. It is good for
everyone.
14. And so we see the great banks and corporations
merging and acquiring each other to ensure that the
tiny banks and businesses in the poor countries will
not stand a chance, will be swept aside.
15. Big is beautiful again. Big is good.
Unfortunately there is no guarantee that the big will
not cheat, will not fall, will not go bankrupt. But we
must not take notice of Enron, Global Crossing, Arthur
Anderson, United Airlines etc. They are the exceptions
which merely prove the rule.
16. Today the disparity between the rich countries and
the poor countries is greater than ever. The richest
countries have a per capita of more than of US$ 30,000,
the poorest US$ 300. Of the world's 6 billion people
one billion are underfed, underclothed and without a
roof over their heads. Many scrounge in rubbish heaps
for food, clothing and materials for their shelter.
17. In politics, the post Cold War world is no better.
The misfortunes of the weak are their problem. The
strong will dominate.
18. Socially we have not advanced either. We talk a
lot about the sanctity of human lives and human rights.
We are opposed to death penalties. But actually whole
populations have been sentenced to death and in many
instances the sentence has been carried out. When war
is declared against a country a death sentence is
passed on the people and when war is executed the
sentence is carried out. And still we talk glibly
about the sanctity of life.
19. The exploitation of the world by the greedy, the
double standards and the hypocrisy about human rights
and respect for human lives, the oppressions of the
weak by the strong, the disregard for human sufferings;
the expropriation of other peoples' land and the
expulsion of the people, all these have been aggravated
by the ending of the Cold War and the victory of the
righteous over the evil.
20. The worm finally turned. The weak have now hit
back in the only way they can. Groping for the enemy,
the strong hits out blindly in every direction, in
every part of the world. No one is free. Fear rules
the world.
21. With the onset of this third World War, the world
is in a state of turmoil. We now live in fear, even
the rich are not as prosperous any more, while the poor
are actually poorer.
22. We have not made such a good job managing this
Global Village of ours. There is no trust and no good
governance.
23. So how do we create trust and good governance in
the new era? I don't think it can be done by seeking
for a military defeat of the enemy and forcing them to
submit. The forces against the Axis of Evil are not
going to win because the target is wrong. All that can
happen if they are defeated is to create more anger and
a call for more revenge and retaliation by the people
who are incensed by the injustice they believe they are
experiencing.
24. On the other hand the other side are not going to
win either. The enemy is just too big and too powerful.
25. The only solution is through compromise. Trust
must be built. The initiation must come from the good
people. They must recognise that people do not tie
bombs to their bodies or crash their planes for the fun
of it. They must have a reason for it. We have to
remove the reasons. Out terrorising the terrorists
will not work. But removing the causes for terrorism
will.
26. Good governance is simple if we curb the greedy
and forget about self-regulating markets. Governments
are not yet anachronistic. They have a role to play.
27. We need a paradigm shift, we need a new mind-set
if we are going to put an end to this Third World War.
We need victory for both, a victory where both sides
will benefit.
28. The world is big enough and rich enough for
everyone. There is no need to take everything for
ourselves. A win-win solution is possible.
29. If we can overcome our anger and hatred, our
craving for revenge, our unlimited greed, we can manage
the world and achieve trust and eventually good
governance.
Sumber : Pejabat Perdana Menteri
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