Reflksi : NKRI bertambah dua orang billonaires (milarder) untuk tahun 2010,
jadi sekarang ada 7 orang punya kekayaan lebih dari 1 miliar dollar Amerika.
Sejalan dengan itu diberitakan pula bahwa kekayaan para petinggi NKRI
bertambah berkali lipat ganda. Tetapi, bukan saja kabar gembira tsb., melainkan
juga NKRI negeri terkorup di Asia dan kantor berita Antara 14 Maret 2010
mengkhabarkar sesuai apa yang dinyatakan oleh Salim Segal Al Jufri, menteri
sosial, bahwa di NKRI terdapat 5,4 juta anak terlantar.
http://www.asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2345&Itemid=224
Asia's Billionaires' Easy Path to Riches
Written by Our Correspondent
Tuesday, 16 March 2010
Usually monopolies, friendly deals with government get them to the top
There has been much crowing in the media around Asia over the rapid
advance of Asians into the ranks of global billionaires. Chinese are now second
only to Americans in the top 1,000 and India has eight in the super rich top
100 category. The US has been dethroned from topping the list and several names
from developing countries have leap-frogged the Europeans.
However a closer look at the composition of the list would suggest that
riches are often ill-rewarded and that those businessmen who have contributed
most to Asian nations' advance in industry and technology have often been
poorly rewarded, at least compared with those who either inherited their wealth
or gained it through local monopolies and cozy deals with governments.
The place that should feel most chastened by its positions on the list is
Hong Kong. Not only does it boast Asia's richest man, Li Ka-shing of the Cheung
Kong property empire but two more property developers in the top 50 and another
four in the top 150. This concentration of property billionaires in an economy
of just 7 million people tells a sad tale of the gouging of residents that has
gone on for years thanks to the cozy nature of the relationship between
government and their developer cronies.
Indeed Hong Kong boasts as many in the list as Japan, an economy almost
20 times larger, in the list of top 25 Asians in the Forbes list. Its top
ranked property tycoon Mori ranks only at 124 while Australia's top property
developer Frank Lowy and Malaysian baker Quek Leng Chang are at a relatively
lowly 205 and 376 respectively.
Meanwhile the Asian entrepreneurial families who have changed the world
rank low on the list - though it is interesting that in Korea and Taiwan they
at least top the local rich leagues rather than the masters of manipulating
governments. Taiwan's list is topped by Terry Gou of Hon Hai electronics but
even he is only 136th in the world. Other electronics and other manufacturers
share most of the 18 Taiwan in the top 1000 with various financial and real
estate tycoons. Korea is even more sparsely represented in the billionaire
list. Samsung's Lee Kun Kee is top but only number 205 in a world where the
Samsung name is ubiquitous. Chung Mong Koo of Hyundai is even further down at
488 with a fortune estimated at a measly $1.5 billion.
The rise of Chinese names in the list is partly a reflection of its rapid
economic growth. But most of the names are in the lower ranks. And many, like
almost all the Russians, got there through their clever privatization of state
assets rather than building from scratch - though there many exceptions too,
particularly the internet billionaires.
The Forbes lists contains lots of guesswork and in some cases huge family
wealth may be split in ways which make it appear smaller than it is. Some names
appear surprisingly far down the list - Macau casino king Stanley Ho is at 701
and Thailand's regional agribusiness king Dhanin Chearavanont is at 559.
Indeed, the road to mega riches is occasionally achieved by innovators
like Bill Gates (number 2) but more likely by those like the man who tops the
global list: Mexico's Carlos Slim, beneficiary of deals with officials which
have given him a near monopoly of the domestic telecoms market. A super gouging
of consumers in a still poor country has given him a fortune estimated at $54
billion. The wonders of monopoly capitalism. No wonder Marx still has a
following!
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