Monday, February 24, 2014
Sunday, February 23, 2014
Speech of Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad
Your Excellency, Mr. President, Your Holiness, Assalamaleikum, Let peace be with you,
Firstly, I would like to thank Mr. President and the Kazakhstani Government for an invitation to participate in this remarkable Congress. I'd also like to congratulate the Government of Kazakhstan for holding this Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions. It is very topical, because at present the world experiences much trouble and alarm. We witness the fact that, in some sense, it remains still primitive. It turns out to be primitive, as far as the world still believes that murder of people is the only way of resolving problems between peoples.
But the time has come to get rid of these ideas. In this case, I believe, namely religion may play its cruicial role.Unfortunately, in many parts of the world people began to refuse religion, as they lose their faith. But the time has come, when religious leaders should make efforts to remind people about their faith.
As only owing to religion, owing to belief in that relationships between people could be carried out by means of negotiations through arbitration and legal procedure in the court, we'll manage to put an end to murders, which happen at present all over the world. Namely due to this reason, I joyfully accepted the invitation to participate in this Congress, as there is a chance to know much, while taking part in debates, discussions, which will take place between different religious leaders, representing all world religions.
And I hope that these dialogues will result in more mutual understanding between peoples. Perhaps, we'll be able to hope that it will lead us to the resolution, which will put an end to conflicts, murders.
I'd like to congratulate President Nazarbayev and the Government of Kazakhstan for holding this Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions.
Thank you.
SOURCE :
http://www.religions-congress.org/
MAJLIS PERASMIAN EKSPO KEUSAHAWANAN PELAJAR
| Penyampai | : | DATO' SERI DR. MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD |
|---|---|---|
| Tajuk | : | MAJLIS PERASMIAN EKSPO KEUSAHAWANAN PELAJAR |
| Lokasi | : | CHANGKAT PAVILLION, KUALA LUMPUR |
| Tarikh | : | 07-12-1985 |
Yang Berhormat Dato' Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Menteri Pelajaran; Dif-Dif Kehormat; Tuan-tuan dan puan-puan, Saya bersyukur ke hadrat Allah Subhanahu Wataala dan berasa amat besar hati pada hari ini kerana dijemput untuk berucap dan merasmikan Ekspo Keusahawanan Pelajar '85.
Inilah kali yang pertama Ekspo seperti ini diadakan. Keusahawanan atau 'entrepreneurship' ialah satu perkara yang sangat saya minati kerana saya yakin sepenuhnya bahawa mutu kehidupan kita keseluruhannya bergantung kepada keupayaan kita dalam bidang perdagangan. Malahan Nabi besar kita Muhammad S.A.W. pernah bersabda, yang bermaksud; "sembilan per sepuluh daripada rezeki kita datangnya daripada perniagaan". 2. Bulan November yang lalu merupakan satu bulan yang penuh dengan kegiatan-kegiatan yang berhubung rapat dengan usahawan dan keusahawanan. Satu rombongan usahawan telah mengadakan lawatan ke Oman untuk membuka jalan bagi perdagangan dengan negara tersebut. Satu rombongan lagi telah bersama-sama dengan saya semasa saya membuat lawatan rasmi ke negara China. Satu Seminar Usahawan Bumiputera telah diadakan di Kuala Lumpur. Telefon buatan Malaysia telah juga dipamerkan di Pusat Perdagangan Dunia Putra. Sebuah syarikat tempatan telah melancarkan komputer pertama buatan Malaysia - Accent 2001. Hadiah Usahawan Malaysia 1985 dengan menamakan 10 Usahawan Negara yang terulung telah juga diadakan. Semuanya itu memberi harapan baik kepada Malaysia. Kita dapat meyakinkan diri sendiri bahawa ada orang-orang kita yang sanggup dan berani menjadi peneroka mencuba berbagai-bagai bidang untuk memajukan diri masing-masing dan negara seterusnya. 3. Pada hari ini pula kita berhadapan dengan satu lagi kegiatan usahawan; cuma pada kali ini kita berhadapan dengan pelajar-pelajar sekolah. Namun begitu usaha-usaha yang telah dijalankan bagi mengadakan Ekspo selama tiga hari ini seharusnya mendapat sokongan dan sanjungan daripada kita semua. Saya difahamkan Kementerian Pelajaran telah berusaha sedaya upaya supaya Ekspo ini tidak merupakan satu lagi temasya 'food and funfair' yang selalu kita saksikan di sekolah-sekolah, ataupun tidak merupakan satu lagi Pekan Air Hitam di Johor, atau satu lagi Pekan Rabu di Kedah. 4. Semua kegiatan yang terlibat; dari persiapan awal merangka kertas kerja, membawa kepada persiapan gerai dan kegiatan jualan, saya percaya akan memberi satu pengalaman yang amat berkesan kepada pelajar-pelajar yang mengambil bahagian. Saya berharap daripada kumpulan ini, dan daripada kumpulan-kumpulan yang akan mengadakan Ekspo di peringkat negeri di seluruh negara akan lahirlah satu barisan usahawan yang sanggup menghadapi cabaran-cabaran pada masa yang akan datang kelak. 5. Di sini ingin saya jelaskan sedikit makna usahawan, kerana nampaknya ramai yang terkeliru antara usahawan dengan 'entrepreneur' yang boleh ditafsir sebagai peneroka dalam bidang perniagaan atau industri. Usahawan sebenarnya bermakna 'industrialist', seorang yang melibatkan dirinya dengan perusahaan termasuk pembuatan barang. Keusahawanan pula ditafsir sebagai 'entrepreneurship' yang bermakna kebolehan memula atau mencuba sesuatu perniagaan atau perusahaan. Memandang kepada kekeliruan ini maka eluklah jika dalam konteks Ekspo ini kita tentukan maksud Keusahawanan. 6. Tafsiran yang perlu kita tentukan ialah Keusahawanan bermakna 'entrepreneurship' atau kegiatan meneroka sesuatu perniagaan, sama ada berbentuk perdagangan atau pembuatan barang. Daripada tafsiran ini maka seseorang yang memulakan perniagaan yang berbentuk penerokaan adalah juga usahawan, walaupun dalam konteks lain usahawan diberi makna 'industri- alist' iaitu seorang yang mengambil bahagian dalam industri. 7. Pentingnya unsur penerokaan dalam kegiatan keusahawanan atau 'entrepreneurship' ialah seorang entrepreneur bukan sahaja berniaga tetapi ia meneroka satu jenis atau cara perniagaan yang agak baru. Umpamanya membuka kedai makan adalah perkara biasa. Tetapi mengadakan rantaian kedai makan secara 'franchise' dengan jenis makanan yang tetap adalah satu cara baru di Malaysia. Begitu juga khidmat hantar bungkusan biasanya dibuat oleh pejabat pos. Oleh kerana khidmat ini tidak memuaskan, maka ada entrepreneur yang memasuki bidang ini dengan khidmat yang lebih cepat dan terjamin. Sebuah syarikat di Jepun umpamanya berjanji akan membayar balik bayaran yang dikenakan jika bungkusan sampai satu minit lewat daripada yang dijanjikan. Ada peniaga yang memberi khidmat 24 jam sedangkan biasanya khidmat itu adalah pada waktu siang sahaja. Dahulu hotel diurus oleh tuan punyanya. Tetapi sekarang wujud peniaga yang bercadang untuk mengurus dengan baik hotel kepunyaan orang lain. Dalam bidang pembuatan, ramai entrepreneur yang mengeluarkan barang yang tidak pernah dipasarkan dahulu, atau menggunakan cara baru seperti Ford dengan sistem 'mass production' dan lain-lain lagi. 8. Jelaslah bahawa entrepreneur adalah berbeza sedikit daripada peniaga biasa. Di Malaysia entrepreneur tidak begitu ramai kerana amalan di negara kita ialah jika seorang menjual buku, maka semua akan jual buku; jika seorang jual burger, semua jual burger, jika seorang buka bengkel memperbaiki kereta, semua akan membuka bengkel memperbaiki kereta. Tidak siapa yang memikir untuk menjual buku cara baru, atau menjual burger cara baru, atau mengadakan bengkel jenis baru. Kesan daripada kesesakan dalam satu-satu bidang perniagaan ialah semua peniaga tidak mendapat pelanggan yang cukup. 9. Di kalangan bumiputera di negara kita terdapat cuma beberapa jenis perniagaan sahaja. Sebaliknya kita tahu bahawa ada beribu-ribu jenis perniagaan. Ini berlaku kerana kurang terdapat entrepreneur di Malaysia. Yang ada ialah peniaga biasa sahaja. 10. Perniagaan mempunyai seribu satu liku dan butiran yang semuanya memerlukan pengenalan dan kajian. Seorang entrepreneur bukan sahaja akan mengenali butiran-butiran dengan mendalam tetapi akan dapat mengguna pengetahuan ini untuk memperbaiki lagi pencapaian perniagaannya. Dengan perkataan lain seorang entrepreneur akan dapat meningkatkan kecekapan perniagaannya, supaya ia dapat bersaing dengan peniaga lain dengan lebih berjaya. Sebab itu syarikat yang lemah boleh berjaya selepas pengurusannya bertukar tangan. Sebaliknya syarikat yang baik dan untung, jika pengurusannya diambil-alih oleh seorang yang bukan entrepreneur, akan gagal. 11. Seorang entrepreneur akan tahu kesan rancangan jangka panjang dan nilai-nilai yang baik yang diamalkan olehnya. Tidak ada seorang entrepreneur yang lokek, penipu dan tidak beramanah. Peniaga boleh menipu dalam jangka yang pendek tetapi tidak lama selepas itu ia akan dikenali dan nasib yang buruk akan menimpanya. 12. Daripada beberapa perkara yang telah saya sebutkan jelaslah entrepreneur bukanlah peniaga biasa. Ia adalah peniaga istimewa yang mempunyai kebolehan dan sifat-sifat yang baik, yang cekap dan rajin. Seorang peniaga atau pengusaha tidak semestinya menjadi entrepreneur. 13. Hanya dengan mengetahui bagaimana membuat sesuatu barang belum tentu akan menjadikan sesaorang itu pengusaha, jauh sekali menjadi entrepreneur. Barang boleh dibuat dan dijual dan laris pula jualannya. Tetapi belum tentu ada untung. Belum tentu perniagaan akan membesar dan berkembang maju. Lebih mungkin ialah dengan bertambahnya keluaran, bertambah pula hutang, akhirnya mungkin bertambah rugi. 14. Seorang pengusaha perlu tahu bagaimana cara hendak mengurangkan kos ke tahap yang maksima. Tetapi pengurangan ini mesti ditentukan kepada bidang-bidang yang tidak akan menjejaskan mutu dan daya penarik barangan yang dikeluarkan. Jika pengurangan kos dibuat melalui penurunan kualiti bahan, atau jenis bekas, atau iklan akibatnya mungkin penjualan tidak akan laris. Pengusaha tempatan kerap kali mencari jalan ini untuk mengurangkan kos. Sebaliknya barang buatan luar negeri menekankan kualiti bungkusan dan iklan yang amat menarik. Pengurangan kos oleh pengusaha luar negeri ialah melalui peningkatan produktivitinya. Kita tidak dapat berbuat demikian kerana kita suka berniaga bersendirian dengan syarikat kecil yang kurang modal. Berpuluh-puluh syarikat kecil mengeluarkan cili sos di Malaysia sedangkan adalah lebih baik kita ada satu dua sahaja yang besar yang cukup modal dan dapat mengurangkan kos melalui 'economies of scale'. Tuan-tuan dan Puan-puan, 15. Satu lagi perkara yang perlu dititik-beratkan ialah peranan pelajaran berniaga. Ramai yang berpendapat bahawa berniaga tidak perlu dipelajari. Siapapun boleh berniaga. Ramai daripada millionaire di Malaysia tidak belajar berniaga, bahkan tidak ada pelajaran tersebut. Memang benar bahawa ramai juga ahli perniagaan yang tidak belajar berniaga secara formal. Tetapi ini tidak bermakna bahawa semua peniaga tidak perlu belajar berniaga. Dalam keadaan ekonomi masyarakat moden yang begitu kompleks pengurusan tidak lagi mudah. Ia memerlukan kebolehan dalam bidang pengurusan kakitangan, pengurusan projek, pengurusan kewangan, fahaman berkenaan dengan bahan, proses dan kos dan sebagainya. Pengetahuan ini boleh diperolehi melalui pengalaman semata-mata tetapi pembelajaran boleh memendekkan proses pengalaman. 