Culture and Privilege in Capitalist Asia - Jurusan Antropologi ...

116 WENDY A.SMITH
class, they aspire to them and, in their limited way, emulate them (Hing 1985:
152). 10 Consumerism also redefines the symbolism and representation of
particular values. For instance, most Malay workers come from a peasant
background where status in the community is primarily demonstrated by the
possession of material things. This reinforces the strength of consumerism and the
practice of demonstrating one’s status in modern society with material symbols.
Despite the Islamic prohibition against young Muslim women leaving the house
unaccompanied by male kin, Malay fathers now willingly allow their young
unmarried daughters to work night shifts in factories, far from their villages. Village
parents ignore such fundamental religious values because they desire the electric
fans, TV sets and other consumer goods which make village life more
comfortable, and which are purchased with the cash remittances from their
daughters (see Stivens 1987:102).
The growth of consumerism has generated new sources of competitive conflict
among the new rich. 11 Often this has intensified the recourse to ‘traditional
strategies’ of conflict management or resolution. These strategies accord with a
powerful village-based ethos of interpersonal harmony: openly to express anger is
to sever a relationship and the possibility of future cooperation for ever. Yet
beneath the surface, bitter rivalries exist over competition for status and wealth. In
village society, if you dislike someone, you might anonymously wound their water
buffalo, an attack which hurts the individual by damaging his property, without
affecting the outward cordiality of social relationships. In more serious cases,
individuals attempt to harm or even kill other individuals by black magic.
Thus in factories we observe the expression of conflict in ways that will not be
attributable to any one individual, and hence will not damage ongoing relationships
or the employer-employee contract. Mass hysteria among young female industrial
workers is an example of this (see Ong 1987). Employees in modern companies
sometimes also resort to anonymous magical attacks against rivals for promotion
or to take revenge against an enemy, in the same way they would in the village. 12
Convergence theory predicts that such behaviour would die out as individuals from
traditional societies begin to participate in modern organisations and occupations
such as industrial labour, where principles of efficiency and rationality predominate.
But the evidence in Malaysia suggests that as the level of benefits increases,
traditional practices like those above become even more common. 13
Japanese management
In formulating the Look East Policy, the Malaysian government sought to
transplant an ideal model of Japanese management and work ethics for both
ideological and organisational reasons. Some of the values fundamental to this
model were already well established in Iroha (M) through fifteen years of factory
management by expatriate Japanese managers. An understanding of the nature of
the Japanese management system and how it is transferred is necessary in order