Oleh/By		:	DATO' SERI DR. MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD 
Tempat/Venue 	: 	HOTEL ISTANA, KUALA LUMPUR (K.L) 
Tarikh/Date 	: 	08/10/92 
Tajuk/Title  	: 	THE FIRST ASEAN CONGRESS : "ASEAN 
			- THE NEXT GENERATION : OLD WISDOMS 
			AND NEW DIRECTIONS" 



 
    I  am pleased and honoured to be given this opportunity
to deliver the keynote address for the First ASEAN  Congress
and to say "Selamat Datang" to all participants.
2.   As we meet here today to celebrate the 25th anniversary
of  ASEAN, we are reminded of the momentous event of 8th Au-
gust 1967 in Bangkok when  the  Foreign  Ministers  of  five
Southeast-Asian  countries  -  Tun  Razak  of Malaysia, Adam
Malek  of  Indonesia,  Narciso  Ramos  of  the  Philippines,
Rajaratnam  of  Singapore  and  Thanat  Khoman of Thailand -
signed the historic declaration to establish the Association
of Southeast Asian Nations.  It was an  act  of  conviction,
reconciliation  and ambition.  I am glad to see among us to-
day two of those distinguished leaders,  Tun  Thanat  Khoman
and  Mr.  Rajaratnam who launched the new enterprise, called
ASEAN, and the scions of three  others  who  similarly  per-
formed the historic task in 1967.
3.   Southeast  Asia  had  been a region in turmoil.  We had
had separate paths of historical development and we were  at
different  stages  of economic development.   Only one of us
had escaped the tyranny of imperialism.  The other four  had
three different colonial masters.  We had achieved our inde-
pendence  at different times and in different circumstances.
But because of our different colonial backgrounds,  even  as
free nations we each went our separate ways.
4.   We  did not have the slightest shred of neighbourliness
as Southeast Asian nations then.   Our  eyes  were  focussed
elsewhere.    We  had  little desire to even know each other
better.   Worse still, many of us  had  exchanged  not  only
harsh words but also hard bullets.  Amongst us there had not
only  been cold war and cold peace but also a hot confronta-
tion.
5.   "ASA", an "Association of  Southeast  Asia",  involving
three  of us, had been tried.  It had failed, wrecked on the
rocks  of  mutual  suspicion,   enmity   and   indifference.
"Maphilindo"  had  been tried.  It was stillborn, suffocated
by the same mutual suspicion, enmity and indifference.
6.   It was out of this crucible of conflict,  indifference,
even  contempt,  that there arose the conviction that it was
time to get to know each other better.  It was out  of  this
realisation  that  the  leaders  of Indonesia, Malaysia, the
Philippines, Singapore and Thailand made the  crucial  deci-
sion  to  undertake  a  historical act of regional reconcil-
iation.  A decision was made to turn  a  region  in  turmoil
into  an oasis of tranquility, peace and security; to trans-
form a region of strangers into a  society  of  friends;  to
turn  a  region  of poverty and under-development into a dy-
namic zone of prosperity and cooperation; and to take a  re-
gion  of  cold  peace  and  cold war and transform it into a
community of warm, comprehensive and cooperative engagement.
7.   The leaders of ASEAN realised the enormity and the dif-
ficulties of the task.   Our ambition was  tempered  by  the
knowledge that the journey would be long with many obstacles
along  the  way.   There was much diffidence, scepticism and
concern regarding the prospects for success.  Indeed, for  a
time  in the early days after the initial euphoria was over,
ASEAN was in limbo, neither quite dead nor quite alive.  The
enterprise appeared doomed.   Many believed that  ASEAN  too
would go the way of ASA and of MAPHILINDO.
8.   Yet   despite   the  sarcasm  of  the  detractors,  the
scepticism of the "realists" and the concerns of the  found-
ing  fathers, not only are we here to celebrate the 25th an-
niversary of  ASEAN  but  the  conviction  of  '67  and  the
ambition  of  a  quarter  century ago have proven justified.
