KUALA LUMPUR, June 5 (IslamOnline.net) - Asia is ripe for a rebirth, a renaissance which has been in the coming for long time, Malaysia’s Premier Mahathir Mohamad said Thursday, June 5, noting conditions are right for a New Asian Order.

In what is seen as his last keynote address as prime minister before his planned retirement in October, Mahathir told the Nikkei conference in Japan that Asia should rebuild itself and would remain a key player in world economy in years to come, reported Bernama news agency.

In Malaysia, several observers believe Mahathir was in fact encouraging Asian nations to put aside their differences and to work together for a long overdue recovery.

“Sars is the calling card that shook Asia this time. In 1997 it was the currency collapse and Mahathir was a key player in engineering the recovery of Malaysia after the crash,” an economist in Kuala Lumpur said.

Mahathir compared Asia to other continents saying that in post war Europe, bitter enemies embraced each other and would through the passage of time form what he called the United States of Europe.

“It is very interesting to see how Mahathir is galvanizing the Japanese, the Chinese and the South East Asian nations to regroup themselves and push Asia ahead of its time again,” Rosli Mohamad, the chief of a local export company based in Banting, Selangor, told IslamOnline.net.

He said Mahathir’s speech was thought-provoking while he outlined his formula for a New Asian Order.

However, he believed Asia would not be able to ally themselves with powerful countries of the West against potential enemies as suggested by the Malay leader.

"Many European countries did not have an Asian agenda other than making money and consolidate their enterprises with lucrative businesses in the region," said Rosli without dismissing Mahathir’s ideas.

Asians, Mahathir said, must realize that unless they contribute to a New World Order, it was likely to disadvantage them in the long run.

"If there is anything about Europe that Asians must emulate, it is the willingness to forget and forgive. Asians are still bugged by their past quarrels and wars, the atrocities and the shame of foreign rule. And because of this, they find it exceedingly difficult to cooperate for the common good," he said.

In this atmosphere, Mahathir said, a united Asia is unthinkable; noting that Old Asia had shown it could not handle the ideological dominance of Europe.

"We do not need the kind of abuses the present financial regimes are open to. The currency traders contributed nothing to our well-being. Still we Asians have said nothing... If the ideas are ours, then our concerns and interests will be taken care of," he said.

"The future of Asia is at stake with the idea of a global village, and Mahathir is right when he says Asia cannot really regenerate in isolation," another economist in Kuala Lumpur said.

He told IslamOnline.net that Malaysia was doing all it could to adjust itself to be comfortable in a global village.

In proposing that Asia must devise its own formula for governance, Mahathir said if a country is unable to practice liberal democracy, then it should be allowed to be less liberal.

"Demonstration, national strikes, media excesses and the negation of the role of government may enhance the democratic ideology but they are not absolutely essential to the democratic process," he added.

Mahathir has been a long time advocate of controlled democracy in Malaysia, and he proudly shows the success of Malaysia’s economic success after his 21 years rule as Prime Minister.

Observers in Kuala Lumpur said they feel Mahathir wanted Asia to be steadfast and adjust to the need for change.