through American funding, We should not say they are taking away our culture from the Orientalistic point of view while looking at such a situation. Rather we should think culture is created more actively in this way. Satellite broadcasting and mass media also go beyond national borders. At present freedom of speech is not necessarily spreading everywhere in Asia but due to the power of mass media, things will change considerably.
There is also the issue of cities. Someone may have mentioned already but last year the world highest and largest building, called Petronas Twin Tower, was built in Kuala Lumpur, although it has not been fully completed, it is 452.8 meters high, having 86 stories, higher than Sears Tower in Chicago, in the U.S. Such a huge building is now in Asia.
In Hong Kong, Taipei or Singapore, wherever you go to big cities of Asia, you see skyscrapers which are one of the characteristics of the 20 century. Also in Delhi, Mumbai, Istanbul and other places such buildings are now being built.
It is a big issue how to think of this. To build such a huge building is not economically efficient. It was often said in Malaysia that Prime Minister Mahathir's national prestige was at stake in the construction of this building. In 2001 a 500 meter-high building, having 100 stories, is planned to be built in Shanghai. It is said that this is being built to preserve the prestige of Chairman Ziang or the prestige of the Chinese people. Thus, those buildings are built as a symbol of national power, having nothing to do with economic power. This is a little problem and I wonder whether it is possible to concentrate Asian wisdom or Asian value more on such city planning.
Another thing is that cities are going upward, becoming higher and higher. At the same time there is an increasing number of city refugees in the lower world. In Bangkok about 2 million out of the total population of 8 million are city refugees. The situation is the same in Istanbul and Djakarta. Tokyo was the same at a certain point. How to solve this problem is a big issue. We need a wider, deeper stance to think of the total system in the background, not just a short-term stance to cope with the present economic crisis. Such a system will lead to the issue of Asian value or wisdom.
Then there is the issue of gander, which always is brought up at the end of this kind of conference. When we think of Asia, there is always the problem of gender. Then the important roles to be played by NGO or NPO which should also be discussed. There are many pending problems.
Anyway, I would like to ask again "What is an Asian individual?" I would like to bring it up as an important question. On this occasion, we should propose, in the a form of blueprint, how we should make Asian societies, cultures or systems by showing our wisdom.
｡?Yonosuke HARA (Chairperson for the 3rd session) Professor, Oriental Culture Laboratory, University of Tokyo
I'd like to refer to one of the most important issues discussed in the economic session which I was in charge of. We reached the conclusion that the swift globalization in the field of finance was obviously costly.
Dr. Pakkasem pointed out that unregulated financial activity, or a multinational enterprise and the short-term capital transfer in which the fund is not regulated, could bring trouble. This opinion can be explained with the economic terms "speculation" and "investment". Though some economists insist that these terms cannot be distinguished, our debate in the third session confirms that speculation needs to be separated from investment for long-term spending for production and accordingly, applicable regulation and criteria should be employed. Grounded on such discussion, I'd like to bring up a question which wasn't deliberated on clearly in the panel session. Analyzing the on-going economic crisis, a historical viewpoint can be adopted, as mentioned in the sessions of yesterday and today, because the crisis represents another phase to the next development. I think that, from historical point of view, dealing with each crisis creates a new system in order to overcome it. I assume this is the possible process.
Considering this then, what we further need to analyze includes: whether to leave the issue as it is until a clue as to how to progress to the next stage emerges spontaneously; who will bear the cost while waiting for the clue to appear; whether to intervene with a certain policy; and the fear that the Indonesian government is on the verge of collapse. I surely think that Asia carries potential for the long-term economic growth. Let me give you a good example. Dr. Pakkasem quotes "Emerging Asia", the book published by the Asian Development Bank at the beginning of his paper.
From the figures in the book that I have copied; in 1820, Asia (including China and India) accounted for 58% of the worldwide GDP; in 1950, after the promotion of Europe and America, their portion had dropped to 19%; in 1992, period
