~ .

ASIAN INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND PLANNING

Symposium on the Developm~ntal Aims and Socio-Cultural

Values in Asian Society. Bangkok, 3-7 November, 1975.
)

ERRING MODERNIZATION
The dilemma of developing societies.

DR. SYEDHUSSEIN ALATAS

Profess.or and Head. Dept. of Nalay Studies
University of Singapore.

"The old and the vanquished does not immediately descend into the
gr~ve. The resistance and' longevity of that which is at the point
of vanishing are based on the instinct of 'self-preservation inhe-
) rent to all that exists. This is the instinct that defends to the
uttnost everythin':} once endowed with life. Universal economy does
not allow the eXisting things to descend into the grave before
"they have exhausted all their strength. Conservatism in the his-
torical world is as true an element of life as is perpetual motion
and renewal; it expresses a most emphatic approval of the existing,
,). recognition of its right. The urge forward, on the contrar~l,
expresses dissatisfaction with the eXisting, and seeks for a form
better adapted to the ne'tl stage of tl18 development of rEh'iSon. Con-
tent with nothing, it is indignant, it feels cramped under the
existing scheme of thingso Historic development moves in ob~dience
to both forces, balancing them against each other and thereby
saving itself from one-sidedness."-

In a work written approximately ten years ago and published

five years later, I defined modernization as "the!)rocess by which
modern scientific knowledge covering all aspects of human life is
introduced at varying degrees, first: in the ~'estern civilization,
and later diffused to the non-Western world, by different methods
and groups with the ultimate purpose of achieving .~ better and more
satisfactory life in the broadest sense of the term, as accepted by
the society concerned."(1) ,

J.<"ive ambiguities \oIl:rf~ discussed in t~o use of the term.

(a) ~iodcrnization has been identified with cifferent types of sociul
change, som(~ of 1.I1hich t11t:?re the conditions and 2ffects of rnodel:"ni-

-Alexander Herzan, 'Letters on the study of Nature', (1845), in

~elected Ph~oso~hical Works, p. 213. For;~ign Languages PUblishing
House, Moscow, 1956.
 - 0::: -
...

zation, rather than the essential process as such.(2) (b) Moderni-

zation has been identified with Westernization.(3) (c) Moderniza-
tion has been identified with systems of government upheld in the
",lest, and other constitutuent elements of conter,'porary Western life.
(d) Modernization has been identified with certain essential features
of modern society such as capitalism and industrialism. Th8 ~est0rn
capitalistic and industrial experience is considered as the guide to
the developing societies. (e) The confusion of modernization with
the popular concept of modernity, that is pertaining to the modern
world, as in modern individualism, modern art, and modern family.
Here too the model is from the West.

The tendency in contemporary research on modernization is to

lump diverse phenomena under onelabEll. There is a failure to arrive
at a clearcut conceptual distinction between modernization as a
general universal process and modernization as a variant of this
general universal process in the form it assumes in the Western civi-
lization. Since the 18th century we have Europe, America, Japan,
Russia and China embodying the different forms of modernization, not
to mention other countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America, with
their varying experience of modernization.

This distinction is vital to make for those non-Western socie-

ties interested to introduce modernization, and retaining their
individual cultural identity . A Japanese scholar had suggested this
distinction on the following observations: Westernization means the
replacement of an indigenous cultural element by a Western one,
inclUding its functional role. An example is the replacement of
Japanese by English c.s a language of communication in certain circh's.
Modernization means to remould a cultural system into a new one
without necessarily replacing it by a Western culture. The charac-
teristics of modernization are as follows: A strong emphasis on
nationality; a strong inclination towards science; an abundant use
of mechanical power; an increasing urbanization of social life; and
a deeper respect for human values of the kind that enhances the
spirit,of democracy. (4)

I have dwelt upon the conceptual differentiation at length in

two earlier publications. We have to accomplish, to begin with, two
kinds of conceptual differentiation. One is between modernization
and Westernization, and the other is between;modernization and non-
modernization. Not everything in life can be modernized. Can we,
for instance, modernize a belch: You can no doubt televise and
broadcast a belch but it is only its transmission that is modernized,
not the act of belching. Similarly we cannot talk of a modern smile.
A smile of a Roman beauty centuries before Christ is of the same
kind as a smile of a present beaut yo You simply cannot introduce
the concepts of traditional and modern to behaviour such as belching
and smiling. Similarly in the realm of ethics there are values to
which you cannot apply the concepts traditional Or modern. A glaring
instance is truthfulness. It is n~ither traditional nor modern.
The concept of truthfulness accompanies us throughout history and it
functions in an area wh0re change is not desired for we do not Value
 - ,j -

the opposite of its decrease in intensity. Hence we have to be clear

on the limits or. our conception of ~odernization.

The philosopher Nigtzzche, in 1874, stated his views on the

problem of the horizon of thinking. In the opinion of Nietzsche, we
must be able to forget and recollect the past and to will for the
future, all at t:1e same time, .within definitp. limits.(S) In other
wordG, we must have a philosophical set of criteria for selection~
what to reject and ratain from the past, what to reject and assimi-
late from the present, and what to strive for the future. This is
what he meant by horizono

It is a fact that in all norQal psychological perception,'~he

perceptual field has to be limited in order thdt the stimuli can be
perceivedo Take for instance sound o Beyond a certain limit we
cannot assimilate the experienceo The relevance of this principle
to our theme, modernization, is that we cannot and should not respond
to an unlimited variety of changeso Somewhere a line has to be drawno
It is with referente to this problem that I would like to offer
certain directions of thinking on the modernization of the developing
societieso

Let me first establish the validity of the concept of moder-

nization as essentially the introduction of modern science and tech-
nology. l-lodernization, at pres~nt has been associated with u number
of traits of developed societies, 'such as secularization, industriali-
zation, commercialization, increased social mobility, increased
material standard of living and increased educiition cmd literacyo The
list of traits can be further increased as to include such things as
the high consumption of inanimate energy, the smaller agricultural
population compared to the industrial, and the widespread social
security network (6)
0

The above traits of a modern developed society should be viewed

as the accomplished result of modernizationo The process of moderni-
zation should be isolated from the resulto One and a half century ago
(1820), the agricuJ. tural labour force of the United States of i'.merica
was 71 8 per cent of the total 12bour force.(7)
0 In 1973, it was 4
per cent.(8) In 1820 the United Stat~s was in the process of ~oder
nizationo Similarly the other traits of developed societi2s such
as widespread literacy, and so forth, were not present in the United
States of 1820 0 Yet we could not say that the United States wus not
a modern society theno It is clear that the proceus of modernization
could be operative without the ensuing result, and it is this ovcrQll
resul t which transformed th,: society of th'= present into something
structurally different from that of a century agoo

I am by no mc~ns suggesting that the resultant effects of

modernization are not important phenom2na~ or that t!1ey do not
deserve much attentiono All I am suggf:sting is that we differentiate
the process of modernization from the rsultant effectso What is
universally valid should be isolated from the culturally rclativco
hn analogous problem was felt by ~iuo Tse-Tunq in connection with
l"!i.1rxism and the modernization of China. t12 said in 1940, "To nourish
 - 4 -

her own culture China needs to assimilate a good deal of foreign

progressive culture, not enough of which was done in the pe.st.
We should assiwi1ate whatever is useful to us today not only from )
the present-day socialist and new-democratic cultures but also
from the earlier cultures of other nations, for example, from the
culture of the various capitalist countries in the Age of Enligh-
tenment. HO\Jever, w'e should not gulp any of this foreign material
down uncritically" but must treat it as we do our food - first
chewing it, then sUbmitting it to the working of the stomach e.nd
intestines with their juices and sccr8tions, in separating it into
nutriment to be absorbed and waste matter to be discarded - before
it can nourish us. To advocate 'wholesale westernization' is wrong.
China has suff::red a great deal from the mechanical absorption of
foreign material. Similarly, in applying Marxism to China, Chinese
communists must fully and properly integrate the universal truth of
Marxi~m with the concrete practice of the Chinese revolution, or in
other words, the universal truth of Marxism must be combined with
specific national characteristics and acquire a defini tc~ national
form if it is to be useful, and in no circumstances can it be applied
sUbjectively as a mere formula. Marxists who make a fetish of
formulas are simply playing the fool with Harxism and the Chinese
revolution. Chinese culture should h3ve its own form, its own
national form. National inform and new-democratic in content - such
is our new culture today."(9)

The rer::son why we should consider this distinction significant

is our own histor~cal position in the path of development. we are
at the moment sUbjected to a continuous bombardment of news about
the achievements of developed societies while what is equally rele-
vant to us is the initial process of achieVing. This initial process
of achieving in the Western World, Russia ~nd Japan around the turn
of the century, is the introduction of modern science and technology
into the productive sector and other significant sectors of social
life. If anything is influenced by modern scientific thinking
directed to the goals of increasing understanding of life and the
universe., the elimination of pain and sUffering, the enhancement of
justice and personal wellbeing, and the planning of the future
towards these directions, then we may say that modernization has
taken place.

The problem however remains as to the kind of society we

envisage. Historically speaking there is no such thing as a single
type of modern society. The United States, Russia, Japan and China
.do not belong to a single type. It follows that although modern
societies share many features in common, they each need not belong
to the same type.

For the developing societies of Asia, it is necessary to

rethink the goals and meaning of modernization, given the 'objective
of retaining the cultural and religio-philosophical identities of
the countriesconcernedo In the final analysis what we badly need
in l'\sia is a basic outlook on modernization and the means thereof.
This outlook should be based on science and rational knowledge and

(
 - 5 -

should readily combine with the eXisting religious and cultural

traditions of Asia such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity and
Islam. A similar basic outlook WDS operative in the West. It
combines with Christianity and with non-religious humanism.

The. first problem we should tackle is whether, indeed, it is

true that the industrially more developed shows to the industrially
less df::ve-loped, the image of its own future. This is, however, only
partially true, in so far as the image expresses the general and
universal characteristics of industrialization. Russia, for instance
was not mo.delled after the United States, though it was Karl Harx
who said: "The 'Country that is more developed industrially on'ly
shows, to the less developed, the image of its own future."(10) It
did not even pass through the same historical phases of development.

A Japanese economic historian, Otsuka Hisao, made the follow-

ing point: "Not only are many forms (stages and types) of pre-modern
social system included in the very comprehensive term 'traditional
society' (as we have noted above), but it is also impossible for
there to be uniformity among the forms of social system found in
the.modern (or industrial> societies which have been formed one
after ano..ther on the final disintegration of the traditional societies,
and so, while our term "rnoder:1ization' of course includes 'the tran-
sition from feudalism to capitalism' as found in the modernization
process as it occurred in the Western countries, it is a concept with
a much wider semantic content than this."(11)

The above being the case, the prohlem arises how to envisage
the,path of differentie.l development and modernization. This, I
repeat, is the philosophical problem alluded to earlier.. I am not
referring to the obvious needs to man like haVing sufficient food
and water, medicine, shelter, and clothing. There is no need to
stress philosophy in this connection. But in things such as the
concept of property, of profit., of the go'od life, philosophy should
come in. Is it desirable for the Asian societies to do away with
private property beyond individual needs, to do away with liberal
capitalism? If this is desired, should the alternative be Communism?
Or is it possible and desirable to strive fo~ a social order
different from either of the two?

Unfortunately there is hdrdly any profound thinking in this

direction at the moment. A m(".Jre recognizable problem is the
striving for a scientific spirit. The absence of scientific
creativity, as opposed to sciontific practices, is notice~ble in
the great majority of countries in Asia. The modernization of
a country cannot be successful in the longrun if the scientific
spirit is weak or absent. This is one example of a problem which
is vital to the modernization of Asia and which has' to be attended
to by indigenous Asian scholars, as Western scholars, on the whole,
have a different set'of hierarchy in the grading of problems with
reference to the study of Asia and the rest of the Third Worlrl .
 So long as the developing societies are dependent on the
developed societies for their science and technology, so long will
the interest of the developing societies be subordinated to those
of the developed societies. There are two kinds of dependence:
initial dependence and continual dependence. For instance, a
country may initially import fertilizer. In the long run it may
b~ de~irable that it prodUces its own fertilize~. This depends
. on how essential the production of fertilizer is for that country's
economy. Though. it is true that no country should attempt to
produce everything itself, nevertheless the dependence on others
for essential goods should be regulated as not to jeopardize the"
economic life of the country. A continual depend:=nce on the deve-
loped countries for a vast array of production goods and other
essential commodities would restrain the modernization of the
'developing couritries.

The effort to develop science and technology in the developing

countries has to be supported by the growth of the scientific spirit.
(12) A number of thinkers in the 19th century had perceived this
problem. Herzen, for instance, complained about the dilletantism
in science in the Russia of his day. The dilletantes love the
fruit of science but have no interest in understanding it. "Its
love is such that it spreads.itself thinly over the sea.of ~nowledge
and cannot achieve intensity at any point. Its love is such that
it feeds upon ,its own affection, attaining- '!'lothing","neve'r'cc:l.i:Tii.'g'for
anything, not even for reciprocation. It is a purely platonic,
romantic affection which begets no offspring."(13) Hence the lack
of creativity in science.

