DEVELOPMENT SUCCESS IN ASIA PACIFIC

DEVELOPMENT SUCCESS IN ASIA PACIFIC

By the same authors A. H. Somjee VOTING BEHAVIOUR IN AN INDIAN VILLAGE POLITICAL THEORY OF JOHN DEWEY DEMOCRACY AND POLITICAL CHANGE IN VILLAGE INDIA DEMOCRATIC PROCESS IN A DEVELOPING SOCIETY POLITICAL CAPACITY IN DEVELOPING SOCIETIES POLITICAL SOCIETY IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES PARALLELS AND ACTUALS OF POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT REACHING OUT TO THE POOR {with Geeta Somjee) DEVELOPMENT THEORY: Critiques and Explorations Geeta Somjee NARROWING THE GENDER GAP REACHING OUT TO THE POOR (with A. H. Somjee)

Development Success in Asia Pacific An Exercise in Normative-Pragmatic Balance A. H. Somjee Professor Emeritus Simon Fraser University and Geeta Somjee Adjunct Professor of Political Science Simon Fraser University M St. Martin's Press

A. H. Somjee and Geeta Somjee 1995 Sotkover reprint of the hardcover I st edition 1995978-0-333-62696-2 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the temls of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London WI P 9HE. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. First published in Great Britain 1995 by MACMILLAN PRESS LTD Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and London Companies and representatives throughout the world A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 978-1-349-39344-2 DOl 10.1057/9780230371675 ISBN 978-0-230-37167-5 (ebook) 10 9 8 7 04 03 02 01 6 5 4 3 2 I 00 99 98 97 96 95 First published in the United States of America 1995 by Scholarly and Reference Division, ST. MARTIN'S PRESS, INC., 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Somjee, A. H. Development success in Asia Pacific: an exercise in normative -pragmatic balance 1 A. H. Somjee and Gceta Somjee. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. I. Asia, Southeastern-Economic policy-case studies. 2. Asia, Southeastern-Politics and government-i 945- -Case studies. 3. Asia, Southeastern-Social conditions----case studies. I. Somjee, Geeta, 1930-. II. Title. HC44I.S66 1995 338.959--dc20 95-17963 CIP

Contents Preface Introduction 1 Singapore: A Super Pragmatic Society I Social Organisation II Dynamic Political Economy III The Vision of the Founding Fathers and Political Institutions IV Normative-Pragmatic Balance in A Meritocratic Society V Some General Observations vii 1 17 17 29 34 44 49 Malaysia: Ethnic Disparities and the Search for a Normative-Pragmatic Balance 53 I Background and Legacies 53 II The Ethnic Mosaic and the Matrix of Development Process 57 III The Tangled Incorporation Process 74 IV Economic and Political Disparities 78 V A Troubled Political Society 85 Indonesia: Cultural Eclecticism and Pragmatic Applications 89 I Historical Background 89 II The Nature of Social Organisation 95 III Political Process 108 IV Changing Attitudes 115 V Indigenous Perceptions 121 Thailand: Normative Heritage and Pragmatic Adjustments 123 I Historical and Social Background 123 II Social Organisation 131 III Some Public Policies 142 IV Political Process 144 V Some General Observations 154 v

VI Contents 5 The Philippines: Uncrystallised Normative Base; Unhinged Political Cynicism 159 I Background Factors 159 II Social Organisation and Implications for Political Effectiveness 164 III Public Policy 170 IV Political Process 175 V Some General Observations 189 6 Brunei: Affluent Welfare State, Traditional Norms, Undeveloped Political Process 195 I Historical Legacies 195 II Social Organisation 197 III Political Economy 200 IV Undeveloped Political Process 202 Notes and References 205 Index 219

