Weaker sections pay the price for recession in Asia

Weaker sections pay the price for recession in Asia

By John Gittings

KUALA LUMPUR: The villagers on the edge of Kuala Lumpur
resisted eviction from their tree-shaded kampong twice; the third
time, when they were threatened with losing their identity cards,
they gave up the struggle.

They are long-term Indonesian residents in Malaysia, and have
lived legally for years in the suburban village where greedy
developers are moving in.

But in these times of economic hardship, with thousands of
"illegals" being sent back to Indonesia, they cannot run the risk
of being deported too.

It is just one example of the way that Asia's financial storm
is battering the fragile foundations of life. A report from the
United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) this week found that
malnutrition in some parts of the region was reaching proportions
hitherto only associated with that benchmark of poverty --
Africa.

Some of the victims of the recession can be counted in
millions: the Chinese peasants who will no longer find jobs in
the towns, the Indonesian families sinking below the poverty
line.

Others are small communities whose plight is hardly noticed.
Many are economic migrants, who are welcomed by their hosts in
times of boom and now regarded as surplus to need.

Wherever the recession hits the defenseless -- women and
children -- always suffer most. Unicef reported from Bangkok that
child malnutrition was spreading deep into Asia.

Its director for East Asia and the Pacific, Kul Gautam,
estimates that about half the Indonesian children under three are
malnourished. He points to the effects of growing poverty in
Thailand, where school drop-out rates are rising, and increased
pressure on public health services in Malaysia.

The South Asian statistics for malnutrition, which show that
about half the children under five in India and Bangladesh are
affected, are better known. But the rate in Southeast Asia has
now reached about 30 percent, comparable with the average for
Africa.

Indonesia estimates that 20 million of its labor force of 90
million will be without work by the year's end. Nearly 80 million
Indonesians have already sunk below the poverty line.

Food prices have doubled, according to a report from the
Center for Strategic and International Studies in Jakarta, while
wages -- for those in work - have only risen by a fifth.

"Increased rice prices and unemployment have in turn led to
worsening social unrest with increased reports of looting and
crime," the report says. "The worsening social conditions are
evident from the increased frequency of street children,
malnutrition, and children being taken out of schools."

Millions of families in China are already affected by rising
unemployment in the cities and flood disaster in many rural
areas. The Beijing economist Hu Angang estimates that the urban
unemployment rate will rise to 9 percent next year, touching more
than 50 million, including spouses and children.

Along the Yangtse and in the north-east, more than 55 million
people have been living in tents and huts since August, with
emergency medical supplies and food.

Observers fear that Asia's economic downturn will further
reduce the demand for Chinese labor in the coastal cities, making
it even harder for migrant peasants to find work.

Asian political leaders pay lip service to the social
dimensions of the crisis. But they insist that the free market
economy should not have to pay the cost.

They agree with Singapore's information minister, George Yeo,
who warned: "If governments try to rescue all who are weak, even
the strong may perish... Those who seek an easy way out are less
likely to survive. We may be entering a new time of troubles. If
so, there will be a great culling, whether we like it or not."

Several countries are discussing plans to cut wages or welfare
benefits. Singapore's deputy prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong,
says that "a major component of the (recovery) package will be
measures to reduce wage costs". Wage levels in Malaysia are also
being discussed.

Earlier this week the Hong Kong government gave a strong hint
of impending welfare-spending reforms. The secretary for health
and welfare, Katherine Fok, said that the growth rate was "very
high... and there's a need to slow it down".

World economic leaders and pundits at the Singapore East Asia
Economic Summit this week offered little to reassure Asian
families on the brink of disaster.

Professor Klaus Schwab, founder of the opinion-setting World
Economic Forum, warned that the future would be harsh and that it
was time to address the "social issue". But the conference's
"action plan" did not even mention it.

Most shared the view of the Singapore Economic Development
Board chairman, Philip Yeo. If investor confidence could be
restored, he said, more jobs would be created, "(and then) we
will have done our little bit to raise the morale of these
peoples".

Back in the suburbs of Kuala Lumpur, another kampong whose
residents were threatened with eviction orders is gaining some
unexpected benefit from the economic crisis. The first stage of
the vast Sentul Raya project has been boarded up; only one shop
-- a fast food outlet -- has opened.

The villagers next door can sit under the tamarind tree and
enjoy some respite: the developers have problems of their own.
But throughout the region millions of Asians are feeling the heat
-- almost as if they were living in Africa.

And no one in authority can say who will help them, or when it
will end.

-- Guardian News Service