People, markets in Asia becoming inured to bombs<\/p>\n
Raju Gopalakrishnan
\nReuters\/Singapore<\/p>\n
It's becoming a sickeningly familiar scene on television sets
\nacross the world -- a sudden bomb attack, horrific pictures of
\nthe dead and injured, bodies being pulled out of rubble and
\ndisbelieving relatives weeping.<\/p>\n
It could be in Iraq, Indonesia's Bali, southern Thailand or,
\nlike last weekend, in New Delhi.<\/p>\n
But as the blasts in the Indian capital reinforced, life
\nquickly gets back to normal -- at least in Asia.<\/p>\n
At least 59 people were killed in bomb blasts in Delhi bazaars
\non Saturday evening, but by Sunday itself, shops in these areas
\nhad re-stocked and re-opened. Most did good business.<\/p>\n
Teenagers were playing cricket as usual on the city's lawns
\nthe day after the bombs and Delhi's many parks were full of early
\nmorning walkers.<\/p>\n
\"We have to be strong and face up to terrorism,\" said Amit
\nGupta, a bank executive. \"These acts of men desperate to make
\ntheir presence felt will not affect the spirit of our city.\"<\/p>\n
Pretty much the same seems to be happening in Indonesia, which
\nhas suffered badly from terrorism. Early in October, at least 22
\npeople died in suicide bomb attacks on the resort island of Bali,
\nthe region's premier holiday destination.<\/p>\n
Three years ago, over 200 people were killed in bomb
\nexplosions in two Bali nightclubs packed with tourists. Those
\nbombs, just over a year after the Sept. 11 attacks in the United
\nStates, caused a huge exodus of tourists and significantly hurt
\nthe country's economy.<\/p>\n
But there were hardly any hotel cancellations this year. And
\ndespite widespread anger at the bomb attacks, Balinese seem
\ndetermined that life will go on.<\/p>\n
Peter Semone, vice president of the Pacific Asia Travel
\nAssociation, said that following a string of bombings around the
\nworld in recent years, tourists had become more resilient.<\/p>\n
\"Is it going to affect Bali tourism? It will be naive to say
\nit will not,\" he said earlier this month. \"(But) I think we live
\nin a new (situation).\"<\/p>\n
Most Indonesians appear to agree with that sentiment.
\nRini, a cigarette and snack vendor in Jakarta, said the first
\nBali bombing shocked her, but she wasn't surprised to hear of the
\nlatest one.<\/p>\n
\"It's an ordinary thing,\" she said. \"It can happen anywhere,
\nnot just in Indonesia. The most important thing is to increase
\nsecurity.\"<\/p>\n
The stoicism is well reflected in the region's financial
\nmarkets.<\/p>\n
After the first Bali blasts, Indonesia's stock market fell 10
\npercent, the rupiah sank 3 percent and investors globally ditched
\nstocks for the safety of bonds and gold.<\/p>\n
This time, the rupiah and Indonesian stocks shed just about 1
\npercent each in a knee-jerk reaction and soon recovered.<\/p>\n
\"I think the market has become more sophisticated in pricing
\nin these kind of events,\" Arwani Pranadjaya, an analyst at
\nJakarta's Mandiri Sekuritas, told Reuters.<\/p>\n
In India, where stocks had been at historic highs earlier this
\nmonth, the market climbed on Monday.<\/p>\n
\"In spite of the unfortunate blasts in Delhi, the outlook for
\nmost markets remains unchanged,\" said Siddharth Mathur, at JP
\nMorgan in Mumbai.<\/p>\n
\"We don't expect the events to have a lasting impact on the
\neconomy or on consumer confidence and as a result foreign
\ninvestment flows are unlikely to be materially impacted.\"<\/p>\n
In Thailand, despite continuing bloody violence in the Muslim-
\ndominated south, stocks climbed to a six-month high by September
\nthis year. They have since slid back, but mainly because of
\nrising interest rates and an expected rash of new stock issues.<\/p>\n
But the terrorism attacks in these countries pale in
\ncomparison to the fury of nature. Last year's tsunami left about
\n232,000 people dead or missing, mainly in Indonesia, Sri Lanka,
\nIndia and Thailand.<\/p>\n
The devastating earthquake in northern Pakistan on Oct. 8
\nkilled over 50,000 people.<\/p>\n
\"I can die inside my house if there is an earthquake,\" said
\nadvertising firm executive Anuradha Swaminathan in Delhi,
\nspeaking after Saturday's blasts. \"We have to take these things
\nin our stride.<\/p>\n
Ken Masuda, a senior dealer in equities at Shinko Securities
\nin Tokyo, said global markets had grown more resilient to attacks
\nand natural disasters in Asia.<\/p>\n
\"It seems that unless something happens in the United States,
\nit is not a big deal for the market.<\/p>\n
\"No matter how many terror attacks happen in India or how many
\ntens of thousands die in an earthquake in Pakistan ... for a lot
\nof investors, they believe that if Americans get hurt then the
\neconomy will crash.\"<\/p>",
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