16. Sebab itulah Kerajaan telah menubuh sebuah universiti khusus untuk mengajar pengurusan. Tugas Universiti Utara Malaysia ialah untuk membekalkan negara dengan bakal pengurus yang berkelayakan. Selepas mendapat ijazah mereka masih memerlukan pendedahan kepada kerja pengurusan buat beberapa lama untuk mendapat pengalaman. Harapan kita ialah kita akan mempunyai lebih ramai pengurus yang berkebolehan dalam jangka yang lebih singkat. Dengan ini mungkin kerugian yang kita alami sekarang baik dalam syarikat Kerajaan atau swasta dapat dikurangkan. 17. Universiti Utara Malaysia bukanlah institusi tunggal untuk melatih pengurus. Banyak institusi lain yang terlibat dengan memberi latihan perniagaan yang tidak kurang pentingnya. Sekali lagi ingin saya tegaskan bahawa institusi dan kursus tidak dengan sendirinya menjamin kejayaan. Tidak kurang pentingnya ialah sikap mereka yang mengambil kursus. 18. Mereka mestilah sedar bahawa kursus itu berguna untuk realiti kehidupan dalam masyarakat. Kursus bukan bertujuan untuk mendapat sijil dan ijazah yang cantik yang boleh menghiasi pejabat atau rumah bersama-sama dengan gambar konvo. Sijil juga bukan sebagai kunci untuk membuka pintu pejabat supaya kita dapat peluang bekerja dengan gaji tertentu. Yang penting ialah aplikasi segala ilmu yang telah dipelajari untuk urusan kerja supaya kerja mendatangkan hasil yang diharapkan. Gaji yang besar dan pangkat yang tinggi tidak bermakna jikalau kerja yang dijalankan tidak bermutu dan kerugian dialami sepanjang masa. 19. Bagi bumiputera pula janganlah fikir bahawa semuanya patut dimudahkan oleh Kerajaan supaya kejayaan tetap tercapai setelah mendapat ijazah dan kelulusan. Tanggungjawab Kerajaan ialah untuk memberi 'headstart' melalui bekalan ilmu. Selepas itu menjadi tanggungjawab masing-masing mencari kejayaan. Tuan-tuan dan Puan-puan, 20. Saya belum pasti apakah maksud dan bentuk Ekspo Keusahawanan Pelajar ini. Sebagai bakal pengusaha tentulah kita merancang untuk mencari keuntungan daripada usaha ini. Kita tidak harus berharap kepada derma, kerana meminta derma bukanlah petanda yang baik bagi bakal pengusaha dan entrepreneur. Kita sebagai entrepreneur mesti bergantung kepada kecekapan kita untuk mendapat untung. Kita juga mesti menjaga maruah kita sepanjang masa. Tuan-tuan dan Puan-puan, 21. Saya berdoa supaya Ekspo Keusahawanan ini akan menolong meningkatkan lagi kecapaian pelajar dalam bidang tertentu. Dengan harapan ini saya dengan sukacitanya merasmikan pembukaan Ekspo Keusahawanan Pelajar ini.
SUMBER :
http://www.pmo.gov.my/
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PEMBUKAAN RASMI KILANG KERETA NASIONAL DAN PELANCARAN PROTON SAGA
| Penyampai | : | DATO' SERI DR. MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD |
|---|---|---|
| Tajuk | : | PEMBUKAAN RASMI KILANG KERETA NASIONAL DAN PELANCARAN PROTON SAGA |
| Lokasi | : | SHAH ALAM, SELANGOR |
| Tarikh | : | 09-07-1985 |
Assalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh; Yang Berhormat-Yang Berhormat; Dif-Dif Kehormat; Tuan-tuan dan Puan-puan sekalian;
Saya mengucapkan terima kasih kepada Perusahaan Otomobil Nasional Sdn. Bhd. (Proton) kerana menjemput saya merasmikan Pembukaan Kilang Kereta Nasional dan seterusnya melancarkan Kereta Malaysia yang pertama - PROTON SAGA. Saya mengucapkan tahniah kepada PROTON kerana telah berjaya membina kilang dan mengeluarkan PROTON SAGA dalam jangkamasa yang begitu singkat. 2. Saya berasa bangga di atas kejayaan yang dicapai oleh Projek Kereta Nasional ini yang mana telah mampu membuktikan kebolehan rakyat dan seterusnya negara kita dalam bidang pembuatan kereta. Usaha yang gigih, penuh dedikasi serta sanggup pula menghadapi cabaran pasti akan mencapai matlamat yang dikehendaki. Tuan-tuan dan puan-puan, 3. Di sini ingin saya jelaskan hasrat serta strategi Kerajaan bagi perusahaan otomobil ini. Yang pertamanya, bukanlah niat Kerajaan untuk menghancurkan peniaga-peniaga kereta yang ada. Tidak ada faedah bagi negara jika sesuatu perniagaan yang besar seperti pemasaran kereta tiba-tiba dimusnahkan. Hasrat Kerajaan memasuki bidang pembuatan kereta ini ialah supaya perniagaan ini akan berkembang dengan lebih pesat dan dengan ini peniaga baru dan peniaga kecil akan mendapat peluang memasuki bidang ini, sementara yang sudah maju, terus maju. 4. Untuk menentukan perusahaan dan perniagaan kereta ini berkembang, maka perkara yang penting sekali ialah kereta buatan Malaysia ini diterima oleh pembeli dan laris pula dijual. Tidak ada gunanya bagi peniaga kereta yang berminat menjadi pengedar kereta nasional jika tidak ada pembeli. Oleh itu, keutamaan bukanlah untuk menentukan bahawa sesiapa juga yang berminat menjadi egen atau 'distributor' diberi peluang. Tetapi yang pertama dan utama ialah menentukan kereta buatan Malaysia diterima baik oleh pasaran di dalam negeri dan mungkin juga di luar negeri. Cuma apabila kereta ini diterima baik dan laris dijual, maka baharulah peluang menjadi ejen atau penjual mempunyai makna. Tidak ada gunanya sama-sekali bagi mereka yang bermodal kecil, menjadi penjual kereta yang sukar dijual. Sementara yang bermodal besar boleh menanggung kerugian, yang bermodal kecil akan terus luput dan tidak mungkin berniaga lagi walaupun di bidang lain. 5. Kilang ini dirancang untuk mengeluarkan sehingga 120,000 buah kereta setahun. Tidak ada syarikat di Malaysia yang menjual lebih daripada 23,000 buah kereta setahun untuk satu jenis atau model. Kerana 'economies of scale', jikalau kereta Malaysia tidak dapat dijual dengan banyaknya, kerugian yang besar akan melanda syarikat PROTON. Kita yakin, jika pengurusan penjualan dibuat dengan baik, maka kita dapat menjual semua kereta yang dirancang untuk dikeluarkan tiap-tiap tahun. Ini bermakna jumlah kereta yang akan dijual akan meningkat kepada satu angka lebih tinggi daripada yang dipasarkan sekarang. Ini juga bermakna bahawa mereka yang berminat menjadi wakil pengedar akan mendapat peluang dan peluang ini mereka akan dapat apabila penerimaan oleh pengguna sudah ditentukan. Jika pada ketika itu pengedar yang baru mengalami kerugian, tidak ada siapa yang boleh disalahkan, melainkan diri sendiri. 6. Dasar Ekonomi Baru tetap akan diamalkan oleh PROTON. Sekali lagi buat permulaan, semasa risiko adalah tinggi, Kerajaan akan menjadi pemegang amanah bagi bumiputera melalui HICOM. Saham Kerajaan adalah yang terbesar. Apabila sahaja perniagaan sudah maju, saham-saham Kerajaan akan diedarkan kepada bumiputera melalui saluran-saluran yang telah ditentukan. Bagi mereka yang berpendapat bahawa seratus-peratus saham hendaklah dikhaskan kepada bumiputera, saya ingin mengingatkan bahawa perniagaan bukan selalunya untung. Perniagaan juga kerap mengalami kerugian. Jika bumiputera memiliki seratus peratus syarikat PROTON atau EON, jika ia rugi, bumiputera akan rugi seratus peratus. Dalam perniagaan, orang yang bijak dan pintar biasanya berkongsi dengan orang lain, terutama apabila keuntungan belum tentu akan dapat diperolehi. Tuan-tuan dan puan-puan, 7. Keputusan Kerajaan untuk melaksanakan program perindustrian berat di negara ini adalah bertujuan untuk memperluas dan mengukuhkan asas perindustrian negara dalam usaha untuk mencapai taraf sebagai sebuah negara perindustrian. Meskipun negara kita baru sahaja menceburi bidang perindustrian, ianya akan berjaya dengan sepenuhnya sekiranya kita sanggup bekerja keras, berdisiplin dan mengurus dengan cekap dan jujur. 8. Pada hari ini, negara kita melangkah setapak lagi ke hadapan ke arah pembangunan perindustrian. Kilang Kereta Nasional dan pengeluaran PROTON SAGA adalah bukti kesanggupan kita untuk mencapai objektif-objektif pembangunan perindustrian negara. 9. Kejayaan Projek Kereta Nasional membawa erti yang besar terhadap ekonomi negara kita. Ini akan membawa banyak kemajuan kepada industri kereta di Malaysia. Projek ini dengan keupayaan yang lebih besar akan dapat menikmati faedah ekonomi daripada pengeluaran yang lebih besar. Dengan alat kelengkapan yang moden serta tenaga pekerja yang terlatih di PROTON, mutu dan daya pengeluaran dapat dipertingkatkan. Di samping itu, ia juga akan dapat meninggikan lagi teknologi, pengetahuan dan kemahiran dalam bidang kejuruteraan. 10. Di samping kita berbangga dapat mengeluarkan kereta sendiri, projek ini akan menjadi nadi penggerak bagi pertumbuhan dan pembangunan industri sampingan. Melalui projek ini industri membuat komponen boleh mencapai taraf kemampuan kejuruteraan dan penyerapan teknologi yang lebih tinggi. Di samping itu juga, sektor pembuat komponen akan membuka peluang-peluang pelaburan dan pekerjaan. Industri kereta juga menggalakkan pembangunan industri sampingan yang lain seperti industri logam, industri berasaskan getah dan plastik. 11. Di sini saya ingin menyeru kepada industri komponen kereta supaya mempertingkatkan lagi mutu dan kecekapan pengeluaran mereka supaya ianya bukan sahaja dapat membekalkan pasaran tempatan malahan hendaklah juga dapat menembusi pasaran luar negeri. Usaha-usaha hendaklah dibuat dalam bidang kemajuan barangan atau 'product development' supaya mutu barangan yang dikeluarkan oleh pengeluar-pengeluar tempatan sentiasa dijaga. Selain daripada itu industri-industri komponen hendaklah juga melabur dan memberi perhatian yang berat kepada usaha-usaha penyelidikan dan pembangunan. Dengan cara ini industri-industri tersebut bukan sahaja dapat mengeluarkan barangan yang bermutu tetapi juga dapat mengikis sikap negatif di setengah-setengah kalangan orangramai terhadap apa juga barangan yang dibuat di negara ini. 12. Menyentuh bidang penyelidikan dan pembangunan, saya gembira kerana PROTON telah menitikberatkan perkara ini dengan menubuhkan Jabatan Penyelidikan dan Pembangunan sungguhpun PROTON masih muda usianya. Penekanan kepada penyelidikan dan pembangunan adalah amat penting kepada kemajuan industri negara kita. Kebanyakan daripada syarikat-syarikat di negara ini kurang memberi perhatian kepada aspek penyelidikan dan pembangunan kerana faedahnya, biasanya mengambil masa yang lama. Saya berharap syarikat-syarikat perkilangan yang lain dapat menyontohi PROTON dengan menjalankan kegiatan penyelidikan dan pembangunan. Tuan-tuan dan puan-puan, 13. Sepertimana yang kita maklum, Kerajaan telah melancarkan kempen Membeli Barangan Buatan Malaysia. Tujuan utama kempen ini ialah untuk meningkatkan pembelian barangan tempatan dan seterusnya akan mengurangkan barangan yang diimpot. Bayaran yang berkurangan ke atas impot akan mengurangkan aliran keluar tukaran asing. Pengaliran keluar tukaran asing yang berkurangan akan menjadikan imbangan bayaran negara bertambah kukuh. Di sini, saya merasa bangga kerana pengeluaran PROTON SAGA ini sangat tepat pada masanya. 