Malaysia, 1997

Allow me at the outset, Sir,

to congratulate you on your election as President of the

fifty-second session of the General Assembly. We have no

doubt that under your able stewardship this session will

successfully address the many and complex issues

confronting the Assembly and the Organization.

May I take this opportunity to pay tribute to your

predecessor, Ambassador Razali Ismail, and to say how

proud we Malaysians are of the manner in which he guided

the work of the fifty-first session of the General Assembly.

Malaysia is honoured by the opportunity given him to serve

this Assembly and is deeply grateful for the support he

received from Member States, the Secretariat and other

members of the international community in the discharge of

his duties.

I would also like to acknowledge the tireless efforts of

the Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, who since

assuming office less than nine months ago has swiftly

begun to energize and revitalize this Organization through

his proposals for change and reform. We wish him every

success in these efforts, for which we extend our full

cooperation and support.

The general debate of this Assembly is the only truly

universal forum where leaders representing diverse

sovereign countries and their peoples are able to articulate

very freely their views, without fear or favour. Given the

monopoly of international information and communication

by vested interests, the value of this Assembly as a forum

for the free expression of differing views by leaders

representing the sovereign Member States cannot be

overstated. As an annual debate which serves the purpose

of bringing to the attention of the international community

the priority issues of concern to sovereign Member States,

it cannot be replaced.

Today, I am privileged to have the benefit of this

forum to share with Members the priority issues of concern

to Malaysia. Let me begin with a matter of immediate

concern to us and to a number of other Association of

South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries, which

experienced the severe effects of the turmoil in currency

and stock markets in recent weeks. Stock prices plunged

while our national currencies depreciated, exacting a heavy

toll on economic growth and development. The sequence of

events did not take place as a result of war, conflict, natural

disaster or mismanagement. It was precipitated by

currency speculators - indeed, manipulators - who, driven

by sheer greed, took advantage of the vulnerabilities of

developing economies, especially the fragility of their

nascent financial markets.

What happened in South-East Asia could, of course,

occur in other parts of the world which are increasingly

dependent on capital flows for economic growth. Such

rampant speculation or manipulation of hedge funds in the

currency and equity markets of developing countries, at

a time when they are still feeling their way in a world of

fierce global competition, would trigger off a defensive

reflex on the part of the affected countries, thereby

arousing anti-liberalization, which would be detrimental

to free trade.

In an interdependent world, the currency crisis in

South-East Asia warrants the prompt action of the

multilateral financial institutions, such as the World Bank

and the International Monetary Fund, and the developed

countries, which should assist the affected economies of

East Asia in overcoming the effects of this excessive

manipulation and in preventing its recurrence. Their

positive response in this regard is especially important in

order to maintain the developed countries’ continued

commitment to, and confidence in, globalization, on

which so much of international free trade depends.

Threats to the well-being of States take many forms

and can come from within as well as from outside. These

threats, including the notion of erosion of sovereignty,

have been facilitated by the advent of technology. The

Secretary-General alluded to this development in his

report on the work of this Organization, where he

recognized that the same technological means that foster

globalization and the transnational expansion of civil

society also provide the infrastructure for expanding

global networks of “uncivil society” - organized crime,

drug-traffickers, money-launderers and terrorists.

We live in a time when it has become fashionable,

in some quarters, to distinguish between the security of a

State and individual security, especially in the context of

developing regions of the world. The perception has been

created that the concept of security of the State is

somehow inimical to the rights of the individual in the

developing world, and this has been highlighted in the

context of human rights. The elevation of the importance

of human rights in the international agenda, a most

welcome development, has been exploited and politicized

for narrow self-serving interests and specific political

10

agendas. If our interest is to heap scorn and to indulge in

double standards, selectivity and mutual recrimination, the

noble cause of promoting the universal value of human

rights is bound to suffer. Blatant violations of human

rights — whether in Bosnia and Herzegovina, occupied

territories of the Arabs and Palestinians or in other parts of

the world — must be condemned and prevented, and not

have a blind eye turned to them, if the United Nations is to

play an effective role in promoting and protecting these

rights.

