People, markets in Asia becoming inured to bombs

People, markets in Asia becoming inured to bombs

Raju Gopalakrishnan
Reuters/Singapore

It's becoming a sickeningly familiar scene on television sets
across the world -- a sudden bomb attack, horrific pictures of
the dead and injured, bodies being pulled out of rubble and
disbelieving relatives weeping.

It could be in Iraq, Indonesia's Bali, southern Thailand or,
like last weekend, in New Delhi.

But as the blasts in the Indian capital reinforced, life
quickly gets back to normal -- at least in Asia.

At least 59 people were killed in bomb blasts in Delhi bazaars
on Saturday evening, but by Sunday itself, shops in these areas
had re-stocked and re-opened. Most did good business.

Teenagers were playing cricket as usual on the city's lawns
the day after the bombs and Delhi's many parks were full of early
morning walkers.

"We have to be strong and face up to terrorism," said Amit
Gupta, a bank executive. "These acts of men desperate to make
their presence felt will not affect the spirit of our city."

Pretty much the same seems to be happening in Indonesia, which
has suffered badly from terrorism. Early in October, at least 22
people died in suicide bomb attacks on the resort island of Bali,
the region's premier holiday destination.

Three years ago, over 200 people were killed in bomb
explosions in two Bali nightclubs packed with tourists. Those
bombs, just over a year after the Sept. 11 attacks in the United
States, caused a huge exodus of tourists and significantly hurt
the country's economy.

But there were hardly any hotel cancellations this year. And
despite widespread anger at the bomb attacks, Balinese seem
determined that life will go on.

Peter Semone, vice president of the Pacific Asia Travel
Association, said that following a string of bombings around the
world in recent years, tourists had become more resilient.

"Is it going to affect Bali tourism? It will be naive to say
it will not," he said earlier this month. "(But) I think we live
in a new (situation)."

Most Indonesians appear to agree with that sentiment.
Rini, a cigarette and snack vendor in Jakarta, said the first
Bali bombing shocked her, but she wasn't surprised to hear of the
latest one.

"It's an ordinary thing," she said. "It can happen anywhere,
not just in Indonesia. The most important thing is to increase
security."

The stoicism is well reflected in the region's financial
markets.

After the first Bali blasts, Indonesia's stock market fell 10
percent, the rupiah sank 3 percent and investors globally ditched
stocks for the safety of bonds and gold.

This time, the rupiah and Indonesian stocks shed just about 1
percent each in a knee-jerk reaction and soon recovered.

"I think the market has become more sophisticated in pricing
in these kind of events," Arwani Pranadjaya, an analyst at
Jakarta's Mandiri Sekuritas, told Reuters.

In India, where stocks had been at historic highs earlier this
month, the market climbed on Monday.

"In spite of the unfortunate blasts in Delhi, the outlook for
most markets remains unchanged," said Siddharth Mathur, at JP
Morgan in Mumbai.

"We don't expect the events to have a lasting impact on the
economy or on consumer confidence and as a result foreign
investment flows are unlikely to be materially impacted."

In Thailand, despite continuing bloody violence in the Muslim-
dominated south, stocks climbed to a six-month high by September
this year. They have since slid back, but mainly because of
rising interest rates and an expected rash of new stock issues.

But the terrorism attacks in these countries pale in
comparison to the fury of nature. Last year's tsunami left about
232,000 people dead or missing, mainly in Indonesia, Sri Lanka,
India and Thailand.

The devastating earthquake in northern Pakistan on Oct. 8
killed over 50,000 people.

"I can die inside my house if there is an earthquake," said
advertising firm executive Anuradha Swaminathan in Delhi,
speaking after Saturday's blasts. "We have to take these things
in our stride.

Ken Masuda, a senior dealer in equities at Shinko Securities
in Tokyo, said global markets had grown more resilient to attacks
and natural disasters in Asia.

"It seems that unless something happens in the United States,
it is not a big deal for the market.

"No matter how many terror attacks happen in India or how many
tens of thousands die in an earthquake in Pakistan ... for a lot
of investors, they believe that if Americans get hurt then the
economy will crash."