Inception to the United Nations
Mr. President, Distinguished Delegates,
PERMIT me, sir on behalf of my delegation, to add our congratulations on your election
as President of the General Assembly at its thirty-ninth session to those of other
delegations. My delegation is confident that, with your rich experience and wisdom,
you will ably and successfully manage the proceedings and affairs of this Assembly. I
should like to thank you and other speakers for your kind words of welcome.
I should like also to take this opportunity, to thank all the members of the
Security Council who scrutinised our application for membership of this Organisation, for
their favourable endorsement. We are particularly grateful to the other members of
Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and to the United Kingdom for jointly
sponsoring our application. Last, but not least, we wish to thank all those member states
who co-sponsored the resolution before Assembly, welcoming our admission into the United
Nations.
My Country and my people, Mr President, are grateful to you, and to the nations of this
assembly, for the honour that this moment marks. It marks not only our accession to
membership in this fellowship of nations, but also the international endorsement of our
sovereignty and integrity as a nation.
By most of the traditional ways of measuring, Brunei Darussalam is a small nation. Our
land area is modest. Our population barely exceeds 200,000. Our national resources, though
they are plentiful and valuable, are not as great as those of some.
Despite these limitations, my country can offer the world several things which in my
judgement are valuable.
First of all, we can offer experience: the perspective lent by a long and difficult
history. We are a new nation, but an ancient country: one of Asia's oldest. Visitors to
Brunei many centuries ago found an established social system with a rich and flourishing
culture. Five Hundred years ago, under the leadership of my ancestor Sultan Bolkiah, the
fifth Islamic Sultan, Brunei played an important role in the spread of the Islamic faith
in South East Asia.
So we have known pride and glory. But we have also experienced much pain: for three
hundred years, from the Sixteenth through the Nineteenth centuries, our land and Our
region were wracked by rampant piracy; a series of wars; the violence of those who called
themselves explorers, but whom we knew as exploiters.
In this century, we have lived under the protection of an imperial power, albeit a
benevolent one - Great Britain - and for a time during Second World War, under military
occupation by Japan.
In short, our country has known peace - but also war; wealth, but also poverty; energetic
commerce, but also isolation; development, but also exploitation; self-government, but
also foreign rule. All this has not been without benefit to us. It has taught us to
appreciate the realities of this world. Hence my delegation wishes to ensure this Assembly
that our approach to the United Nations is a realistic one. We do not see the purposes and
principles of the United Nations Charter as mere abstract concepts. As a small nation and
rich with experience, we really appreciate the moral and legal significance of these
principles and will always strive to achieve congruence between these principles and our
own conduct in world affairs.
We wish to assure this Assembly that we accept fully the obligations enshrined in the
United Nations Charter. Together with other member states we shall always strive for the
achievement of those aims and objectives. We genuinely believe in the preservation
of world peace through collective security. We endorse the promotion of economic
development through mutual help. We shall uphold the principle that each country has the
inalienable right to establish its own form of government, without any form of outside
interference, and always having regard to the prevailing circumstances in each country and
the aspirations of its own people for a better standard of livelihood and well-being.
We have a major stake in the efficacy of international law, in the principles of the
United Nations Charter and in the collective security system which the United Nations
represents. I therefore assure the Assembly, on behalf of my delegation, you will not find
us wanting should our adherence to these principles ever be put to the test in future.
My delegation is conscious that there is a substantial body of opinion that maintains that
the United Nations has fallen far short of expectations of its members, yet others suggest
that it is becoming irrelevant. We believe that this is not because there is anything
wrong with the ideals of the United Nations. We believe that the effectiveness of the
United Nations depends on its members. It can only be as effective as its member states
will allow it to be. For us small states, we need the United Nations more than others. But
this is not to say that my delegation will be uncritical. When the need arises we shall be
critical, but we shall not be intemperate in language nor lacking in objectivity.
We shall support practical measures and we shall not make proposals which violate the very
norms which we profess to uphold.
We live in a world in which violence is a fact of life. In South East Asia, peace security
and stability is being threatened by forces that are disregarding the basic principles of
the United Nations Charter. I refer, of course, to the armed invasion and continued
occupation of Kampuchea by Vietnamese forces, disregarding the principle of
non-interference in the internal affairs of other states; and in violation of
international law and normal standards of international behavior.
