Malaysia, 1982

Sir, at the outset I wish to extend to you my

sincere felicitations on your unanimous ejection

as President of the General Assembly. Your

ejection bears testimony to the recog¬nition and

respect that you enjoy as a diplomat of

outstanding ability. Under your presidency, I am

con¬fident that the Assembly will be able to

complete its work successfully and with

distinction. Your election is also an added honor

to your country, with which Malaysia enjoys

friendly relations. In welcoming your election, I

wish also to pay a sincere tribute to Mr.

Kittani, the outgoing President, on the

outstanding manner in which he conducted the

thirty-sixth session of the General Assembly.

3. Since the General Assembly last met, the

interna¬tional situation has not improved. On the

contrary, it has deteriorated even further. The

world continues to remain in the grip of crises

of various kinds stemming from unresolved

political and military con¬flicts, economic

stagnation and recession, widespread poverty and

privation, and various inequities, all of which

seem to defy solution. Through all this there is

continued escalation of armaments, consuming

enormous funds and resources and threatening

mankind with destruction and possibly extinction.

The General Assembly, meeting against this

backdrop, must get the full backing of the

Members so as to reassert the authority of the

United Nations and play a truly effective role.

4. As we look around us, we have to admit

that this time international law and order has

truly broken down. Might is now the only thing

that is right. Weak coun¬tries like Afghanistan,

Kampuchea and Lebanon are trodden upon by this

boots of invading armies as the rest of the world

stands by. The economies of the poor nations are

wrecked by recession resulting from man-made

policies in the powerful commercial and financial

centers of the world. The pleas of the poor are

but secondary subjects for discussion by the rich

as they meet to plan their own world in places

like Cancun and Versailles. And in Lebanon,

thousands of Palestinians are murdered in the

name of security for the Israelis and their

cohorts.

5. There was a time when the United Nations

sent a multinational force to stop an invasion

and it did in fact succeed. But now it is

helpless. Resolution after resolution is adopted

by the various United Nations committees, but the

invasions, the atrocities and the economic

bullying go on. The credibility of the United

Nations is indeed at its lowest ebb, and we who

are weak and small live in real fear—fear for our

independence, our well-being and even our lives.

6. The need to restore faith in the United

Nations is very pressing. The United Nations must

regain its credibility. I should like to say that

countries like Malaysia must help to restore the

trust and confidence of the international

community in the Organization's ability to play a

constructive role in resolving problems and

crises and in maintaining world peace and

stability, but that would be pure rhetoric. What

is needed is the full backing of the powerful

nations. They must revitalize the Organization

which they created. They must breathe life into

it by abiding by its decisions and lending it

their weight.

7. In South-East Asia, the Kampuchean

problem continues to pose a threat to peace and

security. Three times the General Assembly has

called for the total withdrawal of foreign forces

and the exercise of self- determination by the

Kampuchean people. The International Conference

on Kampuchea laid down the principles for a

political settlement of the problem. But again

those who are in a position to help achieve this

political settlement have shown little concern

for the accepted norms of international practice.

8. The foreign military invasion and

continued occupation of Kampuchea is a crime

against the Kampuchean people and a threat to

regional peace and security. It has brought in

its wake big-Power rivalry into a region where

five peace-loving nations have agreed to a

concept of a zone of peace, freedom and

neutrality. Members of the Association of South

East Asian Nations find in the Kampuchean problem

an insurmountable obstacle to their cherished

dream of a conflict-free neutral area.

9. The world must give serious attention to

the situa¬tion in Kampuchea before big-Power

rivalry escalates into open confrontation, for

when this happens, the United Nations will once

again be powerless to do anything. The Members of

the United Nations must act while there is still

time for them to do so. They must give their

stamp of approval to the valiant coalition that

has been formed.

10. In consonance with the efforts for a

peaceful settlement, Malaysia and ASEAN are

extremely gratified with the agreement reached

among the three resistance groups of Kampuchea to

join hands in the coalition in which His Highness

Prince Sihanouk has assumed the presidency of the

Government of Demo¬cratic Kampuchea. The

determination, wisdom and, above all abiding

sense of patriotism of the three leaders, in

standing together to restore freedom and honor to

their country, deserve our profound admiration.

