IN THE early 1960s, when Australian author Donald Horne temporarily set aside his trenchant criticisms of the national psychology to remark that Australia was “one of the most evenly prosperous societies in the world”, few citizens were inclined to disagree. After all, Australians have long believed that they live in an egalitarian society.
ON JULY 15 this year, when members of the thuggish Betawi Brotherhood Forum (FBR) staged a rally outside the headquarters of environmental group Greenpeace in Kemang, South Jakarta, Greenpeace staff invited several of the group’s leaders into the building for a chat.
Corruption is a difficult issue for many companies, particularly if they are operating in countries where civil servants are poorly paid. Companies which fail to pay bribes to local officials may lose commercial opportunities, either by being effectively locked out of the bidding process or denied the necessary licences needed to operate the business.
Many companies are understandably worried about the potential impact nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) could have on their operations. Given this fact, it is somewhat surprising that few have any formal procedures in place to establish a dialogue with local and international human rights or environmentalist groups.
EAST Timor (officially known as Timor Leste) has “a one-generation window to build the country”, and the situation does not encourage optimism. This assessment, made two years ago by a United States diplomat in Dili and recently made public by WikiLeaks, may yet prove prescient.
Asia is the fastest growing region in the world, and is likely to remain so in 2013. However, a number of risks cloud the picture.
The good news is that domestic demand in the region remains strong and should continue to cushion the impact of weaker external demand on overall economic growth. The completion of national elections in Japan and South Korea in December 2012 should also help reduce political uncertainties.
But Asian governments will need to guard against the adverse impact of prolonged easy financial conditions on inflation.
Rising inequality also continues to threaten social stability. Ethnic and religious rivalries remain just below the surface in many countries. When combined with government corruption and (in some countries) high youth unemployment, this could become a deadly mix. This seems particularly true of China.
Territorial disputes also require close monitoring. Much diplomatic activity in the new year is likely to be centered on finding ways to reduce tensions over resource-rich islands in the South China Sea, where Beijing's claims overlap with those of Japan, Vietnam and other Southeast Asian states. South Korea and Japan also have rival territorial claims.
North Korea remains the wild card. Inclined to believe its own propaganda, Pyongyang's new leadership could miscalculate, making belligerent moves that plunge the region into a military conflict that nobody wants.
My name is Dr Bruce Gale and I am a senior writer with the Singapore Straits Times. I studied at LaTrobe University (BA Hons) in Melbourne and later at the Centre for Southeast Asian Studies at Monash University (MA). My PhD thesis, which focussed on Malaysian political economy, was completed at the Malaysian National University (Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia) in 1987.
From 1988 to 2003 I was Singapore Regional Manager for the Hong Kong based Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC).
I have written several books and articles on Southeast Asian affairs, including Political Risk and International Business: Case Studies in Southeast Asia (Pelanduk Publications, 2007). Books on language include Mastering Indonesian: a guide to reading Indonesian language newspapers (Pelanduk Publications, 2008)