Re: PETERS: NOW IS NOT TIME FOR U.S. TO TURN ITS BACK ON ASIAN

[Brian.Randell@newcastle.ac.uk <Brian.Randell@newcastle.ac.uk>]

JUGGERNAUT

>PETERS: NOW IS NOT TIME FOR U.S. TO TURN ITS BACK ON ASIAN JUGGERNAUT 

>Take Malaysia. It's growing at 8 percent a year -- the world slowdown be 
>damned. Though Malaysia is officially an Islamic country, Prime Minister 
>Mahathir bin Mohamad has no intention of letting religion stall his capitalist 
>transformation. Local Islamic doctrine is expanding the definition of jihad,
>or 
>holy war, to include hard work!
>
>The skyline of the capital city, Kuala Lumpur, is a blur of construction 
>cranes; sounds of non-stop riveting, even through double-glazed hotel windows, 
>make sleep almost impossible.

There is - of course - another side to Malaysia, I learnt from my daughter
who spent many months during the last two years in the part of Malaysia
called East Malaysia (Sarawak and Sabah) in connection with her Ph.D (in
Electrical Engineering from Edinburgh Univ!).

East Malaysia is very much still a third world country, being exploited by
mainland Malaysia, and by the Japanese. Its rain forests are being
destroyed, at an alarming rate, with the local population getting few if
any benefits. Thus the above picture of Kuala Lumpur is far from telling
the whole story, I'm afraid.

Cheers

Brian


Dept. of Computing Science, University of Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne,
NE1 7RU, UK
EMAIL = Brian.Randell@newcastle.ac.uk   PHONE = +44 91 222 7923
FAX = +44 91 222 8232