Oleh/By : DATO SERI DR MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD
Tempat/Venue : IMPERIAL HOTEL, JAPAN
Tarikh/Date : 05/06/2003
Tajuk/Title : THE 9TH NIKKEI CONFERENCE ON
THE FUTURE OF ASIA
Versi : ENGLISH
Penyampai : PM
"Genesis of a New Asia Order"
Firstly I would like to thank the Nikkei
Conference organisers for the invitation to this 9th
Nikkei Conference. I hope I can do justice to this
very interesting subject, the "Genesis of a New Asia
Order". Asia is ripe for a rebirth, a renaissance.
It has been a long time in coming but the conditions
are right for a New Asian Order.
2. What in fact should a New Asian Order be like?
Should it be like the Europe of the post War Years when
bitter enemies embrace each other, slowly at first, but
more rapidly and more widely with the passage of time;
embrace each other to form what in fact is the United
States of Europe? Or should Asian countries ally
themselves with the powerful countries of the West
against potential Asian enemies? Or should they remain
separate, eyeing each other with distrust, ready to go
for each other's throats? Or could there be a fourth
or a fifth alternative? Should they form regional
alliances in order to compete with each other or
something else altogether?
3. Whatever may be the choice, the decision must be
taken by Asians and not by anyone else. It is no doubt
in the interest of Asia that a reborn Asia should help
in the shaping of the International Community and the
shape of the world. A foreign i.e. European
International Order without Asian inputs can never
really serve Asia.
4. Asia is not homogenous as Europe is homogenous.
Asians are as different from each as they are from
Europeans or Africans. And of course the difference
goes deeper than just ethnicity or skin colour.
Culturally they are different and culture in fact is
what distinguishes one race from another.
5. These differences make it difficult for Asians to
cooperate - even if their interests coincide. Right
now Asians are faced with European domination - all
Asians are. But they are ambivalent about it. Some
may want to assert themselves while others see no harm
in being regarded as irrelevant as long as they survive
and thrive. Yet surely all Asians must realise that
unless they contribute to a New World Order it is
likely to disadvantage them in the long run. And a
disadvantaged Asia is not the kind of New Asia that any
Asian would like to see.
6. If there is anything about Europe that Asians must
emulate, it is the willingness to forget and forgive.
Asians are still bugged by their past quarrels and
wars, the atrocities and the shame of foreign rule.
And because of this they find it exceedingly difficult
to cooperate for the common good.
7. In this atmosphere a united Asia is unthinkable.
Asians must therefore learn to look ahead more and
more, and overlook the baggage of the past. If Asians
cannot do this then there can be only Old Asia and no
New Asia. And Old Asia has shown it cannot handle the
ideological dominance of Europe.
8. There are things like the International Financial
Order, the International Economic Order, the
International Political Order which require a common
stand by Asian countries. It is not a question of
rejecting all of these, of all that comes from the
West. But surely all these regimes can benefit from
the experience, support and critical inputs of the
Asians.
9. Let us take the International Financial Regime.
It had led to the destruction and impoverishment of
almost the whole of the most rapidly growing part of
Asia. It has done Asia a whole a lot of harm. And
obviously it can do Asia more harm in the future.
10. But Asia seems paralysed and is quite unable to
put up a common stand on the need to revise and to
change this very damaging regime. It is not going to
cost Asian countries anything really. We know that
prior to the Internationalisation of Economic regimes
we had all grown very fast by comparison to other
continents and other regions. We do not need the kind
of abuses the present financial regime are open to.
The currency traders contributed nothing to our well-
being. Why should we not insist on the revision of
this unhealthy regime?
11. But we have not said anything together about this
depredation of the currency traders. We support the
system which enrich a few people at the expense of
whole countries and regions. Currency trading which is
nothing more than the manipulation of currencies by
people who do not own a single cent of the currency
involved is by default supported by Asians. Five years
on, companies, industries and nations are still
struggling to recover. And many will go under. Still
we Asians have said nothing.
12. The only way the International Financial Regime
will change is when the Europeans are attacked and
bankrupted by the same currency traders. And when this
happens the new regime will again be European, and will
not be in the interest of Asians.
13. Yet Asians cannot but have ideas on how the
International Financial system or other international
systems should be structured. Obviously if the ideas
are ours then our concerns and interests will be taken
care of.
14. There was a time in the late 20th century when we
were talking about the 21st Century being an Asian
Century. I had disagreed because I believed that the
future is not for any continent in the world but for
the whole world. We could even then feel the world
shrinking into a global village. And in a village it
is not possible to divide areas and people and to have
one part of the village better developed than the rest.
It is just too small.
15. Globalisation is of course about the inevitability
of the continents of the world, the countries of the
world becoming immediate neighbours of each other.
Asia really cannot develop isolated from the rest of
the world.
16. But even among members of a village community,
some can contribute more than others. But the
contribution must be for the common good. Or there
would never be peace and stability in the village.
17. We now know that the 21st century is presently not
an Asian century. Asians watch as the assertive
nations of the West impose their will on Asia, and the
world. And the world has become so destablised by the
European nations that it is going to be very difficult
to recover and it will never be able to go back to the
prosperity of the great years immediately after the
Second World War.
18. In a global village Asia cannot really regenerate
in isolation, oblivious to what is happening in the
rest of the world. We have seen this and we are seeing
more now. The attack on the World Trade Centre in New
York is physically not an Asian affair. But we know
that we are all involved now. We have to fight terror
because terrorism affects us, politically, economically
and socially.