Malaysia welcomes this development, as it is a

positive and important step towards the

attain¬ment of a political solution. Malaysia

feels honored for having been able on 22 June

1982 to act as host during the historic signing

of the declaration estab-lishing the coalition by

His Highness Prince Sihanouk, Mr. Son Sann and

Mr. Khieu Samphan. I am indeed happy about the

presence and participation at this session of His

High¬ness Prince Norodom Sihanouk, President of

Demo¬cratic Kampuchea and the beloved leader of

the Kampuchean people. I hope that the Assembly

will respond appropriately and positively to his

noble cause. We await with keen anticipation his

triumphant return to Kampuchea to restore the

freedom and inde¬pendence of that country and the

honor and dignity of the Kampuchean people.

11. In West Asia, the situation has also taken a

turn for the worse since the thirty-sixth session

of the General Assembly. Since the Palestinians

were evicted from their homeland, they have been

forced to move from one refuge to another

countless times. Their rights us a people are

still being denied. They are not even treated as

humans, as the brutal massacres in Lebanon amply

demonstrate.

12. We remember vividly the horrors of Belsen,

Dachau and other Nazi concentration camps of the

Second World War. We know of the sufferings of

the Jewish people then and the pogroms of

centuries past. We were appalled at those

atrocities. Nevertheless, nobody—not even a

people that has suffered as much as the Jews

have—has the right to inflict upon others the

horrors of Sabra and Shatila. The Palestinians

and the Lebanese were not responsible for Belsen

or Dachau. Has the international community lost

its conscience that it could stand aloof while

such horrors were perpetrated against the

helpless and the innocent? In order to assuage

the conscience of the anti-Semites, the land of

the Palestinians has already been taken away from

them to create a Jewish home-land. Must the

Palestinians now be butchered and driven from

refuge to refuge? Must they also be exterminated?

We understand the conscience which bothers the

people that were once cruel to the Jews. We

understand their need to make amends for their

past misdeeds. But are we going to condone

massacres because we or, rather, the powerful

nations of the world are unwilling to hurt the

feelings of the Jews? Some may think that the

massacres in the Sabra and Shatila camps will

satiate the Israelis and that they will go back

to their Israel. This can only be a wrong

assumption. Recent history has shown, and the

Israeli Prime Minister has admitted, that Israel

never really fought in self-defense. It attacks

at the slightest provocation—even imagined

provocation. The neighbors of Israel are going to

be under constant threat and again and again they

will be invaded, and atroc¬ities committed

against them. In the interest of Israeli

security, there will be no security for its

neighbors. Can we accept that only the security

of Israel is important and that its Arab

neighbors have no right to security?

13. Israel is a bully. If it were any bigger

or stronger, the world would not be safe. I

should therefore like to call upon the United

States, as the main supplier of weapons to

Israel, to reconsider its position. Those weapons

are for nothing less than murder. Apart from its

systematic and premeditated use of lethal and

sadistic weapons on occupied Palestine and Arab

territories, Israel continues to propagate the

myth of the non-existence of the Palestinian

people, thereby frustrating all peaceful efforts

to find adjust and enduring settlement of the

West Asian conflict. Indeed, the lesson we have

learned from the Israeli invasion of neighbouring

Lebanon and the destruction of Beirut is that, if

Israel is not stopped, the West Asia problem will

not only continue but also escalate until we are

all swallowed up in the conflagration. At this

point, I wish to pay homage to the valiant

Palestinian freedom fighters for their

outstanding qualities of fortitude, patriotism

and courage in the face of overwhelming odds in

their just struggle for their inalienable rights.

I also take this opportunity to salute Chairman

Yasser Arafat for his statesmanship, foresight

and courage in leaving Beirut in order to spare

the civilian population of that city continued

Israeli savagery. Unfortunately, the sacrifice

made by the Palestine Liberation Organization

[PLO] has been in vain.

