Further piecemeal progress or neglect of environmental management issues bear the risk of irreversible environmental degradation. Related social conflict/crisis could develop and soon turn into the all-consuming political issue. Truly, economic cycles are hardly more predictable than bathtub bubbles. The Southeast-Asia crisis of 1997 effectively dismantled the myth of any economic ?miracle? as Greg Guma points out: ?As long as Asia's growth continued, criticism about pay, working conditions, and environmental damage could be downplayed. Any suggestion that the "miracle" wasn't what it seemed sounded like paranoid party-pooping?.1
Still today, among the countries in South-East Asia Malaysia stands out as one of the economically most advanced. Aside from oil-rich Brunei and the city-state of Singapore, Malaysia ranks highest in the region on the UNDP development index.2
The basic statistics of Malaysia are indeed impressive and several countries of Eastern Europe with aspirations to join the European Union, would be more than pleased to have many of Malaysia?s developmental standards.3
It is alarming to see how Malaysia seems intent on building up its military resources, a strong indication of where it?s political priorities lie. Malaysia?s president Dr..Mahathir has been on a shopping tour to Europe recently. With Poland he is negotiating a 300 million-dollar weapons deal. Dr. ?M?, accompanied by Malaysian Defence Minister Najib Tun Razak, attended a weapons demonstration by a Polish armoured unit near Warsaw and revued a Polish naval unit on the Baltic Sea coast Prior to visiting Poland, the presidential team had been to Russia where they were considering a defence deal to buy Russian the Sukhoi SU-30" fighter aircraft. Russia announced last October that it would export anti-tank missile systems to Malaysia under the terms of a partnership deal dating back to 1994, when Russia sold MiG-29 fighter jets to Malaysia. During the visit Mahathir pointed out that he was also interested in cooperation with Russia regarding space and advanced technologies. Eventually Dr. Mahathir arrived in Germany, possibly to compare ?made in Germany? arms to ones he had seen in Poland and Russia. In view of several unresolved territorial ddisputes questions emerge as to the motivation behind the planned arms purchases. Currently Malaysia is involved in a complex dispute over the Spratly Islands with China, Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, and possibly Brunei; The Philippines have not fully revoked claim to Sabah State; Pulau Batu Putih (Pedra Branca Island) is disputed with Singapore and Sipadan and Ligitan Islands are in dispute with Indonesia.4
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