When the post-Independence history of Singapore's Inter-Religious Organization is written three names will stand out: Lee Bock Guan, VR Nathan and Haji Abu Bakar Maidin. Lee is president of the Buddhist Lodge. VR was the longest-serving chairman of the Hindu Endowments Board, and Bakar the longest-serving president of Jamiyah or the Muslim Missionary Society. In an interview for this book, Rustom M Ghadiali, president of the Parsi Zoroastrian Association, who had worked with them for many years, said: “They were like brothers.” There was nothing trite in Ghadiali's description of the three men. It was a sincere description of the friendship between the three which came through in interviews with Lee and Bakar.

VR had known Bakar since the late sixties when they both worked in the same building – Shaw House at the corner of Orchard and Scotts Roads. A few years later, Bakar became president of Jamiyah and they lost touch. VR was busy with his career and Bakar was immersed in Jamiyah with a missionary zeal. Their paths crossed again when VR got involved in IRO affairs first as a mediator and then as a Hindu representative and as someone who knew the government's expectations.

It was the latter part of VR's credentials that made key members of IRO approach him in 1995 to resolve an issue that had been bugging IRO for some time – whether to admit the Baha'is into the organization. The Muslims already active on IRO did not want them included as it would be interpreted to mean that they were recognizing them as a separate sect or religion. Given what the Baha'is professed, those Muslims felt that their religion did not permit such acceptance. Representatives of other religions on IRO did not want to sit in judgment but at the same time felt that they could not simply ignore the Baha'is’ application. They consulted VR. He told them: Admit the Baha'is. A number of Muslims resigned from IRO, but soon the organization was stabilized. In the process, Bakar got to appreciate VR for what he was – a cosmopolitan who cared about religious harmony in Singapore. VR got to know Bakar as one who took his mission seriously and who would not hesitate to seek anyone's support to carry out his missionary work.

S R Nathan, SR to his friends, had been chairman of the Hindu Advisory Board since 1981. A distinguished civil servant, SR was First Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was the highest ranking public official to chair HAB in its history.

HAB, by its charter, is an advisory body, to advise the Minister on Hindu affairs in Singapore. The Hindu Endowments Board is the executive board with the power and funds to administer its endowments – basically four temples and properties belonging to the four temples. The two bodies used to conduct their own separate meetings until the arrival of SR. That was to change. SR, being a leader wanting to get things done, began the practice of presiding over joint meetings of both the boards with the concurrence of P Selvadurai, chairman of HEB, a practice that continues.

Even prior to his appointment to HAB, SR was somewhat familiar with the affairs of Hindu temples in Singapore. He was a practising Hindu. He was close to his brother-in-law and neighbour, N P K Rajamanickam, who apart from being the leading Hindu astrologer in Singapore, was also one who was known to have had some spiritual experiences. Rajamanickam wrote a weekly astrology column in the Sunday edition of Tamil Murasu, often said to be the most popular section of that newspaper. He was widely respected in the Hindu community. SR is probably the only senior government official who let it be known publicly that he was a practising Hindu, a fact that by itself endeared him to a number of Hindus. He got married at the Mariamman Temple. SR also kept in touch with his childhood friends and anyone who ever worked with him. One of his early assignments in government service was to work in the labour movement which at the time had a high proportion of Indian activists. All these factors would have resulted in a free flow to him of information related to all major temple affairs in Singapore. He would have been the best informed person on these matters.

When SR accepted his appointment to HAB, he already had in mind some specific tasks that needed to be urgently addressed. Submission of HEB's accounts to the Ministry and Parliament was behind schedule by five years. He wanted to set that right.

A brief survey of the early history will help in getting a better understanding of why SR had to make the approach to VR.

British masters ruling old India decided that two religious groups – the Hindus and Muslims – needed to be managed by colonial servants or those faithful to the crown while those professing other religions could be left to manage their own affairs. When the empire extended to Southeast Asia, the colonial administrators adopted the same approach – in slightly different forms in different territories. In Singapore, which was first ruled from Calcutta, the method was very similar to that in India. The manner in which some of the Hindu temples were brought under the control of such a board was also similar. The backdrop of social divisions along caste and trade lines among devotees and functionaries that led to some of the tensions in these temples was also similar. A brief survey of the early history will also help to acquire a better understanding of why SR had to make a few decisions “which looked authoritarian to some” (SR's words) but were necessary and how VR implemented them efficiently.