19. The subsequent actions taken have affected us even
more. But we have had no part in the planning and the
strategy or the fight against terrorism. We are merely
being instructed to do things and even forced into
participating without our ideas being taken into
consideration.
20. It is not right that we should be dragged into the
fight against terrorism without being given a say in
the planning and execution of the strategies adopted.
It cannot be that Asians are without ideas on how the
fight should be waged. They may not be the best ideas
but even bad ideas need to be given a hearing if only
to prove that they are bad.
21. But what about Asia itself. We may not be able to
unite the way Europe unites but there must be something
we in Asia can do for ourselves, and for the world.
22. There is extreme disparity in the development of
Asian countries. While a few are developed or very
nearly developed many are very poorly developed. This
lack of development is mainly due to the difficulties
in governing the countries.
23. We are now being exhorted to become democratic.
It is believed that only a democratic system of
Government can deliver. Actually systems only work if
the people working it understand its workings.
24. We know that the West took 200 years to make
democracy work. Their initial democracies can hardly
be called democracies today. The practice was very
limited to landed property owners. It was only
gradually that the majority of the people were given
the vote. Women only got their rights to vote in the
middle of the last century.
25. The liberal democracy that we see in the West
today had evolved over many decades. The people and
their political leaders gradually learnt the
intricacies and the weaknesses of the system and were
able to appreciate the limits of the political freedom
that democracies confer on them.
26. Countries in Asia and other parts of the world
which had never known democracy need not go through the
same evolution of 200 years. But neither should they
adopt the democratic system overnight. When forced to
do so they will become disoriented and become anarchic
rather than democratic. In the turmoil caused by this
sudden change their country would be destroyed. There
would be no economic development, social or political
stability.
27. There is a na.ve belief and even insistence that
the destruction of a country because of democracy is
better than the stability and prosperity resulting from
a non-democratic system. And so today war and
conquests are considered legitimate if it is to force a
country to adopt a democratic system of Government.
28. We seem to have gone overboard with democracy.
There is obvious fanaticism not too different from the
religious fanaticism of old when wars to spread
religious were considered right. Today we condemn
those religious wars but we cannot condemn the
ideological democratic wars of today.
29. Undoubtedly democracy is the best form of
Government, but Asian countries should adopt it
gradually. The people must be allowed time to learn
and understand the limits of democratic freedom and
process. Democracy is for the good of the country. It
is unacceptable to destroy the country and kill the
people in order that democracy may be adopted.
30. Asia must device its own formula for governance.
If a country is unable to practise liberal democracy
then it should be allowed to be less liberal. The most
important thing about a democracy is the right to
change the Government through the ballot box.
Continuous disruption of public life through
demonstration, national strikes, media excesses and the
negation of the role of Government may enhance the
democratic ideology but they are not absolutely
essential to the democratic process.
31. The most important thing is that a country must be
stable and must grow economically. People must have a
good life. Every now and again the Government must
face the electorate and accept the decision of the
electorate.
32. Asians must help each other to develop an
acceptable form of Government. It may not be as
liberal as the Governments of the West but it would
still provide good governance in accordance with the
capability and need of the country. As people
prosper and are better educated and experienced, the
system would undergo evolutionary change and emerge as
equitable, fair and conducive to the development and
well being of the people and the country.
33. Asia needs also to devise its own financial and
economic institutions in keeping with its values and
needs. Asian countries are neither at the same stage
of development, nor do they have the same culture and
values.
34. A single currency is not for Asia for a very long
time to come. But a trading currency can be devised
which relates to the other trading currencies of the
world. Asian currencies should each have their own
exchange rate against the trading currency.
35. The rate of exchange should not be subjected to
market speculations. Should there be a need for an
Asian country to devalue or revalue its currency, the
Asian countries involved in the arrangement should
decide. As my knowledge about finances can be written
in the back of postage stamp, I will go no further.
36. An Asian trading group should also be aimed at.
But it must not be rigid. It should really be intended
to help the poor countries obtain reasonable prices for
their export, while paying equally reasonable prices
for their imports.
37. Physical communication in terms of roads,
railways, ports and airports never fail to stimulate
the growth of a country. To ensure that these are
constructed the best way is for these facilities to be
built on a Build, Operate and Transfer arrangements by
donor countries. After a given period it should be
handed over to the country concerned.
38. For land locked countries the most important
infrastructure is the railways. Just as ships are
designed to carry the enormous amount of fuel and
freight, the railway system should be similarly
designed. We know that in Europe huge trucks move huge
amounts of goods and food to every corner from every
corner. For Asia roads are too expensive. The rail
system is far better.
39. Our vision in Southeast Asia is to be able to send
heavy goods by rail from Singapore to Europe via
Kunming in China, Central Asia and on to the existing
railway system which links it to Europe. It will be an
alternative to sea transport and it can be faster.
40. Asians can do all these things. It will not be
easy of course, but it will not be impossible. Much
time will be needed but there is sufficient funds in
Asia for these to be implemented.
41. In a hundred years time the world will be more
multiracial. People are more mobile and borders cannot
stop them. Europe and America will have huge Asian
populations. And they will claim their rights. This
is inevitable.
42. But if Asia can grow and prosper, migration will
be slower and adjustment can be made without too much
disruption. As no country in the world will be single-
ethnic, the mixture of races in every country will
reduce the possibility of any one race dominating the
world.
43. Asia must be prepared for this change in the 21st
Century. The New Asian Order must be premised on this
change, this New World of multi-ethnic countries where
national loyalties will be tempered with a commitment
to internationalism. The New Asian Order must be a
part of a New World Order which is shaped by Asians
together with those of other continents in the world.
Sumber : Pejabat Perdana Menteri
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