14. Malaysia would also like to welcome the

initiative taken recently at Fez by the Arab

leaders at the Twelfth Arab Summit Conference,

which reflects the reasonableness of their stand

as much as their courage, statesmanship and,

above all, their reaffirmation of their

commitments to the Charter of the United Nations

and to regional and international peace and

security. This initiative presents to the

interna¬tional community a formula which will

enable the Palestinians to return to their homes

and freely exercise their God-given inalienable

rights in their own home¬land, Palestine. The

Israelis have of course rejected the proposal

outright. The world and the supporters of Israel

must prevail upon that habitually intransigent

country to return to sanity and the ways of

civilization.

15. In Afghanistan, too, we continue to

witness another example of the blatant use of

force. There, too, we continue to find the misery

and the travails of a people locked in an unequal

struggle to preserve their faith, national

identity and character, their sovereignty,

dignity and freedom.

16. Indeed, the situation within Afghanistan,

and that of the 3.5 million refugees forced into

exile in neigh¬bouring countries have given cause

for unprecedented anxiety, particularly for weak

and small nations of the world. To these nations,

the continuance of the Afghan nationalist

struggle is crucial. It is incumbent on the

international community to see that this struggle

succeeds.

17. We in Malaysia are fully committed to the

restora¬tion of the lawful rights of the Afghan

people, including their right to determine for

themselves their future, free from coercion, and

to the return of the Afghan refugees to their

homes in safety and with honor.

18. We support the efforts of the

Secretary-General in initiating indirect talks

with the parties concerned to find a political

solution consistent with the United Nations and

resolutions of the Organization of the Islamic

Conference on the Afghan problem.

19. It is disconcerting that the war between

Iraq and Iran continues to rage. The conflict has

gone on, far too long. It has taken a heavy toll

in lives lost, in property destroyed, in wounds

inflicted and in human misery. We must all

therefore apply ourselves earnestly to the task

of reconciling the two countries in the interests

of the peoples of those countries themselves and

those of the world at large. The fact is that

there can be neither victor nor vanquished in

this conflict.

20. Malaysia enjoys close and cordial

relations with both Iran and Iraq and we

therefore implore them to cease fighting and to

accept mediation and reconcilia¬tion so that an

honorable and enduring solution can be found.

21. My Government abhors South Africa's

inhuman policy of apartheid. It is a travesty of

justice and an affront to human dignity coupled

with the Pretoria regime's deliberate and

provocative armed incursions into neighbouring

States, constitutes a major cause of tension and

instability, not only in Africa, but throughout

the world. Malaysia will con¬tinue fully to

support the cause of the oppressed people of

South Africa in their struggle for equality,

justice and dignity, and against those who

champion human rights, or claim to do so, would

do better to condemn the Pretoria regime, and

treat it like the freak it is.

22. Another area of great concern to us is

the problem of drug abuse. The world community

has for a long time treated the drug problem as a

social problem akin to poverty, slavery, child

abuse and other social ills. In fact, drug

addiction is all those social ills rolled into

one. The youths afflicted with this problem are

mental slaves with deviant tendencies who are

per¬manently impoverished. The problem must be

tackled at its source, and this can be done only

if the United Nations acts positively. Failure to

arrest this spreading scourge will destroy whole

generations to come.

23. The age of empires and imperial Powers is

practically over, but the world has not as yet

become a better place for the previously

colonized. There are many reasons for this, and

among them is the banding together of the rich

nations in order to maintain eco¬nomic dominance,

which some say is actually a form of imperialism.

24. We in Malaysia are very much affected by

this. As a nation, we have tried to live within

the rules, formal and informal, which govern

economic relations between nations. We have even

refrained from nationalizing industries set up

during colonial days, which were engaged in

literally extracting wealth from our country for

foreigners who frequently do not even know where

Malaysia is, much less care for the well- being

of its people. But our patience and sense of fair

play are being taxed to the limit by the market

manipulations abroad which, in effect, reduce our

people to the status of underpaid laborers. As a

producer of primary commodities like tin, rubber

and palm oil, we are as much entitled to a fair

return on our outlay as any producer of

manufactured goods in the developed countries.

