Can 'Asian values' help Asian economies out of crux?

By Muhadi Sugiono

YOGYAKARTA (JP): The Asian economic crisis has once again brought the debate over "Asian values" to the fore.

Previously, as Asian countries enjoyed high levels of economic growth, many believed that the Asian economic "miracle" was attributable to a set of values claimed to be specific to Asia. Proponents said Asian values encompassed a wide range of characteristics from hard work and savings to a spirit of collectivism seen through consensus, harmony, cooperation and respect to authority.

Now that Asian economies are suffering from the current economic crisis, critics of Asian values are very clearly blaming these values for being at the heart of the crisis. They insist that the crisis is specific to Asia in the sense that the roots and the causes of it lie at home more than abroad. Unsound macroeconomic and fiscal policies, poorly supervised banking systems, a lack of transparency in policy making processes, cronyism, corruption, and even an absence of democracy are factors believed to be responsible for the crisis.

For such critics, all these problems are associated wholly or partially with Asian values. In short, Asian values are now being seen in negative terms. Instead of explaining the rise of Asia, Asian values are viewed as having misled Asian countries into the disastrous economic crisis.

Arguably, the points forwarded by the critics of Asian values constitute a modification of their arguments from conventional Asian values debates. Critics who have pinned the crisis on various factors rooted in Asian values are the same who argued for a universalistic explanation of the Asian economic miracle -- saying there was no miracle in the Asian economies. They argued that the very success of the Asian economic development was a general phenomenon and that Asian values played no role in this success whatsoever. By associating the crisis with Asian values, these critics are arguing that not only did Asian values not contribute to the Asian economic miracle but, more importantly, they have proven disastrous.

Arguing that the crisis is specific to Asia and, hence, attributing it to Asian values is very problematic. Overemphasizing the role of Asian values in the crisis oversimplifies the issue. While the proponents of Asian values have been charged with oversimplifying the complexity of the causes of Asian miracle, the critics can also be charged for their oversimplification in explaining the causes of the crisis. By focusing on Asian values, the critics simply leave some important questions related to the crisis unexplained, such as why the crisis occurred and why it came about now.

In this context, it is interesting to note that international financial institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Found (IMF) did not see the crisis coming even a few months before the it began. In fact, instead of warning of crisis, the two institutions kept assuring Asian countries that their economies were performing well and were going in the right direction. It was only after the crisis hit that the IMF came to the conclusion that Asian countries must reform their economies. All of this constitutes a clear indication of the complexity of the causes of the Asian economic crisis.

In addition, it is also interesting to note that Paul Krugman, one of the most rigorous critics of Asian values, frankly admitted that even though he viewed the role of Asian values in economic development negatively, he had never predicted such a crisis to happen. What he predicted, instead, was a slowdown in economic growth over the long term.

Empirically, the arguments that Asian values are responsible for the current economic crisis are at best unsupportable. Within the framework of these arguments, Singapore, one of the most vocal proponents of Asian values, should have been the first to suffer from the crisis, while the Philippines and, to a lesser degree, South Korea and Thailand should have been the last to suffer since they are deemed to be lesser proponents of Asian values. Not only is Singapore relatively unaffected by the crisis but the Philippines became one of the first countries to suffer from the it. This means that there is simply no clear-cut relation between democracy and economic performance, as many studies have confirmed.

Apart from this, the association of the Asian economic crisis with Asian values has far more serious implications. Clearly, it constitutes negative stereotyping since it implies that Asian values simply have few or no virtues. Asian values are seen as being totally disastrous, doing more harm than good to the development of Asian economies. In arguing that Asian values offer no solutions for Asian countries to get rid of the current crisis, what the critics present instead is a very pessimistic picture of the prospect of Asian economies. Put simply, they believe Asian economies are beyond help.

It can be argued, however, that in the current situation a negative stereotyping of Asian values creates more problems than offering a constructive solution to the crisis. Rather than promoting international cooperation to combat the crisis as a common problem of the world, it tends to perpetuate mutual resentment between the proponents and the opponents of Asian values.

Unfortunately, this is what Asian value debates are all about -- they are intended more to accumulate mutual hatred than to build a mutual understanding among different societies.

Such stereotyping, no doubt, underestimates positive aspects of Asian values which could be quite helpful in the struggle to get out of the crisis. In saying this, I do not mean to present myself as a blind adherent of Asian values. I am no proponent of Asian values. In fact, I believe that in many Asian countries, the notion of Asian values has been used and abused for the interest of incumbent governments. Still, it is my contention that Asian values are not without merit. They can positively contribute to the solution of the current economic crisis in Asia.

The propensity to put collective interests over those of individuals and to respect authority, to mention but two, are Asian qualities which could be very helpful in overcoming the crisis. The contributions made by South Korean and Thai people to solve their economic problems by voluntarily donating gold is a case in point. Although the effectiveness of such a collective action remains to be seen, it quite clearly indicates a positive attitude by those people toward overcoming the crisis. At the very least, they have displayed their willingness to work hand in hand with their governments to fight the crisis. This positive attitude seems to be paying off since both countries are making gains in their efforts to turn their economies around.

It is important to note that the qualities South Korean and Thai people have displayed should not be taken for granted. These actions were not imposed by their governments. For such actions to take place, people have to be confident that their government is doing the right thing and that it is taking such actions for the interest of the people. Otherwise, all government appeals for people to think beyond their individual interests are bound to fail.

To conclude, this article is intended to challenge the tendency to overemphasize the role of Asian values in the Asia economic crisis. Not only does such an overemphasis fail to take into account the complexity of the crisis' causes, but it also underestimates many aspects of Asian values, which might positively contribute to the solution of the crisis. At the same time, this article is not arguing that Asian values have always benefited the countries in the region. The fact that Asian values have been abused and manipulated to serve the interests of those in power is a case in point. But Asian values cannot be viewed as being only harmful to the people of Asia.

The writer is a lecturer at the department of international relations in the school of social and political science at Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta.