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Strategies & Market Trends : Asia Forum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Worswick who wrote (7491)	11/14/1998 6:32:00 PM
From: Stitch	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 9980

Clark, Quite right to mention Indonesia as some of our dire predictions seem manifest more fully. It is all incredible. More close to home I think things are heating up here as well. This link is to an Indonesia story but also contains links to the K.L. saga. msnbc.com best, Stitch

To: Worswick who wrote (7491)	11/15/1998 12:25:00 PM
From: Z268	Respond to of 9980

Worswick and all, on Indonesia and the Region. In addition to SCMP, here are some other useful links. A useful link for Malaysia (free for a limited time!). This allows one to browse local Malaysia publications: nstpi.com.my A Yahoo! link which is a useful stepping stone to other Western news media coverage on Indonesia: headlines.yahoo.com The Kompas (local Indonesian paper partly owned by Times, I think). Some articles are in English. kompas.com The current situation in Indonesia is particularly volatile, as there does not appear to be any one group that is politically dominant. The loose Wahid/Megawati coalition appears to have the broadest mass support, but they are the de-facto Opposition, and therefore do not have the support of the Military, some of the Islamic interests, and the old ex-Suharto power brokers. The Military is desperately clinging on to power (under the so called dwi-fungsi, or dual function role of the army - law/order and political involvement). As background, the next parliamentary elections is next May. Of the 1000 members of the current parliament, 575 are Military personnel appointed by Soeharto. The rest are "freely" elected, with the majority from Golkar, Soeharto's political powerbase. That system ensured Soeharto's political legitimacy for the last 30+ years. As we can see, this is Act II of the power struggle, much of it being played in traditional Javanese style - using surrogates and puppets, the principal puppeteers never placing themselves in situations where they have to reveal their true hand. As with any contest, the intrigues, intricacies, subtleties have increased and the stakes have all gone up in Act II. From yesterday's rioting and looting, as opposed to Friday's politically motivated student demonstrations, it is quite obvious some factions are playing the inevitable "Chinese card" as well as the obvious "social unrest card". The Military in its public visage appears to be divided, with the Jakarta Army garrison and Police behind the current faction in power. The Marines appear to be in the moderate/centralist faction, with residual old loyalties to Megawati (daughter of Sukarno) very strong. Without any faction achieving political dominance soon (before next May's parliamentary elections), the situation could deteriorate rapidly. The core is rotting, Balkanisation and warlordism is not far behind, given that Indonesia is a centrally administered regime, and the stage where Indonesia is in its socio/political development on the world stage. Needles to say, political stability in Indonesia is a pre-requisite for economic stability. Best, Steve.

To: Worswick who wrote (7491)	11/16/1998 4:38:00 PM
From: Bosco	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 9980

G'day all - dear Clark, Stitch, Steve et al, I was in SF Bay area last week. I even stopped by "The Skygate," a sculpture dedicated to the memory of the late Eric Hoffer, one of my heroes of all times! But I digress <g>. Anyway, while bookstore hopping, I saw Ms Iris Chang's "The Rape of Nanking" in the bookstore. I leafed through it briefly. It will be interesting to those who are unfamiliar but interested in that event in history [circa WWII.] Be forewarned that the pictures are painfully graphic. Btw, her 1st book, "The Thread of the Silkworm," is the biography of Tsien Hsue-shen, the father of China Missile Programme. While I have not read the book, and the book has not gotten rave review, it is certainly an interesting incident in history how McCarthyism of the 50s has cost plenty to the US. And to juxtapose it with the current political events should give ordinary but careful people a second thought of supporting any Roy Cohn wannabes! [note: Ok, I am trying to be extremely subtle here, so readers can use their imagination <SG>] best, Bosco