The attitude of the Russian people then portrayed .by Herzen

is reflecti.ve of the present situation in the developing societies.
He said: "One' of the essential qualities. of the Russian character
is its extraordinary dexterity in accepting and 'adopting the fruits
of other people's labour, this being done not only with facility
but with deftness. This is one of the most human traits of our
character. There is a serious drawback to this Quality hov/ever.
\'le are rarely capable of thorough and sustainedeffortoWe have
acquired a ta~te for making others ~raw the chestnuts out of the
fire and we have come to take for granted that. Europe should produce
every truth and discovery by the sweat of her brow. Let her have
all the trouble of the pregnancy, of the difficult childbirth and
weary nursing, and we will take the childo But there is one thing
we have overlooked: the child is not of our flesh and blood and
there are no organic ties between it and us."(14)

Herzen wrote the above in 1843, In 1882 , at Calcutta, the

Huslim revolutionary and reformer"SyedcJamaluddin Afghani, in a
unique lecture urging the acquisit~on of the, scientific spirit,
stressed the role of an overall basic rational and scientific
outlook in order' to promote the growth and influence of the sciences 0
Afghani made an important observation of great relevance to the
developing 'societies of to~day. The teaching of some sciences in
school, in itself, would not lead to the emergence of a dominant,
collective scientific spirit, unless it is related to the overall
 - 7 -

basic rational and scientiic outlook which Aofghani called the

'spirit of ph~losophy'.

His jUdgem.::nt on Turkey is revealing. He said: "The Ottomo.n

Governm~nt and th~ Khedivate of Egypt have been opening schools for
the teaching of the new sciences for a perio~ of sixty years, and
until now they h~ve not received any benefit from those sciences.
The reason is thRt tc~ching the philosophical sciences was impossi-
ble in those schools, and because of the nonexistence of philosophy,
no fruit was obtained from those sciences that are like limbs.
Undoubtedly, if the spirit of philosophy had been in those schools,
during this period of sixty years they thamselves, independent of
the European countries, would have striven to reform their kingdoms
in accord with scienceo 1.. 1 so , they would not send their sons each
yeur to Europ~~an coun t.d.(~s for eduea tion, and they would not invite
teachers from there to their schoolso I ~ay say that if the spirit
of philosophy were found in a community, even if that community did
not have one of those sciences whose subject is particular, undoub-
tedly their philosophic spirit would call for the acquisition of all
} the scicnceso"(1S)

Afghani noted that the fi~st Muslims had no sci~nce but owing
to the impetus given by Islam, the philosophic spirit arose among
them leading to the acquisition of the sciences.(16) The contem-
porary dominance of the ~~st, h~ recognised as the outcome of
scientific power. "The Europeans have now put their hands on every
part of the world. The English have reached Afghanistan; th~ French
have seized Tunisia. In reality this usurpation, agression, and
conquest has not come from the French or the Englisho Rather it is
science that everywhere manifests its greatness and power. Ignor3.nce
had no a1 t.~rnative to prostrating i tsel humbly before science and
acknowledging its submission."(17)

The significant role of industry was stressed by Afghani.

"Thus it is evident that ,::ill wealth and riches ar,';: the result of
science. There are no riches in the world without science~ and
there is no wealth in th~ world other than science. In SUffi, th~
whole world of humanity is an industrial world, meaning that the
world is a world of sciencE; 0 If' Gcicnce were ri?mcved frOln the
human sphere, no man wCFlld cGntinue to rt~ti1Ciin in the ~l'1orldo"(18)
He then drew the conclusion that it was the governrnt::nt who must
be held responsible for th.;:: promotion of sclznceo "Since it is
thus, science makes one man have the strength of ten, one hundred,
one thousand, and ten thousand p2rsons~ The acquisitions of men
for themselves and their governments Rra proportion~l to thE;ir
scienceo Thus, every gov2rnment for its own benefit must strive
to lay the foundation of th~ sciences and to disseminate knowledgeo
Just as an individual who has en orchard must, for his own profit,
work to level the ground1nd improve its tre'::.'s ,:md plunts according
to the laws of agronomy, just so rulers, for their own benefit,
must strive for the dissemination of the scienceso Just as, if
the owner of an orchard neglects to tend it according to th~ laws
of agronomy, the loss will rev2rt to him, so, if a ruler n~glGcts
 - 0 -

the dissemination of the sciences among his sUbjects, the harm will
revert to that governm~mt."(1~)

As modernization is basically the::: introduction of modern

science and technology, the rationalistic outlook and definite
humanitarian values, the g~neration of an all pervading scientific
outlook constitutes a major objective. It should not only be a
piecemeal introduction of applied sciences here and thGrc. This
alone will not enable the rUling stratum of soci~ty to perc2ive the
entire problem with the depth of cognition characteristic of a mind
infused with scientific energy. If the ruling stratum of the Third
World were to think scientifically, they would give top priority to
develop the sectors that mattered most. They would l-2arn from th2
experience of the West.

The most significant revolution in the history of ~estern

modernization was the ~gricultural revolution. It was this r~volu
tion which made the industrial revolution successful beyond a
limited sector. I shall use this as an illustration of tha cont~m
porary confusion in the Third World regarding the conception of
modernization, of th~ l~ck of independ2nce in thinking, of the
intrusion from abroad in our thinking, and of the fact that the
above is the result of the lack of a rational, scientific and
philosophical spirit of the kind that should constitute our basic
outlook on modernization.

Elsewhere I have described this spirit as follows: "'rhe

characteristics of such a spirit are: (a) the desire to know the
network of causes comprising a question, (b) respect for scientific
methods, (c) the use of intelligence as widely as possibie, (d) the
cognizance of interdependence ~etween the events, efforts and
problems of the community or the universe, (e) the possession of
confidence, clear and progressive, (f) the ability to think on
both a short-term and a long-term basis, (g) the capacity to view
a question from its whole perspective, (h) the ability to persist
when facing c~ny problem." (20) To pl an on the basis of erroneous
priorities, to neglect several necessary conditions of progress,
to be dominated by erroneous thinking from abroad, reveal the
absence of the above spirito The essential elements in the Western
cxp~rienc2 of modernization most relevant to our contemporary
condition hav"~ been neglected, as the instance of the agricultural
revolution in the West will show.

An event, unparallelled in history which occurred in the

1,Jest during approximately the last two hundred years was the
enormous qu~ntitative increase in the production of goods and
services. A numb2r of causes were responsible for this increasQ.
Among the majorccluses were the mechanization of industry, the
great exploitation of mineral resources, and the highly improved
methods of transportation. The above achievement was further
str~ngthened by a similar phenomenal progress in agriculturco New
knowledge about growing crops and the raising of animuls gave rise
to tho phenomenal increase in agricultural products on land that
 - 9 -

had been tilled for centuries.(21)

The consequence of the agricultural revolu~ion was enormous.

Millions of farm workers were displaced into other occupations in
a single generation. The conditions Europe was in during the 18th
Century before the agricultural revolution resemble those of the
developing societies in many instances, notably in the uncertainty
of the food supply. "During that same century the Hestern world
still reckoned its food supplies in terms of the vagaries of seasons
and years. In many regions much of the livestock had to be slaugh-
tered in autumn ~nd the meat preserved by smoking, salting, or
bottling, because of the lack of fodder to tide the cattle over the
winter. In the absence of modern means of preservation and rapid
transportation th~ great majority of people faced the prospect of
a limited and unbaianced diet during the cold months when vegetables
and fruits disappeared from their tables. In a little more than
fifty years the technologists have employed machinery and chemicals
to work an agricultural miracle."(22)

It is the successful tackling of the food problem that enables

the ~/est to sustain their endeavour in other fields of advancement.
If the West did not pay such a great attention on its food supply, its
society would not succeed in the other ventures of modernization and
industrialization. The first condition of living well is to eat well.
This great lesson is missed by the great majority of the developing
societies of to-day. Many of them are dependent on others for food.
They believe in buying food rather than in producing it SUfficiently.
Countries like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and many Arab and African
state~ have not solved their food problem.

Population growth is the favourite explanation but Canada and

America have the same problem accompanying their industrializationt' ;,
though not ~'Jestern Europe. "The population of these countries rose
from about 5,000,000 in 1800 to 160,000,000 in 1949, and the rate 'of
increase is about 1. 4 per cent. per annum, compared with about 0.5
per cent. in all of Europe. These countries benefited from a large
immigration, the United states having received 38,000,000 Europeans
fro~ 1830 to 1930."(23) Since the food problem is the most vit3l
and urgent in the developing societies, we expect that top priority
be given to introduce greater modernization and greater industrial
participation in the food sector. The expenditure allotted by
government on the planning of food production, and the degree of
attention given to this prohlem in manpower planning, indicate the
degree of priority given to it.

The neglect towards the food industry is also due to the

influence of development thinking that stressed the greater necessity
of industrialization as against food production. As an author
observed: "Obviously the first necessity,if the underdeveloped
countries are to develop, is more and better food. Much has b8en
said about the need for industrialization of these countries as
the quickest and most effective way to raise their incomes and
level of living. But they cannot industrialize successfully
 - 10 -

without a substantial improvement in their nourishment and human

efficiencyo This must depend primarily on improvement of their
agriculture and utilization of foodo In these countries from 60
to 80 per cent of the people are engaged in farming, but their
productivity is so low that it falls far short of feeding the
populationo That stands as a roadblock against their advanceo
Unless they improve their food-producing efficienry, any diversion
of their working force to industry will only nake their food
problem more desperate."(24)

The insufficient priority given to food production is only

one of the numerous instances of a shortcoming in the basic outlook
on modernizatibno This is an instance of what I would suggest to
call 'erring modernization'o The idea of erring modernization is
inspired by van Baal's concept of 'erring acculturation'o Jo van
Baal defines erring acculturation as the inability to achieve the
desired objective within the process of culture contacto The
instances discussed by van Baal were the various cargo-cults of
New Guinea. Erring acculturation is found where the process of
culture has gone astray, developing towards harmful directions,
away from the realization of the definite objectiveso(2S) The
following is his brief description of the cargo-cult: "In its
simplest form a cargo cult starts with a prophecy announcing the
return of the ancestors, who will arrive by steamshipo The ship
carries a huge cargo of all sorts of coveted goods of European or
American origino These goods are going to be distributed by the
ancestors among the faithful who have obeyed th2 prophet's
exhortations to construct a big storehouse and to contributc
lavishly to the numerous feasts and dances which have to precede
the return of the ancestorso Much dancing and praying is necess~ry
and great feasts are ?.rr;,mg..::d. hll ::>rdinary 'AJ:)rk COil1_S to a st ~nd
still, the c;:-.. rd,~ns~r0 pilf<.;r..:'d-."d th..::: pigs slaught~rGd. 0]'1. tbe
beach a fl~gst~ff is ~r~ct~d ~n': ~e~r~y und~r a roof a watchpost is
inst~ll~d with 0rd~rs to keep a permanent lookout for the expected
shipo"(26)
The acculturation between the natives and Western civiliza-
tion erred because the means of attaining the desired objectivc 7 the
abundance of goods, were magical and not rational and empiricalo(27)
rh~ means were also harmful and hence we can speak of erring accul-
turationo "in all these cases we are entitled to speak of erring
acculturation, of acculturation gone astrayo People want to
partake of Western ways of life, they even crave weal tho It is
true that they do not shun labor but its results are extremely
poor and disappoint~ng when compared to the ultimate aim of their
efforts. Where wealth and progress figure so obviously in the
realm of myth and miracle, it is no wonder that people are induced
by the poor outcome of their effort to shut their eyes to the
logical sequence of things and concentrate on the realization of
miracles, thus blocking their way to real progress. Repeated
failures to realize the cov0ted miracle do not result in a better
understanding of the natural order. The cause of failure is
never sought in a misinterpretation of that order but unfailingly
in the methods applied to enfor~e the revelation of the mirecle.
 - 11 -

The belief in miracles allows an endless variation of method in

approaching the super-natural. Meanwhile, desire, stimulated
where contact is intensified by an ever-increasing display of
unattainable wealth, is more and more frustrated ~y repeated
disappointment and ultimately breeds nothing but pure envy."(28)

In the acculturation phenomenon in many developing societies

where no similar cargo-cult has emerged, there is nevertheless a
mut'2d form of the cargo-cult mentality, the belief that a churismntic
leader can bring welfare- However since there is a higher degree
of rationality in these society, such a belief eventually gives way
to disappointment in the leader. Around the eve of the Indonesian
Independence in 1945, there was widespread talk about the Ratu Adil,
the Just Ruler who would bring welfare and prosperity. However
this was only a vague expectation unconnected with any programme of
action as practised by the adherents of the cargo-cult.

The nature of the societal reality impelled us to differen-

tiate and qualify phenomena. The phenomenon which directly challenges
us is erring modernization. ~Jhat are the characteristics of erring
modernization? They are the following: (a) The mere introduction
of science and technology without the necessary related elements such
as scientific reasoning, research, and the proper concept of rele-
vance. (b) The gearing of science and technology towards aims which
violated the values of modernization such as increased standard of
living, social-justice, human wellbeing and the respect for the
individual personality. (c) Negative imitation in the planning of
development projects. (d) (29) Acceptance of perpetual dependence
on foreign knowledge and skill beyond that dictated by the need of
the moment. (e) The isolation of the modernization process from a
philosophy collectively and consciously upheld by the elites
constructed with reference to modern scientific knowledge. (f) The
prevalence of a fragmented outlook on the function of science.
(g) The acceptance of disintegrative practices such as corruption
and maladministration. (h) Indifference towards the rule of law.
(i) The presence, side by side with science and technology, of
archaic modes of thought and beliefs to a degree which stifles the
growth of a scientific outlook.

