Urbanization in Asia Photodisc 31 Page 5-15

July 2003 | the IIAS newsletter is published by the IIAS and is available free of charge Is ¶ cal tra- cal Accord- p.22 ¶ ice Wright ice ]. From the Year of the White Horse p.36

Whereas early-mod- Whereas to the Year of the Black Horse ¶ p.19 7 ¶ Mongolia After Twelve Years of Transition

Following the collapse of communism, Mongolia embarked upon an ambitious path of political and economic reform. The ensuing p.54-55

¶ transition brought new opportunities to the country and its people: an end to international isolation, the introduction of political

Art theft galore in this issue. Tijhuis and Tijhuis issue. this in galore theft Art freedoms and a nascent private sector after many decades of centralized planning. Economic liberalization, however, has yet to p.37 deliver benefits to the Mongolian majority. At the beginning of the 1990s, many believed that the market economy would bring unprecedented prosperity within a decade. Instead, it brought unprecedented poverty. In many respects, life for most people is more precarious today than during the communist era.

By Sanjaasuren Oyun growing at 1.5 per cent and good governance lacking, Mon- Forum > golia needs a minimum annual growth rate of 4-5 per cent Digital Himalaya: Unlike many early anthropologists, botanical anthropologists, early many Unlike Himalaya: Digital

ASEMUS: The exhibition ‘Peranakan Legacy’ adds an important an adds Legacy’ ‘Peranakan exhibition The ASEMUS: Central Asia ¶ efore the 1990s poverty as such was not a problem in in order to raise general living standards. Yet, over the last ¶ BMongolia. With the advent of transition and the sudden several years, Mongolia’s growth has been insufficient, aver- Surely a reason for laughter in Indonesian politics, Arndt Graf explains Graf Arndt politics, Indonesian in laughter for reason a Surely

International Conference Agenda. Conference International collapse of economic structures, the economy contracted and aging 1-3 per cent. p.20-21 Robert Cribb speculates on why the mixed-race ‘Indisch’ community did community ‘Indisch’ mixed-race the why on speculates Cribb Robert ¶

¶ unemployment soared. Surveys undertaken over the last Foreigners are easily impressed by the many jeeps in the Yasser Tabaa gives his view on why the Iraqi’s stole from their museums [6]. museums their from stole Iraqi’s the why on view his gives Tabaa Yasser

p.52 seven years indicate that one in three Mongolians live below streets of Ulaanbaatar and the expensive houses that are ¶ p.50 Centred on a Muslim prostitute coming from Muzzafarpur to Mumbai, Fareeda Mumbai, to Muzzafarpur from coming prostitute Muslim a on Centred the poverty line, earning less than a dollar a day. During the being built in the capital’s suburbs. In a country with a per ¶ > Asian art & cultures & art Asian > p. 29 p. period 1995-2002, the Gini coefficient of inequality increased capita GDP of USD 450, however, these are not signs of a

p.16 from 0.31 to 0.37.* Despite the recent return of moderate eco- healthy but of a sick economy. So what went wrong? Mon- nomic growth, the number of those living in poverty has not golia has been, in the words of The Economist, ‘the star pupil decreased. of Western liberal economics’, ‘the darling of ultraliberals in Mongolia did not recover its 1989 pre-transition GDP of the West’. Meticulously following the instructions of inter-

> In this edition this In > just over USD 1 billion until 2000. Like many post-commu- national financial institutions, the country liberalized its cur- nist countries, Mongolia began the 1990s with negative rency, trade and economy, privatized most of its state assets, growth and extreme inflation (up to 350 per cent). The mid- and brought down inflation. Below are some examples of 1990s witnessed economic stabilization and inflation around how these reforms were undertaken. is an almost abstract odyssey in to migration, marginalization, and displacement [2]. displacement and marginalization, migration, to in odyssey abstract almost an is opens the floor to your reactions on the latter. the on reactions your to floor the opens 10 per cent; growth and single-digit inflation had to await the Tight monetary policies dictated by the IMF and end of the decade. Unfortunately, Mongolia is still struggling implemented by the Central Bank of Mongolia aimed to to achieve growth rates necessary for poverty reduction and reduce inflation; bank rates, however, were kept too high job creation. According to a 1999 World Bank study of poor for local businesses to be profitable. Foreign aid (ODA)

