ABSTRACT
The final section of this hook turns from human rights and religion to the practical challenges facing Malaysia and other developing countries: what are some of the substantive political and economic reforms they should implement to move towards societies that protect the rights of their people and fulfil the universal quest for justice? Many visions of development have been suggested to Muslim countries, ranging from European-style welfarism to East Asian pragmatism to Islamic idealism. Drawing from the experience of Singapore and Malaysia, I argue in favour of an approach that emphasises equity alongside growth. This paper was originally presented at a conference on ‘Reconceptualising the Welfare State’ sponsored by the Danish Centre for Human Rights, held in Copenhagen in 1995, and subsequently published in their book of the same name. A revised version was presented infune 1997 at the YIMDER Conference on the D-8 idea, convened in Istanbul.
Global economic turmoil has altered the context in which economic models are being evaluated, and the world today no longer seems one of East Asian ‘miracles’ and robust emerging markets. But the changed economic landscape has only intensified the need for nations to consider development from a holistic moral and social perspective, not one based simply on an agenda of maximising economic growth. In that respect, the questions raised in this essay, and those that follow it, are as important as ever.