14. Saya juga ingin menyeru kepada semua rakyat negara ini supaya menyokong projek ini dengan membeli kereta PROTON SAGA. Kereta ini adalah setaraf dengan kereta-kereta yang dibuat di luar negeri. 15. Kerajaan sedar bahawa syarikat pemasangan kereta tempatan merasa terjejas dengan perlaksanaan Projek Kereta Nasional. Di sini, ingin saya menjelaskan bahawa Kerajaan telah memberi peluang kepada syarikat-syarikat pemasangan kereta yang ada supaya sama-sama memberi sokongan dengan menjual kereta PROTON SAGA apabila ianya dipasarkan tidak berapa lama lagi. Langkah ini diambil bukan sahaja untuk mengurangkan kesan terhadap syarikat pemasangan kereta tetapi juga adalah untuk menentukan supaya terdapat rangkaian wakil-wakil jualan di setiap tempat di negara ini. Dengan cara ini, adalah mudah bagi pengguna-pengguna membeli kereta-kereta PROTON SAGA. Kejayaan pemasaran adalah amat penting kepada kejayaan Projek Kereta Nasional. Kita mestilah melibatkan semua kaum dalam usaha mengendalikan penjualan kereta PROTON SAGA ini. Tuan-tuan dan puan-puan, 16. Perlu ditegaskan di sini bahawa walau apa sekalipun objektif, strategi dan program-program yang dirancang dan diatur, kejayaan tidak akan tercapai sekiranya orang ramai tidak menyokong usaha-usaha itu. Dalam hal ini saya berharap Projek Kereta Nasional ini akan mendapat sokongan dan mencapai kejayaan dan seterusnya mencatatkan negara Malaysia sebagai sebuah negara pengeluaran kereta di dunia. 17. Beberapa buah negara telah menunjukkan minat untuk mengimpot PROTON SAGA. Ini membuktikan bahawa negara-negara asing mempunyai keyakinan terhadap negara kita sebagai pengeluar kereta sendiri. Saya berharap PROTON dapat mengekspot kereta buatan Malaysia tidak lama lagi. 18. Akhirnya, sekali lagi saya mengucapkan terima kasih kepada PROTON kerana menjemput saya ke majlis ini. Dengan ini, saya dengan sukacitanya membuka Kilang Kereta Nasional dan seterusnya melancarkan Kereta PROTON SAGA dengan rasminya. Wabillahi Taufik Walhidayah Wassalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh.
SUMBER :
http://www.pmo.gov.my/
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PEMBUKAAN KILANG PETFINA
| DATO' SERI DR. MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD | ||
|---|---|---|
| Tajuk | : | PEMBUKAAN KILANG PETFINA |
| Lokasi | : | TANJUNG KELING, MELAKA |
| Tarikh | : | 25-01-1985 |
Yang Amat Berhormat Dato Seri Abdul Rahim Tamby Chik, Ketua Menteri Melaka; Yang Mulia Encik Affendi, Pengerusi Lembaga Pengarah Petfina; Dif-Dif Kehormat; Tuan-tuan dan Puan-puan sekalian.
Saya mengucapkan terima kasih kepada Syarikat Petfina kerana menjemput saya merasmikan kilang memproses minyak pelincir dan minyak alat ubah ini. Saya juga mengucapkan tahniah kepada Syarikat ini di atas kejayaannya dalam bidang pengeluaran petroleum products ini. 2. Seterusnya saya turut berbangga dengan adanya penyertaan Bumiputera dalam industri yang berasaskan petroleum ini. Walaupun bilangan bumiputera belum begitu ramai lagi tetapi dari apa yang dapat dilihat mereka dapat mengendalikan perusahaan ini dengan memuaskan. Saya juga diberitahu bahawa Syarikat Petfina ini mempunyai kerjasama yang erat dengan Syarikat Fina dari Belgium dari mana Petfina telah mendapat berbagai kerjasama teknikal yang telah memberi kesan kepada syarikat tempatan ini. Saya harap kerjasama ini dapat ditingkatkan demi kemajuan dan kepentingan bersama. Tuan-tuan dan puan-puan sekalian, 3. Kerajaan semasa mengkaji dasar-dasar dan strategi-strategi perindustriannya telah menyedari tentang perlunya diadakan satu strategi perindustrian yang bersepadu. Antara lain strategi ini memerlukan satu perancangan yang terperinci bagi sektor pembuatan atau 'manufacturing'. Kerajaan merasai penekanan haruslah diberikan kepada 'penggabungan sektor' atau 'sectoral-mix' yang sesuai. Gabungan ini perlulah menunjukkan dengan jelas nya perhubungan di antara berbagai peringkat kegiatan pengeluaran dan corak kegiatan yang saling bergantung. Perancangan ini seharusnya mewujudkan rantaian atau 'linkages' yang lebih erat di antara sektor pembuatan dengan sektor-sektor lain dan di antara industri-industri dalam sektor pembuatan sendiri. Justeru itu rantaian ini akan mempunyai pengaruh ke atas punca dan penggunaan barang di dalam dan luar negeri. Ianya juga boleh memberi kesan ke atas berbagai faktor pengeluaran atau 'factors of production'. Perancangan seperti ini akan mengambil kira juga hal-hal mengenai meluaskan pembangunan, pengagihan pendapatan dan imbangan pembayaran. 4. Dengan itu Kerajaan akan menyediakan satu Pelan Induk Perindustrian atau 'industrial master plan' yang menyeluruh dan lengkap. Pelan ini akan menyediakan rangka-kerja yang terperinci mengenai kegiatan berbagai sektor dan juga sektor industri kecil supaya sumber-sumber ekonomi di negara ini dapat digunakan secara optimum dan supaya matlamat pembangunan negara tercapai. Pelan ini akan menyediakan 'profile' industri yang sesuai, keluasan pasaran, keupayaan yang sedia ada, serta permintaan dan penawaran berbagai jenis barang. Ianya akan menggariskan usaha yang harus dilaksanakan bagi menyatukan industri yang sedia ada dengan kegiatan mengeluarkan bahan mentah dan kegiatan memproses bahan ini seterusnya. Dari segi guna tenaga pula, institusi latihan yang sedia ada, termasuklah universiti-universiti, akan mengubah-suai semula kegiatan latihan yang dijalankan, sesuai dengan keperluan mengikut pelan induk tersebut. Kerajaan akan cuba menentukan juga bahawa sistem maklumat industri yang efisien akan wujud di negara kita ini. 5. Dengan adanya pelan induk ini kelak, kita berharap setiap industri itu akan menyebabkan munculnya industri-industri yang berkaitan, sama ada sebagai pembekal input dan alat-alat untuk satu-satu peringkat pengeluaran barangan, atau sebagai pengguna barangan yang dikeluarkan. Pada masa ini kaitan antara industri itu tidak digunakan dengan maksimum. Misalannya, negara kita adalah pengeluar alat letronik yang kedua besarnya di dunia. Tetapi malangnya industri yang boleh menggunakan alat-alat letronik ini untuk pengeluaran barangan siap boleh dikatakan tidak ada. Oleh yang demikian alat-alat letronik itu dieksport sahaja tanpa menghasilkan penyerapan teknologi baru atau tambah-nilai. Saya yakin dengan adanya pelan induk itu nanti, pembangunan perindustrian di negara ini akan lebih pesat dan lebih tersusun lagi. 6. Saya mengambil kesempatan ini mengucapkan syabas kepada Petfina kerana dapat menggunakan hasil sampingan petroleum kita bagi diproses kepada minyak pelincir dan barangan yang lain. Pengeluaran minyak pelincir ini adalah selaras dengan konsep penggabungan yang saya sebutkan sebentar tadi. 7. Kerajaan juga sedar akan betapa pentingnya jentera Kerajaan sendiri dikemas dan proses birokrasi direngkaskan. Proses birokrasi sekarang ini adalah di antara perkara yang mengecewakan ramai mereka yang ingin melabur. Susunan yang dicadangkan akan menghapus seberapa yang boleh segala halangan 'red-tape' terhadap pembangunan industri. Penggunaan manual pejabat atau 'office manual' dan fail meja akan diwajibkan bagi setiap pegawai yang terlibat. 8. Kerajaan juga sentiasa menggalakkan penyebaran industri ke kawasan-kawasan selain dari bandar-bandar perindustian yang besar. Dewasa ini lebih tiga suku daripada pengeluaran pembuatan di Malaysia datangnya dari 5 pusat iaitu Selangor, Wilayah Persekutuan, Johor, Perak dan Pulau Pinang. Kerajaan ingin menyebarkan industri pembuatan ke semua negeri, terutama negeri-negeri yang kurang maju. Jika Kerajaan negeri berminat untuk mendapat pelaburan dengan pesatnya, maka birokrat di peringkat negeri serta anggota Kerajaan negeri, seperti juga Kerajaan Persekutuan, hendaklah menggunakan 'minyak pelincir' dengan cukup untuk menentukan segala urusan berkenaan dengan pelaburan berjalan dengan licin, teratur dan cepat. Tuan-tuan dan puan-puan, 9. Perusahaan petroleum merupakan salah satu perusahaan yang penting kepada negara kita. Perusahaan petroleum selain daripada mendatangkan hasil yang besar kepada negara, juga merupakan sebagai salah satu bidang perusahaan yang memberi peluang pekerjaan yang besar. Walau bagaimanapun, perkembangan bidang petroleum di negara kita adalah berdasarkan kepada keperluan dan kepentingan negara. Di sini ingin saya tegaskan bahawa atau nasionalisma petroleum tidak semestinya membawa keuntungan kepada negara. Pelaburan dalam bidang petroleum hendaklah dibuat secara rasional dengan mengambil-kira pengaliran tukaran asing, hasil negara dan pencepatan proses pembangunan negara. Tidak ada gunanya kita berbangga dengan milik sendiri jika kita rugi sepanjang masa, terutama apabila di waktu yang sama orang lain mendapat keuntungan daripada perusahaan petroleum kita. 10. Kita bernasib baik kerana kita mempunyai minyak dan gas asli dan kita pula telah mengusahakan pengeluaran dan penggunaannya secara berhati-hati. Di samping itu juga, badan yang bertanggungjawab mengenai perusahaan petroleum, iaitu PETRONAS, giat menjalankan usaha-usaha mencari-gali minyak dan gas asli. Usaha-usaha ini bukan sahaja sukar untuk dijalankan, tetapi juga memerlukan kepakaran serta pelaburan yang begitu tinggi. Usaha-usaha yang dijalankan oleh PETRONAS telah banyak mendatangkan hasil. Mencari-gali minyak dan gas asli ini memerlukan pelaburan wang yang begitu banyak dan kita pula tidak dapat menentukan sama ada usaha-usaha tersebut akan berjaya serta mendatangkan keuntungan. Dengan perkataan lain usaha mencarigali mempunyai risiko. Di sini kecekapan pengurusan dinilai bukan daripada segi berani menghadapi risiko, tetapi daripada segi mentaksir peratusan risiko yang akan dihadapi. Jika risiko adalah terlalu tinggi, ianya patut diagih-agihkan di antara beberapa pihak. Demikianlah yang sering dibuat oleh bank dan syarikat insurans. 