Kali Salwaar Kali developing countries, poverty reduction requires economic brought benefits to tens of thousands of Mongolians, 123456

IIAS Newsletter IIAS growth rates at least twice the rate of population growth. That but the overall amount is reaching dangerous levels. ¶ is for countries with good governance. Without good gover- Over the past twelve years, Mongolia received ODA aver- nance, when the distribution of wealth is unequal and cor- aging 20 per cent of GDP. In addition the old (commu- collectors roamed across Nepal. Adam Stainton’s travel accounts provide anthropological information of a wide regional scope [4 scope regional wide a of information anthropological provide accounts travel Stainton’s Adam Nepal. across roamed collectors Gus Dur’s [1] humour in terms of political strategy. strategy. political of terms in humour [1] Dur’s Gus antiquities. Chinese in trade illicit the explore Soudijn dimension to exploring Singapore’s ‘ancestral cultures’ [7]. cultures’ ‘ancestral Singapore’s exploring to dimension ern Indian medical history is substantially defined by Sanskrit systems of thought [3], Hormuz Ebrahimnejad shows European medi European shows Ebrahimnejad Hormuz [3], thought of systems Sanskrit by defined substantially is history medical Indian ern ditions to be more readily incorporated in nineteenth century Iran. century nineteenth in incorporated readily more be to ditions p.43-44 not take a more prominent role in the nationalist movement. nationalist the in role prominent more a take not Mehta’s film Mehta’s has dared to interview these mandarins among mandarins, who are the pick of the bureaucracy. bureaucracy. the of pick the are who mandarins, among mandarins these interview to dared has ing to Richard Boyd, Japan’s Ministry of Finance is surrounded by a mystique, which has long held researchers at bay. Now, Maur Now, bay. at researchers held long has which mystique, a by surrounded is Finance of Ministry Japan’s Boyd, Richard to ing this Wimbledon? Nandana Chutiwongs takes us into a Thai temple in London in her review of ‘Making Merit, Making Art’ [5]. Art’ Making Merit, ‘Making of review her in London in temple Thai a into us takes Chutiwongs Nandana Wimbledon? this ruption thrives, economic growth needs to be at least three nist-era) debt to Russia has not yet been negotiated or times the rate of population increase. Its population currently continued on page 3 > > General news continued from page 1 > Ulan Bator 2001 prises were privatized, out of which 330 shareholding com- settled. Thus the accumulated debt over the last twelve panies were created. Currently, no more than 1,500 individ- years nearly equals GDP. uals, representing 0.5 per cent of the population, own over Compared to Southeast Asia, where Foreign Direct 70 per cent of the shares of these 330 companies. Investment (FDI) averages 15 per cent of GDP, or China Despite certain notable achievements, many things have where the figure varies from 20 to 30 per cent, Mongolia gone wrong with Mongolia’s transition. Paralleling the expe- attracts FDI amounting to only 3-5 per cent of its GDP. Obvi- riences of other badly managed transitions from commu- ously, Mongolia must strive harder towards creating a more nism to a market economy, poverty in Mongolia has soared attractive investment climate. It has only been in the last two and inequality has increased. At present, 40 per cent of the years that mining investors have expressed greater interest, population can be categorized as poor or very poor. It is time due to the discovery of a seemingly world-class deposit of cop- to start remedying these problems. Mongolia is at a cross- per and gold (Oyu Tolgoi) in South Gobi. Despite ten years roads: will its government come up with home-grown poli-

