Moving beyond regional preoccupations
Professor Tan Sri Dato' Dzulkifli Abdul Razak
Learning Curve: Perspective
New Sunday Times - 19-1-2014
FORGING LATINITY-ASIAN PARTNERSHIP: Working together to overcome cultural, economical and linguistic imbalances
THE knowledge of Malaysians about their Latin American counterparts is rather dismal generally to say the least.
While some initiatives were made to bridge this gap, especially between countries such as Cuba, Brazil and Argentina during Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's tenure as Malaysia's fourth Prime Minister, physical distance, the lingua franca and ideological and cultural differences are among the barriers that exist until today.
Little has been achieved to reduce the gulf as it were. The Cuban case is a good example.
Last week, however, apparent differences between the two regions proved to be more imagined than real at the 27th Conference of the Academy of Latinity themed Post-Regionalism in the Global Age: Multiculturalism and Cultural Circulation in Southeast Asia and Latin America organised with the cooperation of the Global Movement of Moderates Foundation in University of Malaya.
Co-organiser Professor Candido Mendes said the conference is dedicated to the problem of post-regional process in the global age, given the characteristics of the collective subjectivity that have emerged since the beginning of the century and on account of events after Sept 11, 2001.
The conference was also organised in light of the radical breach in the new scenario of non-hegemonic globalisation and rewriting of American domination in particular.
The work of the academy focusing on dialogues between the Latinity and Islamic heritage is of special importance since Sept 11.
It has promoted dialogues on the pernicious effects of hegemony and civilisation of fear following Sept 11. By highlighting the contributions of Latin and Islamic cultures, the search for a plurality of approaches to the great questions of our time can counter the hegemonic vision disseminated by the standardised mechanism of globalisation.
The efforts of the academy include highlighting other cultures and civilisations, notably those from the East, and the religious and philosophical traditions of Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity and Islam which have fostered meaningful relations for many centuries through shared cultural values. While Southeast Asia has been cited as a living testament to the peaceful coexistence of multiculturalism and religious pluralism, several governments in the developed West have regarded multiculturalism as a failure.
The conference, therefore, sought to focus on the way these contradictions can move beyond regionalism in the settling of differences based on a non-hegemonic globalisation paradigm.
This will also help to bridge the gap between Latinity and "Asianity", and Malaysia in particular.
In his opening remarks at the conference, Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, the United Nations High Representative for The Alliance of Civilizations, regarded the event as "a smart move to help our collective efforts in sending the right signals on how can we all unite and how we can all defuse cultural misunderstandings, through responsible leadership, constructive spirit and good faith".
He noted that after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the hegemonic school of thought created a blueprint for a civilisation of fear by advocating the clash of civilisations which is being challenged by the academy in the South American continent. Instead, a "new" blueprint for a remaking of the world order rooted in human dignity and the creativity of civilisations is being presented.
Multi-culturalism to enhance mutual understanding and cooperation for a lasting world peace predicated on the principles of "moderation" is also advocated.
Education, which is about creating change for the better, plays a pivotal role in shaping the mindset of the future generation of global citizens.
However, it must be diverse enough to go beyond its national and regional preoccupations while staying relevant to its own cultural context, norms and values.
This is, no doubt, of concern since Nassir noted "hundreds and millions of children and youth in developing countries of the South either have poor quality education or have no access to education at all", a common feature that both the Latin American and Asian counterparts need to urgently come to grips with.
Only then, will the forging of partnerships to overcome cultural, economical and linguistic imbalances resulting from the unjust distribution of knowledge and information due to globalisation have meaningful impact.