Preface Many new 'capitalisms' or social and economic organisations are emerging in different parts of Asia Pacific which have skilfully adapted the earlier Western capitalism to suit their own specific requirements. Not only that, they have also put their own social and cultural values to effective use in order to get the best results. Japan has brought to its work-place its own heritage of associated living to overcome proverbial adversarial labour and management relations; Singapore has made use of Confucian emphasis on social discipline and respect for merit to build a meritocratic society; Indonesia has made use of its genius for eclecticism to build its own brand of social pragmatism and then use it for economic growth; Thailand has made use of the concept of merit in Theravada Buddhism to accelerate economic growth; and, above all, the Chinese minorities, from the Philippines to Malaysia, have developed their own pragmatic approaches not only to survive in socially and politically adverse conditions but also to become the pillars of economic prosperity in the region by an adroit use of their own traditional values. And when China and India become the major players in Asian economic growth, scholars will have to probe into the relationship between the cultural background of their different regional and social groups and the kind of economic initiatives and organizations they gave rise to. Within such an overall concern, whereby background factors were made to contribute effectively to development processes, this book concentrates on the search for and exercise of normative-pragmatic balance on the part of the societies in ASEAN countries which triggered off their many-sided development. These societies, in other words, exercised a keen sense of judgment between what was normatively desirable and what was pragmatically possible, given their resources, nature of constraints and political problems. But more than that, invariably each of these societies also had to find a homegrown, and effective, solution to its problem of economic growth, social development and political change. As a senior Indonesian economist put it: it was not enough to be right, we also had to be effective. This book, then, is an attempt at understanding the problem of their development in the wider contexts of their historical legacies, cultural vn

Vlll Preface background, vision and commitment of leaders, and the highly pragmatic manner of approaching their problems. In each of the six societies examined in this volume an attempt has been made to concentrate on the nature of the specific core development issue which influenced the rest of its development process. The core issue for Singapore is its micro dimension; for Malaysia it is its tangled ethnic problem; for Indonesia it is its archipelagic character and eclectic social systems; for Thailand it is how to balance its deep religiosity with the need for material achievement; for the Philippines it is the inability to check political cynicism; and for Brunei it is affluence and paternalistic rule. Such core development issues are examined against the background of their own attempts at normative-pragmatic balance. We have also tried to view the importance of those core issues through the perspectives of indigenous scholars and their writings. We began doing field research for this volume in 1988. And since then every year we have spent a period ranging from two to six months interviewing people in various walks of life in the urban and rural communities of ASEAN countries. During the past six years what also helped us the most was academic affiliations in those countries. We are particularly grateful to the National University of Singapore for a Visiting Professorship, in 1988-9, for A. H. Somjee; and a Visiting Fellowship, in 1988-9, for Geeta Somjee at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS), Singapore. The ISEAS has also done us a great honour by extending Visiting Fellowships to both of us since 1989. Our thanks are also due to Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Sabah Campus, for their Fellowships. Finally, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, also did us a great honour by inviting us as Visiting Professors in 1990-1. During the course of our visits, which are still continuing, we have benefited immensely from the exchange of scholarly ideas with more scholars than we can possibly remember or thank. We are grateful to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and Simon Fraser University for their travel grants for making ourfieldreseach trips to the countries of Asia Pacific possible. We also wish to thank the librarians and staff of Simon Fraser University; the National University of Singapore; the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore; the University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur; Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi as well as Kota Kinabalu; the University Sans Malaysia, Penang; Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok; the University of the Philippines, Diliman; Social Sciences Research

Preface IX Council, Quezon City; Cambridge University; the University of Brunei; and Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia. In this ambitious work, which encompasses six very diverse societies, we are fully aware of the fact that we have barely scratched the surface as to how background factors contribute to the determining and shaping of the development which those societies will finally achieve. Scholars are now beginning to reach an understanding of such factors and to cut across rigid social science boundaries. Towards such an understanding of development processes in societies of Asia Pacific, this is one small contribution. University of Cambridge 1994 A. H. SOMJEE GEETA SOMJEE