[asia-apec 704] The RAG, Issue No. 3 (part 2 of 3)

[PAN Asia Pacific]

*************THE RAG************* 
(Resistance Against Globalisation) 
The Monthly Newsletter of the Asia-Pacific Peoples' Assembly 
Issue No.3, September 1998 

PM MAHATHIR:  "ALL THE FORCES OF THE RICH AND POWERFUL ARE ALIGNED AGAINST US
"
The following is from a statement made by Dr. Mahathir Mohamad published in the 
September 14 issue of Time Magazine:

"We are being told that the only system allowed is that of capitalist free 
markets, of globalisation.  Everyone must accept this system or be considered a 
heretic and punished accordingly. . . That the unfettered, unregulated free 
market has destroyed the economies of whole regions and of many countries in the 
world does not matter.  The important thing is that the system is upheld.

". . . Many ideologies took decades, even centuries to be acknowledged as wrong.  
So the question must be asked: How long before we reject the infallibility of 
the free market dogmas?  Some are already timidly criticising the IMF, the 
speculators, the capital flows across borders, the right of self-appointed 
market forces to discipline elected governments.  Can we wait 300 years?  The 
damage is already extensive.  It will take decades to restore the economies.  
Should we fiddle?

"Malaysia cannot wait.  Malaysia has chosen to become a heretic, a pariah if you 
like. . . We may fail, of course, but we are going to do our damndest to 
succeed, even if all the forces of the rich and the powerful are aligned against 
us.  God willing, we will succeed."

BUT, IN OTHER NEWS . . . 
A subsidiary of the world's largest financial institution has been appointed as 
key financial advisors to the Malaysian government.  Salomon Smith Barney of 
Travelers Group has been hired to implement Malaysia's financing programme for 
the next two years.

Deryck Maughn, co-chairman and co-CEO of the Salomon Smith Barney says that "a 
team of our investment bankers and research analysts will meet with more than 
100 institutions in Europe and the United States next week to tell the story and 
obtain their input on the strategies we will devise."  He also maintains that 
the fund-raising program will involve all the major investors in the world.  

This is hardly the team one would expect an "heretic" of the free-market to hire 
for advice.  But, as the PM explains, "anybody willing to lend a helping hand is 
welcome" (with the exception, of course, of migrant workers).

PLANTATION WORKERS' WAGE CAMPAIGN POSTPONED
PM Mahathir not in sound position to receive them

Last month we reported that Malaysian plantation workers were going to unite in 
Kuala Lumpur on September 5 in a rally to issue demands for wage increases.  Due 
to the recent political turmoil in the country and government unwillingness to 
meet with the workers at this time, the plantation workers decided to reschedule 
the rally.  A date has not yet been announced.

For more information, contact the Plantation Workers Support Committee d/a 
ALAIGAL, 26 A Tingkat Jaya 1, Taman Tasek Jaya, 31400 Ipoh, Malaysia.

CORPORATE RULE: THE CASE OF MMT IN CANADA

Last month in Canada, something happened that the whole world must pay attention 
to.  Through legal action, a large American corporation was able to overturn the 
decision of a democratically elected and sovereign parliament.

Ethyl Corp of the USA produces a fuel additive called MMT that is widely 
believed to be a highly dangerous neurotoxin.  It can enter the body through the 
lungs and causes nerve damage, leading to psychosis, memory loss, and early 
death.  In 1991, the present Prime Minister wrote in a letter to the then PM, 
"Some of our leading neurotoxic scientists, as well as studies and documents 
from medical schools and universities, in addition to other institutions, 
outline in detail the truly horrific effects that allowing the continued use of 
this neurotoxin could have on the Canadian people."  

In April 1997, after lengthy debate, the Canadian parliament, out of concern for 
its citizens' health, banned the sale of MMT.  One would assume that this 
decision was well within the right of a sovereign government.  But, as it turns 
out, under the regulations of the North American Free Trade Agreement that 
Canada, Mexico, and the USA signed in 1992, this is no longer the case.

Ethyl Corp. sued the Canadian government under a section of NAFTA for using 
unfair trade barriers against its product.  The suit was to be brought to the 
NAFTA tribunal-- a body made up of a representative from Canada, another from 
the USA, and a neutral candidate agreeable to both parties.

The Canadian government, perhaps unwilling to enter into a lengthy and costly 
legal battle or perhaps assuming that it would lose its case in front of such a 
tribunal, decided to settle out of court.  In August, it allowed Ethyl to resume 
sales of MMT, paid the company CDN $13M million in compensation and announced 
that "MMT poses no health threat."

The case makes it clear that the Canadian government (and Mexican and American), 
under NAFTA, no longer has the sovereign right to protect its citizens in ways 
that it sees fit.  The world should take note; the Multilateral Agreement on 
Investments (MAI) that is being pushed in the OECD and in APEC, and which aims 
to become part of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), is modeled on NAFTA.  The 
MAI would allow corporations to sue governments for damages and loss of profits 
(including expected profits) for legislation that imposes unfair barriers to its 
trade.  As the MMT case signals, "unfair" is a very flexible term.  MAI 
negotiations at the OECD broke down last April, but negotiations continue at a 
bilateral level and the agreement is far from dead.

