Routledge Library Editions: Modern East and South East Asia, 7-Volume Set

1863 Pages·2015·74.503 MB·English

by  Various Authors

ROUTLEDGE LIBRARY EDITIONS:

MODERN EAST AND SOUTH EAST ASIA

Volume 1

BEHIND THE MYTH

BEHIND THE MYTH
Business, Money and Power in Southeast Asia
JAMES CLAD
First published in Great Britain in 1989 by the Trade Division of Unwin
Hyman, Limited
This edition first published in 2015
by Routledge
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and by Routledge
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 1989 James Clad
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978-1-138-89258-3 (Set)
eISBN: 978-1-315-69792-5 (Set)
ISBN: 978-1-138-90120-9 (Volume 1)
Publisher’s Note
The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of this reprint but
points out that some imperfections in the original copies may be apparent.
Disclaimer
The publisher has made every effort to trace copyright holders and would
welcome correspondence from those they have been unable to trace.
-~- ---.--~
BEllINI)

IE MYIII

''''''''11
-----.---.------­
BUSINESS,MONEY

AND POWER

IN SOUTHFAST ASIA

~
JAMES CLAD

UNWIN
HYMAN
LONDON SYDNEY WELLINGTON
First published in Great Britain by the Trade Division of Unwin Hyman
Limited, 1989
© James Clad, 1989
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission
of Unwin Hyman Limited.
UNWIN HYMAN LIMITED
15-17 Broadwick Street
London WIV IFP
Allen & Unwin Australia Pry Ltd
8 Napier Street, North Sydney, NSW 2060, Australia
Allen & Unwin New Zealand Pry Ltd with the Port Nicholson Press
Compusales Building, 75 Ghuznee Street, Wellington, New Zealand
British Liltrary Cataloguing in Publication Data
Clad, James
Behind the myth : Business, money and power in
Southeast Asia.
I. South-east Asia, economic development
I. T itle
330.959
ISBN 0-04-302011-9
Typeset in ten on eleven point Plantin
Printed in Great Britain by The University Press, Cambridge
CONTENTS

Foreword page xi
Preface xiii
1 The End of an Era 1
A reluctant farewell - The Asean way - When bad news is good news
- Watch what we say, not what we do - No shortage of shooting ­
Commodity windfalls - Chinese financiers and footloose factories - Second
time around: Japan's regained ascendancy - Industrial images, industrial
mirages - Sub-contracting or substitution? - Cutting down a resource
- Commodity con games - Projectitis - Overlooking maintenance - A
primitive business culture - The Chinese connection - The shadow of
debt - The blunt side ofthe East Asian edge - An i ndigenous technological
culture? - Home movies - The end of an era - References
2 Full Circle in the Philippines 27
Portent of things to come? - Behave or go home - Drawing comparisons
- No portent from the Philippines - The Cojuangco factor - Specific
charges - The arrastre business - Gambling dens, barter trade and other
diversions - Plus fa change . . . - Plus c ' est fa mime c hose - What's
in a name? - Early gains - Duty-free duppies - Broadcasting blues - Full
circle in the Philippines? - References
3 Malaise in Brunei and Malaysia 43
I: Toll gates: a cautionary tale - Political troubles - The racial conundrum­
Banking problems - Commodity markets crumble - Scandal of scandals ­
NEP-otism at the share market - Sultans galore - Move over Mat Salleh?
- Danmed dams - Other bright ideas - 'Looking East'
II: The world's richest man - Bribes, backhanders and favours - Bank
scandals - The Shell-fare state - CONTRA-dictory generosity
III: Malay economics: getting it right - Malay business culture: getting it
wrong - Longer-term problems - The religious conundrum - The educa­
tional time bomb - Ruminating about the Malay malaise - References
4 ADRI-culture: Dual Functioneering in I ndonesia 74
Number games - New Order, old habits - The archipelagic reach ­
The curse of oil- Khaki commerce - Technocratic influence - Cukong
friends - The First Family - Hidden costs of business favouritism ­
Runs on rupiahs - The oil future - Revenue loss - Harbouring thieves ­
Musical pirates - Bogus notes of another kind - The bright side - Urgent
needs, slow corrections - Intimations of change - But no easy way out ­
References
m
IV BEIDND THE MYfH
5 Boomtime in Bangkok 96
Southeast Asia's brightest star - Foreign fund managers flock to Bangkok
- Mass capitalism? - Looks good on paper - Earlier growth models
- Foreign investment invasion - Resourceful Thailand - The newest
NIC? - Rocketing corporate profits - The mid-1980s: a trial run of
trouble - Financial frights - Siam City's travail - Problems for Krung
Thai - Boardroom bedlam - Risky whisky - Superbike Racer and Santa
Claus - Another early warning signal: foreign debt - A narrowly-based
success story - Once again, the Chinese - Addictive habits - Looming
uncertainties - First uncertainty: the monarchy - Second uncertainty:
the military - Third uncertainty: regional conflicts - Fourth uncertainty:
Will the domestic 'demand base' be rich enough? - The parasitic city
- The fast-baht crowd - Fifth uncertainty: disappearing forests - Sixth
uncertainty: the wrong skills - Let's all be lawyers (or Civil Servants)­
Seventh uncertainty: infrastructure - Eighth uncertainty: laggard farmers
- Vulnerable miracle? - Free riders after all - Korean comparisons ­
References
6 Singapore: the Exception that Rules the Proof 125
Success story - Crossroads or revolving door? - A glance at the recent past
- 1985 - Entrepreneurs' lament - Reversing gear - The financial centre of
Asean - The Pan-El shock - Home truths or awkward facts? - Meddling
foreign journalists - An unhappy episode - Trading in a protectionist world
- Political uncertainties - Internal politics - Hong Kong's future - Whither
the yen? - Whither the state? - Politics and confidence - References
7 Chinatown 146
The Chinese puzzle - High turnover, quick return - Straight talk at the
banquet - Awkward opinions - A recent exodus - A less than enthusiastic
welcome - Thailand: easiest for Chinese - Muddling through in Malaysia
- Indonesian Chinese: the region's wealthiest - Different kinds ofChinese
- Ali on the lookout for Baba - Trying to explain the Sino magic ­
Community values - Chinese gain from new policies - Chinese corporatism
- The cukong's cukong) - A royal tiff - Foreign bankers beware - Other
alarums and excursions - Chinese credit lines - The Chinese juggernaut
in perspective - Renewed nervousness - Chinatown's corporate future­
References
8 WeUsprings of Wealth: Southeast Asia's Commercial Crucibles 165
Asean share markets: much 'aduh' about rather little? - 1987 and all t hat­
Second thoughts about the bourses - Immature markets - Yes, we have no
fundamentals - Baubles, bangles and ... Bangkok - Abortive paper mar­
kets - Mice that roar? - But qualified praise is due - Banking: whirlwind
growth - Big banks ... and bigger banks - Where's the money going? ­
A vogue for private banking - Hong Kong jitters - Looking ahead - Some­
thing new: Asean's multinational corporations - The richest of them all?­
Astra Group's growth - Another crucible: industrial whistle stops - Spilling
over? - No 'open skies' - Shipping: no open waters - Rust bucket labour
mark~t - Investment incentives: another distortion - Corporate manage­
ment: form and substance - In the family way - Book-keeping illiteracy­