In erring modernization, these characteristics are conspi-

cuous. They are everywhere present so much so that we may qualify
the general trend in the modernization of most of the developing
societies as erring. To illustrate what we mean by erring moder-
nization, let me offer some instances from my country Malaysia.
This type of instances is not confined to Malaysia alone, though
the empirical embodiment differs. In 1963, the Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations in Rome furnished the Malaysian
government with a report on soil conservation. Referring to the
soil where tin has been mined, the author wrote: "The mine tailings
are so nearly sterile that plant growth invades them slowly. Some
research work is being carried on by the Forest Research Institute
to find forest species that will grow on these areas. It is reported
that tin mined areas cover about 200,000 acres. Only a part is
 - 12 -

available for vegetative development. Topographically much of this

land is suited to agriculture. With the exception of instances
where enterprising vegetable growers who have reclaimed small tracts,
this lqnd remains idle. Eventually low grade vegetation slowly
invades tin mined land. It seems reasonable to call attention to
the considerable areas and to point out the need for a more
aggressive program to determine the requirements for bringing
the waste land into production of crops that may rang~ from forest
to vegetable crops.I/(30)

Until now, vast tracts of such land are still unattended.

The introduction of modern mining technology had aggravated the
problem of sedimentation and waste land~ It deteriorated the
condition of the rivers ~eading to periodic floods and it laid
waste vast tracts of land. From a rational point of view, the gains
accrued by government and private miners should be weighed as against
the losses in floodings and laying thousands of acres waste. Moder-
nization of the mining industry has been purely geared to the greed
for profit without regards to the damage done to society. Hence
this can be considered as erring modernization.

What is the alternative which can be pursued? One is the

government mines the tin. The other is the government and the
public forms a mining company. Priority should be given to share-
holders living around the mining area. Every shareholder must have
the same minimum share. Whenever an area is mined, it should be
followed by soil treatment and revegetation effort. To support this,
there should be continuous research. A ministry of research should
be established to ensure that sufficient fund and attention are given
to agricultural research, particularly on food crops.(31) In the
West the bulk of research during the period of industrialization was
borne by private industry. In the present developing societies
the private industry is not interested in bearing the burden of
research. Hence a ministry of research should perform the task.

Erring modernization as expressed in the neglect towards

research on essential problems, the misdirection of research! or
the waste of research resources, is partly responsible for the
pessimism towards the tin industry. The Prime Minister, Tun Abdul
Razak, when he was Deputy Prime Minister, said of the tin industry:
"Tin, so long as we can find the material within our soil, will
continue to be a useful source of revenue. However, tin is a
wasting asset and its reserves in the soil of our country are
shrinking."(32) Owing to erring modernization in the form of
negligence, a great deal of mining was done without separating tin
from other minerals or from its original aggregate. What was mined
was the tin which had been washed away by natural forces, separated
from its original aggregate, and by its own gravity found its way
into alluvial clay and sand. From here it was extracted by simple
dredging and washing.

This method of extracting tin was wasteful. It was suggested

that 20-30% of tin found in a bed of amphibolite were thrown away
 - 13 -

because many Malaysian min2rs had no technology to separat~ the tin

from the aggregate.(33) Similar~probl~m was confronted regarding
tin and iron orc, found together. oIn the many analyses of iron
ores carried out by us~ we hQve found that the ores from many areas
clthough rich in iron, contain too much tin to be saleable. This
is a typical Malayan problem, as we do not know of other occcurences
of tin containing iron oreS in such big quantities as in Malaya.
Only in some parts of Indonesia is there ~ similar problem. 1t (34) The
mineral industry in Malaysia has many scientific problems. In addi-
tion to this there are many areas of research which is still
unexplored as the one on medicinal plants. So is one in the field
of microbiology. "Malaysia's climate conditions are very favourable
for the growth of bacteria and fungi which dould be made to produce
useful products. We have also a large amount of organic wastes of
various kinds, especially from the rotting of plant materials,
e.g. pineapple wastes, palm oil wastes, coconut water, wood wastes,
etc. The products which may be manufactured by microbiologic action
are numerous. Amongst these, the antibiotics form a big group, an<;i
other useful products include yeast; alcohols like ethyl alcohol,.
butyl alcohol, propyl elcohol, and others; acids like lactic acid,
butyric acid and propionic acid; acetone and other ketones; and
proteins other than yeast. Another example is the production of
fermented feed-stUff, which can b~ used in fcedmix. The task of the
researcher lies in the adaptation of known processes to ~ocal condi-
tions."(35)

The pessimism of the then Deputy Prime Minister on the tin

industry was justified but the ultimate reason was the inability to
prevent waste owing to lack of scientific skills. The question again
arises:what could the government have done? During the decade
following Independence in 1957, the government could have planned
with the University of Malaya to direct the teaching and research of
the Department of Chemistry towards these special problems. Methods
of isolating various minerals have been applied in Europe and Japan.
A whole decade of potential improvement was \V'asted. I do not know
for certain how the situation is now. I undarstand there have been
some improvement in mining methods but this was done mainly by foreign
companies.

Erring modernization occurs in typologically different areas.

There is the area of simple ignorance, of inefficiency leading to
losses, of corrupt~on, of negligence, of callous greed. A very
glaring instance is when 81ements of moderniz~tion are introduced
into the logging industry. A study on the forest damage caused by
logging in Sabah is indeed revealing. When large trees fall, the
seedlings in the path of the log are smashed, either bent, broken
off or uprooted. However, a greater destruction is caused by heavy
bull-dozer and tractors. "When the log is hitched to a bulldozer the
machine will have moved into the forest from its unloading point
on a roadside along a track which has been made by the use of the
blade. Occasionally it will not be necessary to use the blade ano
the weight of the . tracks plus the log will cause the only noticeable
soil disturbance. Even this is sufficient to effectively eliminate
 - 14 -

regeneration in the skid mark and to snap off seedlings in the

tractor pathso In wet weather and on undulating ground compaction
and more frequent blade work respectively render even the minor
tracks devoid of topsoil end consequently of the seedlings and of
their rootso The major tractor paths are either compacted so much
that very little will grow on them again or effectively lose their
topsoil and thus their capacity for carrying useful regenerationo"(36)

In 1966, an area of recently cut forest in Segaluid-Rokan

Forest Reserve was assessed for tractor d~mageo It was found that
41 7 per cent of the seedling from an area of 10809 acres were
0

damaged0 Nine years e3rlier when smaller equipments were used and
the felling limit was higher the damage in the same forest was
reported to have been 14 per cento Thus the use of more modern and
heavier equipment caused greater damage to the foresto To this is
added the drive for efficiencyo As the ecologist of the Forest
Department of Sabah observed: lilt is important to minimise the
number of tracks made in removing timber, whether the land is to be
regenerated with forest or to be planted with an agricultural cropo
Huch of the extent of damage in anyone unit depends on the indivi-
dual bulldozer drivero In wet weather more tracks tend to be made
as a track in use quickly develops a mUddy surface which is hard
goingo Most drivers are paid on production or receive productivity
bonuses and aim naturCilly, at moving the maximum number of logs
possibleo At the limits of the extraction net work this often
implies that a dozer will move in to each log rather than spend time
on winching ino Similarly the emphasis on efficiency has resulted
in recent years in the use of ever more powerful- and weighty -
machines which cause considerably more disturbance than the less
powerful oneso"(37)

In at least the last ten years, officers of the Forest Depart-

ment have been discussing many urgent problems connected with forestryo
They have urged greater research allocation, better training, the
preparing of forest inventory, and a host of other significant thingso
However change came rather slowly as far as wasting is concernedo
The press carried the following report: "The timber industry in Penin-
sular Malaysia is throwing away every year about 700,000 tons of
small logs which could have been turned into plywood and sawn timbero
The reason for this wastage is because small logs are considered
unprofitable to process, the deputy director Of timber utilization
research division of the Forest Research Institute in Kepong, Mro
Lew Wing Hing saido Th8 Government was now considering 'speciality'
mills to process these under-diameter logso 'As far as possible,
the Government will encourage the private sector to set up these
mills themselves,' he saido"(3S)

The above came recently into the presso Forestry officers

had been aware of this years agoo Their warning went unheededo
Seven years ago, two forestry officers delivered the following
advice: "The rapid and apparently indiscriminate clearing up of
forested lands for agricultural development has led to the flooding
of logs in the timber market o The buyers have become rather
 - 15 -

choosy and demand only the best produc~ and this has led to a high
degree of wastage in that a lot of species that are hitherto market-
able is being left in the forest only to be burnt or to roto One
way to overcome this would be to persuade the Government to impose
a control on the clearing up of virgin forests in such a way that
the rate of exploitation will not caUS0 a flooding of the timber
marketo At the s~me time the Government should take steps to
expand the wood-processing industry so as to absorb this excess
supplyo It is felt that the control of the clearing up of the
forest will not affect development progress as the Government could
concentrate on development of the already logged-over areas in
State Lands first whilst exploiattion of the virgin areas are being
regulatedo If this step is not effectively executed then the supply
of logs from the State Land will quickly be depleted whilst at the
same time areas of the forest reserves are continually being dimi-
nished due to excisiono The Governm~nt may soon have to import
timber for the population's requirement and this will be a burden
on her resourceso The Government should be made aware of this
danger and be persuaded to take action to have adequate areas of
forest reserves for production on a sustained yield basis as well
as for protectiono ll (39)

In erring modernization, the phenomenon of inertia is always

presenta' It takes a long time to recognize a problemo Forestry
research has not yet been given serious recognitiono Between 1957
and 1966, the Forest Revenue went up to 31 0 3 million dollars (1966)
from 1404 million dollars (1957)0 The expenditure increased from
6010 to 10 million dollarso The log increased to 206 million tons
(50 cubic feet) from 1 01. million in 19570(40) In 1966, the year
of the highest revenue for the decade, out of a total revenue of
31 03 million dollars only $0035 million (350,000) was added to
research, according to the 1966 annual report of the Ministry of
Lands and Mineso(41) The Forest Department's expenditure for 1966
was 1105 williono The surplus was 1907 milliono With such a
surplus, the restriction of the research contribution to $350,000
appears irrational, bearing in mind the presence of serious gaps
of knowledge on fundamental questions of forestry which prevailed
in the countryo

Not all phenomena of waste, greed, corruption and inefficiency

should be considered as erring modernizationo In highly developed
countries these phenomena are also to be found but we do not consi-
der them as erring modernization o A specialist who introduced the
most modern equipments and knowledge but who overcharged his patients
out of greed should not be accused of erring modernization solely
on that accounto However if the Minister of Health would invest
in equipping a highly expensive unit for sports medicine while he
neglected rural health, we can speak here of erring modernization
because the community's funds were affected, government's planning
was involved, the logical order of priority in public need was
violatedo In erring modernization, that which is violated is not
recognized as a desired objectiveo The violation is not considered
as an anti-social acto
 "
- 16 -

When a government introduces a plan for development, and that

plan creates serious problems without solving the recognized ones,
we may speak here of erring modernization. On the other hand actions
by government officials which openly coritradict the recognized
principles of government should not be considered as erring moder-
nization because such actions are not recognized [olicies. An
instance is the case of the Custom's jetty in Penang, dealt with in
1969. "A contract for the construction of a new office block and
jetty for the Anti-Smuggling Division of the Penang Royal Customs
and Excise Department was awarded in December 1967 for $260,100.
The works which were originally scheduled for completion in February
1969 were not completed until September 1969 and cost the Government
$273,746.71. Two months after completion, it was reported that the
new mooring pontoon costing $24,540 could not be used as the launches
and boats could not be moored alongside the building during low-tide
when the water receded by about 100 feet from the building. Though
detailed investigations are stated to have preceded the selection
of the site for the office and the jetty, it would appear that
inadequate consideration was given to the effects of tidal movements
and part of the expenditure incurred has therefore become nugatory.
As speed is extremely important in anti-smuggling operations and the
officers of the Anti-Smuggling Division had apparently to run about
100 yards from their new office to the old mooring point for their
boats, the Department has now suggested the construction of a new
concrete jetty as an extension to the present building at an esti-
mated cost of $105,000. The new mooring pontoon, I understand, has
broken up recently and has been towed away to the Public Works
Department Workshop."(42)

The fact that the behaviour of the tide, something obvious even
to a child, was reported two months after the completion of the jetty,
was not due to erring modernization. The government does not plan,
or is not incapable of recognizing, a useless jetty one hundred yards
away during low tide~ This is not an error of policy or failure to
recognize ashortcoming. Similarly the millions and millions of
dollars wasted arising from inefficiency pointed out annually by the
audit report should not be taken as erring modernization.(43)
Erring modernization refers to erroneous policy or failure to recog-
nize a shortcoming which violates the goals of modernization. It
is not a simple violation of a socially recognized norm as when a
government officer embezzled government fund~