The regional act of reconciliation has borne  a  harvest  of
bounty.   Without fear of contradiction, it can be said that
ASEAN  has  been  one  of  the  most   successful   regional
endeavours  in  the  post-war period, perhaps second only to
the European Community.
9.   The ASEAN Community of today is a  community  of  peace
and security, a zone of prosperity and cooperation, a group-
ing  of  independent  states with a justifiable reason to be
proud of its stability and economic prosperity.    It  is  a
concerted voice that  is  heard  and  often  heeded  by  the
international community.
10.  In  unity  we have found strength.  We have avoided the
corruption of powerlessness, the corrupting belief  that  we
are  merely the objects rather than the subjects of interna-
tional politics.  We have succeeded in being the key  actors
in  the  making of our collective and individual futures and
in the shaping of our region.  We have been spared the  psy-
chological  sense  of isolation.  By working together over a
quarter of a century we have created confidence, understand-
ing, security, goodwill and cooperation among us.   We  have
brought  peace  to our peoples and prosperity to our nations
-- to the point where even the Northeast Asian  dragons  and
the   rest   of   the   world   have   to   acknowledge  the
competitiveness of the ASEAN members.  We have succeeded  in
creating  an  "ASEAN  Spirit" and a sense of ASEAN community
among our peoples.  This, I believe, is the  secret  to  the
success of ASEAN.
11.  Reflection  on  the record of ASEAN and its role in the
past gives ample reason for celebration, and  for  honouring
the founding fathers and the many statesmen who nurtured and
developed ASEAN.  But it is also a time for a new commitment
to  the old wisdoms and a new commitment to new purposes and
directions.
12.  Let me briefly mention the old wisdom by  first  refer-
ring  to  the  five "Cs":   Consultation, Consensus, Caring,
Cornerstone, Consolidation.  The importance of  consultation
remains  undiminished.  ASEAN's world of the 1990s is vastly
different from our much simpler world of  the  1960s.    The
range of issues which we each have to address nationally and
internationally bears no comparison with our limited govern-
mental  agendas  of  25  years  ago.   Despite all the other
callings in a world of increasing complexity and  the  pres-
sures  on  our  time and resources, the closest consultation
between us on all the key issues cannot be neglected.
13.  The criticality of consensus remains central.   However
much  we  are  driven  by our various national missions, the
principle of decision-making by consensus and the effort  to
generate as much consensus between us as possible should not
be forgotten.
14.  The need for caring for the ASEAN interest, in addition
to  our  various  national interests, remains essential.  In
the final analysis caring for ASEAN  interest  will  benefit
the national interest of each and everyone of us.  Therefore
mutual  accommodation, a spirit of give and take and compro-
mise, remain as vital as ever.
15.  The need to ensure that ASEAN remains  the  cornerstone
of  all  our foreign policies is paramount.  We should guard
against complacency and against taking ASEAN and our  bilat-
eral relations for granted.
16.  On  this  and  all the other "Cs" the work of the ASEAN
partners is far from finished.  Much has to be done.    Thus
the  importance  of consolidation.   There should be renewed
commitment to consultation and to strenghtening the  present
ASEAN consensus.  There should be renewed commitment to car-
ing  for  each other's interests and feelings.  There should
be a renewed commitment to ensuring that ASEAN  remains  the
cornerstone  of  the  foreign  policies of all ASEAN states.
These should remain at the heart of the agenda for ASEAN all
the way to 2017.
17.  We should strive to strengthen the ASEAN Zone of Peace,
Freedom  and  Neutrality  (ZOPFAN)  which  is  so  close  to
realisation  today.  ZOPFAN should be broadened to encompass
all of Southeast Asia.  This was a core element of  the  vi-
sion  of our founding fathers.  It should remain a core ele-
ment of ASEAN's Agenda up to the year 2017 and beyond.