11. Memandangkan kepada hal ini, PETRONAS sekarang sedang memikirkan kemungkinan untuk bekerjasama dengan syarikat-syarikat petroleum asing bagi menjalankan kerja-kerja mencari-gali. Di kawasan-kawasan yang memerlukan pelaburan yang lebih besar lagi, PETRONAS mungkin memberikan kontrak carigali kepada syarikat-syarikat yang pakar dalam bidang ini seperti yang dibuat oleh kebanyakan syarikat gergasi petroleum. Jika kita ingin mendapat teknologi carigali, kita boleh tempatkan pakar kita dengan syarikat yang diberi kontrak itu. Dengan cara ini kita tidak perlu melabur wang yang banyak untuk alatan dan kerja carigali. 12. Negara tidak akan mengalami kerugian sekiranya usaha-usaha mencarigali ini diberikan kepada syarikat-syarikat kontraktor pakar. Sebaliknya banyak perbelanjaan akan diselamatkan yang mana ini akan menjadi hasil negara dan digunakan untuk faedah rakyat. Teknologi yang memerlukan kepakaran kita dan pelaburan yang boleh menguntungkan negara amatlah banyak. Kita tidak harus mengejar semua teknologi dan semua perusahaan dengan kemampuan yang sedikit yang ada pada kita sekarang ini. Sebaliknya kita harus memilih beberapa bidang tertentu sahaja dan kita tumpukan tenaga dan peruntukan kita yang sedikit untuk menguasai sepenuhnya bidang-bidang itu. Tidak ada negara di dunia ini yang pakar dan menguasai semua teknologi dan perusahaan. Jika kita tahu memilih bidang-bidang yang sesuai, kemajuan kita tidak akan terjejas. Tuan-tuan dan puan-puan, 13. Menyentuh tentang barangan yang berasaskan petroleum ini, saya berharap pengusaha-pengusaha tempatan akan mengkaji kemungkinan mengeluarkan minyak pelincir dengan menggunakan minyak-minyak keluaran tempatan yang lain daripada petroleum seperti minyak kelapa sawit. Ini bukanlah perkara baru oleh kerana minyak kelapa sawit telah terbukti boleh digunakan untuk pengeluaran minyak disel dan sebagainya. Dengan itu usaha mestilah dijalankan untuk meningkatkan penggunaan bahan-bahan tempatan seperti minyak kelapa sawit ini supaya usaha meningkat nilai barangan atau 'value-added' bahan-bahan mentah keluaran tempatan akan lebih berjaya lagi. Dalam usaha ini kita tidak perlu segan-segan mengadakan 'collaboration' dengan makmal-makmal penyelidikkan di negara-negara lain. Baru-baru ini PORIM telah mengadakan kerjasama dengan Jepun dalam bidang pengeluaram vitamin E dan minyak diesel dan juga dalam penggunaan minyak sawit yang tidak ditapis untuk enjin kereta dan traktor. Ini adalah cuma satu usaha yang kecil sahaja dalam bidang R & D. Di negara maju 4% daripada perbelanjaan kasar diuntukkan kepada R & D. Nyatalah bahawa di Malaysia, kita perlu membelanjakan wang yang lebih banyak untuk R & D daripada apa yang diperuntukkan sekarang. 14. Berbalik kepada perusahaan minyak pelincir, saya berbangga dengan minat dan usaha untuk mengadakan satu perusahaan yang boleh mengurangkan pengaliran tukaran asing serta menambah bidang perusahaan kita. Saya harap lain-lain 'entrepreneurs' di Malaysia akan berusaha mencari perusahaan-perusahaan lain berasaskan kepada minyak yang perlu diadakan di negara ini. Janganlah apabila sahaja satu jenis perusahaan dimulakan, maka berduyun-duyunlah pelabur memasuki bidang yang sama. 15. Akhirnya, sekali lagi saya mengucapkan terima kasih kepada Petfina dan juga Kerajaan Negeri Melaka kerana menjemput saya ke sini pagi ini. Dengan ini, saya dengan sukacitanya membuka Kilang Petfina ini dengan rasminya. Terima kasih.
SUMBER :
http://www.pmo.gov.my/
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MAJLIS PENYAMPAIAN HADIAH PERADUAN MENGARANG DAN MELUKIS SEJARAH MALAYSIA
| DATO' SERI DR. MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD | ||
|---|---|---|
| Tajuk | : | MAJLIS PENYAMPAIAN HADIAH PERADUAN MENGARANG DAN MELUKIS SEJARAH MALAYSIA |
| Lokasi | : | BALAI BUDAYA, DEWAN BAHASA DAN PUSTAKA, KUALA LUMPUR |
| Tarikh | : | 11-02-1984 |
Saya berasa gembira kerana berpeluang bersama di upacara penyampaian hadiah Peraduan Mengarang dan Melukis Sejarah Malaysia, anjuran Persatuan Sejarah Malaysia ini. Sukalah saya mengambil kesempatan ini mengucapkan setinggi tahniah di atas usaha Persatuan Sejarah Malaysia untuk menimbulkan minat dan kegemaran terhadap hal ehwal sejarah melalui pertandingan mengarang dan melukis seperti yang dianjurkannya ini, di samping menjalankan pelbagai kegiatan yang lain seperti pengeluaran majalah dan makalah kajian sejarah. Semoga usaha ini akan terus dipergiatkan demi untuk perasaan cintakan negara, bangsa serta warisan yang dihayati bersama.
2. Pengetahuan tentang warisan dan sejarah negara memungkinkan kita berfikir dan membuat perhitungan yang waras bagi menyelesaikan masalah-masalah masa kini dan masa depan. Apa yang dinilaikan sebagai baik seharusnya dijadikan pedoman dan yang buruk pula dijadikan sempadan. Mereka yang tidak belajar dari sejarah akan didera dengan mengulangi kesalahan berkali-kali. 3. Salah satu kesan sejarah yang boleh dijadikan contoh atau pedoman ialah masyarakat akan maju atau mundur mengikut apa yang sepatutnya bagi masyarakat itu. Dalam bahasa Inggeris 'We get what we deserve', yang bermakna jika kita malas dan tidak bertanggungjawab, kita akan rasai kesan darinya; tetapi, jika kita rajin kita akan mendapat hasilnya. Tidak ada gunanya kita menyalahkan orang lain. Soalkan diri sendiri dahulu. 4. Satu perkara yang tidak sepatutnya terlalu mengkagumkan kita ialah kenangan tentang keagungan kita di zaman silam. Masyarakat yang sering bercakap tentang zaman gemilang dahulu ialah masyarakat yang sudah jadi mundur sekarang dan tidak ada lain yang hendak dibanggakan melainkan sejarahnya sahaja. Yang kita hendak ialah pelajaran dari sejarah lama dan kejayaan di zaman ini. 5. Ramai dari kita meraba-raba mencari 'hero' dalam sejarah kita. Kadang-kadang kita tidak begitu menyoal apakah benar 'hero' kita itu sebenarnya 'hero'. Kita lupakan sahaja akan keburukannya dan kita mendewa-dewakannya. Untuk apa? Supaya kita boleh kata kita dari keturunan yang megah. Tetapi semua ini adalah khayalan dan sudahpun tidak ada dan tidak berkesan lagi. Yang penting ialah pencapaian kita sekarang ini. Apakah benar kita boleh berbangga dengan pencapaian kita hari ini? Jika tidak, apakah kita harus khayal dengan yang lama ataupun kita tentukan di mana kita silap dalam sejarah kita dan kita elak dari melakukan kesilapan yang sama sekali lagi. Inilah peranan sejarah, bukan untuk berkhayal dengan 'hero-hero' ciptaan kita, tetapi untuk menentukan di mana kita salah dan apa yang harus kita buat. Kalau rebutan takhta menyebabkan penyerahan negara kita kepada bangsa asing, hari ini jangan kita ada lagi rebutan di kalangan orang yang berkuasa -- iaitu rakyat. Kita patut bersatu hati dan kita tumpukan segala usaha untuk memperkuatkan negara kita. Tidak ada gunanya penukaran sistem jika amalan lama yang melemahkan kita diteruskan. Penerusan amalan lama yang buruk bermakna kita tidak dapat apa-apa pelajaran daripada sejarah kita. 6. Dalam sejarah negeri-negeri dalam Malaysia, tidak ada satu masa yang lebih berpeluang daripada sekarang. Sebelum penjajahan British, negeri-negeri Melayu di Semenanjung dan di Pulau Borneo adalah negeri-negeri yang kecil, yang terasing antara satu dengan yang lain dan pula kerap berperang sesama sendiri. Dalam tiap-tiap negeri itu rebutan tempat dan kuasa berlaku dan kuasa asing sering dijemput untuk membantu pihak ini dan pihak itu. Akhirnya kesemua negeri-negeri ini jatuh ke tangan British dan menjadi tanah takluk British. 7. Tetapi sekarang kita sudah merdeka dan semua negeri-negeri di Semenanjung dan utara Pulau Borneo adalah disatukan. Kita menjadi sebuah negara yang besar dan boleh menentukan nasib kita, kemajuan negara kita, dan kebahagian hidup rakyat kita. Tetapi, oleh kerana kita tidak mengetahui dan mempelajari dari sejarah kita, maka kita timbulkan bermacam-macam halangan terhadap pembangunan negara kita. 8. Jika sejarah menjadi panduan kita maka apa yang perlu kita buat sekarang ialah mengukuhkan perpaduan, mengurus pemerintahan dengan baik, merancang pembangunan, melaksanakan rancangan ini dengan penuh minat dan dedikasi dan seterusnya jika ada apa-apa yang terkurang maka tindakan mestilah diambil untuk mengisi kekurangan ini. Jika kita kurang ilmu, maka hendaklah kita berusaha mempelajari dan mengumpul ilmu-ilmu ini. Jika kita kekurangan kecekapan maka hendaklah kita latihkan diri sehingga kita cekap. Jika kita miskin maka hendaklah kita berusaha untuk mendapatkan kekayaan. 9. Mungkin ada halangan dan rintangan. Mungkin ada pengorbanan yang perlu dibuat. Semua masalah boleh kita atasi asalkan sahaja kita tahu tentang akibat buruk yang akan menjadi nasib kita jika kita tidak membuat apa yang perlu seperti yang kita pelajari daripada sejarah kita. 10. Jika sejarah negara-negara di dunia dikaji, maka kita tidak dapat tidak akan kagum bagaimana banyaknya negara-negara yang mengalami nasib yang lebih kurang sama. Kita akan dapati bahawa negara-negara biasanya muncul, menjadi maju, meningkat ke puncak kemajuan dan selepas itu akan mula merosot dan menjadi daif. 11. Ada kalanya negara-negara ini terus hilang dari muka bumi. Demikianlah dengan Carthage, Old Egypt, Byzantium, Rome, Empayar Mogul, Empayar Inca, Empayar Islam, Majapahit, Sri Vijaya dan lain-lain lagi. Tetapi ada pula yang berjaya membangun semula setelah beberapa kurun lemah atau dijajah. Ada pula yang kemajuannya terhad dan tidak pernah meningkat ke puncak. 12. Soal yang perlu ditanya ialah apakah sebabnya yang sesuatu bangsa yang biasa maju boleh menjadi mundur sehingga ditenggelami sejarah. Di sinilah pengetahun sejarah yang mendalam amat berguna untuk kita mencapai kemajuan dan mengelak dari nasib buruk yang mungkin menimpa kita setelah maju. Jika sejarah dikaji, maka kita akan lihat peranan nilai-nilai yang mulia dalam menjayakan sesuatu bangsa. Biasanya bangsa yang akan berjaya memberi nilai yang tinggi kepada kerajinan, keberanian, amanah dan kejujuran. Ilmu pengetahuan dimuliakan dan demikian juga kecekapan dalam bidang-bidang tertentu. Apabila nilai-nilai ini sudah menjadi sebahagian daripada kebudayaan sesuatu bangsa, maka bangsa dan negara itu akan mencapai kejayaan yang cemerlang. Pengaruh mereka akan berkembang dan mereka akan dihormati dan disegani. 13. Buat beberapa lama kedudukan tinggi mereka akan terpelihara. Tetapi kerapkali kemewahan dan kesenangan mengubah nilai hidup mereka. Kerajinan dan keberanian tidak dihargai lagi. Mereka mengguna hamba atau orang-orang di bawah takluk mereka untuk tugas berperang atau bekerja berat. Mereka tidak menuntut ilmu lagi. Amanah merosot. Kadang-kadang mereka terlalu asyik dengan keseronokan atau dengan falsafah tinggi atau dengan kepercayaan yang tidak berasas. Sedikit demi sedikit mereka pun mula menjadi lemah dan mundur. Semakin lemah dan mundur mereka, semakin banyak mereka bergantung kepada orang lain untuk bermacam-macam kepentingan mereka. Akhirnya orang yang mereka kuasai dahulu menguasai mereka dan sejarah mereka pun tamat. Kadang-kadang kesedaran timbul semula dan bangsa dan negara mereka dipulih semula. Tetapi, seperti Phoenicia dan Sri Vijaya, kedua-duanya tidak bangun semula dan hilang dari muka bumi ini. 14. Inilah pelajaran-pelajaran yang boleh diperolehi dari sejarah. Mempelajari sejarah sebagai bahan akademik, sebagai satu daripada bidang kemanusiaan adalah terlalu sempit dan cetek. Sejarah mesti dipelajari kerana kita ingin mendapat panduan daripadanya, kerana kita ingin mengelakkan daripada malapetaka, dan dari dimusnahkan oleh masa. Inilah peranan sejarah, inilah gunanya yang sebenar. 15. Saya berbangga dengan minat saudara-saudari terhadap sejarah. Tetapi, janganlah lupa akan pelajaran yang boleh diperolehi darinya -- pelajaran moral yang boleh menentukan sama ada kita berjaya atau tidak. 16. Akhirnya, sukalah saya sekali lagi mengucapkan tahniah kepada Persatuan Sejarah Malaysia kerana berjaya menganjurkan Peraduan Mengarang dan Melukis Sejarah ini. Kepada pemenang-pemenang, saya mengucapkan tahniah. Terima kasih.
