IN June, four other Malaysians and I toured Germany for 10 days                                                                                       
under the sponsorship of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                      
We arrived on a chilly Sunday morning in Berlin, now Germany's,                                                                                       
capital city once lain, Berliners proudly proclaimed that ey re                                                                                       
now observing the Anniversary of the construction of the Wall                                                                                         
and the l1th year of German Unification.                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                      
When the walls came tumbling down in T.49 in the then divided                                                                                         
Berlin, many Germans thought a unified nation would emerge,                                                                                           
able to take its pride of place in a larger and a more unified                                                                                        
Europe.                                                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                                      
But managing the new Germany came with extra costs. Billions of                                                                                       
German marks have been poured into reconstruct and rebuild.                                                                                           
There are lots that are new in Berlin today. in all                                                                                                   
proportions, Berlin is today the largest construction site in                                                                                         
the world. The showpiece is the Potsdamer Platz, the former                                                                                           
roads and rail hub in the Eastern sector of Berlin. Around the                                                                                        
Platz, new structures that show off the best of German                                                                                                
technology and management have spring up.                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                                      
Take the Chrysler-Daimler centre. It was built to project                                                                                             
Berlin as the city of Technology, Information and Finance. It                                                                                         
fused old and new elements. it is also called the modern Notre                                                                                        
Dame, combining Art and Living together in an attractive                                                                                              
setting.                                                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                      
Next to it is the imposing Sony Centre. The Japanese architect,                                                                                       
Fujiyama, had wanted to present the elements of theatre,                                                                                              
religion and virtue into a cultural melange. He has succeeded                                                                                         
beyond imagination.                                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                                      
The same can be said of the restored Reichstag building that                                                                                          
now houses the German Parliament.  As conceived by the winning                                                                                        
British architect, Norman Forster, who was awarded the project                                                                                        
to redesign the building, the structure has woven the different                                                                                       
elements of people, light and air into a welcomed space for the                                                                                       
public to come and visit or even listen to the sessions.                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                      
While the reconstruction costs are impressive and well within                                                                                         
the German economic capability for the country to handle, the                                                                                         
mental and psychological costs on its people can never be                                                                                             
surmised with any certainty.                                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                                      
The Germans suffer from a past guilt that had been shaped by                                                                                          
the experience of two world wars, living through the worst                                                                                            
excesses of National Socialism and the Holocaust, and, finally                                                                                        
surviving the bitter memories of being citizens of a country                                                                                          
divided by ideology and, for a good while, under foreign                                                                                              
occupation. It was soon found out that, by the one stroke of                                                                                          
unification alone, the recent past could not be wiped off that                                                                                        
easily.                                                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                                      
A serious emotional issue has emerged that is clouding the                                                                                            
German weltsanschauung. Images of the past kept on coming to                                                                                          
destabilise the German psyche. The situation in Berlin, where                                                                                         
the hot topic is who is going to partner the political grouping                                                                                       
closely associated with the former Communist Party of East                                                                                            
Germany, the PDS, has revived old fears of Communism making a                                                                                         
comeback. Alarms have also been raised over the increasing                                                                                            
occurrences of violence traced to the overzealous NeoNazis.                                                                                           
Foreigners have been the targets of abuses and harassments                                                                                            
widely reported in the media.                                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                                      
The media is also awash with the more-than- usual coverage of                                                                                         
the activities of gays, lesbians and other special groups. In                                                                                         
contrast, the ordinary Germans we spoke denied that this was                                                                                          
the true picture of mainstream Germany.  Ordinary Germans they                                                                                        
say, are mostly law- abiding, hardworking, thrifty and adhere                                                                                         
strictly to good family values. Many just want to work and get                                                                                        
married and bring up the family with all the benefits of modern                                                                                       
living.                                                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                                      
Germans are, however, not apologetic about all the negative                                                                                           
things said of them. Why should they? They have contributed                                                                                           
immensely to the world's intellectual and cultural experiences.                                                                                       
Besides, they are content to own one of the world's strongest                                                                                         
economies. Soon, they will be playing a leading role in the new                                                                                       
and expanded Europe.                                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                                      
For the moment, the new Europe is not all that happily received                                                                                       
by all. According to a Parliamentarian, the elite is all for                                                                                          
it, but the public is very wary of the idea as they feel                                                                                              
Germany will have to shoulder everything and this will not                                                                                            
benefit them. Their central concern is still to let unification                                                                                       
succeed.  It is believed that a strong and unified Germany is                                                                                         
the best defence against all manner of foreign interventions.                                                                                         
They also have recourse to the Basic Law. This is the                                                                                                 
Constitution for the country, and this document and the                                                                                               
protection of it, has been the foundation for all legal matters                                                                                       
for Germany; Germans will abide by it in all their national,                                                                                          
regional and international transactions and commitments.                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                      
This fact became obvious in the areas that were brought in as                                                                                         
new states in the Federal Republic. So much emphasis is laid on                                                                                       
the need to maintain the rule of law and the independence of                                                                                          
the various judges within each of the legal jurisdictions                                                                                             
throughout the country. This was made known to us in our                                                                                              
discussions with officials from the Judiciary and other related                                                                                       
legal institutions in Berlin, Potsdam, Erfurt and Bonn.                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                                      
How countries ascertain that the rule of law is being upheld                                                                                          
will become the basis of any relationship Germany is going to                                                                                         
have with that or another country in the world. German                                                                                                
involvement in peacekeeping efforts in, recent times in Kosovo,                                                                                       
fov, instance, has also been dictated by this fact alone.                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                                      
Of interest to our host is to find out how we are managing our                                                                                        
rule of law and democratic integrity. Questions that were asked                                                                                       
of us included such things as our human rights record,                                                                                                
independence of our judiciary, and the state of relations                                                                                             
between the Federal authority and the provincial                                                                                                      
administrations.                                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                                      
We were unanimous in saying that whatever-is the colour of the                                                                                        
government that is in power, the changes that follow will not                                                                                         
be tumultuous or disruptive to peace and stability both in the                                                                                        
country and within the region.