Political stability and guided democracy needed for prosperity and peaceful society — Taib
SIBU: Political stability and guided democracy are essential for prosperity and a peaceful society, Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud said Saturday night.
OFFICIAL OPENING: Taib presses the button to open the Union of World Liu’s Association 7th biennial global convention. From left are Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh, Temenggong Vincent Lau Lee Ming and Tan Sri Dato Low Nam Hui. — Photos by Raymond Tan
He said it was not enough for the people to think only of economy.
Taib added they also needed to centre their thoughts on the world structure to maintain global peace and unity.
Giving an example, he said, the success of China in transforming itself from the old socialist order to that of a market economy showed how a country that was sensitive to the needs of its people and to the needs of preserving the order of its society could not be sacrificed in a hurry in order to gain the name of a good democracy.
“The world has faced many crises in the last few years and that speaks a lot for us to think very carefully what we ought to do in order to maintain that role we have in Asia so that our prosperity can be well safeguarded.
“It is not enough therefore to encourage only freedom and democracy. We have to face the reality and the needs of the smooth working economy of a globalised nature we are entering,” he said at the Union of World Liu’s Association 7th biennial global convention here.
“That means we have to look into our role to see that we can contribute towards the unity of the society we belong to.” Taib pointed out.
Out of the over 20 democracies in the world, only one or two had remained able to produce a government strong enough to have a majority, he said. The rest have got to resort to coalition and to some kind of patch-up arrangement in order to form a government.
“To me, that is a sign for us all, to pay attention to the need to contribute towards more stable politics, a more stable structure in the world today,” Taib stressed.
Elaborating, he said the moderate people had not been able to organise themselves to maintain that stability and unity in their own society because the extreme group or groups had always got the upper hand as they were more forceful in the way they championed their causes. This, he stressed was not healthy for the world, especially for the developing countries.
As such, the people have to think very deeply on how they should maintain a moderate attitude in all their ventures to build their countries and to build the world order, he said.
“That is very important – whether you are a Chinese, you are a Malay or any other Asian, we all have an inherited wisdom to say, we have to preserve the moderation of our way of life,” he stressed.
Among those present were Second Finance Minister Dato Sri Wong Soon Koh, Lau Clan World President Tan Sri Datuk Low Nam Hui and president of the Sarawak Pan-Chen Lau Clan Temenggong Vincent Lau Lee Ming.