SUMBER :
http://www.pmo.gov.my/
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MUSLIM UNITY IN THE FACE OF CHALLENGES AND THREATS
| MUSLIM UNITY IN THE FACE OF CHALLENGES AND THREATS | ||
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| Lokasi | : | UNIVERSITY AL AZHAR, CAIRO, EGYPT |
| Tarikh | : | 21-01-2003 |
"Muslim Unity in the Face of Challenges and Threats"
There has never been a time when the Muslims are so looked down upon, so treated with disrespect and so oppressed as they are today. Everywhere Muslims are bullied, detained bombed and massacred with impunity.
2. The Muslim countries are unable to do anything to defend themselves and their people and fellow Muslims anywhere. Some Muslim countries actually appear to be collaborating with the oppressors of Muslims.
3. Many Muslims try to explain the sad plight of the Muslims by saying that this world is not for us. For us a place in heaven has been reserved. In the next world the enemies of Islam would be punished and thrown into hell because of what they do to us in this world.
4. Is this truly what Islam teaches us? Did the Prophet S.A.W. accept his persecution because his place in heaven has been assured? Did he relish the fact that his Quraish persecutors would end up in hell? What would have happened to the spread of Islam if the Prophet had not struggled against his enemies, dispatched his early followers to safe havens, migrated to Madinah to build up the strength of the Muslims, increasing their numbers in order to fight back? If he had retreated to await his reward after death, we would not be Muslims today.
5. And we know in the end he defeated his enemies and was able to spread Islam throughout the world, to build the greatest Empire and civilisation in history. Clearly the Prophet did not believe that for the Muslims this world is not important, this life is not important, this life on earth is only for the infidels. He not only believed that Muslims have a share of Allah`s bounties on earth but that Muslims must be prepared to fight for their earthly share. Allah could have said "Kun, Fayakun" "Be, and it shall be" but Allah left His messenger to struggle and fight to spread Islam and to gain for the Muslims their share in this world.
6. So the idea that we must suffer in silence and await our heaven in the next world is not Islamic. In fact it goes against the Sunnah of the Prophet. The Quran enjoins upon us to prepare to deter and defeat the enemy with force of arms - with war-horses, bows and arrows in those days. Many think that if we have war-horses then we have fulfilled our obligations. But what is important is not war-horses or bows and arrows. What is important is to deter and defeat our enemies. And to do this today we need guns and rockets, warships and warplanes, armoured cars etc. We cannot depend on others to supply us with these things forever, least of all by those who are opposed to us. We need to invent, design, produce and test our own weapons of defence. To do this we need to have scientific and technological knowledge and skills. Those who learn science, mathematics and acquire technological skills are therefore obeying and fulfilling the injunctions of Islam. Those who prevent them from studying these subjects by saying that only learning religion will earn us merit are in fact going against the teachings of Islam for they weaken the Muslim ummah and prevent them from putting fear in the hearts of the enemies of Islam and becoming able to defeat them. These people who prevent Muslims from having their own capacity to protect themselves are actually helping the oppression of the Muslims.
7. Our enemies will always attack us because we are weak. They will only cease to do so if we maintain a strong enough defence capability. This is the Sunnah of the Prophet. Just as the followers of the Prophet had to develop and acquire skills to make bows and arrows and other weapons, we have to develop and acquire skills to make modern weapons.
8. Why are we not doing this? The reason is because those who interprete Islam to us did not stress these very fundamental teachings of Islam. In telling us that science and technology are secular subjects which will not earn us merit in the afterlife, they are discouraging Muslims and their societies from fulfilling the injunctions of Islam to be equipped with the means of defending ourselves and to deter the enemy. During the glorious years of the Muslim civilisation we were not oppressed. Muslims were respected and feared. That was because Muslim countries were strong militarily and economically, and advanced in the sciences. Europeans had to learn from Muslims new knowledge as well as those of the Greeks and others, which the Muslims had studied, translated into Arabic and enhanced.
9. We all know that the Prophet S.A.W. brought only one Islam. The Islam that he received from Allah S.W.T. is only one. But today there are many Islamic religions. There are the Sunni and the Shiah, each divided into numerous groups by the different imams and tarikats. Had Allah S.W.T. wanted us to have all these religions then the Prophet would have conveyed this to the first Muslims, would have taught Sunni Islam, Shiah Islam etc. But we know that during his 23 years of teaching Islam he did not speak about Sunni or Shiah or the various tarikats. All these divisiveness in Islam came only after he had passed away. They are the results of differing interpretations about Islam by different scholars through the centuries.
10. Some of these interpretations and teachings are so different from each other that their followers actually accuse each other of not being Muslims. Indeed they regard many who profess to be Muslims as infidels. Thus Sunni Muslims regard the Shiah as infidels and vice versa.
11. In Malaysia one political party has convinced its followers that anyone not joining or supporting it is not a Muslim. Tens of thousands of Malay Muslims believe this, believe even that voting for this party in elections will guarantee a place for them in heaven. It sounds ridiculous except that the followers are deadly serious in their acceptance and belief, and in their enmity towards those who do not join this party or vote in elections for it. There is now a deep split among the Muslims of Malaysia, caused by Muslim politicians abusing the teachings of Islam.
12. Because of the thousands of different interpretations of Islam and very many different sects, each claiming to be the true followers of Islam, the Muslims are thoroughly confused. They are even more confused because they are told that the door of ijtihad or interpretations of Islam is closed and they must accept anything that had been interpreted long ago. Yet the very people who tell us that we may not reexamine and reinterprete Islam are themselves making new interpretations every day. And their interpretations are meant only to enhance their position in the community, to ensure support for their politics.
13. The result of this confusion is a deeply divided ummah, prone to disputes and to fighting each other. They are less interested in defending themselves against the professed enemies of Islam than they are in opposing other Muslims. That these conflicts among Muslims will only weaken the Muslims is totally ignored by them.
14. Disunited, confused about Islam, fighting each other for power, lacking in essential knowledge and skills, misapplying their God-given wealth, the Muslims of today have reached the lowest point in their development. Still they go on doing what is prohibited by Islam and damaging to themselves. Still they are not willing to see the reality of their situation or to admit that they have deviated from the teachings of Islam. They continue to reject the brotherhood of Muslims.
15. Frustrated and angry some Muslims have resorted to terrorism. Many believe they have been successful in this. But what have the Muslims really gained by these acts of terror? All that has happened is that the enemies of Islam have found justification for putting more pressure on the Muslims, attacking and killing them, treating them and their religion with contempt.
16. Muslims fight and die not in order to achieve any real objective, to free themselves from oppression for example. They fight and they die in order to retaliate, in order to take revenge, in order to vent their anger.
17. Muslims seem not to plan or strategise. Even their terror attacks seem to be random attacks, isolated and uncoordinated. Everyone of them seems to be acting on their own. If they plan it does not seem to be coordinated, nor to advance their cause. Apart from making their enemies angry and providing excuses for them to retaliate, nothing which can contribute towards ultimate Muslim success or victory has been achieved.
18. The Muslims have clearly lost their way. There is a saying in Malay that when you lose your way, you must return to the beginning and start again. With so many contradictory interpretations of Islam over the last 1400 years, most of us have become so confused that we really do not know whether we are right or wrong, whether we are taking the right path or not, whether indeed we are following the teachings of Islam. Certainly we are nowhere near achieving the greatness that was once Islam. If at all, we seem to be slipping further and further away from it.
