Lost in a haze: Asian century goes up in smoke

By Christopher Lingle

HONG KONG (JP): The debate over the relevance of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as a force for regional cohesion continues. Those wishing to assess the capacity of the former economic "Tigers" of East Asia to provide regional leadership in the new millennium need look no farther than the smoke-filled skies around the southern rump of the region. Parts of Indonesia and Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei are covered by an acrid and noxious "haze" emanating from fires raging over thousands of hectares in neighboring Indonesia.

The "haze" may obscure the views in some of the capitals of these ASEAN stalwarts, but it makes perfectly clear that the ASEAN's leaders are incapable of dealing with regional problems. Indeed, it is this failure of collective leadership that contributed to the crisis of confidence leading to runs on their currencies followed by economic and financial crises. It beggars the imagination that these same leaders could assume the economic, political or diplomatic helms.

Once again satellite photos show that the appearance of forest fires burning out of control in wide-ranging areas of Indonesia has become an annual ritual. Much of the blame goes to the failure of local authorities to enforce strict fire-control laws. There are laws on the books that prohibit the uses of fires for land conversion, yet enforcement remains weak or non-existent.

Certain economic forces are also at work. There is also the need for export revenue and job creation encourages the expansion of plantation industries for the production of palm oil, timber, rubber and cocoa. While small scale farmers use traditional slash-and-burn methods to clear land for planting, plantation companies set most of the fires currently raging in Sumatra and Kalimantan.

It is instructive to look at the response of regional governments, both individually as members of ASEAN. Singapore's commitment to being a fully-wired Island led to offering full- color satellite pictures of the smoke and fires on a web site. There are also hourly measures of Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) for the enlightenment of their suffering masses. Malaysia's past attempts to seed any cloud that might blow over the peninsula have given way to declaring the information about pollution levels a state secret.

These problems drew gained wide attention in 1994 and continue without substantial inter-governmental response. As then, inaction and refusal to comment on the internal affairs of their partners is a defining characteristic of ASEAN inter-state relations. The quiet diplomacy of the ever-pragmatic ASEAN leaders is based upon "brotherly solidarity" which is a code for avoiding confrontations that might lead to the "loss of face" by neighboring regimes. While this orientation towards consensus building has been touted as a great strength of ASEAN, there are signs that this approach to problem solving breaks down in the face of more complicated issues.

While there are indicators that the haze is hazardous to health, the inaction of the regimes in this region to such crises lends support to the unfortunate perception that individuals are worth little in Asia. This response is understandable in the context of regimes based upon patriarchal, collectivist ideals where the goals of society are placed above concerns for individuals. Many leaders of ASEAN countries insist that Asians are not interested in for promoting individual liberty or protecting individual rights support this view.

Then there is the lack of collective political will to take decisive actions. Doubtless, this is due in large part to the lack of political accountability. However, the search for solutions is also complicated by the prevalence of corruption in much of East Asia, itself a form of policy pollution.

In Indonesia, corruption, collusion and nepotism (known by the local acronym as KKN) may be part of the problems of resolving the effects of the wanton clearing of the rainforests of Java, Sumatra and Kalimantan. It is well known that Indonesian president Suharto's children were involved with many development projects as were some of his cronies, Bob Hasan, in particular. To date, few offenders have been brought to book over their excesses.

The Asian Development Bank has reported that East Asia faces "staggeringly high costs" from environmental damage. These costs will only rise in the future until governments in the region are more accountable. Those who hoped for an impending "Asian Century" can only be disappointed to know that it has gone up in smoke.

The writer is an independent corporate consultant and adjunct scholar of the Centre for Independent Studies in Sydney who authored The Rise and Decline of the Asian Century (Hong Kong: Asia 2000, 1998). His E-mail address is: CRL@po.cwru.edu.

Window: ...the search for solutions is also complicated by the prevalence of corruption in much of East Asia, itself a form of policy pollution.