FEATURE

The ways of the West aren't necessarily the best

The first in a series of articles on alternative development from a Buddhist perspective by Sulak Sivaraksa.

Most members of the Siamese elite like to compare their country with Japan, claiming that Siam, like Japan, was not colonised by a Western power. However, both countries were forced to open up to foreign traders at about the same time. Commodore Matthew Perry arrived in Japan in 1853, two years before the arrival in Siam of Sir John Bowring. Until that point, Asian countries had not welcomed the Western powers; the ruling elite distrusted Europeans, fearing that the latter would destroy their culture, religion and identity.

As late as 1910, before Bali lost her independence to the Dutch, a Balinese prince realised that the Dutch with their superior weaponry could easily conquer his country by force. Yet he would not yield to their demands. Instead he led his people, armed only with kris -- their traditional swords -- against the modern weapons of the Dutch. Dancing beautifully they faced death with dignity. Before the battle, the prince is said to have declared:

''I have looked about me and I cannot believe there is a country on earth as beautiful as Bali. I cannot give it away or sell it to foreigners. I cannot and may not. What would they make of it once it was in their hands? They do not know our gods and they do not understand the laws by which mankind must live. They would pull down the temples, and the gods would forsake our island. Soon it would become barren and ugly as the deserts of China.

''They would grow sugar cane but not as our peasants do, which is just enough to sweeten their food and for their children to enjoy. The foreigners would cover the whole country with sugar cane and boil it down into sugar and store it in large buildings until the villages stank of it. They would take the sugar away in great steamers and change it into money. They would plant trees, row after row, and take rubber from them. They would lay the sawahs to waste, and cut down the beautiful palm and fruit trees to make room for their towns. They would turn our peasants into slaves and brutes and leave them no time for cockfights and festivals and music and dancing.

''Our women would be forced to cover their breasts as if they were whores, and no one would wear flowers in their hair anymore or bring offerings to the temples. They would squeeze the joy from the hearts of our children. They would tear the patience and tolerance and gentleness from their natures, making them as bitter, unkind and discontented as the white men are themselves.''

(from A Tale of Bali by Vicky Baum; OUP, Kuala Lumpur, 1970).

Most countries which lost their independence to the West must have felt like this Balinese prince. Yet the Siamese, on the whole, feel superior to their neighbours since the open-door policy of King Mongkut (King Rama IV) saved Siam from Western colonisation -- at least politically.

This superiority complex is so deeply rooted that the Siamese not only look down upon other Asian countries, with the exception of Japan, but they also uncritically admire the West, especially its technology, political administration, economic expansion and even its imperialism. They equate modernisation with Westernisation, or indeed with material and economic development, at the expense of their own spiritual heritage and cultural identity.

The West has both strengths and weaknesses, but those who admire or despise the West uncritically are bound to misunderstand it or wrongly imitate it. For me, the West has inherited the best and the worst from the Judaeo-Christian tradition. Its sense of justice, fairness and peace is to be admired. Westerners are also taught to care for human rights, freedom of expression, and scientific inquiry. Yet since the Age of Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution, the West has lost its spiritual direction; Western intellectuals have ignored their religious heritage.

Westerners have become efficient beings, geared for technological progress or material well-being at the expense of religious values, especially those of a transcendental quality. There are certain concerns for social justice, especially among socialists or Marxists, but even among them, there is no real regard for spiritual growth or inner peace. Instead social engineering is used to achieve social justice, that is, to destroy unjust social structures which cause so much harm to the individual.

As for the Western capitalists of the First World, they aspire to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, which, because they have not been able to define ''happiness'' becomes translated into the acquisition of property. This means people become much more selfish -- not only degrading animals and the natural environment, but also men and women of different classes or ethnicities.

The result is that the more we modernise or Westernise, the wider the gap between the rich and the poor. This leads to further destruction of animals and the environment -- not to mention the destruction or degradation of our fellow human beings.

The author, Sulak Sivaraksa, is a well-known social critic and the author of numerous books and articles on theology, politics and social issues.