The phenomena of vio12tion if carried out on a large scale

have also effects on the process of modernization but they need not
fall strictly speaking under our concept of erring modernization.
Erring modernization only refers to policies, or omission of parti-
cular policies, or non-recognition of modernization problems by the
government and the dominant elites of society, or the deliberate
violation by them of norms that guarantee social-justice, health,
respect for the human person, the prevalence of science and tech-
nology, the rational approach and the sense of happiness. It is
only when these norms are violated by government and the dominant
elites, or when they fail to recognize ways and means to achieve

- 17 ~

the desired objectives, may we speak of erring modernization o Histo-

rically speaking it is government and the dominant elites who have
been responsible for the modernization of society in its initial
phaseo The masses join the effort owing to their influence, and
only SUbSequently they become an additional determining groupo

So far we have discussed erring modernization as a phenomenon

arising from within the countryo It has been alluded earlier that
the developing societies have been exposed to the mass media from
the developed societieso There has been a sustained and intensive
communication'of ideas specially directed to the developing worldo
Some of these ideas have gained currency and some of them have a
negative effect on the modernization process o I shall discuss
instances of ideas that can have a disturbing effect on the moder-
nization of the developing societieso The first is the suggestion
that the developing societies should not embark upon pure research,
that is research without immediate recognizable valueo The second
is that their tradition, particularly religious tradition, cannot be
a muinspring of modernizationo The Asian religious tradition, for
instance, has been considered by some as a negative influenceb
These authors, one of which is Gunnar Nyrdal, befog the issues
rather than help us to understand them better o
\
Regarding the first one, the avoidance of pure research, the
issue has been soundly presented by Edward Shilso He divided
research for developing societies into three types. The first is
the appraisal of resourCGSo "Economic development requires the....
prospecting of resources, an appraisal of their magnitudes and .
qualitieso This cannot be done without extensive and continuous
surveys, applying the best m2thods of discovery and assessmento
Soil, minerals, marine and animal life, vegetation, water resources,
rainfall, insects, plant and animal diseases, manpower, public
health, etco - in all these matters a country which aspires to
economic development must know where it stands, what it can count
on, and what it must reckon witho The instrument for this appraisal
is the survey, and it is the first task of almost every new state
to organize its survey machinery and to staff it with competent
persons 0" (44) . This type of research does not require original
contributions of fundamental charactero The techniques are ~eadily
available. The problem in the developing societies is manpower
shortage for this kind of researcho .

However there is another type of research urgently requiredo

As he suggested: "This is technological research which goes beyond
the enumerative and classificatory inventory, in the sense that it
attempts to discover/is not some fundamental scientific law but
rather a mode of adapting to nelfJ circumstances and industrial or
agricultu~al process already known and used in other countrieso
This type of "adaptive research" is directed t0ward the application
of ex~sting technological knowledge to the climatic, geological, or
chemical peculiarities o~ the local situation or the local producto
Such research does not require great genius on the scale that would
win a Nobel prize, but it does need a scientific discipline and

La more analytical truth previously unknown. What it seeks to-

diScover
 "
- 18 -

disposition. It is the promotion of this kind of research that, in

the near future, should be one of the main concerhs of the rUlinQ
bodies of the new states. li (45)

The third type is pure research that seeks to discover funda-

mental scientific laws. This is the one developing societies should
avoid. ;lFundamental scientific research on any considerable scale -
pure research which has no immediate and evident application to
economic problems - ne2d not be placed very high on the immediate
agenda of th2 new states. It is often costly, and to be worth
doing it must be vGry well done, with an aptitUde and sensibility
which are probably still too rare in the new stateso The scarcity
of capital in relation to the most insistent needs to 8conomic and
social development almost forbids any fundamental research which
requires expensive equipment or considerable numbers of expensively
trained persons."(46)

So far there is nothing to disagree with Shils. H1S analysis

of the problems was sound and accurate. But there is something
seriously lacking in his views. He fails to for~ulate and present
the distinction b-;;tween two types of fundamental research, though
this distinction is implied in rUdimentary form in his analysis.
There is an area in fundamental research which is not expensive, in
which there is a great need for the disc,:::>Very of fundamental laws
or regularities, and in which thinkers of the developing societies
can contribute. I shall not touch upon the physical and natural
sciences as I am not very familiar with them. But certainly in the
field~ of the social sciences there is a wide ,scope and pressing
necessity for contributions towards fundamental knowledge. Fundamen-
tal research ,should not be discouraged in gc:neral but only that-wR.ich
is expensive and luxurious within the situational context.

If we are not careful, this discouragement of fundamental

research may spillover to all areus of science. It may influence
government 'to downgrade re,search without immediate practical value
irrespective of whether that research is expensive or noto Within
the empirical historical context, 50 many things are done without
any practical valu2, not to mention waste of expenditure. ~'Jhat, is
the practical value of an army in times of peace? Yet we do not
suggest that developing states should not maintain an army. Building
a sports stadium is, within the hierarchy of development priorities,
certainly much lower than a research laboratory, but it does happen.
The. Malaysian government spent 4.2 million M$ for the construction
of a golf course and its club house between 1964 and 1966.(47) This
is only one instance from one country. If we can appraise t,he amount
owaste on such low priority expenditure in the developing societies,
we shall reconsider our hesitation to advocate pure research of the
expensive type. If wasting cannot be checked, it is better that the
waste goes to pure ~esearch of the kind that may benefit developing
societies. Furthermore there are organizations which can afford
expensive fundamental research related to its industry, like Pertamina
in Indonesia,,To say that the Indonesians should not do creative
and fundamental research in oil when they can afford it, is to keep
them behind the developed countries perpetuallyo

- 19 -

CODing back to the social sciences, there is an extensive

area of research which has remained unexplored in any part of the
world. One is in the area of political st~bility. What should it
be'? What nre the laws or regularities whi.ch bring it about: An
author observed the following: "The older countries can give tech-
nical assistance to the newer countries in every field except the
creation of political stcbility. There we have no formula to offer.
We can advise on medicine, on agriculture, on population control;
we can set forth the conditions for economic progress; we can suggest
how to eliminate unemployment and how to establish great scientific
and university institutiDns. But if an Indian asks: What should we
do to insure political stability in India when Mr. Nehru leaves us:,
the t'iestern \"lorld has no useful advice to offerD The nearest thing
to a formula for good government is to recommend that there should
be a well-educated, professional civil service, which will carry
on through thick and thin however bad the politicians may be. This
is a good formula, as the remarkable Gconomic progress of France
during the last 15 years testifies so well. But there are countries
where this will not work, because the politicians refuse to allow
an independent, professiCVlal civil service to be .created. After all,
the process of attaining .political independence is essentially one
of substituting the rule of politicians for the rule of civil
servants, so it will take some time to persuade new countries that
good government depends more upon the quality of the civil servants
than it does upon the quality of the politicians. This proposifion
may not even be true. Political science, if it is a science, is so
underdeveloped that one can have little confidence in any of its
propositions."(48)

There is a list of other problems which have not been touched

upon by mOdern social .science. While in the West people are now
moving into a new area, that is, the study of ov~rdevelopment, in
the developing societies there is a need to have more studies on
backwardness. New phenomena have to be conceptualized and explained.
There is a need to establish a live and continuous interest in the
sociology of corruption.(49) There is the problem of the captive
mind, a type of captivity peculiar to the developing societieso(50)
There is a need for a sociology of decadence, a sociology of the
fools as a supplement to the sociology of the intellectualso(51)

Side by side with new researches in new ~reos, we h~ve to

keep modifying existing concepts ~nd appraise existing theories
and interpretations in the study of developing societies. ThG
colonial past hus to be studied and reformulated in a meaningful
historical contest.(52) Problems of the transplantation of the
social sciences to the developing society has to be continuously
studiedo (53) In all this undertaking thc:r(~ is no reason why the
aim should not be the fa~thest limit of scienceo

Even in natural and physical sciences there ara areas of

fundamental reseurch which are not expensive to study and which can
profitably be done by scientists from the developing sociaties,_such
as the magnetic belt of the earth in certain places in Africa. The
 - 20 -

problem here is not the desirability or feasibility of sustaining

such an interest but the uttitude of government and societyo If
there is not sufficient appreciation of science end schol3rship on
the part of the ruling elites? it would be difficult to generate
on enthusiastic pursuit of science, any kind of sciencc f the adap-
tive or the creativeo(54) The problem lies herein, not in the
realm of the theoretical formulation of obj2ctives, whether the
developing societies should promote pure scienceo This problem is
actually unrealo Not to s~y pure science, even the adaptive kind
of science has mot been given sufficient attentiono

For scholars who are in the position to do creative and original

work with only modest institutional support there should be no res-
triction as to the kind of research that may interest them provided
it shall not be a servile and uncritical import of ideas manufactured
abroad, loosely fitted to the surrounding reality, and stcrile in
outcome0 For some developing societies, the infrastructure of social
science thinking is sufficient to enable original and creative contri-
butions in new areas of knowledgeo There is no reason why there
should not emerge from these countri,;s a creative and original work
on the economics of backwardness and development, with contributions
to fundamental econ~mic thoughto What is required is access to a
good library and a certain amount of datao For those who are willing
to take up the challenge this is possible, in all branches of the
social scienceso

Scholars from the developing societies have to explore the

possibility of doing fundamental r,esearcho Owing to the numbing
effect of the emphatic suggestion that fundaQental research can best
be done in the developed countries, with the convincing arguments
that it is expensive, that it requires a sophisticated supporting
infrastuucture, that priorities should be given to applied and
adaptive science, the attempt to raise the issue has been thwartedo
The fact that an Indian, Professor Co Vo Raman, working in India, won
the Nobel Prize for physics in 1930 was ignoredo He was awarded the
prize for his work on the scattering of light and for the discovery
of the effect 'named after hir"o (55) If his mind had been numbed by
the suggestion ~hat fundamontal research should not be attempted in
developing societies, he would have not mude the iQportant discovery
that won him the Nobel Prizeo

Now if we were to ask ourselves the question whether it was

more significant for Inqia to have a scholar winning the Nobel Prize
or its hockey team to win the international ch~mpionship match, for
which it had invested a sizeable sum of money, the answer should
definitely be to win the Nobel Prizeo A society that places a
higher priority on sport, spending more time Rnd Qoney on its
promotion than scientific research, is gUilty of erring modernization,
particularly when so much of its well-being depends on science and
technologyo There is def~nitely an area of creative and original
research which can be explored without too great a strain on the
financial resources of the countryo What this area is has to be
clearly surmised.
 - 21 -

Another view on the developing societies which have been

widely circulated concerns their religious trnditiono I shall con-
fine myself here to lsI am, Hinduism and 8uddhismo [v'!yrdal stressed
the negative influence of.religion as practised in India and other
parts of Asia, though he admitted that the basic doctrines of
Hinduism, Islam nnd Buddhism are not necessarily inimical to moder-
nizationo(S6) But religion has became the 'emotional container'. of
a way of life and work negative to developmento Its sanction m~de
it rigid and resistant to changeo(S7)

For the sake of argum~nt let us agree that some attitudes

sanctioned by popular religion are inimical to development and moder-
nization. One such attitude is the accentance of the misery of life
and the direction of hcpe towards th2 li}e after deatho We have
nothing to disagree with Myrdnl hereo The religious reformers
themselves such as Jamaluddin Afghani and Ram Mohan Roy and hundreds
of others during the last one hundred years had ~een more conscious
and scathing in their attack of the existing order and religious
practices than Myrdal and other Western social scientistso The point
is Myrdal's evaluation of the refarmerso
,
It is not easy to see the con5istency of his statemento While
Myrdal agreed with the need for religious reform, he nevertheless
rejected the attempt to reform popular religion in terms of the lofty
ideals of that religion which he called 'the higher level'o Talking
about the Indian reformers, he s"id: "AI though recognizing that their
basic approach was determined by Western influences, these reformers
were able to .find support for their ideals in the Hindu scripture
from the ancient time of the Vedas; this, indeed, became their chief
messageo They could also point to an ancient ideological li?eage
of reformers inclUding 3uddha. The present-day social reformers in
India who, like Panikkar, "attach interest to religion, follow this
method of attempting to show that pure Hinduism in its original form
did not sanction the popUlar prejUdices and social arrang~m8nts they
now want to changeo Occasionally they express themselves as if the
Hindu religion had no connection with attitudes, customs, and insti-
tutions, and maintain that they are out to reform not religion but
society; this may be good tactics, but it is bad sociologyo Religicn
as a social fact cannot be identifh:d with, and has, indeed, very
little relation to, the religion on the 'higher' level that they want
to preserveo"(S8)

The above is a statement of someone who has little understanding

of the dynamics and phenomenology of religion and of someone who has
missed to read the meaning of his own cultural history. Would Myrdal
deliver the same jUdgement on Christian r~formers who disapproved of
slavery at the time when the institution was strongly entrenched in the
'Jest? Would he say thct their rejection of slavery had very little
relation to Christianity on the 'higher' level? Would he tell th~se
reformers were he to be there then, that their claim to reform not
Christianity but society, was good tactics but had sociology? What is
the meaning of his remarks? What should be done? Should they not
attempt to reform society in the light of their own religious tradi-
tion? If so why did Myrdal consider it bad sociology? I should say
it is good sociology, to use the existing framework of reformo
 - 22 -

Apparently Myrdal has a negative attitude towards the potential

function of religious reformo His attitude inclines towards the
uprooting and undermining of the Asian religious tradition. There are
only three choices opened to the Hindu society. Abandon Hinduism and
change to another religion, abandon Hinduism and have no religion at
all, or reform Hinduismo Myrdal offered an ambiguous opinion. He
was inclined to doubt the aim of the reformerso It 2ppears from his
writings that the Asians should abandon their popular religion but
Myrdal did not suggest what religion they should have. Haybe he did
not think it necessary for society to have a religion.