18.  We should also endeavour to turn Southeast Asia into  a
prosperous  region.   We must be prepared to comprehensively
engage all the countries of the region and eventually  admit
them  into  ASEAN.   We must act with the conviction and the
ambition our founding fathers summoned  when  they  acted  a
quarter  century ago.  The circumstances that confronted the
attempt to create ASEAN then were in many ways  more  diffi-
cult and problematic than the circumstances that prevail to-
day.    The  ideological and economic circumstances of today
are more conducive to the  creation  of  a  wider  Southeast
Asian Community.
19.  Peace and harmonious relations between us have been the
fundamental  bedrock  of ASEAN.  The time has come for us to
bring economics to the core of the ASEAN enterprise.   In  a
world  where international relations is overwhelmingly being
dictated by economic considerations, failure to have an  ef-
fective, meaningful and workable programme of economic coop-
eration that ensures a stake for all, will only make ASEAN a
toothless  tiger  rather  than an economic tiger that we all
aspire to be.  In this regard, it is a matter of great pride
to ASEAN that following modest achievements in economic  co-
operation over the past decade, ASEAN had recently made that
giant leap forward towards far-reaching economic cooperation
by  agreeing  to  the  Common  Effective Preferential Tariff
(CEPT) arrangement that would lead to the ASEAN  Free  Trade
Area  (AFTA)  within  15 years.   A bold decision requires a
firm commitment.  ASEAN must ensure that the CEPT  works  so
that  the  process of trade liberalisation will be completed
within 15 years, though it  is  Malaysia's  hope  that  AFTA
would be firmly in place sooner.
20.  If we appear to be in a hurry, it is only because ASEAN
has  little  lead time to prepare itself against the growing
challenges coming its way - challenges which,  if  not  suc-
cessfully met would threaten our economic well-being.
21.  We  already have a productive 'post-Ministerial Confer-
ence' system at the end  of  the  annual  ASEAN  Ministerial
Meeting.    We  should  develop the ASEAN Economic Ministers
Meeting in a similar direction, enriching  the  process  and
making it even more productive for our national and regional
interests.
22.  The other institutional and supportive mechanisms which
relate  to  ASEAN  economic  cooperation  could  be  further
strengthened.  A start has been made with the  strengthening
of  the  ASEAN Secretariat.  We should do more in areas such
as industrial joint ventures,  complementation,  reinforcing
our transport networks, cooperation in the field of tourism,
joint energy development projects, power grid and network of
gas  pipelines, strengthening monetary and financial cooper-
ation and much much more.
23.  As we seek to intensify our cooperation, we must at the
same time develop closer relations in all fields with  other
Southeast  Asia nations that are currently outside of ASEAN.
Such cooperation will not only assist them in their develop-
ment efforts but will also pave the way for  their  eventual
membership of ASEAN.  Malaysia hopes that the ASEAN six will
transform  into an ASEAN 10 that will include Vietnam, Laos,
Cambodia and Myanmar in not too distant a future.  Our  hope
rests  on  the  belief  that  only when all the countries of
Southeast Asia are joined together by a common sense of  vi-
sion  and purpose that ASEAN come to symbolise, can there be
mutual trust, peace and stability in  the  entire  Southeast
Asian region.
24.  Economically,  it  would  be  fair  to envisage that by
2017, at the end of ASEAN second generation, and on the  ba-
sis of our track record, there could be more than one devel-
oped  industrial  country  within ASEAN.   And there will be
several NIEs well set on the way  there.    Should  Vietnam,
Laos,  Cambodia and Myanmar all join ASEAN by then, there is
likely to be in place within the grouping  developed  indus-
trial  countries  -- NIEs and near-NIEs -- enjoying a common
prosperity, with reduced economic gaps.  This is a dream  we
must have and a dream towards which we should work.
25.  Clearly,  we  cannot  achieve many of the political and
economic elements of ASEAN's Agenda 2017 unless we also make
remarkable progress in fostering a greater ASEAN  conscious-
ness  at  all  levels, and in strengthening the cultural and
informational buttresses of  the  entire  ASEAN  enterprise.