19. Since we are so confused and divided because of the varied interpretations and teachings of Islam, we should really return to the fundamentals of Islam, to the original teachings of the Prophet, to the Quran and the verified Hadiths, especially those which are clear and indisputable and not subject to different interpretations. What is the most fundamental teaching of Islam. It is that Islam means peace. We greet each other with the wish for peace. Is it just an empty greeting which we do not mean or is it that we wish for peace because we really want peace? If we want peace then shouldn`t we strive for peace, at least among ourselves as Muslims first, and then with people of other faiths.
20. The Quran states that all Muslims are brothers. Apart from Islam advocating peace, surely brothers must not fight each other. Brothers should love each other, being as they are of the same family. Brothers should be united. That is the basic teachings of Islam. There can be no dispute about this injunction of Islam, no difference in the interpretation of this teaching.
21. But Muslims do try to negate even this clear teaching of Islam. They are fond of declaring that other Muslims are not true Muslims; in fact they are infidels because they believe in different imams, belong to different mazhabs or sects, being Sunni or Shiah, followers of different tarikats etc. Far from accepting alll Muslims as their brothers they adopt dress codes which differentiate them from other Muslims whom they condemn as being less Muslim for not wearing their dress. But the Quran is explicit as to who is and who is not a Muslim. According to the Quran a Muslim is one who "bears witness that there is no God but Allah and Muhammad is His Prophet." Even if he or she commits sins, big or small, he or she remains a Muslim for as long as he or she "bears witness to Allah as the only God that is worshipped and that Muhammad is His Prophet."
22. So all the Muslims, all those who bear witness to Allah as the only God that they worship and that Muhammad is His Prophet must be brothers, must be at peace with each other and must be united. We can have our worldly difference, we can have our quarrels as brothers often do, but we would still be brothers and behave like brothers. Why should Islam advocate the brotherhood of Muslims if they are meant to behave not as brothers? If Muslims are expected to behave as enemies of each other then Allah would not declare that all Muslims are brothers.
23. Peace and the brotherhood of Muslims are fundamental teachings of Islam. If we uphold this fundamental injunction of Islam alone, there will be Muslim unity and they will be strong. The Muslims were not meant to have countries and to be divided according to race or nation. They were, everyone of them members of the great Muslim community, the ummah. But now the Muslims have divided themselves into different states and their loyalty to their state is more than to Islam. In the pursuit of the interests of their respective countries, they are quite prepared to fight their Muslim brothers from other countries; they are quite prepared to be divided, to join opposing camps, even those of their non-Muslim enemies.
24. They are already weak. Divided they are weaker. Unable to protect themselves from other Muslims and from other enemies they allow themselves to be manipulated against their co-religionists. They become pawns in the games other people play. Truly they have lost self-respect. Truly they are not following the teachings of Islam.
25. Blaming others for our sad fate may only be partially correct. But there is very little we can do to get others, our enemies, to cease oppressing us. On the other hand if we blame ourselves there is something that we can do to overcome our own faults and weaknesses. It is therefore much better if we look for and recognise our own faults.
26. Muslims must surely know what is it that they are doing which is wrong. Certainly their disunity, their rejection of Islamic brotherhood is wrong. They do not have the right priorities either, emphasising the avoidance of minor sins while openly committing major sins.
27. But beyond that they have, often deliberately, ignored or misinterpreted much of the basic teachings, the clear verses in the Quran. They often read the verses partially, ignoring the context, the parts which qualify the injunctions in the main parts of the verses.
28. Very often we miss completely the message, focusing on the form instead. Thus when we are asked to prepare war-horses so as to deter and defeat the enemy, it is not deterring and defeating the enemy that we take note of. It is the keeping of horses. Similarly when making judgement, it is not justice that we seek to achieve, it is the process of making the judgement. If the process is followed then even if injustice is the result, we believe we have followed what our religion enjoins upon us to do. We ignore completely the injunctions of the Quran that stresses making judgement with justice. And because we ignore this stress on justice enjoined by Islam, we create an image of Islam that is uncaring and unjust.
29. I will not cite more cases of the misinterpretation and deliberate ignoring of the teachings of Islam. It is because of this that Muslims of today are backward, lacking in knowledge, unable to defend themselves and their religion, and forced to resort to terror in order to seek revenge.
30. How long can we go on doing this? Will what we are doing today restore the greatness of our religion and the fitrah that it should be to mankind? Will it deliver us from oppression by our detractors?
31. Frankly I don`t think so. It is not because we are incapable of developing ourselves to the level where others would be forced to respect us and our religion. It is simply because we refuse to adhere to the true teachings of Islam and to strive to better our lot on this earth as much as we prepare for the life in the hereafter. We pray for hassanah in this world and for hassanah in the akhirat but we do nothing beyond merely asking Allah to help us in this world, and in the next. We ignore the Quranic injunction that Allah will not change our fate unless we strive to change it ourselves.
32. And so we will continue to be oppressed, to be attacked, bombed and killed, while our religion, Islam is condemned as false.
33. Many of you will say - who is he to talk about Islam. Don`t listen to him even if what he says is true and is in accord with Islam.
34. That is your choice. Whether you sin or you gain merit, Allah S.W.T. will determine.
SOURCE :
http://www.pmo.gov.my/
Opening Session of the XIII Summit Meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement
Date:24 February 2003
Speech by Prime Minister The Honorable Dato Seri Dr. Mahathir Mohamad at the Opening Session of the XIII Summit Meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement at Putra World Trade Centre, Kuala Lumpur on Monday, February 24 2003
On behalf of the Government and People of Malaysia, may I extend a very warm welcome to all of you to Kuala Lumpur to this XIII Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement.
2. It is indeed a great honour for Malaysia to host this Summit Meeting and to assume the chairmanship of the Movement.
3. As the host, Malaysia is gratified at the high level of participation in spite of the uncertainties of the international situation today. This clearly demonstrates our continued and abiding faith in, and commitment to our Movement and our collective wish and determination to strengthen our unity and cohesion.
4. I take this opportunity to pay a special tribute to the Republic of South Africa, in particular His Excellency President Thabo M'beki, for his and his country's outstanding stewardship of our Movement for the past four years a little longer than they had bargained for when they assumed the Chairmanship at our Summit Meeting in Durban. We congratulate them for the admirable way the Republic of South Africa has held high the banner of NAM despite cynicism about its relevance.
5. We are also gratified that under South Africa's leadership our Movement has intensified the serious and critical examination of our organisation and has initiated some important steps towards its revitalisation a process which Malaysia will pursue with the help and cooperation of the members of NAM.
6. This Summit Meeting in Kuala Lumpur, the first to be held in the new century, indeed the new millennium, is taking place at a most crucial time. The world now lives in fear. We are afraid of everything. We are afraid of flying, afraid of certain countries; afraid of bearded Asian men, afraid of the shoes airline passengers wear; of letters and parcels, of white powder. The countries allegedly harbouring terrorists, their people, innocent or otherwise are afraid too. They are afraid of war, of being killed and maimed by bombs being dropped on them, by missiles fired from hundreds of miles away by unseen forces. They are afraid because they would become the collaterals to be killed because they get in the way of the destruction of their countries.
7. The preparations and the measures taken to ensure security go on frantically. Trillions of dollars are spent by the world for new weapons, new technology, new strategy; the deployment of forces and inspectors worldwide. Those who cannot afford these security measures must simply await their fate and trust in God. Yet despite all these, terrorist attacks have taken place where they are least expected, killing the collaterals again. There is still no guarantee that the well dressed, clean shaven family man next door might not become another hijacker, crashing his aircraft into buildings and killing collaterals.
8. In the meantime the economy of the world has slowed down and in some instances has been reversed, with huge deficits burdening countries. Jobs are lost and poverty is increasing even in the rich countries. No new investments in foreign countries or at home. With the threat of war oil prices have shot up, increasing further the economic and social burdens of the poor countries.
9. Aid for the poor has practically stopped and loans are not available as the poor countries defaulted and defaulted again.
10. Truly the world is in a terrible mess, a state that is worse than during the East West confrontation, the Cold War. All the great hopes following the end of the Cold War have vanished. And with the terrorists and the anti terrorists fumbling blindly in their fight against each other, normalcy will not return for quite a long while.
11. Surely at some stage we must ask ourselves why this is happening to the world. Why is there terrorism? Is it true that the Muslims are born terrorists because of the teachings of a prophet who was a terrorist? How do we explain the pogroms, the inquisitions and the holocaust which characterised Christian Europe for almost 2000 years? Why did the Jews choose to seek haven in Muslim countries whenever Christian Europeans persecute them? Do people seek safety in the land of terrorists? Does not sound very likely.
12. The Christians too were terrorised, not by Muslims but by fellow Christians who condemned them as heretics. They were persecuted, tortured, burnt at the stakes for their beliefs and forced to migrate. Seems that, the Muslims did not have a monopoly of terrorism, certainly not on the scale of the holocaust, the pogroms and the inquisition.
13. So it cannot be that Muslims are the sole cause of all these problems. If they are not then is it a clash of civilisation, a clash of the Muslim civilisation against the Judea Christian civilisation, that is responsible.
14. Frankly I do not think so. Frankly I think it is because of a revival of the old European trait of wanting to dominate the world. And the expression of this trait invariably involves injustice and oppression of people of other ethnic origins and colours.
15. If we care to think back, there was no systematic campaign of terror outside Europe until the Europeans and the Jews created a Jewish state out of Palestinian land. Incidentally terrorism was first used by the Haganah and the Irgun Zvai Leumi to persuade the British to set up Israel. The Palestinians were actually ejected from their homes and their country and forced to live in miserable refugee camps for more than 50 years now.
16. It is the struggle of the Palestinians to regain their land that has precipitated, first conventional wars, then civil protest and eventually violent demonstrations. The Israelis demanded European support to atone for European crimes against them in the past. In desperation the Palestinians finally resorted to what is described as acts of terror. Rightly, this is condemned by the world. But the world does not condemn as acts of terror the more terrifying acts of the Israelis; the massacres in Sabra and Shatila, the shooting and killing of children, the use of depleted uranium coated bullets, the bulldozing of Palestinian homes while the occupants are still in them, the helicopter gunships etc. And Israel is now threatening to use nuclear weapons.
17. This blatant double standards is what infuriates Muslims, infuriates them to the extent of launching their own terror attacks. If Iraq is linked to the Al Qaeda, is it not more logical to link the expropriation of Palestinian land and the persecution and oppression of the Palestinians with September 11? It is not religious differences which angered the attackers of the World Trade Centre. It is simply sympathy and anger over the expropriation of Palestinian land, over the injustice and the oppression of the Palestinians, and Muslims everywhere. If the innocent people who died in the attack on Afghanistan, and those who have been dying from lack of food and medical care in Iraq, are considered collaterals, are not the 3,000 who died in New York and the 200 in Bali also just collaterals whose deaths are necessary for the operations to succeed?
18. Actually the life of any human being is sacred, no matter if the person is a friend or an enemy. That is why war is not a solution. A contest based on who can kill more people in order to establish who is the Victor and who the loser, worst still in order to determine who is right and who is wrong is primitive and does not speak well of the so called high level of civilisation we have achieved. The greatness of a nation should be based on a culture that values high moral qualities, aesthetics, learning and advancements in the sciences. Unfortunately thousands of years after the stone age we still measure the greatness of a nation by the capacity to slaughter the greatest number of people.