As we commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the

Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1998,

consideration needs to be given to a review of relevant

human rights documents and their applications. We must

rededicate ourselves to the need for a balanced approach to

all aspects of human rights — civil, political, social,

economic and cultural. Selective interpretation or

application of human rights will not only demean their

value but, more seriously, undermine the well-being of

individuals in parts of the world that are still engulfed by

age-old hatreds and animosities. We should reiterate our

recognition of cultural peculiarities, which is an inherent

and timeless characteristic of human society. We should

assert that there is no intrinsic contradiction between the

rights of the individual and those of the community.

Individual rights do not exist in a vacuum. Indeed,

individual and community rights are not mutually exclusive;

they thrive on the basis of a mutually reinforcing and

balanced relationship. As one reinforces the other, there

should be no artificial separation between the two by

stressing the importance of one at the expense of the other.

Malaysia welcomes the appointment of Mrs. Mary

Robinson, former President of Ireland, as the new High

Commissioner for Human Rights, and hopes that, together

with the United Nations Secretary-General, she will be able

to improve the United Nations human rights machinery and

role, including the depoliticization of human rights and the

timely and full implementation of the right to development.

The United Nations remains, as the Secretary-General

has put it,

“the only institution that has the breadth of mandate to

address the root causes of instability and conflict and

to pursue in a comprehensive and integrated manner

the wide array of economic, social and environmental

issues impinging on development.” (A/51/950, para.

128)

We must therefore be wary of those seeking to exploit

specific issues designed to marginalize the Organization.

More than 50 years after its creation, the pre-eminence of

the United Nations in multilateral issues can no longer be

taken for granted, despite its universal membership and

broad mandates dealing with all issues of peace, security,

disarmament and development.

The commitment of the United Nations to

development remains its most significant role. While the

Organization’s forays into peacekeeping make all the

headlines, it is its work in development, in terms of

resources generated and the changes made in peoples’

lives, that is most vital and meaningful to Member States.

It has become clear that while the eradication of poverty

and the enhancement of development are the

responsibilities of individual States, the United Nations

system has a key conceptual and promotional role to play.

The ultimate objective — to secure the development

of developing countries — remains the same. We need to

constantly re-examine the means by which to attain this

goal. The United Nations must strongly project the need

for higher levels of growth, accelerated development, and

equitable geographical distribution of growth. In this

context, we need to ensure that our approach to

development takes into account the economic, political

and technological realities of our time, especially the

increasing influence of the private sector.

Regrettably, resources made available for

development have declined substantially in recent years,

adversely affecting the various United Nations

programmes and agencies concerned. Culpability must

rest with those who had promised to assist but failed to

deliver. In the light of such a disappointing let-down, the

United Nations should explore the possibilities for closer

cooperation with other stakeholders, particularly the

corporate sectors.

With their vast resources, expertise, financial clout

and extensive global networking, those in the private

sector should be welcomed as partners to operationalize

certain aspects of sustainable development. They could,

for example, provide assistance on environmentally sound

technologies where Governments have left a void. The

United Nations should ensure that it involves the private

sector from all over the world. However, it must also

ensure that it will not be dominated by the interests of the

11

business community, by holding the corporate actors

accountable.

The United Nations must continue to be a democratic

institution, accountable to all its Members. Unfortunately,

this cornerstone of the Organization continues to be assailed

by those still bent on the quest for geopolitical dominance.

In an increasingly unipolar world it is imperative that the

United Nations preserve its independence or autonomy and

decide in the interests of all Member States, not just those

of a particular Member State or group of States.

The process of the democratization of the United

Nations is particularly important in the context of the

reform of the Organization, especially that of the Security

Council, which is long overdue. Malaysia supports an early

resolution of the issue. Ambassador Razali Ismail, in his

capacity as President of the fifty-first session of the General

Assembly and as Chairman of the high-level working group

on the reform and restructuring of the Security Council,

tried his best to move the process forward.