APPA CHILDREN'S FORUM ON GLOBALISATION 

A Children's Forum on Globalisation and Children's Rights: Don't Toy with Our 
Future! will be held November 11-12 in Kuala Lumpur as part of the Asia-Pacific 
Peoples' Assembly (APPA).  Participants will include streetchildren, children of 
migrant workers, and child victims/survivors of child labour, bonded labour, 
prostitution, battering, and displacement due to militarisation, armed conflict, 
demolition of urban communities, and maldevelopment projects.

The child participants will be within the ages of 11-15 years old and will come 
from APEC-member and other countries/economies.  Participants will be divided 
into three to four workshops of 10-15 children.  The children will share their 
experiences, link them with globalisation and come up with specific suggestions 
on how their situation can be alleviated.  The children will present the 
workshop results through creative forms.  Child development workers are likewise 
invited to attend, observe and learn from the workshops. 
  
Those interested in registering with or learning more about the Forum can 
contact the APPA secretariat or Salinlahi Alliance for Children's Concerns, 15-A 
Marilag Street, UP Village, Quezon City, Philippines, tel: 63-2-4354258, fax: 
63-2-9205641, email: slhacc at pworld.net.ph

APEC LEADERS' MEETINGS MEAN VIOLENCE AGAINST PEOPLE

The international movement against APEC has always maintained that APEC policies 
devastate human rights in the region.  APEC Leaders counter by saying either 
that APEC is an economic arrangement not mandated to discuss human rights and 
social concerns or that APEC will improve democracy in the region by engaging 
non-democratic governments in the region with democratic ones.  Recent 
revelations in Canada show just how weak these defenses are.

Not only do APEC's trade and investment policies undermine people's rights, but 
so do the APEC events themselves.  At the 1996 APEC Leaders' Meeting in Manila, 
the surrounding area was militarised, domestic opposition was suppressed, 
thousands of poor Manila residents were relocated and squatter communities were 
demolished to ensure that the meeting proceeded smoothly.  The Canadian 
government maintained that the Vancouver meeting in 1997 would be different.

Recently released intelligence files reveal that this was not the case.  They 
confirm that the RCMP, Canada's national police force, charged and arrested 
anti-APEC protestors at the local university campus in order to avoid 
embarrassing the Indonesian leader Suharto and other APEC leaders.  They also 
show that the RCMP permitted foreign security forces to carry arms in Vancouver 
during the events despite the fact that the Indonesian forces had asked if they 
were permitted to shoot protestors if they felt threatened.  The RCMP also 
pepper-sprayed and brutalized student demonstrators in order to distance them 
from the APEC leaders meeting nearby.

Most importantly, the recent information demonstrates that the Canadian PM was 
directly involved in the suppression of his citizen's rights for the sole 
purpose of hosting the APEC leaders without causing them embarrassment.  When 
concerns were raised about APEC and human rights, the PM and others in his 
government always defended their involvement in APEC by saying that through 
engagement others would learn from Canada about the benefits of democracy.  Some 
lesson!  Clearly, the only lesson to be learned from an APEC Leaders' Meeting is 
that APEC cannot exist without undermining the rights of people throughout the 
region.  (Note: Malaysia's PM claimed at the Vancouver meeting that "tradition" 
would be upheld and anti-APEC activists could meet freely in Kuala Lumpur in 
1998.)

WHAT ABOUT KUALA LUMPUR IN NOVEMBER 1998?

Malaysia's PM, Dr. Mahathir,  claimed at the Vancouver meeting that "tradition" 
would be upheld and anti-APEC activists could meet freely in Kuala Lumpur  
during the 1998 APEC Leaders' Meeting.

On September 20th, 1998, twelve persons were arrested under Malaysia's Internal 
Security Act for being "prejudicial to the security of the nation".  An 
additional 126 persons were detained for their participation in riots and 
illegal assemblies.  Most were arrested while demonstrating outside the 
Magistrates Court and Merdeka Square in Kuala Lumpur in support of former Deputy 
PM Anwar Ibrahim.

FORESTS AND TRADE ON THE PACIFIC RIM: HOW TO PROTECT OUR COMMUNITIES
An issue forum of APPA (November 11-12)

The Forum on Forests and Trade will bring together forest activists and 
community leaders opposed to APEC's agenda for fast-track liberalisation of 
forest products.  The Forum will address such questions as:
-What does globalisation mean for forests and communities?
-How will communities protect their forests from  increased logging and 
destruction brought by free trade?
-What can we do to stop MNCs from moving into our forests and taking away the 
resources we depend on?
-How can we build a network to keep each other informed and to develop 
strategies for confronting the impacts of free trade on Pacific Rim forests and 
communities?

For more information, contact Paige Fisher of the Pacific Environment and 
Resources Center (PERC). Tel: 1-415-332-8200; Fax: 1-415-332-8167; email: 
perc at igc.org

***********************************************************************
  The Rag is the monthly newsletter of the Asia Pacific Peoples'
Assembly (APPA).   All organizations and individuals from within and
outside of Malaysia that are  concerned about globalisation are
encouraged to participate and join in hosting  APPA.  If you or your
organisation are interested in participating in or hosting  or
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