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APRIL 21, 2000 VOL. 26 NO. 15 | SEARCH ASIAWEEK Letters Internet Revolution Is the rush for Internet stocks the key to the next Asian economic miracle or another stock-market fad? ["Key To Reform," EDITORIALS, March 3]. Before the 1997 financial crisis, we thought the stock market had defeated gravity. Now we see companies with doubtful credentials entering tech ventures for the sake of attracting investment. They're joining the bandwagon at an alarming rate. The participation of companies with traditional strengths, like property or construction, puts their life span on the line. There is no question that the Internet and e-commerce will revolutionize our lives and constitute the next economic powerhouse. But it is still a concept, not a valid reason to override real business decisions. Most Internet ventures are in the development stage. Piracy and imitation of technology are rampant. Ventures become obsolete by the day. Perhaps only a few players can survive. It is common sense that the Internet is only a service provider. We still need real items for trading. We cannot convert everything electronically and transmit them through the Internet, can we? We still need substantial investment in real things. Jamil Din Kuala Lumpur The Internet revolution certainly will bring sweeping changes in Asian business. While many agree with the benefits brought by the Internet, some may question the horrors accompanying it, which you ignore in "Key to Reform." Your discourse tries to foster the belief that the Internet is only positive, which is quite contrary to the reality. For instance, some observers see the availability of pornographic material on the Internet as partly responsible for many societies' moral decadence. Teenagers are particularly susceptible. Furthermore, people may be exposed to crime-related materials that could pose another serious threat to society. Highly advanced criminal techniques are likely to be imitated. It is very important for societies to be aware of these and other negative effects of the Internet. Raphael Lengesa Nombo Jogjakarta Pacific Internet and Parent Thank you for your interest in Pacific Internet's business and its growth opportunities in the region. I appreciate your efforts in writing about a side of the Pacific Internet story that has, until now, not been told ["When Old Virtues Go Unrewarded," BUSINESS, March 31]. However, I would like to bring to your attention a published comment attributed to me: "Sembcorp is a good parent . . . Since it is a government-linked company, we will never go bankrupt." This statement was meant to be tongue-in-cheek. However, as it has been printed I must clarify for the record what I said. As a Nasdaq-listed company, Pacific Internet adheres to a strict commercial discipline. No shareholder would support us if they felt the business was non-viable. SembCorp Industries is indeed a good corporate parent but also a strict one. While they provide us with guidance on the general direction Pacific Internet should take, they give our management full autonomy to carry out our business plans. But they set strict financial performance benchmarks for all their constituent companies, and they have been shown to be prepared to divest or close companies that did not meet their various financial and operating criteria. Although being a company in which the Singapore government has a major stake (a government-linked company, or GLC, by definition), SembCorp Industries will not automatically bail out failing companies in its stable. It is simply not its policy to do so. Proper business processes and priorities are always observed and where investments or companies cease to be viable, they are divested or closed down. The idea that being part of the SembCorp Industries group means we, or any other SembCorp company, will "never (be allowed to) go bankrupt" is therefore simply not true. Nicholas Lee Chief Executive Officer Pacific Internet Singapore Estrada Ratings There was much ado recently over approval ratings for Philippine President Joseph Ejercito Estrada. In mid-March, a cabinet member showed Asiaweek the results of a Social Weather Stations (SWS) telephone survey in Metro Manila, conducted in early March and commissioned by Malacaņang Palace. It showed a -32% net approval rating for Estrada, down from -13% in early February. At the end of March, SWS released the results of another survey using both phone and face-to-face interviews. It contained a net approval rating of +1% for Estrada in Metro Manila in early March. Our cabinet source tells us that both phone-survey and phone-and-face-to-face data are correct, though not comparable. But that hasn't stopped one daily newspaper and some officials trumpeting the +1% as proof that the earlier negative ratings were wrong. They weren't. The Editors Write to Asiaweek at mail@web.asiaweek.com
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