Concerted efforts must continue to be made to ensure

that, since the Council’s permanent members cannot be

abolished, its continued existence must reflect current

realities, in particular the significant role of the developing

countries in international affairs. At the same time, as a

matter of principle, there should be no discrimination or

differentiation between the old and the new permanent

members. If reform of the Council is to be truly

comprehensive and consistent with the spirit and realities of

our time, then we must seek to remove — or at least, as a

first step, restrict — the use of the veto power. Democracy

in the United Nations is a mockery if the voice of the

majority is rendered meaningless by the narrow interests of

a dominant few.

Malaysia believes that genuine global peace and

security and the survival of mankind can only be assured in

a world free of weapons of mass destruction. Therefore,

disarmament, particularly nuclear disarmament, remains a

foremost priority of the global community, and we urge the

Secretary-General to reaffirm his support —

notwithstanding his preoccupation with certain aspects of

proliferation issues, particularly small arms.

We are deeply concerned over the trend in some

quarters to ignore the need to stop vertical proliferation. We

urge the international community to expedite efforts to

achieve the total elimination of nuclear weapons, to be

formalized in a nuclear weapons convention. We hope that

the new and reconstituted Department of Disarmament and

Arms Regulation will place as high a priority on

disarmament as it does on proliferation of weapons and

arms regulation. For its part, like a number of other

regional groups, has positively contributed to the

disarmament process by bringing into force the South-

East Asia Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone, which still awaits

the support of the nuclear-weapon States.

While we stress the importance of non-proliferation,

real progress in disarmament will only be achieved by

addressing the issue in all its aspects. While nations that

aspire to become nuclear Powers should disavow their

intentions, the declared nuclear Powers, which are also

the world’s largest arms traders, should also embark on

the road towards general and complete disarmament. In

this regard, we laud the global initiative to ban landmines,

and call on the producers of these mines to help defray

demining and rehabilitation costs in the affected countries.

International peace and security continues to be

threatened by the deteriorating situation in the Middle

East following the waning of the peace initiative in the

Middle East. Mutual distrust has replaced the synergy for

peace as the modus operandi between Israel and the

Palestinian Authority. Malaysia supports the call for the

immediate resumption of peace talks and affirms its

support for the Palestinian people and their inalienable

right to self-determination.

We urge the international community to persuade or

pressure Israel to honour its part of the Oslo accords by

lifting the ban on Palestinian cities and towns, and to give

up its intention to build settlements in what are occupied

territories. We are further alarmed by Israel’s decision to

build a dam in the occupied Golan Heights. We view this

as a deliberate act of provocation and bad faith, and

question its sincerity in seeking genuine and enduring

peace with its Arab neighbours.

In the meantime, the international community should

continue to provide the necessary financial support to

ameliorate the plight of the Palestinians — for example,

through the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for

Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), to which

my Government has made its modest contribution over

the years, in addition to our own bilateral assistance to

Palestine. It is important that UNWRA be provided with

adequate resources to fully implement its programmes and

activities.

We remain seriously concerned over the situation in

Bosnia and Herzegovina. Obstacles continue to impede

12

the full implementation of the Dayton peace accord.

Further, mutual mistrust and animosity among the different

ethnic groups cast doubts over the future of the country. It

is our fear that the withdrawal of the international forces

from that country could trigger a new wave of violence and

bloodshed. This fear is real, particularly since indicted war

criminals, who should have been removed from the scene

long ago, are still at large and exercising power and

influence.

Malaysia believes that creating an environment of trust

and understanding among the peoples of Bosnia and

Herzegovina is a priority. The international community

should make efforts to promote goodwill among the

Bosnians and encourage them to live in peace and harmony.

One such initiative could take the form of informal round-

table conferences, participated in by Bosnians of all ethnic

origins, representing the different sectors of society and

professions, including academia, and participants from other

countries, to discuss all issues of ethnic relations with the

view to enhancing understanding and cooperation among

them.