19. But the oppression and injustice is not confined to waging war and killing people; there is oppression in ideological propagation. We are now allowed only a democratic system of Government. We admit it is by far the best system of Governments. But applying sanctions, starving people, denying access to medicine in order to force the acceptance of democracy hardly seem to be democratic. Actually millions have died because they have not converted to this new religion. And millions more are suffering because they are unable to make democracy work, because of the resulting anarchy.
20. Relieved of the need to compete with the Communists, the capitalist free traders have ceased to show a friendly face. Their greed knows no bounds. They want countries which had fought hard to gain independence, to give up that independence, to do away with their borders, to allow the capitalists free access to do what they like to the economies of these countries. They call this free competition. As they merge and acquire each other, they become monstrous giants against whom the small businesses in the developing countries will not be able to compete. What is the meaning of competition if you cannot win at all. In the end a few of these monsters will control the economy of the whole world.
21. The sad thing is that they are not above cheating and corruption. And we know they can fail. We have seen how spectacularly they fail losing 100 billion dollars in one year. And that is only one corporation.
22. Then there are the rogue currency traders who destroyed the economies of half the world, threw tens of millions out of work, bankrupted banks and thousands of businesses, cause the collapse of Governments and precipitated anarchy; all so that half a dozen individuals can make billions for themselves.
23. Now the rich give no more aid. They do not lend either. And all the time the international agencies they control try to strangle the debt laden poor countries which had been attacked by their greedy market manipulators.
24. The disparities between rich and poor widen daily. The rich have per capita incomes of more than 30,000 US Dollars, the poor only 300 US Dollars. Still the rich want to squeeze out literally the last drop of blood from the poor.
25. It is this which plague the word today, this oppression of the poor by the rich; this injustice, this inequality. To nib salt into the wound the poor are always being told that they lack transparency and good governance, they don't respect human rights, they don't uphold freedom of speech, freedom of the press and so on and so forth, when in fact it is the rich who lack transparency, who do not respect human rights, who curb our rights to speak the truth about what they are doing, who use their media to hide their misdeeds and spread lies. How else can we interpret the operations of the hedge funds and the currency traders, sanctions and the systematic bombings of certain countries, the impoverishment of the already poor, and the censorship of news as well as distorted and fabricated reports about the south.
26. The fact is that the poor countries have been and are being oppressed and terrorised by the rich countries. Naturally the poor are bitter and angry and have lost faith in justice and honour. And the last straw which caused them to resort to futile and destructive terror attacks is the blatant support for state terrorism as practised by Israel and others. If Israeli terrorism is a response to Palestinian terrorism, then Palestinian terrorism, and terror acts by their sympathisers must be due to the expulsion of Palestinians from their land, the further occupation of Palestinian territory and the open support for Israeli intransigence and terrorism by the Europeans. But the developing countries must admit that we are also responsible for the mess the world is in today. We have not used our independence and freedom to develop our countries for the good of our people. Instead we have been busy overthrowing our Governments, setting up new Governments which in turn would be overthrown. We have even killed our own people by the millions. And frequently, frustrated with anarchic democracy we resort to autocratic Governments, exposing ourselves to much vilification.
27. The result of this confrontation between the haves and the have nots, the developed and the developing is a word that is practically ungovernable. Despite all the advances in science and technology, the world is in a terrible state. With more than enough food to feed the six billion people of the world, fully one in six is actually underfed, starving, with hundreds dying daily.
28. Since Sept 11, the rich and the powerful have become enraged with the poor half of the world. And their extreme measures to ensure security for themselves have only amplified the anger of the oppressed poor. Both sides are now in a state of blind anger and are bent on killing each other, on war.
29. War solves nothing. War is primitive. Today's war is more primitive than stone age wars. The targets are not the fighters, the combatants. The target is the ordinary civilians, the women, children and old people. Whether it is terror attacks or military action, these are the victims.
30. In primitive wars the carnage is witnessed by the warriors. While the suicidal terrorists die with each attack, the great warriors who press the buttons see nothing of the mangled bodies, the heads and limbs which are torn from disemboweled bodies, the blood and the gore of the innocent people who an instant before were living people like them. And because they don't see, the button pressing warriors and the people who commanded them go back to enjoy a hearty meal, watch TV shows or moral boosting troop entertainers and then retire to their cosy beds for a good sleep. Tomorrow they would make more sorties, to carpet bomb more children, women and old people or they would press more buttons to send missiles to tear off more heads and limbs.
31. War is about slaughtering people. Newer and more brutal weapons are being invented to kill more people more efficiently. And now there is talk that the use of nuclear weapons is justified. Is it because the people to be slaughtered are chromatically different? Is it because they cannot hit back?
32. Our meeting here today is a meeting of Heads of States and Heads of Governments. We must admit that our organisation has not been as effective as it should be. We may want to remain uninvolved and to avoid incurring the displeasure of the powerful countries. But our people are getting restless. They want us to do something. If we don't then they will, and they will go against us. They will take things into their own hands. Unable to mount a conventional war they will resort to guerrilla war, to terrorism, against us and against those they consider to be their oppressors.
33. They cannot be ignored any longer. We cannot incarcerate them all for we do not always know who they are or where they are.
34. Sept 11, has demonstrated to the world that acts of terror even by a dozen people can destabilise the whole world completely, put fear into the hearts of everyone, make them afraid of their own shadows.
35. But their acts have also removed all the restraint in the countries of the north. They now no longer respect borders, international laws or even simple moral values. And they are now talking of wars, of the use of military conquests in order to change Governments. They are even talking of using nuclear weapons.
36. It is no longer just a war against terrorism. It is in fact a war to dominate the world i.e. the chromatically different world. We are now being accused of harbouring terrorists, of being Axis of Evil, etc. NAM has a lot of problems and issues which it must tackle. But at the moment the most important threat that we face is the tendency of the powerful to wage war when faced with opposition to the spread of their dominance. We cannot fight a war with them.
37. Fortunately many of their people are also sick of war. They have come out in their millions to protest the warlike policies of their leaders. We must join them. We must join their struggle with all the moral force that we can command.
38. War must be outlawed. That will have to be our struggle for now. We must struggle for justice and freedom from oppression, from economic hegemony. But we must remove the threat of war first. With this Sword of Democles hanging over our heads we can never succeed in advancing the interests of our countries.
39. War must therefore be made illegal. The enforcement of this must be by multilateral forces under the control of the United Nations. No single nation should be allowed to police the world, least of all to decide what action to take, when.
40. Globalisation must not be confined to the exploitation of the wealth of the earth only. Globalisation must include the multilateral protection of countries threatened by war or hegemony.
41. There must be a new world order in which power is shared equitably by all. The United Nations must be reformed. It must no longer be bound by the results of a world war fought more than half a century ago. Everyone must disarm. Weapons of mass destruction must be disallowed for all. And there should be no more research into making conventional weapons more lethal.
42. If it is right for an international agency in a globalised world to oversee human rights, business practices and the kind of democracy practised by countries, then a truly International Agency beholden only to the United Nations General Assembly should oversee the military budget of all countries, big and small. Trading in arms must come under United Nations supervision. Brutal ethnic cleansing must be stopped by a multinational standing army.
43. When Japan was defeated, it was allowed to spend only one percent of its GDP on its armed forces. If such a condition can be imposed on Japan, why cannot it be imposed on all countries?
44. In the struggle to outlaw war and control arms, nuclear as well as conventional, NAM will find growing support from among many people in the North. It is a daunting task nevertheless. But unless we take the moral high ground now, we will wait in vain for the powerful North to voluntarily give up slaughtering people in the name of national interest.
45. Again I would like to say that NAM must struggle to outlaw war. NAM must struggle to outlaw nuclear weapons. NAM must struggle to stop the research and development of more and more lethal so called conventional weapons. NAM must struggle to control the arms trade.
46. We must work for a new world order, where democracy is not confined to the internal governance of states only but to the governance of the world. We must work for the revival of the United Nations and multilateralism. We must work to do away or modify the powers of the victors of a war fought half a century ago.
47. We know we are weak. But we also know we have allies in the North. They too want the abolition of wars, the slaughter of people for whatever reason. They may not agree with us in everything. But in the opposition to war very many will be with us. They are ready to oppose their warlike leaders. We must work with them.
48. This then is our struggle. We are not irrelevant. We are not anachronistic. We have a vision, the vision to build a new world order, a world order that is more equitable, more just; a world order which is above all free from the age old belief that killing people is right, that it can solve the problems of relations between nations.
49. For all these we must revitalise the Non Aligned Movement. And that vitality can only come from our closing ranks and acting together.
50. I thank you for giving me this opportunity to speak before this august assembly. Malaysia pledges to work vigorously to oppose war including the war against Iraq and to ensure the success of this our Movement.
3. As the host, Malaysia is gratified at the high level of participation in spite of the uncertainties of the international situation today. This clearly demonstrates our continued and abiding faith in, and commitment to our Movement and our collective wish and determination to strengthen our unity and cohesion.
4. I take this opportunity to pay a special tribute to the Republic of South Africa, in particular His Excellency President Thabo M'beki, for his and his country's outstanding stewardship of our Movement for the past four years a little longer than they had bargained for when they assumed the Chairmanship at our Summit Meeting in Durban. We congratulate them for the admirable way the Republic of South Africa has held high the banner of NAM despite cynicism about its relevance.
5. We are also gratified that under South Africa's leadership our Movement has intensified the serious and critical examination of our organisation and has initiated some important steps towards its revitalisation a process which Malaysia will pursue with the help and cooperation of the members of NAM.
6. This Summit Meeting in Kuala Lumpur, the first to be held in the new century, indeed the new millennium, is taking place at a most crucial time. The world now lives in fear. We are afraid of everything. We are afraid of flying, afraid of certain countries; afraid of bearded Asian men, afraid of the shoes airline passengers wear; of letters and parcels, of white powder. The countries allegedly harbouring terrorists, their people, innocent or otherwise are afraid too. They are afraid of war, of being killed and maimed by bombs being dropped on them, by missiles fired from hundreds of miles away by unseen forces. They are afraid because they would become the collaterals to be killed because they get in the way of the destruction of their countries.
7. The preparations and the measures taken to ensure security go on frantically. Trillions of dollars are spent by the world for new weapons, new technology, new strategy; the deployment of forces and inspectors worldwide. Those who cannot afford these security measures must simply await their fate and trust in God. Yet despite all these, terrorist attacks have taken place where they are least expected, killing the collaterals again. There is still no guarantee that the well dressed, clean shaven family man next door might not become another hijacker, crashing his aircraft into buildings and killing collaterals.
8. In the meantime the economy of the world has slowed down and in some instances has been reversed, with huge deficits burdening countries. Jobs are lost and poverty is increasing even in the rich countries. No new investments in foreign countries or at home. With the threat of war oil prices have shot up, increasing further the economic and social burdens of the poor countries.
9. Aid for the poor has practically stopped and loans are not available as the poor countries defaulted and defaulted again.
10. Truly the world is in a terrible mess, a state that is worse than during the East West confrontation, the Cold War. All the great hopes following the end of the Cold War have vanished. And with the terrorists and the anti terrorists fumbling blindly in their fight against each other, normalcy will not return for quite a long while.
11. Surely at some stage we must ask ourselves why this is happening to the world. Why is there terrorism? Is it true that the Muslims are born terrorists because of the teachings of a prophet who was a terrorist? How do we explain the pogroms, the inquisitions and the holocaust which characterised Christian Europe for almost 2000 years? Why did the Jews choose to seek haven in Muslim countries whenever Christian Europeans persecute them? Do people seek safety in the land of terrorists? Does not sound very likely.
