In his article, The Clash Of Civilisations, Samuel P. Huntington says “World politics is entering a new phase and intellectuals have not hesitated to proliferate visions of what it will be the end of history, the return of traditional rivalries between nation states and the decline of the nation state from the conflicting pulls of tribalism and globalism, among others....... It is my hypothesis that the fundamental source of conflicts in this new world will not be primarily ideological or primarily economic. The great divisions among humankind and the dominating source of conflict will be cultural.”

In Malaysia, which is a multicultural, multi-religious and multiracial society, we have learnt to live with differences. We recognize the differences and take them as strength and not weaknesses. We learn to respect and tolerate with each other which is sine qua non to national unity and prosperity. We understand each other and thus able to cooperate for the development of Malaysia. The initial sceptism as to the future of this young nation when we achieved independence in 1957 was dispelled and the government policies were able to turn the nation from an agriculture society to this modern society with a USD3,500 per capita income and with an expected growth rate of 6% this year.

This conference is timely and appropriate under the many uncertainties in this world. We need more exchanges between nations and thereby promoting better understanding, respect and tolerance. With that, we can cooperate and tap on our strengths. We must embark on a “prosper thy neighbour” approach. There is no use for you to be rich and stable when your neighbour is poor and chaotic. The latter problem will have a spill-over effect. Conversely, if your neighbour is prosperous, it will benefit you as well.

Thus, we have to think about our neighbour in whatever policy to be implemented and not to affect them adversely. There is a need to strengthen multilateral cooperation and development in this borderless world. No one can live in isolation but this is no excuse for one country to impose its values on another country.

We are against hegemonies, be it cultural, political or economic. Each country must be allowed to evolve and develop in its own pace taking into account its status of development and social fabrics.

Of course, ultimately all the nations must implement the values enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights i.e. both the civil and political rights and economical, social and cultural rights. The only difference is that we will take a different route depending on the unique status of a country. This conference provides the venues and platform to expound our views and to exchange ideas, thereby promoting understanding and cooperation. Hopefully, we can fine-tune our policies and to have them supplemented subsequently.

The exchanges and cooperation with the ensuing development have been working very well in Asia and have turned the region safer particularly in East Asia. The few hotspots, particularly the Middle East must be doused. Multilateral arrangement will certainly help to alleviate the problem.

One sure way of achieving stability is to have development, both individually or as a nation state. A conducive political and social environment will guarantee development.

We look at the recent history of East Asia where liberal democracies are emerging triumphantly through development of their economic and social infrastructure. To achieve full political and civil rights, development in economic and social rights must be the prerequisite.