His view on religi~n is extremely elusive. The above reading

of Myrdal can be negated by the following quotation: "1~ important
problem for research is whether, to what extent, and how fast, secula-
rization is diminishing the force of this source of social inertia
and irrationality, as a result of the spread of the modernization,
ideals and of planning and other social and economic changeso Probably,
secularization varies in amount and speed both for different social
groups and for the several countries in South ~sia. It should be noted
that from the point of view of the modernization ideals what is needed
is merely the eradication of the ballast of irrational beliefs and
related valuations. As pointed out in Section 2, no religion on the
'higher' level need be in conflict with the modernization ide31s o
But as religion is part and parcel of the whole complex of people's
beliefs and valuations, their modes of living and working, and their
institutions, it needs to be reformed in order to break down inhibitions
and obstacles to developmento"(59)

Here he is in favour of reform but two paragraphs later he

considered the effort of reformers as bad sociologyo What he might
have meant is to reform r01igion without refer2nce to its ancient
scriptureso Whatever his view is, his treatment of ;'.sian n~ligion is
one sided and he exaggerated the negative influence of religion on
development. He said ~ "i~mong th(~ masses, these traditional beliefs
that with their related valuations have religious sanction are normally
irrational, for they are superstitious al)d imply a mystical rather than
a logical way of thinking. Religious conceptions to that degree irra-
tional have not commonly been held in the West for centuries. To a
considerably lesser exten), irrational beliefs sanctioned by religion
are also present among the educated class, inc~uding its intellectual
elite. Even Islam and Buddhism 7 which at the rarefied 'higher' level
are so rational and free from iconism and magic, have, in the forms in
which they actually influence life ~nd social relations, become demo no-
logical and permeated by taboos, magic, and mysticismo In particular,
social and economic stratification is accorded the sanction of religion.
The attitudes, institutions, and modes of living and working that make
up and are reflected in this stratification do constitute very real
inhibitions and obstacles to planning and the execution of planso
Considerable differences exist among the countries of the region, but
in general the inherited stratification implies low social and spatial
mobility, little free competition in its wider sense, and great
inequalitieso This system of social relations is the product of
history and is strongly supported by custom in traditional society;
religious beliefs and valuations furnish the emotional support. It
is evidence of the stability and strength of this social and economic
 ..
- 23 -

stratification that is not commonly challenged by the under-privileged

and exploited lower strata but is generally considered by them to be
natural and right - a fate ordained by the gods and the whole para-
phernalia of supernatural forces. It is this fe0ling, for instancG,
that restrains the untouchables in India from prGssing into the
td\lpl2S and using the wells of the higher castes 0" (60)

Though the irrationality and superstition noted by him are

indeed present, they are not the obstacles to development. In what
way was the Ucst less irrntional and superstitious in the 18th and
19th century? ~Jas Japan during th2 reign of the Emperor Meiji and
SUbsequently free o~ superstition and magic? As Shakib Arslan, before
the 2nd ~Jorld War, pointed out, the Japanese did not abandon their
religious tradition, that is their popUlar religion. liThe rituals and
ceremonies performed in these places fr08 time immemorial are carried
on even today with the same intense devotion and ardent faith. It is
indeed their devotion to their gods and ancestors that has served them
as a stronger shield and support for them even than nationalism and
race-consciousness. lf (61) These rites and rituals and some of the
\ tennets fall under Myrdal's categorization of superstition and irra-
tionality.

It is not denied that superstition and irrationality are

contrary to the modernization ideal. All I am saying i3 that they are
not obstacles to developm8nt and modernization except'in restricted
areas of social life which are of no consequence to the general and
collective trend of modernization. (62) They are comparable to i11i-
t~r3.cy. Alth~ugh we dcsira the clirninati_n of illiteracy b~c~us~ it
hampers mod2rnizatiun, its prcs~ncc how8vcr, is not an obstcclc to its
own elimination, that is the modernization effort. In the hierarchy
of negative influence they occupy a very low position. The degree of
their negative influence is negligible compared to that of an indiffe-
rent dominant elite. Obstacles to development should be located here
more than anywhere else.

The religious traditions of Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity and

Islam have what the Dutch historian Romein called 'eternal values'. By
eternal values Romein meant a cultural prod~ct which does not easily
become outdated, which will last for a long time. An eternal value has
the following characteristics: (a) It is poly-interpretable. (b) It is
not eclectic. In a philosophy or a work of art or other cultural
products, each part is related to the other in a meaningful sense.
(c) It is the product of a genius.

One of the examples which Romein presented was the difference

between the works of Voltnire and Rousseauo Both were contemporaries.
Romein considered the works of Rousseau eternal while those of Voltaire
he did not. When we study Rousseau's 'Contrat Social' we feel as
though he is our contemporary, discussing problems which are real to
us in our times o In the case of Voltaire, from his works we know
about the 18th century.(63) Each culture will have to decide what it
considers eternal. Whether COQfucius is out of date or not, only the
Chinese can decide. (64) Romein made a penetrating distinction betWeen
the work of a genius and the work of a talented specialist. The

- 24 -

reeson why the work of a genius lazts for a long time is its relevance
to human proble~s which continue to exist.

rrhis essay :)f ;~").1.:;;in is extr:;mely important. In the i.sian

tradition, jl.lf:~t to conf.J.n,-= ours,,,,1 ves to the.:: Cirea discussed by Hyrdal,
there are the eternal v~1ues 3nd the out-dated values. The poly-
interpretability of et2rnal vGlues was not appreciated as such by
Myrdalo He said: tlHinduism can also b~come idantifi~d ~ith rationalism
2nd social reform, ,~s can purified Buddhism. On the oth.~r hand,
r21igion, like history, can b~ used by the opponents'of all or some of
the modernization idecls for their own purposes, as is said in the
~est, 'the devil C2n cite scripture'o"(6S) Surely, this difference of
interpretations between dindu groups does not necessarily negate the
effort of the religious reformers.

Myrdal's negative and extreme jUdgement against the religious

tr2dition of South Asia can be gauged from the following: tIThe moder-
nization ideals are all, in a sense, alien to the region, since they
stem from foreign influ~nceso But they have come to be indigenous in
the sense that they have been adopted and shaped by the intellectual
elite, who, in turn, have endeavored to diffuse them throughout the
population. The other valuations, held by the mass of people and in
large part also by the intellectual elite, are mainly 'traditional':
they are part of an inherited culture long identified with a stagnating
society. Related to this is another distinction. vJhile the moderni-
zation ideals, both individually and as a system of valuations, are
dynamic and interventionist, reqUiring changes through pUblic policy,
all the traditional valuations, including those on the most intellec-
tualized level, are static. EV2n when they are of such a nature as to
lend support to the modernization ideals, they th2mselves are not the
driving fcrce~H(66)

His nege.tive judgement is expressl2d in several placeso "Religion

is, of course, crucial, but not the interpretation of old scriptures
and the lufty philosophies and theologies developed over centuries of
specul,~tiono It is, indeed, amazing how much Western, as well as
South Asian, writers think th~y are saying about the ,peoples in the
region when they refer loosely to the imp~ct of Hinduism, Buddhism, or
Isle.rn, which they think of ~s general concepts and often as intellec-
tualized and abstruse. Religion should be stUdied for what it r2ally
is: a ritualized and strQtified complex of highly emotional beliefs
and valuations that give the sanction of sacredness, taboo, and immu-
tability to inherited institutional arrangements, modes of living,
and attitudes."(67)

The most sweeping of his statements is when he proclaimed

religion to be entirely uSi2less. He s2.id: "Und-=:rstood in this
realistic and comprehensive sense, religion usually acts as a tremen-
dous force for social inertia~ The writer knows of no instance in
present-day South r.sia where religion h~s induced social change.
Least of all does it foster realization of the modernization ideals -
though, of course, appeals to religious principles on the 'higher'
level can be used for, as well as against, those id2als, while cruder
religious conceptions can be exploited to incite people to resistance
 - 25 -

or to demonstrations, riots, and lynchings. From a planning point

of view, this inertia related to religion, like other obstacles,
must be overcome by policies for ind~cing changes, formulated in a
plan for development. But the religiously sanctioned beliefs 2nd
valuations not only act as obstacles among the people to getting
the plan accepted 2nd effectuated but also 2S inhibitions in the
planners themselves insofar as they share them, or are afraid to
counteract themo ll (68)

Needless to say the above is a loaded statement ag2inst reli-

gion in South Asia. In his eagerness to discredit religion Myrdal
made a simple blunder. There are numerous instances of religion
inducing social change and mOdernization in South r.sia. (Indonesia
and Malaysia are included in 'South Asia').(69) The rluhammadiyah
movement in Indonesia is a glaring exampleo So are the numerous
reform movements in India and other countrieso The point to raise
against Myrdal is that he committed an act of intellectual injustice
against Asianso He sees their religious tr~dition as basically back-
ward except on the higher level where he consid~rs it of significanceo
} His coverage of religious reforms was very ill equippedo There was no
reference to Jamaluddin :.fghani or Syed Ahmad Khan, both of whom had
induced great changes in th~ Muslim community towards modernization.

The injustice lies in the fact that he judged the effort at

reform on the basis of a lofty conception of i\sian religion as bad
sociologyo Sociologically speaking every great revolution in history
has been brought about by att~mpting to reach the lofty ideals which
is incongruent with the existing situationo This has happened time
and againo The best -instance is Europeo The Renaissance was inspired
by the lofty ideals of the Greekso The success of the Renaissance
was also conditioned by the fact that the ide21s of antiquity contained
universal elements which remained relevant during the course of
centurieso Why should it not be the case with the ideals of Hinduism,
Buddhism and Islam? That a rlindu, a Buddhist or a Muslim reformer
interested to bring his society tow~rds the path of modernization
would seek the philosophical basis of his thinking in the lofty ideals
of his religion, is a perfectly valid approacho Why should he repudiate
his religion as a great many in the West have done? The nature and
history :,f r2ligi)n in .. 51-: _'.iff.::r fr :-:, tltJs. of the Westo

Another intellectual injustice is Myrdal's explanation of the

motivation governing the South Asian intellectual's attachment to
religiono He said: "l,t <me level - that of the intellectual elite -
some traditional valuations are articulated and thus available for
inspection even if not for systemizationo h1though a few intellectuals
are, or feel that they are, completely Westernized ~nd secularized,
most observe the prescribed rites of their inherited religion and are
cognizant of the broad lines,of its theologyo They have a knowledge
of their country's history, its architectural treasures, its literature
and philosophy, music, drama, and dance, and its fine crafts, all of
which have positive connotations and add to the richness of life~
Their attachment to their nation1s history, religion, and culture
provides more than mere pleasure; it is a psychological necessity,
the more so because of the long subjugation of these peoples and the
shcoked awareness of economic and social backwardness following upon

- 26 -

acceptancE of the modernization ideals. Just as an individual,

during a crisis that demands a reappraisal of his way of life, needs
to establish himself 2S a continuous personality, with a past and
a defined relationship to his social and cultural environment, so th~
most enlightened int21lectual~ in these countries feel compelled to
identify thems~lves with their nation."(70)

The above is a psychoanalytic reductionismG The intellectuals

alluded to appears to live at a lower level of awareness. The fact
that they could b2 convinced of their religion as an autonomous intel-
lectual aChievement, not unconsciously engineered by a crisis situa-
tion, is denied the~ by hyrdalo It is true in some instances people
cling to tradition in times of crisis but it is also true that at all
times there arc people who upheld a system of belief out of a genuine
and independent intellectual conviction not induced by a crisis
situation. The crisis situation is at best a stimulus, not the basis
of the convictiono

His selection of sources is relRtively biased. f1yrdal considered

Nehru as the Weberian ideal type while Radh~krishnan, the Indian philo-
sopher who became president of India was not considered by him as repre-
senting the general type, the Hindu intell8ctual modernizer. (71) I
have quoted Nyrdal rather extensively to illustrate "the kind of intru-
sion that occurs into the affair of modernization in the developing
societies. His book has been widely circulated and it contains many
sound insights. Nevertheless it can function as a distracting element
in the thinking on mod~rnization among indigenous intellectuals. The
relevance of religion is questioned. Populwr r~ligion as a force of
inertia is exaggerated. No attempt is made by Nyrdal to classify the
causes of inertia and arrange it in order of significance. Is the
educational level of the population, the popular religious tradition,
or a parasitic and exploitative ruling class, or the cultural and
economic domination by the Hestzrn world the dominant cause of inertia
in the developing societies? His book can De distractive in the sense
that it leads people away fr~m a deeper underst5nding of their problems
by making them fail to recognize the major source of their predicament,
an exploitative and purasitic ruling cloSS, co-operating with foreign
interests, and not the popular religious tredition.

