ISSUE 42: JUNE-AUGUST 2006

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Malaysian Prime Minister delivers 12th U Thant Lecture

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi delivers the U Thant Distinguished Lecture in Tokyo.

A capacity crowd of more than 350 packed the Benishinju Ballroom of the Capitol Tokyu Hotel in Tokyo to hear Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi of Malaysia deliver the 12th U Thant Distinguished Lecture.

The topic of the Prime Minister’s address was Islam Hadari (Civilizational Islam): Promoting Good Governance Within Societies and Goodwill Between Peoples and Cultures Internationally.

It is a mistake, said the Prime Minister, to associate Islam with extremism. "Extremist movements of all shades and beliefs have survived in the fringes of various societies and cultures.

"It is a common misperception.” he added “that Islam is an ‘Arab religion’. . . in Southeast Asia alone. . . there are more than 300 million Muslims."

Acknowledging that “certain grave events in the last decade have brought the Islamic world and the Christian West to a defining moment in the relations”, he cautioned that we must not allow “the proposition that these two great civilizations are destined to clash with each other. . . to become a self-fulfilling prophesy.”

The Prime Minister noted that the Islamic country of Malaysia includes a non-Muslim minority of 33 per cent. The governing principle of Malaysia has been Islam Hadari (Civilizational Islam), which he defined as "a comprehensive approach to the development of mankind, society, and country based on the perspective of Islamic teachings and Islamic civilization."

Because the government has stressed “harmony between peoples of different religions and different cultures” and worked to reduce the economic disparities among various ethnic groups, he said, “Malaysia is a shining example of democracy thriving in an Islamic country.”

Following Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s 40-minute address was a half-hour question and answer session. Questions from the audience covered such issues as the importance of education; the role of women and foreign labourers in Malaysia’s workforce; the Western media’s coverage of Islam; secularism; and the role of science and technology.

The U Thant Distinguished Lecture series is a forum through which world leaders and eminent thinkers speak on the challenges and opportunities facing the world’s peoples and nations. The 12th U Thant Distinguished Lecture was co-organized by UNU Centre, UNU Institute of Advance Studies and the Science Council of Japan.

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