A Multicultural Joint Venture Under the Post-Developmental State in Singapore

Abstract

As a multi-cultural country with a British colonial past hosting many different ethnic groups including Westerners, Singapore juggles with the often conflicting forces of Westernization (holding the promise of economic prosperity) and Asianization (holding the promise of a distinct cultural identity). Although the endorsement of ‘Asian values’ by Singapore political leaders such as Lee Kuan Yew may be seen as a mere rhetoric device to either explain ethnic Chinese business success or the Asian crisis, the question needs to be raised as to the ways in which the Asian Values discourse affects both Western and Asian MNCs operating in Singapore. In order to address this question, this article investigates the participation of a European–Japanese joint venture in a large government-sponsored reclamation project in Singapore. It is a rather unique situation in which the state as paymaster has the upper hand over the partners. The investigation shows that reference to ‘Asian values’ is a significant boundary-marking strategy used by both the Singapore government and the joint venture partners to manipulate the power balances in this triangular relationship. The outcome is more often than not advantageous for the Singapore state.

Keywords:

• transnational joint ventures
• post-developmental state
• Asian values
• power balances
• Singapore

Acknowledgements

The first author is indebted to the Nederlandse Wetenschappelijke Organisatie (NWO) for sponsoring her ASPASIA-related research programme ‘Organizational Culture in Transborder Region’. The second author wishes to express her gratitude to the Management of the Haiku–Limerick joint venture for the opportunity to conduct her research there and to all the staff members for their time to discuss her queries. Both authors are indebted to the anonymous reviewers of an earlier draft for their very valuable suggestions.

Notes

¹ The concept of ‘Westoxification’ was coined by Al-e Ahmad, a prominent Iranian intellectual in the 1960s (cf. Buruma & Margalit, 2004: p.54).

² The total number of GLCs increased almost two-fold from 1985 (361) through 1994 (720), before turning down in the second half of the decade (to 592 in 1996) (Haggard & Low, 2002: p.316).

³ Cf. Ezra Vogel's Japan as Number One (1979), cited in Wee, 2002b: 140–1.

⁴ Both names are pseudonyms. No details are given about the exact locality where the Land Reclamation Project is situated and the work that is carried out. The researchers agreed with the management of the joint venture not to reveal the identity of the companies involved.

⁵ For reasons of the authors’ agreement with the management of the joint venture, the name of the Statutory Board cannot be revealed here.

⁶ The concrete title and other details of this contract cannot be quoted as this would violate the agreement of anonymity as reached with the management of the joint venture.