Inside Knowledge: Streetwise in Asia

270 Pages·2005·0.8 MB·English

by  Michael Backman

Inside Knowledge
Streetwise in Asia
Michael Backman
INSIDE KNOWLEDGE
Also by Michael Backman and published by Palgrave Macmillan:
BIG in Asia: 25 Strategies for Business Success(with Charlotte Butler)
The Asian Insider: Unconventional Wisdom for Asian Business
M B
ICHAEL ACKMAN
Inside
Knowledge
STREETWISE IN ASIA
© Michael Backman 2005
All rights reserved.No reproduction,copy or transmission of this
publication may be made without written permission.
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save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the
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Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication
may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work
in accordance with the Copyright,Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published 2005 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN
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PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave
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ISBN-13:978 1–4039–4237–1
ISBN-10:1–4039–4237–4
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Contents
Acknowledgements vii
1 Introduction:Getting Streetwise 1
2 You’re Who? Names in Asia 8
Part I Places 19
3 China Triumphant 21
4 China in Crisis 31
5 Asia’s Big New Frontier:The Stans of Central Asia 48
6 The Stans in Detail 57
7 Anwar Ibrahim:Malaysia’s Dark Cloud 77
8 Guns for Hire:Australian Expatriates 89
9 Nepal:From Democracy to Dictatorship 98
Part II Markets 111
10 Outsourcing:It Need not be India 113
11 Asia’s Art Market:For Investment and Connections 124
12 Singapore,Malaysia,and the International Arms Industry 138
13 Asia’s Great Casino Invasion 147
14 Diamonds,Jains,and Jews 160
15 From Starbucks to Coffee Bean:Asia’s Coffee Shop
Revolution 167
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Contents
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16 The Peculiar Market for Birds’ Nests 176
17 Wheeling and Dealing in Asian Distressed Debt 182
18 The Secrets of Asia’s Five-star Hotels and their Guests 191
19 Who Owns Patpong? Thailand’s Sex Industry 201
20 Flowerhorn Fish,Huanghuali,Zi Beads,and Bollywood 207
21 Making Money and Avoiding Prejudice:Asia’s Parsis 224
22 The Far East and other Nonsense 233
Notes 236
Bibliography 247
Index 250
Acknowledgements
“How do you get your information?” is a question I’m often asked. The
answer is from everywhere. Rarely do I miss an opportunity for a detail
here or a scrap of information there. Friends and associates in Asia and
elsewhere who pass on their ideas or send information to me that they
think might be useful are an important source.
The following have provided ideas and anecdotes that have specifically
been used in preparation of this book: Eddie Chin, Alistair Nicholas,
Charlotte Butler, David Hale, Ritchie Ramesh, Yolanda Fernandez
Lommen, Raymond Yee, Geoff Backman, Berry Cameron, M. Shan-
mughalingam, Eric Pringle, Justin Doebele, Zaman Tambu, Salil Tripathi,
Michael Warby, Ilangoh Thanabalan, John Kidd, Sandra Chia, Anne
Richter, Cyrill Eltschinger, Fred Woollard, and Joni Djuanda. Thank you
to each of you.
And to Alison Anag who cares so much about my writing and whose
generosity and perceptiveness have helped to get me through, thank you also.
Various politicians and business figures in Asia have been helpful. Often
it is not appropriate to attribute their comments to them but I have done so
in the text where I can.
Stephen Rutt, Alastair Gordon, Steve Maginn, Anna van Boxel, Keren
Cheung, Regina Chan, and the rest of the team at Palgrave Macmillan
have put in their usual excellent effort. This is the third book of mine that
has been handled by Stephen and the others at Palgrave Macmillan. It
started with Big in Asia, which I co-wrote with my good friend Charlotte
Butler, and has grown into a series.
Finally, a big thank you to Rudolf Phua, his wife Catherine, and their
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Acknowledgements
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team at Pansing Distribution in Singapore. Rudolf and Catherine are two
of the most decent people I’ve met in the book business. They and their
staff are utter professionals and are a real pleasure to work with. Writing a
book is just one part of a long process and there’s little point if at the other
end the book doesn’t receive the attention it should. The effort and the care
taken by Rudolf and Pansing make me want to keep writing. What more
can I say?
Facts
(cid:2) China is set to emerge second only to the United States as having the
world’s biggest population of English speakers.Imagine what that will
do to India’s business process outsourcing sector.
(cid:2) Kazakhstan has the world’s second largest oil field.Prior to 2000,no
one knew the field existed.Suddenly Kazakhstan matters.
(cid:2) China has 33 cities with populations of a million or more.
(cid:2) Eight out of ten of the world’s diamonds are cut and polished by
Indian Jain family companies in India.
(cid:2) There are more McDonald’s restaurants in Japan than there are in
Australia.There are more Chinese restaurants in Australia than there
are in Japan.
(cid:2) India,the world’s leading IT outsourcing country,has just a quarterof
the number of internet users of China.Both have billion plus
populations.
(cid:2) Casinos are banned in China.Neighbouring countries have responded
byringing China with at least50 legal casinos just inside their borders.
(cid:2) Adult literacy levels are higher in Mongolia and North Korea than in
Singapore.
(cid:2) China is an emerging investor in third world countries.One reason?
It is not constrained by foreign corrupt practices legislation.
(cid:2) Tetley Tea worldwide,like Asia’s largest IT outsourcing company Tata
Consultancy Services (TCS) is controlled by a series of Parsi
charitable trusts.
(cid:2) Food consumption rises in Asia’s Islamic nations during the Islamic
fasting month of Ramadan.
(cid:2) Prostitution is legal in Singapore and illegal in Thailand.
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