Asia Times - Southeast Asia

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src="/web/20030401184929im_/http://atimes.com/images/f_images/1pix.gif" width="1"></td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" align="middle"><a href="/web/20030401184929/http://atimes.com/atimes/book_reviews.html"><img border="0" height="49" src="/web/20030401184929im_/http://atimes.com/images/f_images/books_logo.gif" width="111"></a></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <table style="HEIGHT: 96px; WIDTH: 114px" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="114" align="center" border="0"> <tr> <td> <div align="center">SE Asia Specials    </div> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <div align="left">Vietnam: Taking stock A look at Vietnam's fledgling stock market, by Bradley Martin (Apr  '02) <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030401184929/http://www.atimes.com/se-asia/DD23Ae01.html">1: Listing toward the brighter side </a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030401184929/http://www.atimes.com/se-asia/DD24Ae01.html"> 2: For action, look over the counter </a> <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030401184929/http://www.atimes.com/se-asia/DD25Ae02.html"> 3: The feel-good factor </a> </div> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> </td> </tr> </table> </td> <td valign="top"> <table height="31" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" border="0"> <tr> <td valign="top" align="middle" background="/web/20030401184929im_/http://atimes.com/images/f_images/top_bg.gif"> <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" border="0"> <tr valign="top" align="middle"> <td width="25%"> <div align="center"><a href="/web/20030401184929/http://atimes.com/atimes/archive.asp"><img border="0" height="18" src="/web/20030401184929im_/http://atimes.com/images/f_images/archive.gif" width="110"></a></div> </td> <td width="25%"> <div align="center"><a href="/web/20030401184929/http://atimes.com/atimes/about.html"><img border="0" height="18" src="/web/20030401184929im_/http://atimes.com/images/f_images/about.gif" width="110"></a></div> </td> <td width="25%"> <div align="center"><a href="/web/20030401184929/http://atimes.com/atimes/contact.html"><img border="0" height="18" src="/web/20030401184929im_/http://atimes.com/images/f_images/contact.gif" width="110"></a></div> </td> <td width="25%"> <div align="center"><a href="/web/20030401184929/http://atimes.com/atimes/advertise.html"><img border="0" height="18" src="/web/20030401184929im_/http://atimes.com/images/f_images/advertise.gif" width="110"></a></div> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" border="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td width="10"> </td> <td valign="top" align="left" width="510"> <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" border="0"> <tr> <td valign="top" width="64%">Southeast Asia</td> <td width="36%"> <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" border="0"> <tr> <td valign="center" align="middle" height="51"> <div align="right"> <script language="javascript"> function showDate(){ var monthArray=["Jan", "Feb", "Mar", "Apr", "May", "Jun", "Jul", "Aug", "Sep", "Oct", "Nov", "Dec"] var days=["Sunday", "Monday", "Tuesday", "Wednesday", "Thursday", "Friday", "Saturday"] var d=new Date(); var month=d.getMonth() var day=d.getDate() var year=d.getYear() // document.write("Today is " + days[d.getDay()] + " ") document.write(monthArray[month]) document.write(" ") document.write(day) document.write(", ") if(d.getYear()<2000){document.write(year+1900)} if(d.getYear()>2000){document.write(year)} } </script> <script language="javascript">showDate()</script> </div> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" align="left" border="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td valign="top" width="65%"> <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" align="left" border="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td valign="top" width="65%"> <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="308" border="0"> <tbody> <tr> <td width="308"> <div> </div> <div></div> <a href="/web/20030401184929/http://atimes.com/atimes/Asian_Economy/ED02Dk01.html">SARS fever hits economies</a> Of the two current events damaging Asian economies - war in Iraq and the spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome - the latter appears to be the more dangerous threat. Stock markets are already reeling, and millions of jobs are on the line as a mixture of fear, ignorance and government self-denial frustrates efforts to keep the SARS infection threat in its proper context. - Alan Boyd (Apr 1, '03) <a href="/web/20030401184929/http://atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/ED02Ae01.html">Sounds of silence in Bali</a> On Nyepi, the day of silence marking the new year that begins this week, Balinese must consider the sacrifices they have made to the fickle god of tourism. Six months after the blasts that destroyed two tourist venues in Kuta, the bombs of October 12 are still shaping the face of Bali. - Gary LaMoshi (Apr 1, '03) COMMENTARY <a href="/web/20030401184929/http://atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/ED02Ak05.html">Iraq vs Vietnam: Similarities and differences</a> The longer the war lasts in Iraq, the more the specter of a Vietnam-style quagmire is raised. But while elements of the current campaign resemble those in Vietnam, there is a marked difference in that the American people will unlikely tolerate an engagement lasting too many months, let alone years. - Ehsan Ahrari (Apr 1, '03) <img border="0" hspace="0" src="/web/20030401184929im_/http://atimes.com/atimes//images/bestofbe4[1].gif"> <a href="/web/20030401184929/http://atimes.com/atimes/China/ED01Ad03.html ">SARS: The global spread continues</a> While most of the world's attention was