It is my hope that from this effort will emerge a

sizeable group of leaders from various professions, acting

as catalysts for the promotion of goodwill and cooperation

among the ethnic groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Malaysia is prepared to work with like-minded countries to

help realize this idea. We have to ensure that peace and

stability endure in Bosnia and Herzegovina and that we

contribute in the efforts towards its early reconstruction. At

the same time, we must all work to bring justice back to

the Balkan region by ensuring that just retribution is meted

out to those who participated in some of the worst atrocities

of this century.

As we approach the twenty-first century, our energies

and preoccupation must centre on building and

strengthening peace and prosperity. Peace and security are

two sides of the same coin: peace nurtures prosperity, while

prosperity reinforces peace. Peace at the national level is

sustained through democracy, good governance and close

collaboration between the different segments of society.

Malaysia, a multiracial and multi-religious society,

which less than a month ago observed its fortieth

anniversary, has been blessed with peace and prosperity.

While this may partly be due to fortuitous circumstances,

a lot of it has to do with an effective leadership and a

people determined to improve their lot. It is fortunate that

we have been able to rule the country by the process of the

ballot and not the bullet, with regular free and fair elections

and with the different races accommodating and sharing

power on the basis of democratic principles.

By engendering social and racial harmony based on

a political compact, we have been spared many of the

traumas experienced by less fortunate countries and we

were thus able to achieve our development goals in

relative peace and tranquillity. I am happy to say that we

have been able to share some of our experience in nation-

building with a number of our friends in the developing

world.

In spite of the many criticisms levelled at the United

Nations — some of them not entirely justified — this

much maligned Organization of ours has remained

steadfast in its mission to serve the international

community, even as its resources have been dwindling in

recent years. Clearly, in an ever-changing world that is

growing more complex and increasingly unipolar, the

United Nations has served as a pillar of international

order. Serving as the collective conscience of humanity

and the arbiter of its conflicts, the Organization, despite

its deficiencies, has functioned as an indispensable norm-

making and institution-creating instrument of international

relations.

In my view the process of United Nations bashing

has gone on far too long. While the introspection that

followed was inevitable and has had a sobering effect on

the Organization, it is time for us to pick up the pieces

and allow the Organization to get on with its mission. For

this purpose, the Secretary-General has put forward a

comprehensive package of reform proposals for which he

must be given a lot of credit. Obviously, such a wide-

ranging package by its very nature cannot please every

one of the 185 Members of the Organization. The

Secretary-General has attempted to put together proposals

and strategies that are intended to secure the broadest

support from Member States predicated on a slate of

shared common goals.

Malaysia is supportive of the general thrusts of the

Secretary-General’s package of reform proposals. Many

of the highlights of these proposals are indeed interesting

and deserve our serious consideration. We support the

Cabinet-style management approach that the Secretary-

General is introducing, revolving around the Senior

Management Group, as well as his proposal to create the

post of Deputy Secretary-General. We hope that the

Deputy Secretary-General will not only assist an already

overburdened Secretary-General in the management of the

Secretariat, but would also have substantive responsibility

13

in overseeing the core area of development which is dear to

the hearts of developing countries.

Malaysia also welcomes the measures being taken to

increase and improve coordination between United Nations

Headquarters and its field operations. We also support the

rationalization of the work of the Organization involving

the reconstitution or amalgamation of the various

departments aimed at consolidating and integrating their

work so as to enhance their effectiveness and efficiency.

We trust that in carrying out the reorganization exercise, the

Secretary-General will be guided by the need to ensure that

the changes will benefit all of the Member States,

particularly those in the developing world.

My delegation will take an active part in the detailed

discussion of the Secretary-General’s reform proposals in

any format that will be agreed upon by Member States

which will facilitate their implementation at an early date.

In carrying out these reforms, however, we should not lose

sight of the importance of the financial health of the

Organization, which has been highlighted by the Secretary-

General himself. The proposed revolving credit fund is a

welcome measure insofar as it provides financial solvency

in the short term. But it is unfair and unethical that the rest

of the world is held to ransom by the few who disregard

international treaties and agreements and Charter provisions

for the sake of their narrow national interests. We join the

Secretary-General in urging Member States to work towards

the speedy resolution of the financial crisis of the United

Nations by fulfilling their financial obligations towards the

Organization.