Those who would like to attach much blame to popular religion

in Asia as an impediment to modernization would have to do much b~tter
than Myrdal. Taking popular Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism and Christianity
as practised in Asia, I would like to be shown one single instance
when it blocked successfully the effort at modernization, that is the
really basic effort at modernization. Wh2re was there a determined
and united opposition against the introduction of modern medicine,
against the literacy campaign J against rational economic planning,
against industrialization, against technol~gy, against the introduc-
tion of scientific research, against any basic element of moderniza-
tion, organized by popular t~aditional religious communities collec-
tively7 ht best there were opposition to specific policies by
certain groups as in the case of birth-control.

Is birth-control a necessary element of modernization? Though

I am personally in favour of birth-control for over-populated regions,

- 27 -

I hesitate to pronounce backward a society that opposes ito Holland

is the classical exampleo It is extremely overpopulated yet its
government promotes a high birth-rate as a matter of principle by
giving a sizeable allowance for each childo There are groups in
Holland advocating birth control but the government sticks to its
policy of child allowance (kinderbijslag). Holland is overpopula-
ting itself and th~ world with government supporto This policy
originated from Catholic groups which obtained the support of the
others o Some may consider it as irrational and yet they do not
consider Molland a backward country for clinging to such an irra-
tionalityo There are many such irrationalities in Western societies
and yet no one would dream of considering them as obstacles to
modernization. .

The identified cultural obstacles to modernization in d~ve

loping societies do not operate at the fundamental levelo They are
occasionally found in the non-crucial sectors of social lifeo Popu-
lar religion does not impede modernization. Only in rare instances
is a government policy interpreted as negative towards modernization
such as the Qan on cow slaughter in India, originated from popular
religiono Even this need not go against modernization. If the Indian
government is efficiently managed, it can collect the cows at various
centres, use them for productive purposes, for manure, for milk, and
for transport and. agricultural labour, and sterilize a number of them
to control their population._ India can be as advanced and moct(;;rnized
as any state with all its cows protected and honouredo

The intrusion of disturbing ideas from the West into the deve-
loping societies takes many forms and some of them can be grave ir:tpe-
diments to modernizationo They are more direct impediments and more
serious in consequence than what are attributed to the popular reli
gious and cultural traditionso I have in mind a most dumbfounding
suggestion from Albert O. Hirschman, professor of political economy
at Harvard University, who had written continuously for some time on
problems of economic developmento

In 1951, Hirschman wrote an intelligent 3nd scholarly article

on the industrial nations and the industrialization of developing
countrieso Here he warned that 'Too much 8mphasis should not be
placed on industrialization in development programs, and over rapid
and uneconomic industrialization must be avoidedo'(72) This is a
sound view already widely held throughout the world though only in
-theoryo The thrust of his article was that the industrial nations
should not be afraid of assisting the non-industrial nations in
acquiring the techniques and equipment of industrializationo He
strongly advocateJ the policy of assistanceo

However in 1967, he suggested 2 dumbfounding idea, that a

little ignorance is good for launching economic development projectso
Let us hear him in his own wordso "The Karnaphuli pulp and peper
mill is one of the earliest l~rge-scale industrial enterprises to
have been set up in Pakistan after Purtition and Independence.
Planned by the official Industrial DeVelopment Corporation to utilize
the vast resources of the bamboo forests of the Chittagong Hill
Tracts along the upper reaches of the Karnaphuli River in East
 - 28 -

Pakistan, the mill started to operate in 19530 It had perhaps mor2

than its shar~ of technical and managerial teething troubles, but
considerable progress had been achieved by 1959 when its management
passed into private handso Soon thereafter, a major upset endangered
the very life of the mill: the bamboo began to flower, an event
entirely unforeseen and probably unforeseeable in the present state
of our knowledge since ~t occurs only once every fifty to seventy
years: given the resulting paucity of observations, the life cycle
of the many varieties of bamboo is by no means fully knowno In any
event, the variety that supplied the Karnaphuli mill with some
85 percent of its raw material flowered end then, poetically but
quite uneconomically, diedo fl (73)

It was known that the flowering of the bamboo would cause the
death of the whole plant and in regeneration from the seeds rather
than from the rhizomeso It was not known, however, that the bamboo
that died upon flowering became useless for pulping since it disin-
tegrated during transport by floating it down the rivero ~fter
flowering it would take several years before the new shoots would be
suitable for the intended exploitationo ~n organization was then set
up to collect bamboo in Villages throughout East Pakistan, now Bangla-
desh, and a research program was started to look for other fast
growing specieso Other'alternative raw materials were soughto h
similar phenomenon of underestimating resources and then attempting
to find alternative~resources, occurred in some successful irrigation
projectso(74)

Hirschman discussed a number of projects in Peru and Uruguay

which he believed had gone through the experience si~ilar to the
Karnaphuli Nill., The common structure, in his own words is as
follows: "(i) If the project planners (and this usually includes the
~jorld Bank officials involved in financing the project) had known in
advance all the difficulties and troubles that were lying in store
for the project, they probably would never have touched it, because
a gloomy view would have been taken of the country's ability to over-
come these difficulties by calling into play political, administra-
tive, or technical crentivityo (2):n some, though not all, of
these cases advance knowledge of these difficulties would therefore
have been unfortunate, for the difficulties and the ensuing search
for solutions set in motion a tr~in of events that not only rescued
the project but often made it particularly valuablco"(75)

He sees the positive value of lack of foresight in planningo

It releases creative effort to solve problemso He raises it to a
principle 0 if~ic: may be dealing here with a general principle of
action; CreatiVity always comes as a surprise to us, therefore we
can never count on it and we dare not believe in it until it has
happenedo In other words, we would not consciously engage upon
tasks whose success clsarly requires that creatiVity be forthcomingo
Hence, the only way in which we can bring out creative resources
fully into play is by misjudging the nature of the task, by presen-
ting it to ourselv2~ as more routine, simple, undemanding of genuine
creativity than it'will turn out to beo"(76) He calls the principle
that a venture is undertaken without adequate knowledge of its
consequences as in the instances discussed by him, the Hiding Hondo

- 29 -

He recommended the principle of the Hiding Hand for the deve-

loping societies. "While some presence of the Hiding Hand may be
helpful or required in eliciting action under all latitudes, it is
no doubt specially needed where the tradition of problem-solving is
weak and where inv~ntion and innovation have not yet been institu-
tionalized or routinizedo In other words, in developed countries
less hiding of the uncertainties and likely difficulties of a pros-
pective task is required than in underdeveloped countries where
confidence in creativity is lackingo In the for~er there are large
numbers of achievement-motivated actors who have acquired 'the con-
viction that (they) can modify the outcome of an uncertain situation
by (their) own personal achievements'; in the latter, on the contrary,
new tasks harboring many unknowns must often be pres~nted as though
they were all 'cut and dried' in order to be undertakeno Hopefully,
the experience that difficulties can be successfully handled will
eventually permit a more candid appraisal of tasks and projectso"(77)
For the principle to work, it is nec~ssary that those involved are
caught by the time the unsuspected difficulties appearo Having spent
considerable money, time, and energy, they will be strongly motivated
to exert all their problem solving capacityo

The phenomenon discussed by Hirschman is widely known and he

himself alluded to thiso It is very simpleo vlhen confronted with
serious problems some people struggle to solve themo What is new is
his approval of it, of the lack of foresight in planning, of the
ignorance of fundamental data, and of courting troubles in order to
overcome themo Worst of all he recommended it for the developing
societieso I see in his view a clear manifestation of erring moder-
nizationo It j~stifies blunders which could be avoided. Actually
his discussion on the Hiding Hand should not be considered as a
contribution to development planning but a study of salvage behaviour
arising from shortsighted development planningo As such it is
instructive. But the Hiding Hand, as a principle of action is
entirely misleadingo If we were to apply it, how do we advise
planners not to be too smart? How do we decide the quantum of
ignorance necessary for the principle to operate? As an operational
device the principle is entirely useless, true to its essence of
promoting less foresight and intelligenceo

As an idea it is dangerous to the developing societieso In

the first place it is hastily presented. It was based on a highly
limited number of cases. In the developing societies, improperly
conceived projects have led to waste and stagnation. Several
blunders could not be undone or diverted to other agreeablb achieve-
mentso I understand there is a big sugar plantation in Malaysia
which recently discovered th~t the cane it planted several years
ago was not giving the expected yield. Sixteen years earlier
Hirschman stressed the need to avoid uneconomic industr~alizationo
In 1967, he approved of the experience of the Karnaphuli Mill and
derived a principle from it. Th~ mill was started on inSUfficient
knowledge of the raw materials it depended upono Instead of saying
that the planners should be more careful ~nd thorough in their
appraisal, thereby increasing their foresight and rationality,
Hirschman suggested it is good to be bold; it is good to start a
venture, even if we lack foresight and rationality to anticipate
problems o
 - 30 -

Hirschman is also guilty of an erroneous notion of significance.

If one's boat capsizes, one tries hard to swim to the shore. ~ithout
this accident the attempt would never have been made. This is an
obvious truth. We cannot place any significance to it in planning
because we cannot advise the sailor to neglect his preparation suffi-
ciently as to cause the difficulty which will make him exert his
utmost. Hirschman's principle can provide the shelter for bad
planners while it is useless as a guide to help create good planners
directly because the principle suggests that we should first be bad
planners before we can improve through the effort of overcoming the
blunders arising from our bad planning.

At a time when the developing societies are beset by many serious

problems, to suggest a little ignorance is good for planning, is yet
to add another serious problem to the existing stock. Though the pheno-
menon described by Hirschman exists, it should not be elevated to a
principle of development. This effort is irrational and contrary to
the modernization ideal. It is not always from traditional relig~ous
communities that some irrational ideas about development originate, but
also from scholars on development. The principle suggested by Hirsch-
man constitutes an element of erring modernization because that which
lacks rationality and contrary to the modernization ideal is considered
as an important part of the modernization complex.

Another danger arising from this principle is the ease with.

which it can be abus~d while at the same time it is difficult to apply.
;,s I was writing this part an item appeared in the daily newspaper
under the heading: 'Plan for $137 million tourist complex shelved'.
It reads as follows: "The proposal for a multi-million dollar tourist
complex encompassing the Gunong Rapat limestone outcrops and disused
mining pools in the surrounding areas has been shelved. It is under-
stood that the limestone hills have been declared unsafe by geological
survey. The state Economic Development Corporation, which was
directed to develop the area, has been told not to proceed with it.
The project, drawn up by consultants after feasibility studies, is
said to involve a large capital outlay of about $137 million and 'low
and slow returns'. It was mooted about three years ago to put Ipoh
and Perak on the tourist map. At present, due to lack of attractions
tcuri8ts only make transit stops for lunch or refreshments on their
way between Penang and Kuala Lumpur. The consultants' recommendations
covered a133 hectare site along the 6 km Gopeng Road, with facilities
for both local and overseas visitors. Included in the proposed
facilities for local tourists were picnic grounds, parkland, fishing,
boating, camping, hiking, floating restaurants, a toyland, cable cars,
bowling alleys and a children's funland. Attractions for overseas
tourists included a greyhound track, hotels including a 200 room
cave hotel, an aviary, marine land, rose and orchid gardens, hilltop
casino, chalets, wftter skiing and mountaineering areas. A golf course,
amphi-theatre, a heliport, ,and a skywalk were also proposed.1I(78)

The above project is the type best associated with the Hiding
Hand because the returns are expected after a long time. This is the
kind of project Hirschman considered favourable to the operation of
the Hiding Hand.(79) The consultants had recommended it. They were
unaware of the geological problem that could arise. If the geological
 - 31 -

survey had not subsequently d~claredit unsafe, the State Government

would have gone on with the project. This would suit the principle
of the Hiding Hand. Later they might come ac~oss certain difficul-
ties. There was already a serious landslide of a limestone hill a
few years ago in the same town. The discovery of such difficulties
might release a creative effort on the part of the state Government.
lJithout these such a creative potential might remain untapped. If
the consultants had known Hirschman's principle of the Hiding Hand,
they could have hidden behind it if something went wrong with the
project after it was started.

Let us assume that the project was continued without recourse

to the geological survey. Would Hirschman have approved it? He
might approve it out of ignorance of the geological danger. But what
is wrong with such ignorance? Did not his principle of the Hiding
Hand make it a necessary element in planning in developing societies?
A principle requiring the element of ignorance is considered good for
underdeveloped people. A backward people deserves an inferior prin-
ciple while an advanced people does not need it. However Hirschman
may say that his principle is meant only for projects of high priority,
not one such as a tourist complex. What happens if the project was
one for an industrial complex? He would have not have agreed to it
i f he was told that the area was unsafe. This attitude of his would
certainly be the only rational and human attitude anyone could take
in such a situation.

Rationally speaking the same should apply to other projects

where there is no foreseeable danger to life. Whether it is a paper
mill or a dam, serious difficulties should be anticipated and if this
does not happen, it should be regretted and not accepted as a good
policy to start with. Lack of ability to anticipate problems has_
been considered as a negative factor in the developing societies./
if it is tied to a principle which cannot be applied in planning but
which can easily be abused in the form of providing justification for
failing to anticipate serious problems within the radius of vision of
careful planners. It is clear that Hirschman was not merely analysing
what took place, but he approved of the experience and welcome its
recurrence.

