Rediscovering the Asian identity

Rediscovering the Asian identity

Megawati Soekarnoputri President, Indonesia

We are now living in fast-changing world. What often concerns us is that the changes themselves always entail problems. They can be big, they can be small and in many cases they can be cumulative in nature. Some we inherit from the past and are not easy to solve, and others arise as new challenges. Most of the big problems are inherent in ourselves, while only a few come from outside our community.

Many of the problems between Asian nations are due to their vast cultural diversity, or even within one nation-state. This is partly influenced by the major religions, along with their divergences in philosophical understandings and spiritual values.

And it is partly influenced by western civilization. This might be the reason that Asia is somewhat difficult to understand.

Most of the nation-states were born as soon as World War II ended, and most of their founding fathers drew on the thoughts and experiences of their predecessors in Europe and the United States. The differences in how nations in these regions were born was felt in Asia and many developing countries.

We are hence convinced, as our founding fathers were, that a nation-state as a modern institution must become a social and political umbrella covering all people contained within the whole range of cultural diversity.

In Indonesia we have not inherited only the wisdom of our founding fathers, but also the obligation to manage and make such a concept of a nation-state work. Diversity is an asset that we as a nation must protect and maintain.

Undoubtedly, it is never easy to manage all those things. I am talking about how to shape a nation. It is not easy to imagine, let alone to guarantee, that every member of a nation feels that he or she belongs to one family. We are talking about how to accept and respect one another.

The last lesson is in our handling of the consequences of the monetary crisis that hit us in 1997. The formation of a nation also involves economic factors.

Attempts by a nation to free itself from such a crisis will affect its behavior in managing its internal affairs, as well as its attitude toward others. Desperate nations tend to act irrationally to pursue their objectives. Desperate for resources, some parties push forward racial, ethnic or religious sentiments -- thing that had long been forgotten. This will inevitably provoke similar, sometimes uglier, reactions from others, and old and long forgotten historical rivalries are somehow revived.

Such conflicts have placed the government in a dilemma. After all, the people that make up the government belong to the racial, ethnic or religious groups in conflict.

We certainly cannot run from our history. It is a history that has divided us into various communities. But it is also historical reality that has shown us how these communities coexist peacefully. There were times when they were in conflict, and later reconciled. The world's major religions had to adopt Asian values when they entered Asia, discarding their intolerant elements and gradually integrating their teachings with the new cultures and tolerant natures of Asian peoples.

The essence of the Asian identity is tolerance toward differences. We seek harmony. How can we translate peace as shown by nations long accustomed to divergences in their beliefs, if we ourselves cannot live in harmony despite the fact that our community basically shares the same belief?

Tolerance is the main foundation upon which national stability is built.

So I suggest that we reformulate the existing perception adopted by the West of "Asian values". It is not to our advantage to let the West associate "Asian values" with a reluctance to accept the concept of human rights; or attach "Asian values" to the autocratic tendency that is inherent in traditional governments.

We are obliged to convince ourselves and the entire world that there exists another "Asian value", namely tolerance. This value is more conducive for human rights, and can further be developed into a more modernized form of democracy.

A failure to apply tolerance will consequently raise fears that, in the end, no single government is capable of handling communal conflicts. Not only are these communities suspicious of each other, but they also are ready to go to war. We have experienced such bitter conflicts since 1999. Only recently have we managed to invite the conflicting groups to a dialog, and encourage them to be more tolerant toward difference.

Currently, we are also facing a new phenomenon: terrorism. Whatever the reason, we cannot justify terrorist acts. The main causes of terrorism are rooted in intolerance, injustice and discrimination. We should have the courage to leave behind double standards in tackling the problem of terrorism.

Asia can and must be developed into a terror-free zone by institutionalizing and practicing tolerance, ensuring fair treatment for all and maintaining democracy. We should invite everyone and every government to list and identify what efforts need to be undertaken to deal with terror and any other kind of violence, as well as addressing the root causes of this violence.

The above is based on the President's address at the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation in New Delhi on April 3. The occasion took place during her state visit to India.