CONCEPTUALISATION OF "ASIAN VALUES" IN MALAYSIA AND SINGAPORE

"Asian values" as a concept appeared in the socio-political discourse in 1990s due to the so-called "rise of Asia". Major political leaders of Malaysia and Singapore, Mahathir Mohamad and Lee Kuan Y., played a special role in their conceptual design. The discourse "Asian values" provoked a strong reaction in scientific and political circles around the world, the debates on them are still continuing. The main question regarding "Asian values" is how to determine the degree and nature of their influence on the development of the countries of the East. The purpose of this study is to identify different approaches to the assessment of this concept, the reasons for their occurrence, as well as the role and place of "Asian values" in the process of modernization in the East. As a result, it was revealed that the political situation in the region brought about the development of the concept. Owing to the struggle of a number of states for their influence on the Southeast Asian countries, the latter turned to "Asian values" as ideological sources of self-identification. Another reason is the fact that this concept allows to take into account specific ways of modernization in each country. Finally, the concept was adopted as an ideological basis for the integration process in ASEAN, which remains one of the most progressive integration associations in the Asia-Pacific region. Thus, today, the concept of "Asian values" not only proved its viability, but also became an occasion for development of similar ideas in other regions of the world.