I have discussed some of the distracting ideas on development.

They are/from the indigenous scholars. Many people from the developing
societies would have read the books of Hirschman and flyrdal. They are
distracting because they raise issues some of which do not reflect the
reality of the situation. Their authors have no profound and adequate
knOWledge of various facets of the problems. They are not capable
of weighing the significance of the problem. If Hinduism is against
widow marriage or promoting the caste-system it is considered as a
very serious obstacle to modernization but if governments are corrupt
and obstructive to development, their secular philosophy is not
condemned. While religion is held responsible for the miserable
practices of some of its followers, the secular Western oriented
philosophy of non-traditional political leaders is not held respon-
sible for their misdeeds while in power. As a matter of fact there
are sociologists and political scientists who suggest that corrup-
tion helps development. (80)

/ To encourage this in whatever form is a negative approach the more so

L distracting because they demand attention

- 32 -

There is no talk about 'popular secularism' and secularism at

the 'high level'o There is no doubtful remarks made on the effort of
secular reformers when they link their aim at reform to the high
ideals of secular philosophyo There is no allusion to secularism as
the 'emotional container' of vice, greed, aggression, corruption,
decadence, inefficiency and negligence, as expressed in the life
style of many ruling elites whose political and social philosophy
is oriented to modern Western secularismo They talk about modernizing
developing societies without themselves participating in the process,
without struggl~ng against backwardness in the experiential network
of daily lifco Their ideas have not been organically linked to
practiceo

Concerning knowledg2 from the developed societies, we have to

make two basic classificationso One is fundamental knowledge of the
scienceso The other is the~analysis of developing societies o It is
in this area that we should be orr our guardo It is the superficial,
distorted and ill eqUipped analysis of developing societies that we
should reject and combat, not the other kind of knowledge availa~le
in the developed societieso We may be sympathetic to the Western
civilizationa Yet the duty remains for us to ward off the invasion
of superficial generalizations, one sided analyses, or ideas pathogenic
to our modernizationa They are often disseminated by the academic
free-bootersa Scholars like Myrdal and Hirschman do not belong to
this category but there are many who dOa

When we read works on developing societies we should not only

consider what the authors clearly stated in print, but also their
unstated assumptionso A wifely prevailing assumption is that there is
not much to learn from earlier Asian writings on the conditions of
progresso Many valuable \~orks on these themes are ignored or not knowno
Credit for raising or focussing attention on certain problems is
usually accorded to Western scholars or their contemporary Asian imi-
tators who have limited historical perspectiveo One glaring instance
is the attitude towards the works of the Indian reformer and economic
thinker, Mahadev Govind Ranade (1842-1901)0(81) Myrdnl cited him
only in a footnote dS Ran~de was quoted by the author Myrdal was
referring too Myrdal is a strong objecter of the uncritical applica-
tion of Western economic concepts and assumptions to the developing
societie&Ranade anticipated Myrdal by more than half a centuryo A
study of contemporary Asian problems should not turn the back to
earlier Asian writingsa In 1890, in the inaugural address to the
First Industrial Conference\at Poona, Ranade made several suggestions
and observations which are valid todaya He stressed the need to
avoid being too much dependent on raw agricultural products for the
national wealtho

It was not only the control of industry and commerce which

had passed to foreign hands, but also that of skill and talent a The
root cause, according to Ranade, was India's lack of organized skill
and scienceo(82) Much has changed since Ranade's time but the
problem remainsa For the Asian countries to modernize and develop
they must each have a rational conception of industrialization and
agricultural developmento This is readily accepted in theory but
not in practiceo The only rational conception of industrialization

I
 - 33 -

seems to.me to develop first industries related to the agricultural

raw materialso Malaysia is a great rubber producer but Malaysians
cannot make motor-car tyreso There aretyre factories in P1alaysia
but the industry, its science and technology, as well as its ~arket,
are controlled by co~panies of developed countrieso Having more
such industries shall not increase the scientific and technological
potential of Malaysians themselves. Hence there is a form of indus-
trialization which does not contribute to the increase of vital
scientific and tedmological performance of the people of the country 0

The growth of industry in the West was entirely an affair of the

people of the countryo

The problems confronting the modernization of the developing

societies are many and complicatedo The most crucial is the nature
of the ruling elites. There are a number of factors most crucial to
the modernization and development of societyo The obvious ones are
(1) the nature 'of the ruling elites, (2) the educational level of the
people, (3) their standard of living, (4) the state of the administra~
tion, (5) the resources of the country, (6) its cultural and religious
tradition, and (7) the nature and degree of external economic and
political dominationo The nature of the ruling elites is the most
crucial for it can determine the solutions to all the other problems.
During the time of Ranade in India it was still a ritual problem for
Hindus to go abroad. Now it is not sOo Why: Because the ruling
elites had nroken away from this tradition. Hence religious and
cultural traditions are not the serious obstacles dramatized by some
authors. They become obstacles only to the extent that the ruling
elites lend their support to them.(S3)

A study of modernization that concentrates on all the various

problems except that of the ruling elites misses the point. The
moment we ask the questions how society remains backward and how it
can be modernized and developed, we have to devote a great deal of
attention to the ruling eliteso ~erely mentioning them in passing is
not enough. What kind of ruling elites must we have? Are they
already in our midst? These are the basic questions which have to be
tackled if we are to understand the modernization of developing
societieso To enumerate the existing problems, to analyse them in
terms of one as being caused by another, without relating them to
the ruling elites, is li~ce stUdying human responses without reference
to the braino The most crucial socials change is the change in the
kind of ruling elites. If the ruling clites are negative, if they
are corrupt, decadent, indifferent and inefficient, how can we
replace them with those of positive qualities? This is the most
challenging and crucial problem in the modernization of the develo-
ping societieso Erring modernization occurs because of the dominance
of ruling elites whose moral and intellectual qualities are found
wantingo The emphasis on the ruling elites is to widen the breadth
of our understandingo

In this process to understand the greater complexity of moder-

nization~ new avenues of research must be openedo New concepts and
methods must be devised based on empirical conditions in the deve-
loping societies. We should avoid what Mao Tse-tung described as
vulgar plodding, collecting facts without theoryo \Je must develop
 - 34 -

all the necessary conditions of profound underst~nding, a goal

cherished everywhere despite differences of philosophical systemso
In the words of Mao Tse-tung: "To reflect a thing fully in its
totality, to reflect its essence and its inherent laws, it is
necessary, through thinking, to build up a system of concepts and
theories by SUbjecting the abundant perceptual data to a process of
remodelling and reconstructing - discarding the crude and selecting
the refined, eliminating the false and retaining the true, proceeding
from one point to another, and going through the outside into the
inside; it is necessary to leap from perceptual knowledge to rational
knowledgeo Knowledge which is such a reconstruction does not beCOine
emptier or less reliable; on th(? contrary, whatever h~s been scien-
tifically reconstructed on the basis of practice in the process of
knowledge is something Which, as Lenin said, reflects objective
things more deeply, more truly, more fullyo As against this, the
vulgar plodders, respecting experience yet despising theory, cannot
take a comprehensive view of the entire objective process, lack
clear direction and long-range perspective, end are self-complacent
with occasional successes and peep-hole viewso Were those persons
to direct a revolution, they would lead it up a blind all eYo H(84)

Our rwthinking on modernization should take into consideration

all relevant knOWledge from the Uestern as well as the Communist
countrieso There are cert~in contributions which are more relevant
from the West and certain contributions which are more relevant from
the Communist countrieso j:.,.s noted earlier, the selection has to be
constructively and critically accomplishedo We should first revise
our attitudeo It is the prevailing attitude of our social, physical
and natural scientists that they take interest only in knowledge that
comes from the Westo This is partly understandable owing to their
institutional backgroundo But a man who cannot free himself from
his past conditioning cannot be an independent thinkero He cnnnot
contribute effectively but as a retailer of imported knowledgeo
No Successful modernization in history has been accomplished by on
intellectual leadership whose sole function is to sell importe?
ideas without considering their nature and their necessity for the
publico
 - 35 -

NOTS::>

10 Syed Hussein AlataS, 'Religion and Modernization in ~outheast Asia',

~rchives Euro2~enne~_des~si2l0B}e, XI, Paris, 1970~ Reprinted in
Syed Hussein Alat::.s, t!,d2rnization Sl}..d-.l'ocial Change, Angus and
Robertson, Sydn~y, 1972. All references are from this b06ko See
page 220
20 For instance, the weakening of religions dogmas was suggested as
one of thechara~teristicsof modernization. Clearly this is
relative to the ~Jestern experience in certain section of the popu-
lation. For this suggestion, see J.vv o Hall, 'Changing conceptions
of the modernization of Japan' in li.B. Jans-::n, (ed.) ,91an,.g,:1ES.
l~_~~tudes t~.~~~.Mo.~rni~~t1Bll, p.23, Princeton Univers~tj Press,
New Jersey, 19550
3. See hoJ 0 Toynbee, !.he Present Day BX.E..e;;i.mcllU.ll...::i.est~.!L..~.:~J}J.&~,~.~..9..rb
po 24, Oxford University. Press, London, 1962 0
4. Hideo Kishimoto, 'Modernization versus tJesternization' in the ;::;ast' ,
!ourl1al of --{vorla HistofY, vol.o .v.ii., no o 4, ppo 872-873, 19630
5. Friedrich Nietzsche, Jhe Use and Abuse of His~oryo Tro Ao Collinso
Bobbs-f-'ierill, New York, 195.70 "This is a universal law~ a livi.ng
thing can only be healthy, strong, and productive"within a certain
horizon; if it is incapable of drawing one round itself, or too
selfish to lose its own view in another's, i t will come to an
untimely end. Cheerfulness, a good conscience, belief in the
futur~, the joyful deed - all depend, in the individual as well"
as the nation, on there being a line that divides the visible and
clear from the vague and shadowy; we must know the right time to
forget as well as the right time to remember, and instinctiv~ly see
when i t is necessary to feel hiatorically and when unhistoricallYo
This is the point that the read~r is asked to consider: that the
unhistorical and the historical are equally necessary to the health
of an individual, a cOi"lmunitY"and a system of cultureo" Ppo 7-8 0
6 0 For an i'1structive listing 0' traits, see 00\'11 0 Junek, II;Jh3t is the
total pattern of our ';,estern civilization'?' i1.merican J"'nt!l.~o.9..ist,
vola 48, nOa 3, 1946 0
70 Ro Jo Rorbes, 1'.he C0.p.s~st of Na..-g,lre, po 430 Pall NaIl Press,
London, 19680
80 1974 Year Book of Labour St2tistics, po 780 Internati6n&1 Lubour
Office, Geneva, 1974 0
90 Nao Tse-'fung, 'On new democracy', in Selected ."~oEks .2..:f-.J:'1.ao T_s..<:=-Tung,
vola II, ppa 380-381. Foreign Languages Press, Peking, 19650
100 Quoted in Do Lerner, 'Modernization', Encyclopedia of the Social
Sciences, volo 10, po 366. Macmillan, New York, 1968. I am not
able yet to trace it to the original sourC2o
110 Otsuka Hisao, 'Modernization reconsidered', in The Developi~
Economies, volo III, noo 4, po 390, 1965~
12 0 On this problem see Syed Hussein hlatas 'Intellectuals and N2tion-
b~ilding', fultures, volo 1, noo 4, Paris, 19740