of efforts to build a favourable economic and investment cli- Morozova Irina cies for economic development and introduce new, higher mate, Mongolia is still failing to attract investors, both for- standards in the way it leads political, economic and social eign and domestic. Current business taxation rates are pro- milk and the like), in which Mongolia can compete with its processes, or will it continue to slide on the path of impru- hibitively high and resemble those of developed Western neighbours, should be protected until they are strong enough dent policies and the weak rule of law? < countries, not those of developing transition countries. to be competitive. So-called blanket protectionism deserves no praise, but one cannot expect infant domestic industries Dr Sanjaasuren Oyun is Member of the Mongolian Parliament WTO and trade tariffs to compete with their more advanced counterparts in neigh- since 1998 and leader of the Citizens Will - Republican Party since The wealthy countries controlling the international finan- bouring China and Russia, let alone the rest of the world, if 2000. A geologist by profession, she has a PhD in isotope geochem- cial institutions have demanded that poor countries, includ- the government does not initially support them. istry from Cambridge University (UK). Oyun entered politics after ing Mongolia, eliminate their trade barriers. This Mongolia Many Western countries built up their economies by pro- the assassination of her brother S. Zorig, the leader of the pro- did in 1997, shortly after joining the WTO. As Mongolia was tecting key industries until they were strong enough to com- democracy movement in Mongolia. She heads the Zorig Founda- remote, far away from markets, and highly dependent on pete internationally. Even now, the developed and suppos- tion, a non-profit organization aiming to advance democracy and imports – so the rationale went – there was no point in retain- edly free-market West annually spends USD 350 billion on fight corruption in Mongolia. ing import tariffs. Almost overnight, these tariffs were agricultural subsidies (by comparison, annual ODA to devel- [email protected] slashed from 15 to 0 per cent. With borders suddenly open oping countries totals USD 50 billion). Ironically, the very [email protected] and tariffs instantly non-existent, fledgling domestic indus- countries that push developing countries to open up markets Note > tries were severely undercut. As a result many domestic man- themselves maintain trade barriers and import quotas when ufacturers had to close shop. Given the weak social safety net, it suits them. * The Gini coefficient is an indicator of inequality in income distribution with a the unemployed rapidly fell into poverty. Over the last decade small and medium-sized state enter- scale ranging from 0 to 1: 0 means total equality of income, 1 signifies that one For products Mongolia cannot produce, eliminating import prises have been privatized; the selling off of the larger firms person owns everything. By comparison: Indonesia scores 0.35 on this scale, tariffs makes sense. Meanwhile, those few industries, such is now under way. As a result the private sector today consti- while the Netherlands comes in around 0.15. as wool, leather, and some agricultural products (flower and tutes over 70 per cent of GDP. In total, 440 state owned enter- Hating Americans: Jemaah Islamiyah and the Bali Bombings Late on the night of 12 October 2002, Ali Imron walked into the al-Khurobah mosque in Denpasar and Forum > performed a prayer of thanks. Shortly beforehand he had heard the massive bomb blast at the Sari Club and felt General the ground shake beneath his feet. He had played a key role in assembling the bomb and knew that many people at the crowded club must have been killed or injured in the explosion. He would later say that he was ‘pleased and proud that the device he had built had exploded horrifyingly with its blaze reaching into the sky’ and that ‘the bomb … was truly the great work of Indonesia’s sons’.1

By Greg Fealy pects, almost all of whom were mem- Mukhlas were both veterans of the war bers of the clandestine Jemaah against the Soviet Union in he attitude and motivation of Ali Islamiyah (JI) movement. JI is at the Afghanistan in the 1980s; the former TImron and his fellow accused ‘Bali extreme fringe of the region’s small rad- helped to design and assemble the bombers’ deserves close attention, not ical Islam communities and is the only bombs and the latter, as JI’s operational only to enable scholars of Islam and ter- genuine transnational terrorist organi- head, had oversight for the attack.

