The economic misfortunes of Europe and America have inspired glee among some Asian leaders and commentators, especially those who champion “Asian values.” Exhorting Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi to learn from resurgent Asia rather than decrepit Europe, Kishore Mahbubani, the Singaporean diplomat-turned-pundit, pointed out recently how “quiet Asian pragmatism continues to deliver steady economic growth while Europe languishes.”
As Anwar clarified, the Asian values invoked by Mahathir and former Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, and many intellectuals associated with their regimes, were explicitly ideological and self-flattering. The oppositions they proposed were stark: Asia’s Confucius-sanctioned communal harmony against the West’s amoral individualism; collective welfare versus human rights; respect for authority and discipline versus messy democracy; hard work and thriftiness versus rash consumption; and collaboration between government and business against reckless laissez-faire. Full story