Higher  levels  of cooperation require new levels of psycho-
logical integration and regional consciousness.  If we  can-
not achieve this, the entire process will be stalled.
26.  Over  the entire course of the next quarter century, we
will of course need to  continuously  strengthen  the  ASEAN
Concert of Nations.  Evidently, over the next 25 years, even
as  we  must expect increasing globalisation, we must expect
the consolidation of regional integration in  three  crucial
regional economies:
x    the  regional  economy of Western Europe, centring upon
     the European Community, which has already drawn in  the
     EFTA  countries  and  which  will  draw in the emergent
     economies of eastern Europe;
x    the regional economy of the North American  Free  Trade
     Area,  which  will draw in the economies of central and
     southern America;
x    the already highly integrated regional economy of  East
     Asia.  At the rates of growth achieved in the last dec-
     ade,  by  2017  East Asia will have a GNP substantially
     bigger than that of Western Europe.
27.  For all our sakes,  it  is  crucial  that  the  present
global  trading  system opens up, widens and deepens.  It is
crucial to ensure that all the integrating  regional  econo-
mies  become  processes for increasing open regionalism.  It
is important to the entire world to ensure that the economic
intercourse and linkages between these three regional econo-
mies also widen and deepen.  A Fortress Europe,  a  Fortress
America  and  a  Fortress East Asia will be calamitous to us
all.
28.  In this context it is imperative  that  ASEAN  plays  a
role  in  ensuring  an open global trading system, to ensure
that all the three regional economies will be the epitome of
open regionalism and to enrich the linkages  and  the  proc-
esses of interdependence between us all.
29.  ASEAN  will have to act with force and statesmanship to
strengthen our position within the East Asian regional econ-
omy while maintaining and even enhancing our  linkages  with
the  Western  European  bloc  and the NAFTA bloc.  If we are
successful, we will be making an important  contribution  to
an  open  global  economy,  to an open Western Europe and an
open NAFTA.
30.  The old world order that emerged after the Second World
War is dead.  A new world order is in the making.  If we sit
still and do nothing, it will be made  without  us.    ASEAN
must clearly and deliberately decide that this will not come
to pass.  The ASEAN Concert must resolve to act to make sure
that  the  new  world order that will emerge is not only new
but also better.  We must resolve to play a role in the mak-
ing of the new world order that is a comprehensive  improve-
ment,  characterised  by greater justice and anchored to the
principle of equality and mutual respect.  It must be a more
caring world order, wedded to the principle of  global  fra-
ternity,  and  the  democratic  participation of all states,
small and big.
31.  I was recently asked whether ASEAN is  today  superflu-
ous, whether it is any longer necessary.  Such is the extent
to which some have taken ASEAN for granted.
32.  In  Malaysia, we have a saying:  "Do not throw away the
stick once you have crossed the river".   ASEAN has  clearly
been an invaluable instrument to help us meet the challenges
that  have  confronted us over the last quarter century.  We
should be grateful to the stick that has helped us to  cross
the many rivers, to get to where we are today.  But ASEAN is
more than an institution to which we must bow in gratitude.
33.  As  I  have  suggested,  we have so many more rivers to
cross in the days ahead, so many challenges to meet, so many
threats to confront, so many opportunities to reap.  ASEAN's
agenda for its second generation is long and demanding.   It
is  the height of folly to take ASEAN for granted.  Instead,
now is the time to take ASEAN to a new plane, to take it  to
new  horizons  in the ASEAN Community, in Southeast Asia, in
East Asia, in the Pacific and in the world.   It  is  indeed
time  to  re-commit  ourselves to old wisdoms and to new di-
rections.
34.  On this note, ladies and gentlemen, it is  my  pleasure
to  formally open the First ASEAN Congress and wish you suc-
cess in your deliberations.