rorism to understand the specific zation in Southeast Asia. Although Imam Samudra, another former (POLRI) Indonesia of Republic the of Police the of Courtesy dynamics of Southeast Asian extrem- most of its leadership and the majority mujahidin, was the JI field command- ism but also to provide governments of its operatives were Indonesian, it had er leading the bombing. ‘quite regretful’ because they were ‘not the Bali bombings] on your civilians as with a basis for designing effective anti- active cells in at least four countries and the right target’. Mukhlas was quoted as heinous and cruel, you yourself have terrorism policies. Most scholars of ter- had held planning meetings and train- Anti-American hostility saying: ‘[We wanted] to terrorise the gov- committed crimes which are more rorism agree that context is critical to ing programmes across the region. Police interrogation and media inter- ernment of America’.2 heinous. The cries of the babies and understanding extremist activity. Fac- There is strong evidence of JI involve- views soon established that a deep ani- Arguably, the most complete public Muslim women …has [sic] never suc- tors which drive terrorism in one time ment in terrorist attacks since 2000, mus towards the West, the United States statement of the bombers’ position ceeded in stopping your brutality. Well, or place may not be present in other including the ‘Christmas Eve 2000’ in particular, was a primary motivating appeared on the Istimata (Absolute here we are the Muslim men! We will periods or locations. While much is church bombings in Indonesia, which factor for the bombers. The US was seen Struggle) webpage, which Imam Samu- harness the pain of the death of our now known about al-Qaeda’s thinking, killed nineteen people, and the Metro as embodying the anti-Islamic struggle dra said ‘sets out the essence of my brothers and sisters. You will bear the we should be wary of assuming that the Manila attacks of the same month, of the Christian- and Jewish-dominated struggle’.3 It declared: ‘Let it be acknowl- consequences of your actions wherev- Bali bombers were acting from pre- which left twenty-one dead. Jemaah Western world. When investigators edged that every single drop of Muslim er you are.’ It concludes by saying: ‘We cisely the same motivations. Islamiyah was established by the Arab- asked Amrozi why he wanted to bomb blood, be it from any nationality and are responsible for the incident in The bomb at the Sari Club, along Indonesian preacher, Abdullah the Sari Club he repeatedly told them he from any place will be remembered and Legian, Kuta, Bali.’ with a smaller preceding explosive at Sungkar, in the mid-1990s but anoth- ‘hated Americans’. Similarly, Imam accounted for.’ The site referred to thou- The sense of avenging past brutality the nearby Paddy’s Bar, killed 202 peo- er Indonesian of Yemeni extraction, Samudra made it clear that his main tar- sands of Muslims who perished in towards Muslims, of smiting the infi- ple and seriously injured another 350, Abubakar Ba’asyir, took over leadership get was the US. He said: ‘I hate Ameri- Afghanistan, Sudan, Palestine, Bosnia, del hegemon, is common to many of making it the deadliest terrorist attack of the organization following Sungkar’s ca because it is the real centre of inter- Kashmir, and Iraq, stating: ‘The heinous the accused bombers’ explanations. since 9/11. Most of those killed were death in 1999. Estimates of the orga- national terrorism, which has already crime and international conspiracy of The Istimata declaration and testimo- Western tourists, including eighty-eight nization’s current membership vary repeatedly tyrannised Islam’. ‘I carry out the Christians also extends to the ny from police interviews suggest that Australians, twenty-three Britons, nine from about 500 to several thousand. At jihad’, he declared, ‘because it’s the duty Philippines and Indonesia. This has the bombers saw themselves as fight- Swedes and seven Americans. There is the time of writing, Indonesian police of a Muslim to avenge, so [that] the resulted in Muslim cleansing in Moro ing a heroic war against evil. The Chris- now sufficient material available from have either charged or intend to charge American terrorists and their allies [southern Philippines], Ambon, Poso tian (and Jewish) West is vilified and police testimony and media interviews at least thirty-three people in connec- understand that the blood of the Mus- and surrounding areas. It is clearly evi- dehumanized and the bombers portray to enable a preliminary analysis of the tion with the bombings. lim community is not shed for nothing’. dent the crusade is continuing and will themselves as high-minded warriors bombers’ mindset. The evidence would Public attention has been focussed He went on to say that he had chosen not stop…Every blow will be repaid. acting according to the demands of suggest that an extreme hostility on four of the accused bombers: the Sari Club and Paddy’s Bar as targets Blood will be redeemed by blood. A life their faith. Indeed, many JI members towards the West, and the US in par- Amrozi, Ali Imron, Mukhlas, and because he knew they were ‘often visit- for a life. One Muslim to another is like have stated that they are engaged in a ticular, was a critical factor. Imam Samudra. The first three are ed by Americans and even Mossad peo- a single body. If one part is in pain, the holy struggle and are happy to die as Within a month of the bombing, the brothers. Amrozi purchased the explo- ple’. Later, when informed that many of other part will also feel it’. martyrs for the cause. Imam Samudra, joint Indonesian and foreign police sives and minivan into which the Sari the victims were Australian tourists, It continued: ‘To all you Christian for example, told a journalist: ‘I have investigation began arresting key sus- Club bomb was placed. Ali Imron and Imam was said to be ‘shocked’ and unbelievers, if you define this act [i.e., continued on page 4 >

IIAS Newsletter | #31 | July 2003 3