Producing these primary products is no longer

merely a question of having enough land or

minerals and cheap labour. These days, expensive

capital outlay is needed to explore, extract and

develop them, and also to do the required

research and development. The indications are

that these costs and the technology required will

increase steadily in the years to come. Thus,

money is needed, not merely for profits, but for

future development, for our own income and for

the needs of the world.

25. While the manufactured goods that we buy

are priced according to the costs of production

and marketing—plus, of course, a hefty profit—the

prices of primary products seem to bear no

relation to any of those costs. They are priced

according to the whims and fancies of a host of

people who have nothing to do with their

production. The various exchanges located in the

developed countries literally manipulate prices

in order to make a profit for the brokers, the

dealers, the speculators and others. These people

make money when the prices go up. They also make

money when the prices come down. Therefore, it

suits them to cause a "yo-yo" effect in commodity

prices. In addition, these exchanges are

exclusive clubs, where the producers are unable

to secure membership. The brokers and others who

trade on the exchanges are the same people who

make the rules, apply the rules and arbitrate. Is

it any wonder that whenever their profits are

threatened they change the rules so as not only

to save themselves, but to make a handsome profit

as well?

26. That is the situation in the tin and

rubber markets today. It has played havoc with my

country's eco¬nomy. We have tried to reduce price

fluctuations by having producer-consumer

agreements, but this is an arrangement that taxes

the producers when prices are down but which

benefits the consumers when price trends are

upwards. It is a case of "heads I win, tails you

lose".

27. As if all that were not enough, the

United States maintains a stockpile, ostensibly

for strategic —meaning security—reasons. We fully

support the needs of the United States for

strategic reserves, but the administration of

that reserve is clearly not influenced by

problems of strategy. The stockpile is merely a

rich nation's monopolistic weapon, used to

depress prices of commodities for the benefit of

the consumers.

28. Such is the fate of the producers of

primary commodities that they now have to sell

three to five times as much of their produce as

they did 20 years ago in order to buy the same

amount of manufactured goods from the developed

countries. In other words, the gap between rich

and poor has widened by 300 to 500 per cent in

the last 20 years or so.

29. Malaysia is trying to break the vicious

circle of the old commodity market system. We are

trying to set up a more suitable system which

will maintain reasonable prices while ensuring

adequate supplies of tin and rubber to the world.

To that end, we have tried to form a viable and

effective producers' asso¬ciation. There is no

intention to create a monopolistic situation. We

know full well that unreasonableness on our part

would result in reduced consumption and a switch

to substitutes. We hope that producer countries

everywhere will appreciate the need for this

strategy and participate in it.

30. Commodity prices today arc at their

lowest. We can blame the recession for that. But

what we regret is that this recession is

man-made. There is no shortage of supply, nor is

there a shortage of demand. Energy is plentiful

and the level of technology is unprece¬dented^

high. Yet suddenly, no one wants to buy what only

yesterday he could not get enough of. And those

who want to buy are without the necessary foreign

exchange. Indeed, many poor countries have

virtually to sell their souls in order merely to

survive.

31. As I have said, this world-wide

depression is man-made. It is made in the

powerful countries by short-sighted people.

Foremost among the decisions that led to the

diminution of world trade is the increase in

interest rates. The high cost of money has

reduced investments, shrunk inventories and

stifled new business initiatives. Thus a lot of

commodities are floating around unsold and

unsought, further depressing prices.

32. True, some people have waxed rich in this

depression, but the price is high in terms of

unem¬ployment, bankruptcies and misery for the

poor. The world's economy cannot go on like this

for long. There will be violence, riots and

revolutions; Governments will fall, and anarchy

will prevail. The longer the depression lasts,

the longer it will take to recover.

33. As this depression is man-made, man must

unmake it too. The first need is the lowering of

interest rates, even if it causes slightly higher

inflation. Secondly, the protectionism of the

rich nations must be reduced if not done away

with altogether. If this cannot be done, at least

the protectionist policy should be made more

discriminating. The developing nations should not

be subjected to any protectionist measures. This

should at least soften the impact of the

recession on them. The rich countries, too, would

benefit as the improved income of the poor would

enable them to buy more manufactured goods. The

world has suffered enough from this depression.

