Asians Preach Self-Help in Crisis
International Herald Tribune
January 10, 1998
Thomas Fuller

A year ago, East Asian nations jockeyed for the right to boast the highest economic growth rate.

These days, however, they sometimes seem to be competing in the race to dream up the most dramatic — and, in some cases, the most creative — responses to economic crisis.

Leading the wave is Malaysia, where Prime Minister Mahathir bin Mohamad asked his countrymen Friday to sell off overseas assets and to repatriate the proceeds to help shore up the country's foreign exchange reserves.

"Those who have assets outside the country should sell now to bring back the foreign currency and keep as savings in this country," Mr. Mahathir told a national television audience. "We want it sold in the foreign currency," he said, "and kept in our central bank."

Mr. Mahathir's plea follows a litany of other self-help measures introduced in Malaysia. Civil servants have been barred from going overseas on vacation and the government has asked people to take one lump of sugar in their tea instead of two. (Malaysia imports most of its sugar.)

More comprehensive is a plan for Malaysians to grow their own vegetables. The country's finance minister, Anwar Ibrahim, recently urged families to start up a vegetable patch, a move also aimed at reducing the country's import bill.

Malaysian officials took the idea one step further Friday when the country's prisons department said it had started to grow vegetables and fruit in prison compounds to reduce spending on food for inmates.

The director-general of prisons, Omar Mohammed Dan, said the project could save the government 4,000 ringgit ($850) daily in food costs for the 35 prisons in the country.

"Six prisons have started the vegetable gardening project and the first harvest is expected in two months," Mr. Omar was quoted by Bernama news agency as saying.

Even the finance minister practices what he preaches. "He has done it for a while," said Adlin Zabri, a top aide to Mr. Anwar. "I don't quite know what kind of vegetables. Many of them green, leafy types, I think."

Mr. Adlin said the vegetable growing campaign was not just done to save money, "but also in the sense of unity in the nation."

He added, "It shows the seriousness of the government."

As other East Asian countries grapple with the ongoing financial turmoil, their programs are becoming more grassroots, as officials hope to bring the idea of austerity closer to home.

The Thai Finance Ministry is designing posters that will encourage people to push elevator buttons once — not twice. Calling an elevator more than once, the ministry calculates, costs 7 baht (13 cents) in electricity each additional time.

South Korea is encouraging cash and jewelry donations to the government. In Thailand, the government recently announced a national gold collection campaign that it hopes will bolster the country's foreign currency reserves.

Officials say Malaysia's vegetable-growing program, anachronistic as it may sound, might put a dent in the $2.5 billion the country spends on imported food every year.

"It's more symbolic than anything else," Mr. Adlin conceded. "But in the present economic crisis, any small initiative is helpful."

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