Ban has said he will restore the highest ethical standard to the world body. But it remains to be seen whether that promise can indeed be fulfilled.

Major reform programmes have yet to be implemented at the United Nations. In his second term, the oil-for-food programme with Iraq tainted Kofi Annan's unblemished record.

Externally, the United States still views the United Nations as an obstacle to its diplomatic and military achievements around the world. With the United States constantly pointing its daggers at the United Nation's throat, the UN cannot function properly. In recent years, the United States has been a superpower that is willing to go it alone either in war or in peace.

When he was sworn in as the new United Nations secretary general on Thursday, Ban made it clear that the organisation must engage with the United States to make sure that both fully understood each other and both were willing cooperate. This was a good start. Ban also backed the plan to expand the United Nations Security Council which, he pointed out, would reflect what has taken place in the world over the last few decades, with more and more countries contending that they should be awarded seats on the Council. But Ban did not mention what sort of formula he had in mind to facilitate expansion of the Council. Few models have been muted, but the one most talked about is the expansion of the permanent five members to 10, with new members from Latin America and Asia. India and Japan are the two prime candidates from Asia. They have worked together to lobby for international support in this area.

Ban comes to the United Nations at a time when the world body is confronted with major crises such as the one in Darfur, Sudan, which continues to dominate world discussion. At the moment, it seems the United Nations is the only neutral body that could handle a peace-keeping crisis of this scale and complexity. But to do so, the United Nations Security Council must support the new secretary general.

Major powers continue to show their selfishness when it comes to solving the real crisis. They think of themselves and their security, instead of the security of the world. Ban has said he would "directly engage" with the crisis and bring it to an end. Nobody knows how he might be able to manage this complicated human crisis. This, after all, is realpolitiks on a global scale. But one needs to place confidence in him.

Beyond these issues, Ban needs to raise awareness among Asian people about the role of the United Nations. There is a strong feeling prevailing in the region that the United Nations is geared towards African countries. After all, the United Nations Millennium Development Goal addresses issues related to Africa very prominently. In the past decades, most of the deliberations in the Security Council were related to Africa and the Middle East. It was only last year that the human rights situations in Burma and North Korea were placed high up on the Council's agenda.

Beginning next year, expectations are thus very high that Ban will be able to reign in North Korea, which has been a source of concern in Asia and the rest of the world. One ray of hope is that North Korea has already indicated it will return to the six-party talks.

There is one caveat, though. Ban must be decisive, transparent and straightforward in handling complicated global issues. Coming from Asia, he will obviously be more patient, but this should not be construed as ambiguity or indecisiveness.