We need action now. We need the reversal of

policies that are so obviously wrong. We should

like to appeal to those people who wield so much

power to heed the needs of the world. Reverse the

policies you have made, and the world will

remember you as saviors.

34. The participating Members of the United

Nations must congratulate themselves on the

successful conclusion of the Third United Nations

Conference on the Law of the Sea. The days when

the rich nations of the world could take for

themselves what¬ever territory and resources they

had access to be over. Henceforth all the

unclaimed wealth of this earth must be regarded

as the common heritage of all the nations of this

planet. The seas and the sea-bed are undoubtedly

going to be the source of wealth for the future.

There is no reason why the minerals and other

resources now found on the exposed surfaces of

the planet will not be found in the sea-bed! The

problem is, of course, one of exploration and

extrac¬tion. The high cost and the sophisticated

technology required will be well beyond the

capacity of the poor nations. Unless they can

have a share as of right whenever this wealth is

extracted ^ the gap between them and the rich

nations going to widen even more. When finally

they do have the capacity, much of the readily

accessible wealth will have been exhausted. It is

to be hoped that, given the agreement on the law

of the sea, the poor nations will get their fair

share.

35. But there remain certain areas in the

world which are not covered by any international

agreement. According to present norms,

territories colonized by the old colonial Powers

must be decolonized—that is, they must be

returned to the natives or the original

inhabitants. United Nations concern on this issue

is reflected in the permanent Special Committee

on the Situation with regard to the

Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting

of Independence to Colonial Countries and

Peoples. However, there are still land areas

which have neither natives nor settlers. There is

therefore no one to inherit the land and to set

up viable governments should the claims of the

metropolitan Powers be given up. Because of this,

little attention has been paid to these areas.

36. It is now time that the United Nations

focused its attention on these areas, the largest

of which is the continent of Antarctica. A number

of countries have in the past sent expeditions

there which have not limited themselves to mere

scientific exploration but have gone on to claim

huge wedges of Antarctica for their countries.

Those countries are not depriving any natives of

their lands, and they are therefore not required

to decolonize. But the fact remains that those

uninhabited lands do not legally belong to the

dis¬coverers, just as the colonial territories do

not belong to the colonial Powers. Like the seas

and the sea-bed, those uninhabited lands belong

to the international community. The countries now

claiming them must give them up so that either

the United Nations can administer those lands or

the present occupants can act as trustees for the

nations of the world. At present the exploitation

of the resources of Antarctica is too costly and

the technology is not yet available, but no doubt

the day will come when Antarctica can provide the

world with food and other resources for its

development. It is only right that such

exploita¬tion should benefit the poor nations as

much as the rich.

37. Now that we have reached agreement on the

law of the sea the United Nations must convene a

meeting in order to define the problem of

uninhabited lands, whether claimed or unclaimed,

and to determine the rights of all nations to

those lands. We are aware of the Antarctic

Treaty,' concluded by a few nations, which

provides for their co-operation for scientific

research and prohibits non-peaceful activities.

While there is some merit in this Treaty, it is

nevertheless an agreement between a select group

of countries and does not reflect 6he true

feelings of the Members of the United Nations or

their just claims. A new international agreement

is required so that historical episodes are not

made into facts to substantiate claims.

38. As I said at the beginning, the world is

today beset by crises of various kinds. To

believe otherwise would be to ignore the

realities before us. It is imper¬ative that we

take cognizance of this fact and mobilize all our

efforts to overcome these crises. We can do this

if we choose to, or we can let the opportunity

slip by. Never before has human ingenuity in

science and technology reached such a level of

development as it has today. But we must use it

wisely,not in pursuit of sophisticated weaponry

for purposes of war; we must instead harness it

for peaceful and beneficial uses for the common

good.

39. It is an imperiled world in which we are

living, and we must put it right at all costs.

This could come about if nations were willing

effectively to implement past and future

resolutions of the United Nations and related

agencies, for this would not only help to restore

the international community's confidence in the

United Nations but also contribute to the

reso¬lution of the current conflicts and crises.

I urge all Members of the Organization to give

their fullest co¬operation and all support

towards this end so that international peace,

stability and security may be achieved.