12. The Christians too were terrorised, not by Muslims but by fellow Christians who condemned them as heretics. They were persecuted, tortured, burnt at the stakes for their beliefs and forced to migrate. Seems that, the Muslims did not have a monopoly of terrorism, certainly not on the scale of the holocaust, the pogroms and the inquisition.
13. So it cannot be that Muslims are the sole cause of all these problems. If they are not then is it a clash of civilisation, a clash of the Muslim civilisation against the Judea Christian civilisation, that is responsible.
14. Frankly I do not think so. Frankly I think it is because of a revival of the old European trait of wanting to dominate the world. And the expression of this trait invariably involves injustice and oppression of people of other ethnic origins and colours.
15. If we care to think back, there was no systematic campaign of terror outside Europe until the Europeans and the Jews created a Jewish state out of Palestinian land. Incidentally terrorism was first used by the Haganah and the Irgun Zvai Leumi to persuade the British to set up Israel. The Palestinians were actually ejected from their homes and their country and forced to live in miserable refugee camps for more than 50 years now.
16. It is the struggle of the Palestinians to regain their land that has precipitated, first conventional wars, then civil protest and eventually violent demonstrations. The Israelis demanded European support to atone for European crimes against them in the past. In desperation the Palestinians finally resorted to what is described as acts of terror. Rightly, this is condemned by the world. But the world does not condemn as acts of terror the more terrifying acts of the Israelis; the massacres in Sabra and Shatila, the shooting and killing of children, the use of depleted uranium coated bullets, the bulldozing of Palestinian homes while the occupants are still in them, the helicopter gunships etc. And Israel is now threatening to use nuclear weapons.
17. This blatant double standards is what infuriates Muslims, infuriates them to the extent of launching their own terror attacks. If Iraq is linked to the Al Qaeda, is it not more logical to link the expropriation of Palestinian land and the persecution and oppression of the Palestinians with September 11? It is not religious differences which angered the attackers of the World Trade Centre. It is simply sympathy and anger over the expropriation of Palestinian land, over the injustice and the oppression of the Palestinians, and Muslims everywhere. If the innocent people who died in the attack on Afghanistan, and those who have been dying from lack of food and medical care in Iraq, are considered collaterals, are not the 3,000 who died in New York and the 200 in Bali also just collaterals whose deaths are necessary for the operations to succeed?
18. Actually the life of any human being is sacred, no matter if the person is a friend or an enemy. That is why war is not a solution. A contest based on who can kill more people in order to establish who is the Victor and who the loser, worst still in order to determine who is right and who is wrong is primitive and does not speak well of the so called high level of civilisation we have achieved. The greatness of a nation should be based on a culture that values high moral qualities, aesthetics, learning and advancements in the sciences. Unfortunately thousands of years after the stone age we still measure the greatness of a nation by the capacity to slaughter the greatest number of people.
19. But the oppression and injustice is not confined to waging war and killing people; there is oppression in ideological propagation. We are now allowed only a democratic system of Government. We admit it is by far the best system of Governments. But applying sanctions, starving people, denying access to medicine in order to force the acceptance of democracy hardly seem to be democratic. Actually millions have died because they have not converted to this new religion. And millions more are suffering because they are unable to make democracy work, because of the resulting anarchy.
20. Relieved of the need to compete with the Communists, the capitalist free traders have ceased to show a friendly face. Their greed knows no bounds. They want countries which had fought hard to gain independence, to give up that independence, to do away with their borders, to allow the capitalists free access to do what they like to the economies of these countries. They call this free competition. As they merge and acquire each other, they become monstrous giants against whom the small businesses in the developing countries will not be able to compete. What is the meaning of competition if you cannot win at all. In the end a few of these monsters will control the economy of the whole world.
21. The sad thing is that they are not above cheating and corruption. And we know they can fail. We have seen how spectacularly they fail losing 100 billion dollars in one year. And that is only one corporation.
22. Then there are the rogue currency traders who destroyed the economies of half the world, threw tens of millions out of work, bankrupted banks and thousands of businesses, cause the collapse of Governments and precipitated anarchy; all so that half a dozen individuals can make billions for themselves.
23. Now the rich give no more aid. They do not lend either. And all the time the international agencies they control try to strangle the debt laden poor countries which had been attacked by their greedy market manipulators.
24. The disparities between rich and poor widen daily. The rich have per capita incomes of more than 30,000 US Dollars, the poor only 300 US Dollars. Still the rich want to squeeze out literally the last drop of blood from the poor.
25. It is this which plague the word today, this oppression of the poor by the rich; this injustice, this inequality. To nib salt into the wound the poor are always being told that they lack transparency and good governance, they don't respect human rights, they don't uphold freedom of speech, freedom of the press and so on and so forth, when in fact it is the rich who lack transparency, who do not respect human rights, who curb our rights to speak the truth about what they are doing, who use their media to hide their misdeeds and spread lies. How else can we interpret the operations of the hedge funds and the currency traders, sanctions and the systematic bombings of certain countries, the impoverishment of the already poor, and the censorship of news as well as distorted and fabricated reports about the south.
26. The fact is that the poor countries have been and are being oppressed and terrorised by the rich countries. Naturally the poor are bitter and angry and have lost faith in justice and honour. And the last straw which caused them to resort to futile and destructive terror attacks is the blatant support for state terrorism as practised by Israel and others. If Israeli terrorism is a response to Palestinian terrorism, then Palestinian terrorism, and terror acts by their sympathisers must be due to the expulsion of Palestinians from their land, the further occupation of Palestinian territory and the open support for Israeli intransigence and terrorism by the Europeans. But the developing countries must admit that we are also responsible for the mess the world is in today. We have not used our independence and freedom to develop our countries for the good of our people. Instead we have been busy overthrowing our Governments, setting up new Governments which in turn would be overthrown. We have even killed our own people by the millions. And frequently, frustrated with anarchic democracy we resort to autocratic Governments, exposing ourselves to much vilification.
27. The result of this confrontation between the haves and the have nots, the developed and the developing is a word that is practically ungovernable. Despite all the advances in science and technology, the world is in a terrible state. With more than enough food to feed the six billion people of the world, fully one in six is actually underfed, starving, with hundreds dying daily.
28. Since Sept 11, the rich and the powerful have become enraged with the poor half of the world. And their extreme measures to ensure security for themselves have only amplified the anger of the oppressed poor. Both sides are now in a state of blind anger and are bent on killing each other, on war.
29. War solves nothing. War is primitive. Today's war is more primitive than stone age wars. The targets are not the fighters, the combatants. The target is the ordinary civilians, the women, children and old people. Whether it is terror attacks or military action, these are the victims.
30. In primitive wars the carnage is witnessed by the warriors. While the suicidal terrorists die with each attack, the great warriors who press the buttons see nothing of the mangled bodies, the heads and limbs which are torn from disemboweled bodies, the blood and the gore of the innocent people who an instant before were living people like them. And because they don't see, the button pressing warriors and the people who commanded them go back to enjoy a hearty meal, watch TV shows or moral boosting troop entertainers and then retire to their cosy beds for a good sleep. Tomorrow they would make more sorties, to carpet bomb more children, women and old people or they would press more buttons to send missiles to tear off more heads and limbs.
31. War is about slaughtering people. Newer and more brutal weapons are being invented to kill more people more efficiently. And now there is talk that the use of nuclear weapons is justified. Is it because the people to be slaughtered are chromatically different? Is it because they cannot hit back?
32. Our meeting here today is a meeting of Heads of States and Heads of Governments. We must admit that our organisation has not been as effective as it should be. We may want to remain uninvolved and to avoid incurring the displeasure of the powerful countries. But our people are getting restless. They want us to do something. If we don't then they will, and they will go against us. They will take things into their own hands. Unable to mount a conventional war they will resort to guerrilla war, to terrorism, against us and against those they consider to be their oppressors.
33. They cannot be ignored any longer. We cannot incarcerate them all for we do not always know who they are or where they are.
34. Sept 11, has demonstrated to the world that acts of terror even by a dozen people can destabilise the whole world completely, put fear into the hearts of everyone, make them afraid of their own shadows.
35. But their acts have also removed all the restraint in the countries of the north. They now no longer respect borders, international laws or even simple moral values. And they are now talking of wars, of the use of military conquests in order to change Governments. They are even talking of using nuclear weapons.
36. It is no longer just a war against terrorism. It is in fact a war to dominate the world i.e. the chromatically different world. We are now being accused of harbouring terrorists, of being Axis of Evil, etc. NAM has a lot of problems and issues which it must tackle. But at the moment the most important threat that we face is the tendency of the powerful to wage war when faced with opposition to the spread of their dominance. We cannot fight a war with them.
37. Fortunately many of their people are also sick of war. They have come out in their millions to protest the warlike policies of their leaders. We must join them. We must join their struggle with all the moral force that we can command.
38. War must be outlawed. That will have to be our struggle for now. We must struggle for justice and freedom from oppression, from economic hegemony. But we must remove the threat of war first. With this Sword of Democles hanging over our heads we can never succeed in advancing the interests of our countries.
39. War must therefore be made illegal. The enforcement of this must be by multilateral forces under the control of the United Nations. No single nation should be allowed to police the world, least of all to decide what action to take, when.
40. Globalisation must not be confined to the exploitation of the wealth of the earth only. Globalisation must include the multilateral protection of countries threatened by war or hegemony.
41. There must be a new world order in which power is shared equitably by all. The United Nations must be reformed. It must no longer be bound by the results of a world war fought more than half a century ago. Everyone must disarm. Weapons of mass destruction must be disallowed for all. And there should be no more research into making conventional weapons more lethal.
42. If it is right for an international agency in a globalised world to oversee human rights, business practices and the kind of democracy practised by countries, then a truly International Agency beholden only to the United Nations General Assembly should oversee the military budget of all countries, big and small. Trading in arms must come under United Nations supervision. Brutal ethnic cleansing must be stopped by a multinational standing army.
43. When Japan was defeated, it was allowed to spend only one percent of its GDP on its armed forces. If such a condition can be imposed on Japan, why cannot it be imposed on all countries?
44. In the struggle to outlaw war and control arms, nuclear as well as conventional, NAM will find growing support from among many people in the North. It is a daunting task nevertheless. But unless we take the moral high ground now, we will wait in vain for the powerful North to voluntarily give up slaughtering people in the name of national interest.
45. Again I would like to say that NAM must struggle to outlaw war. NAM must struggle to outlaw nuclear weapons. NAM must struggle to stop the research and development of more and more lethal so called conventional weapons. NAM must struggle to control the arms trade.
46. We must work for a new world order, where democracy is not confined to the internal governance of states only but to the governance of the world. We must work for the revival of the United Nations and multilateralism. We must work to do away or modify the powers of the victors of a war fought half a century ago.
47. We know we are weak. But we also know we have allies in the North. They too want the abolition of wars, the slaughter of people for whatever reason. They may not agree with us in everything. But in the opposition to war very many will be with us. They are ready to oppose their warlike leaders. We must work with them.
48. This then is our struggle. We are not irrelevant. We are not anachronistic. We have a vision, the vision to build a new world order, a world order that is more equitable, more just; a world order which is above all free from the age old belief that killing people is right, that it can solve the problems of relations between nations.
49. For all these we must revitalise the Non Aligned Movement. And that vitality can only come from our closing ranks and acting together.
50. I thank you for giving me this opportunity to speak before this august assembly. Malaysia pledges to work vigorously to oppose war including the war against Iraq and to ensure the success of this our Movement.
SOURCE :
http://www.nam.gov.za/
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