In the Middle East, the continued denial of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian
people constitutes the core of the problems of that region. Brunei Darussalam remains
steadfast in her conviction that a just, lasting and comprehensive solution must take into
account the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination in their own
State of Palestine. We also support the Palestine Liberation Organization as the sole
representative of the Palestinian people. Brunei Darussalam joins other nations in
opposing the continued Israeli occupation of Arab lands including Southern Lebanon.
We also wish to express our deep concern at the continuing conflict between Iran and Iraq,
which has cost thousands of lives and untold human suffering and destruction on both
sides. Brunei Darussalam joins other Muslim countries in earnestly calling upon the two
Nations to halt the war and settle their disputes peacefully in the interest of Islamic
solidarity.
With regard to the situation in Afghanistan, Brunei Darussalam shares the indignation and
concern of the majority of the nations of the world, and calls for the withdrawal of
foreign forces from Afghanistan, and for respect for the right of self-determination of
the Afghan people, and the restoration of an independent non-aligned Afghanistan.
As we are all aware, 'the Charter of the United Nations, in its provisions calls for among
other things, the promotion of the economic and social advancement of all peoples. Yet in
South Africa the government continues to pursue its in human system of racial
discrimination. Brunei Darussalam, like other freedom-loving nations strongly deplores the
repressive policies and practices of the South African Government.
We wish also to express our support for the people of Namibia in their struggle for
liberation from South African colonialism and for complete independence for Namibia.
Small countries like us want peace but we see a world where others want to settle issues
by force of arms. Our only hope is to look to the moral and persuasive authority of
the United Nations and its machinery for the maintenance of peace and security. We shall,
of course, endeavor to build up our defences to the extent that men and resources shall
permit, but we believe that in the world of today the collective strength of the United
Nations is the ultimate hope for us small countries. We firmly believe that the security
and well-being of our country can be assured only on the basis of strict adherence to the
basic principles of the United Nations Charter. For small countries like ours, world peace
is a necessary pre-condition for our economic and political survival.
My delegation would also like to place on record our appreciation of the cooperation,
friendship and support which our neighbours in the Association of South-East Asian Nations
(ASEAN) region have extended to us. Even before we assumed full responsibility for our
external affairs, the five member countries of ASEAN extended to us their hand of
friendship and cooperation. They encouraged us to get acquainted with matters of diplomacy
and regional cooperation. As their efforts to strengthen regional peace, progress and
prospects are entirely consistent with our own hopes and aspirations, we are now part of
ASEAN. As a new member of ASEAN we shall naturally work to strengthen those bonds. We seek
to strengthen the degree of cohesion among ASEAN members by preventing external
interference and containing intra-regional differences. But we shall still look to the
United Nations to discharge effectively its responsibility for the maintenance of
international peace and security in our region. For the unresolved problem of the foreign
intervention in and occupation of Kampuchea, in violation of United Nations Charter
principles, causes my delegation grave concern.
We need peace for more reasons than one. We have the resources to give our people a better
life. Anyone who has visited Brunei Darussalam will vouch for the advancements that have
been made and so many fields of endeavour for the well-being of our people. We have
devoted our resources to free education, subsidised food and fuels, pensions for the aged
and widowed, medical and health care including a flying doctor service and earnings
without income tax. Those and many other services are all provided to protect the
citizen's welfare. We wish to be left alone and free from foreign intervention. We want to
build our country and give our people an even better life. We wish to see the realisation
of our aims for accelerated economic growth, social progress and cultural development. At
the same time, we need to develop productive sectors in agriculture, forestry, fisheries
and manufacturing.
We are determined to continue to modernize our country while keeping faith with the
principles of our ancient faith, Islam.
We are confident of the possibilities of success, because we have before us the example of
my father, His Royal Highness The Seri Begawan Sultan General Haji Sir Muda Omar Ali
Saifuddien, the 28th Sultan of Brunei Darussalam and the Architect of 'Modern Brunei. He
began the modern development of Brunei; its successful commercial relations, its new
buildings, its educational, religious and social welfare institutions. He held to the goal
of national independence despite pressure to make other choices. He set before us the
challenges of reinvesting our wealth to create other sources of wealth and well-being for
our people.
In our task of nation-building and development we need the United Nations to ensure peace
and stability. We shall also need much assistance. We shall need training in specialised
fields. We shall need experts and technical expertise. We shall need to acquire skills. We
shall turn to the United Nations and its agencies for such help as we may require. My
delegation sincerely hopes that we shall be able to secure such help when needed. In
return, if there is any way in which my small country can be of assistance to the United
Nations, we shall endeavour to do our best, when called upon to do so.
Thank You, Mr President