13. hL::xander Herzen, Selec!;..d Philosophical\Jorks, po 52. For;..::ign

Languages Publishing House, 1'10sco\v, 1956 a

I
 - 36 -

14. ~., po 18 0

15. N.R. Keddie, An Islamic Response to Imperialism, ppo 104-105.

University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1968.
This book contains translations from Afghani's writings.
16. ~., p. 105. On the role of the philosophic spirit, he further
said: "It is philosophy that makes man understar.dable to man,
explains human nobility, and shows man the proper road. The first
defect appearing in any nation that is headed toward decline is in
the philosophic spirit. After that deficiencies spread into the
other sciences, arts, and associations."
17. ~., pp. 102-103.
18. ~., p. 1030
19. ~., p. 103.
20. Syed Hussein hlatas, Modernization and Social Change, pp. 166-167.
Op.cii;.., Ch. 11, 'Bac]cwatodness and the will to think'.
21. See Shepard B. Clough, Jhe Rise and Fall of Civiliz~~, pp. 203-
205. Skeffington, London, 1953.
22. R.J. Forbes, The Conquest of Nature, p. 41. Op.cit.
23. Shepard B. Clough, 0p.cit., p. 224 0
24. Nevin S. Scrimshaw, 'Food', in Technology and Deve~ntent, pp. 38-
39. Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1963.
25. J. van Baal, 'Erring acculturation', ~merican~nth~oR~~ist,
p. 108, vol. 62, no. 6, 1960.
26. J. van Baal, op.cit., p. 108.
27. J. van Baal, 0l? .. c.i.,t., p. 109. "Almost everywhere the \vhi tes on
their first arrival were identified with ancestors. In a later
phase of contact this association got its foundation in myth.
Thus in Mimika, where the ancestors are said to have departed
westward, they took all their riches with them, leaving the Mimi-
kans nothing but a few simple thingso The valuables were given
to the Europeans and nobody knew anything about it until recently
when the Whites came to New Guinea (cf. Locher 1956:180)0 j".J.ong
these lines the myth succeeds in incorporating the Western world
and all the things i t brought into the old cosmology. The old
world view, slightly elaborated, is maintained in principle.
Against this background i t is more or less self-evident that the
Papuans approached the new world with means and tactics borrowed
from the old, ioeo, with all those methods which can be covered
by the elastic but comfortable term of " magico-religious".
28. J. van Baal, opocit., po Ill.
290 I have elsewhere suggested negative imitation as the opposite of
constructive imitation, defined in the following: "The assimilation
through imitation of technology and scientific procedures a:1d 1mow-
ledge valid for the development of hsian society can be highly
constructive. Imitation saves time and energyo No society can
develop by inventing everything on its own. lIJhen something is
found effective and useful, it is desirable that i t would be .
adopted and assimilated, whether it be an a~tifact or an attitude
of mindo Constructive imitation is a feature of social life. It
 - 37 -

is characterized by the following: (a) it is based on a conscious

and rational choice; (b) it supports existing and sound values;
(c) it considers the problems, if any, surrounding the adoption of
the innovation; (d) its non-adoption would be inhibiting to society;
(e) it increases the understanding of phenomena surrounding the
innovation; (f) it does not disrupt other aspects of social life
considered more valuable; (g) it does not create great strains
detrimental to the purpose of the undertaking; (h) it enters the
collective value system in the sense that it is recognized as
valuable by large groups of people; and (i) it is not the effect
of manipulation by external groups motivated by their own interests
to the detriment of the adoptero" 3yed Hussein Alatas, 'The captive
mind and creative dev~lopment', International Social Science Journ~~,
vol o XXVI, noo 4, po 692, Paris, 1974 0
30 0 WoS o Speer, Report to the Government of Malaysia on Soil and \riater
Conservation, po 50 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations, Rome, 19630 Report noo 1788, Project TA/Mi~/LA.
310 Research into food production should be given top priority in vie~
of the urgency of the problemo "The imports of ~gricultural
products from overseas represent a 3ubst~ntial portion of the
total imports into this countryo In 3. norT:lal :rear r..o less than
2502 per cent of the total ~mp8rts are in the fnrm of foodstuffs,
like rice, cereals, fruits, vegetables and d~iry productso The
cost of these amount to about 1.500 mil'lion ,). year - a very large
sum of money indeed: M03t of these agricult~r2~ products can
be produced locally ~nd increased production Sh~11d go a long
way to increase the standnrd of liVing of the popUlation, parti-
cularly the rural population who are among the lowest income
groups 0 11 1'1ohamad bin Jamil and ToK o Van, 'Ilgrj~ultural research
in Malaysia', Proceedings of the Symposium on Scientific and
Technological Research in Malaysia, po 63, Singapore, Feb. 10-13,
1965 0

32 0 Tun Abdul Razak, 'Conference opening address', in P.D. Turner (edo),

Oil Palm Developments in Malaysia, po 7 0 The Incorporated Society
of Planters, Kuala Lumpur., 19680 Proceedings of the First Malaysian
Oil Palm Conferenceo
330 Eo Markowicz, 'Research problems connected with Malayan mineral
and agricultural raw materials', Proceedin;S.s of the Symposium on
Scientific and Technological Research in Malaysia, p~ 84, 0p.cito
340 Eo Markowicz, ~ .. , po 850
35 0 Eo fViarkowicz, ~o, po 940
360 J~EoDo Fox, 'The soil damage factor in present day lo09in9 in Sabah',
Proceedings Third Malaysian Soils Conference, Sarawak, May 1968,
po 2060
37. ~o, po 209.
38 0 The Straits Times, 9 Septo 1975, po 11 0 Singapore.
390 Baharuddin bin Haji Ghazalli, Mustafa bin Muda, 'Effects of
economic development on future forest management in Pahang with
particular emphasis on land development', The Malaxan Forester,
vOl o XXXI, noo 4, ppo 281-282, 19680
 - 38 -

40~ Leong Hing Nin, 'Highlights of forestry during the first decade
of Independence in West Malaysia', ~e Malayan Forestry, vol.
XXXI, no. 1, po 13, 1968.
41. Penyata Tahunan Perhutanan di Malaysia Barat Tahun 1966, p. 13.
Kementerian Hal Ehwal Tanah dan Galian, Kuala Lumpur, 19690
420 Report of the AUditor-Gener~l! X.~ral Government! Malaysia, 1969,
p. 192. Kuala Lumpur, 1972.
43. Another example is the following: "h considerable number of cows,
buffaloes and goats were purchased by the Federal Government over
the years and distributed to farmers and settlers through state
Veterinary Offices under the Animal Breeding Schemes. There was
apparently no proper control by the State Veterinary Offices over
these animal~ and their progeny obtained from bailees for re-
distribution. In a number of cases, the records maintained were
either inadequate or not kept up to-date. Under the agreements
entered into with the bailees, if the animal died or was lost
through the negligence of the bailee, the bailee was to recompense
the Government with the purchase price of the animal. The records
maintained at the Johore Veterinary Department showed that 1,399
animals had died or were lost while in the custody of bailees, but
there was no evidence to show that the death or loss had been inves-
tigated by the Department's Officers to ascertain whether the death
or loss was due to the negligence of the bailee. Similarly, there
was no evidence of investigation by Departmental Officers of the
cause of death or loss of 669 animals in Trengganu and 54 in Malacca."
Report of the Auditor-General, Federal Government, Malaysia, 1970,
p. 176. Kuala Lumpur, 1972. Insufficient attention on the subse-
quent fate of the government's buffaloes, cows and goats, pointed
out by the report should not be classified as erring modernization.
However, if it becomes the prevailing government's attitude to
tolerate such infringements of rules, this shall constitute erring
modernization because modernization has to be based on the rational
rule of law.
44. Edward Shils, 'Scientific development in the New States', in
Ruth Gruber, (ed 0), Science and the New Nations, p. 270. Pyramid
Books, New York, 1965.
45. Ibid .. , po 270.
46. ~., p. 271.
47. Rt.GFGM 1970, p. 1760
480 W. Arthur Lewis, 'Science, men and money'. Ruth Gruber (ed.),
Science and the New Nations, p. 54, op.cit.
49. See Syed Hussein Alatas, Sociology of Corruption, Delta Orient,
Singapore, 1975 (2nd ed.).
50. See Syed Hussein Alatas, 'The Captive Mind in Development Studies',
~ , vol. XXIV, no. 1, 1972; and 'The captive mind and creative
development ft , I2,;'..:l, vol. XXVI, no. 4, 1974.
51 .',.n introductory attempt is contained in Syed Hussein Alatas,
The Intellectuals in Developing Societies. Frank Cass, London
(Forthcoming) 0
 - 39 -

52. Such an attempt is made in Syed Hussein Alatas, The Myth of the
Lazy Nativeo Frank Cass, London (Forthcoming)o
530 See Ralph Pieris, 'The implantation of sociology in Asia' 0 ,~,
volo XXI, noo 3, 19690
540 The parallel with the need for and attitude towards the army is
greato A high esteem for a military career, one without a market
value, is an attitude which requires to be developedo Dro Wong
Lin Ken, Professor of HistOry at the Univ.ersity of Singapore, in
his capacity as Member of Parliament, said the following: "vve
must make a career in the army meaningful also in social terms 0
This means that if a man, says, he is a colonel, for example, he
should command the same degree of respect as if he has said he
i.s a doctor or a lawyero Unlike the doctor or lawyer, his contri-
bution to society cannot be exactly measured o He has no market
value, yet, in peace-time, as part of the armed forces, he contri-
butes towards creating that climate of confidence in the safety
and security of our nation, without which there can be no economic
development 0 In war-time, if he fails, then we will be obliterated
\ or become a subject peopleo He deserves a greater respect than has
been accorded to him o " S..E.eech, Alexandra Community Centre, 17 Novo,
1973, Singapore, for the National Servicemen Send-off PartYo
55. Wo Odelberg, (edo), Nobel: The Man and His Prizes, po4400 American
Elsevier, New York, 19720 There were three others from the
developing societies who won the Nobel Prize, two for physics
from China in 1957, and one. for physiology from Argentina in 19470
56. Gunnar Myrdal, Asian Drama, volo 1, po. 78 . Penguin Books, London,
1968.
57. Ibido, p. 112.
58 0 Ibido, pp.l06-107o
59. Ibido, pp. 105-106.
60. Ibid., p. 104.
61 . Shakib Arslan, Our Decline and Its Causes, po 78 0 TroMoAo
Shakooro Ashraf, Lahore, 19520
62 0 See Syed Hussein Alatas, jCollective representations and economic
development', in Modernization and Social Change, ppo 53-64, opocit.
63. Jan Romein, 'Eeuwigheidswaarden', in In Opdracht van de Tijd,
ppo 268-2690 Querido, Amsterdam, 19460
64. Ibido, ppo 272-2730
6SA Gunnar Myrdal, Opocito, po 800
66. Ibido, po 73.
67. Ibido, po 1030
68. Ibido, ppo 103-1040
69. I have referred to these instances in my 'Religion and modernization
in Southeast Asia'o Opocito The famous effort of Syed Ahmad Khan,
the well known Indian Muslim reformer and founder of the Aligarh
College, was apparently not known to Myrdalo His knowledge of the
religious history of Asia is extremely limitedo Syed Ahmad Khan
 - 40 -

seriously attempted to introduce scientific agriculture to India o

He went to the extent of trying to get experts from England to
prepare a manual on agricultural machinery specially for Indian
farmers o See Yusuf Husain (edo), Selected Documents from the
~ligarh Archives, po 390 Asia Publishing House, London, 1967 0
700 Opocit.! ppo 74-750 He cited Nehru as an exampleo
710 Ibido, po 76 0

72. Albert 0 Hirschman, 'Industrial nations and industrialization of

0

under-developed countries', Economia Internazionale, volo IV,

no. 3, p. 615, 1951.
73. Albert 0 Hirschman, Development Projects Observed, p. 9.
0 The
Brookings Institution, Washington, 1967.
740 Ibido, pp. 10-11.
750 Ibido, ppo 12-13.
76. Ibid., p~ 13.
77. Ibid., p. 15.
78. The Straits Times, October 10, 1975 (Singapore).
790 Albert a. Hirschman, Op.cito, pp. 18-20.
80. For a refutationqof this theory see Syed Hussein Alatas, Sociology
of Corruption. Delta Orient, Singapore, 19750
81. In a lecture to the Decca College, Poona, in 1892, Ranade rejected
the assumptions of the Western economics of his day. He discussed
twelve assumptions which he considered not valid for India. See
MoG. Ranade, Essays on Indian Economics, Natesan, Madras, 1906.
82. Ibido, ppo 196-197.
83. When a ruling elite mobilized traditional religious values, however
irrational they may be in terms of science and ~eason, the result
can be astounding as the case of Japan has shown. For this, see
Josefa M. Saniel, 'The mobilization of traditional values in the
modernization of Japan', in R, N. Bellah, (ed.), Religio~~n
Progress in Modern Asia. Free Press, New York, 1965. This and
many other works by Asian scholars on religion in Asia are appa-
rently not known to Myrdal as they do not appear in his referenceso
840 Anne Fremantle, (ed.), Mao Tse-tung: An Anthology of His Writin~,
po 2080 New American Library, New York, 19710 From the article
'On practice'.
 - 41 -

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10 Abdel-Malek, Anouar. 'Marxism and the sociology of civiliza-

tions', Diogenes 1 64, 1968.
2 0 Agoncillo, Teodoro A. Filipino Nationalism. R. P. Garcia
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3. Alatas, Syed Hussein. The Second Malaysia Plan: 1971-197~
Critigue. ISAS, Occasional Paper no. 15, Singapore, 1972.
4 0 Alatas, Syed Hussein. 'Reli.gion and modernization in Southeast
Asia', Archives Europeenes de Sociolog~, xI, 1970 (Paris).
5. Alatas, Syed Hussein~ 'The captive mind in dev~lopment studies',
~, XXIV, noo 1, 1972 (Paris).

6. Alatas, Syed Hussein. 'The captive mind and creative development',

~ , XXVI, no. 4, 1975 (Paris).

7. Alatas, Syed Hussein. Modernization ana Social Change. Anqu~ and

Robertson, Sydney, 1972.
8. Alatas, Syed Hussein. The Sociology of Corr~tin< Delta Orient,
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,. Th.:i.~ .shouldbe placed between no .. 24 and 25 of page 42 ..

.'", ..
 46 -

,~/\BeREVIATION

ISAS Institute of Southeast-Asian Studies.

ISSJ International Social Science Journalo

PSSTRH Proceedings of the Symposium on Scientific and Techno-

logical Research in Malaysiao

RAGFGM Report of the Auditor-General, Federal Government,

Malaysia o

IJCS International Journal of Comparative Sociologyo

ICPMA International Conference on the Problems of Nodeerni-

zation in AsiJ., June 28-July 7, 1965, (R(:port). Jisiatic
Research Centre, Korea University, Seoulo

Acknowl~dgement

The author wishes to express his appreciation for the

continuous and efficient assistance rendered by the Ref~rence and
Circulation Sections 6f the Singapore University Library in the
preparation 0f this worko