Malaysia a Major Player in Regional Change

By OOI KEE BENG

WHAT IS ON offer for Malaysia to take advantage of in the psycho-political atmosphere of the post-Covid19 era, and in the midst of the so-called trade war between the USA and China? No doubt, since this is an ongoing process and how these tensions will rise or dissolve are difficult to predict, the strategizing and adaptation needed cannot be as ascertainable as one might hope.

More to the point, perhaps, is to inquire how Malaysia can actively and advantageously respond to the new challenges rather than see herself as a passive receiver of beneficial conditions.

In times of great global change, how a government—or anyone for that matter—navigates the emerging path forward is a pronounced challenge that requires a lot of historical insight and self-understanding. Having geostrategic imagination and humanitarian ambition will certainly help.

Learning from the Pandemic

Covid19 taught us two things. For starters, we realised how important logistical and transport networks are to the resilience of an economy; how efficient a supply chain is in terms of proximity and reliability was also a concern not easily forgotten. Secondly, we saw how vital broad digital literacy and fast-speed cyber infrastructure was to governance in general, and to crisis management in particular.

The pandemic forced us to embrace what we should have known for a long time. Ensuring that the national educational system provides society with cutting-edge scientific thinking and disruptive technologies, and putting in place reliable and up-to-date infrastructure that brings inclusive opportunities to the whole population—these were nation-building tasks that could no longer be delayed.

The trade war between the US and China has added many more dimensions to our post-Vision 2020 reality.

We are indeed at a global crossroads at the moment. Not only do we now have to entertain the idea that war is possible, and in East and Southeast Asia itself, we see that the tensions between the great powers place us in situations that advantageous, at least in the short run. Whether the advantages will be long-term will depend on the strategic sense of our leaders.

Embracing Civilizational Diversity

The question to ask today is: Are we presently caught in a struggle against the coming of a multipolar world, or is the multipolar world already upon us, and we are in fact trying to manage that new reality?

This is an important difference to consider. The first leaves us in a state of struggle that must end with one winner, while the second approach imagines big powers sharing influence, and even geo-strategically collaborating. Whichever the case, countries like Malaysia are caught in the middle, and even if the tensions favour them for the moment, they will need to realise their role in working towards minimising the chances of war in the near future. Should open conflicts break out, then whatever short-term benefits they might have had are for naught.

Penang, the Silicon Valley of the East, is once again recognised as a geostrategic production hub for semiconductors. No doubt this involves conditions dictated by global forces, but how Malaysia responds to these should be informed as far as possible by strategic concerns, political and economically. Now more than ever, the regional context within which its nation building takes place, has to be taken advantage of.

Is Malaysia and its veritable semiconductor industry to see itself as a bit player that must side with one or another big power, or is Malaysia to play a more innovative role within an new balance of geopolitical power; one which can help enhance its regional role, enhance its position as a bridge between cautious big powers, and liberate it from its short-sighted isolationistic national discourse?

ASEAN agency is vital in the new geopolitical context. Its slow pace of integration on most fronts is a luxury it can no longer afford.

1. Where digital development is concerned, the region should be able to agree on measures to enhance its cyber network quite easily. Once that is in place, the floodgates should open for e-governance benefits to emerge, along with financial collaboration and integration, not to mention mobility in goods and services.

• Where infrastructure building is concerned, ASEAN countries involved in sub-regional projects should negotiate more effectively as a group with the great powers on investments stretching across sub-regions.

• Where regional peace is concerned, ASEAN should consider what a catastrophe a war in the region would be, whatever the cause of that conflict may be. To minimise that risk, the member states will have to act together for their own good to bridge differences between all stakeholders involved—something ASEAN has been effective at doing. International trade has proven to be a powerful tool against warfare, and ASEAN integration within itself and with its regional partners testifies to that truth. The many multilateral and mini-lateral agreements on trade and investments signed in recent decades testify to that growing trend, and wisdom.

The present situation does offer ASEAN that role to play, and its member states should not content themselves with whatever short-term advantages each of them may be receiving at the cost of ignoring the vital lesson that it is international trade that not only brings economic development but also regional peace.

Malaysia takes over the chairmanship of ASEAN next year. Instead of treating it as some formality that comes around once a decade, and instead of being content to hold talk shops and tick bureaucratic boxes, Malaysia under Anwar Ibrahim has a responsibility and a prerogative to use the present political and geopolitical conditions affecting the region and the country to envisage a future whose bricks must be laid now, for greater regional integration and deeper economic interdependence.

Datuk Dr Ooi Kee Beng is the Executive Director of Penang Institute, and Senior Visiting Fellow at ISEAS — Yusof Ishak Institute. His latest book is “The Reluctant Nation: Malaysia’s Vain Search for Common Purpose” (Gerakbudaya), to be launched at the George Town Literary Festival (GTLF2024) this year. Homepage: wikibeng.com.