focused on the US-led invasion of Iraq over the weekend, the atypical pneumonia known as SARS continued its spread. On Sunday, the biggest local increase to date sent waves of fear through Hong Kong as 88 new cases were reported in one day, fanning worries that SARS is an airborne virus. Asia Times Online provides a global assessment of the disease that is baffling the world's doctors. - Christopher Horton (Mar 31, '03) <a href="/web/20030401184929/http://atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/ED01Ae01.html"> Malaysia: War opposition bridges divisions</a> Widespread resentment and uneasiness in Muslim-majority Malaysia over the invasion of Iraq has spawned a unity of sorts, but ideas differ on how  outrage can be effectively conveyed to the US government and its allies. (Mar 31, '03) <a href="/web/20030401184929/http://atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/EC29Ae02.html ">Indonesia doth protest war too little</a> While Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri has fervently opposed the US-led war on Iraq, the Indonesian streets have been usually quiet. Gary LaMoshi explains why. (Mar 28, '03) <a href="/web/20030401184929/http://atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/EC29Ae01.html "> </a><a href="/web/20030401184929/http://atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/EC29Ae03.html">'After Baghdad, Yangon'</a> Nearly everywhere outside the United States itself, ordinary people oppose America's "shock and awe" campaign to rid Iraq of Saddam Hussein. But in a small border town in Thailand, a motley collection of ethnic dissidents from Myanmar gathered to cheer George W Bush on. Said one, his face glued to the TV screen watching bombs rain on Baghdad: "I hope that when the US is finished with Iraq, it'll do the same in Burma." - Nelson Rand (Mar 28, '03) <a href="/web/20030401184929/http://atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/EC29Ae01.html ">Political storm approaching Jakarta port</a> Jakarta and Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing's Hutchison Whampoa are set on a collision course over an apparent attempt by the Indonesian government to grab control over PT Jakarta International Container Terminal. Bill Guerin examines the history of friction between Hutchison Port Holdings and Jakarta, and its effects on potential foreign investors. (Mar 28, '03) <a href="/web/20030401184929/http://atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/EC28Ae01.html"> ASEAN: War shakes fragile economies</a> Malaysia this week quietly arrested 61 suspected militants, adding to the approximately 20,000 such arrests in Southeast Asia in recent months as governments try to protect their shaky economies from insurgency and extremism. Fear of a backlash against the war in Iraq have heightened the tensions. - Arun Bhattacharjee (Mar 27, '03) <a href="/web/20030401184929/http://atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/EC27Ae02.html ">Catholic Church rallies Filipinos against war</a> While President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo equivocates about the Philippines' role in the US-led war on Iraq, Filipinos know exactly where they stand - with the powerful Catholic Church, which is against war, the current military campaign against insurgents in Mindanao, and the possibility of a new deployment of US troops on Philippine soil. - Marco Garrido (Mar 26, '03) HEY, JOE <a href="/web/20030401184929/http://atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/EC26Ae01.html ">Furor over cyber-bars in Philippines</a> The Internet boom in the Philippines has lead to a proliferation of online bars where Filipinas "chat" with men. While some see the new business as a boon, others say the cyber-bars are just a high-tech way to exploit women. - Ted Lerner (Mar 25, '03)   </td> </tr> </tbody></table> </td> <td valign="top" width="35%"> <table style="HEIGHT: 234px; WIDTH: 184px" bordercolor="#ff9900" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="184" border="1"> <tr> <td valign="top" align="middle" bgcolor="#fdf0c6"> <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%" border="0"> <tr> <td> <a href="/web/20030401184929/http://atimes.com/atimes/others/Mekong.html"><img align="left" border="0" hspace="3" src="/web/20030401184929im_/http://atimes.com/atimes//images/Mekong-small.gif" vspace="3">A four- part ATol special</a>   (Aug, '02) </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <hr color="darkorange"> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> <div align="center"><img border="0" src="/web/20030401184929im_/http://atimes.com/atimes/images/Business-in-SE-Asia.gif"></div> </td> </tr> </table> <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="174" align="center" border="0"> <tr> <td valign="top" align="left"> <a href="/web/20030401184929/http://atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/ED02Ae03.html">Repaying debts</a> Indonesia's publicly listed bank BNI says it will repay its US$190 million in foreign debts, which were due in August. <a href="/web/20030401184929/http://atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/ED02Ae02.html">Vietnam's exports surge </a>Vietnam's first quarter exports jumped to US$4.67 billion, 43 percent higher when compared to the same period last year. <a href="/web/20030401184929/http://atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/ED01Ae04.html">Mulling euro switch </a> Echoing a wider move away from the US dollar, the Indonesian government and the central bank, Bank Indonesia, may begin to use the euro in export-import transactions and foreign exchange reserves. </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> <div align="left"><img height="5" src="/web/20030401184929im_/http://atimes.com/images/f_images/1pix.gif" width="1"> <img height="5" 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