Some of the problems that HEB under SR's leadership inherited were quite old and not just confined to the four HEB temples. The second oldest of the challenges was perhaps the need to sensitively (without hurting the feelings of devotees) and satisfactorily (from the viewpoint of the authorities) manage the Hindu festivals like Thaipusam and fire-walking that spilt out into the public domain and out of the temple surroundings. Different temples celebrated Thaipusam in a slightly different manner from the way they celebrated it in Palani, Tamil Nadu, one of the six holy places dedicated to Thandayuthapani or Murugan. In Singapore, the Chettiars took out their urchavar (metal god-form that is meant to be mobile on special occasions) in a chariot procession through the city on Punarpusam, the day before Thaipusam. The procession will start at sunset and, with the help of torches, wind its way through those streets of the business district where Hindus had shops or warehouses and return to Thandayuthapani Temple in Tank Road. In the early days, there would be quite a few oiled torches to light the way as street lighting was poor. Also in the early years, the route included Beach Road.

VR Nathan and I knew each other since the early 1990s. We had many ideas in common and got along like old friends right from the beginning. Together with then president of Jamiyah Singapore, Abu Bakar Maidin, we were as close as brothers since the days when VR Nathan was still the Chairman of the Hindu Endowments Board. The three of us often had meals and tea together, and we chatted about everything under the sun, whether it was about how to promote inter-racial and inter-religious harmony, what kind of activities we should organize or simply sharing our worries with each other. We also spoke our minds with each other. This sense of trust and camaraderie enabled us to work well together and achieve many successes in our collaborations.

As the leaders of three different religious groups, we led our organizations to cooperate. Through friendly discussions and close coordination, we accomplished a great deal in terms of promoting inter-racial and interreligious harmony and working for the interests of the common folk. When the Singapore Buddhist Lodge distributed annual bursaries and red packets for the less privileged, VR Nathan and Abu Bakar would be invited to take up joint chairmanship and give them out together.

Our friendship was a deep one. We never forgot to invite each other over for festive celebrations. During Hari Raya, we would all go celebrate at Jamiyah. Every Deepavali, VR Nathan invited us to his house without fail.

VR Nathan was a forthright and approachable man. He was sensible in his dealings and a devout Hindu. I know everyone in his family. He valued traditions greatly and once took his daughter to his hometown in India to seek a suitable spouse. He even sought my opinion when he was thinking about buying a piece of land in Newton to build a house for himself and his three daughters. In 1999, when members of the Inter-Religious Organization went on a fourteen-day trip to China, VR Nathan brought his family along. I remember us cruising along the river in a boat, having heart-to-heart talks and sharing many happy moments together.

Now he has left us. I feel a deep sorrow in my heart at the loss of a true friend. Brother Nathan, you are sorely missed and you will always be in my memory.

The most important relocation of a temple that VR had to supervise had to be undertaken a little prematurely, before HEB built up its cash reserves. Sivan Temple's Orchard Road premises had been acquired by the government in 1983, to build the Dhoby Ghaut MRT Station. Chairman of HEB then, P Selvadurai MP, had accepted the compensation the government had offered without appealing for a higher amount or securing an alternative site to relocate the temple. The temple had no reserves as any surpluses hitherto had been accruing to its chief priest.

HEB decided to relocate the god-forms in the temple at the vacant part of the land next to Perumal Temple while it tried to get an alternative site. Newly-elected MP Chandra Das got involved. He felt that the god-forms should not be moved out of Orchard Road until a new site had been secured. He believed such an approach might persuade the government to allot a site quickly. All he could accomplish was to get some Urban Redevelopment Authority funding to construct a temporary structure next to Perumal Temple. Selvadurai had approached the government for a site in Geylang. Some devotees wanted the new Sivan Temple to be erected at the site of the former Tekka Market which was then being used as a car park. Chandra Das supported the choice of Geylang for two reasons: temples had to tender for any new site. He was trying to persuade the government to allot a piece of land without tender as there was no way the temple could afford to raise enough funds to compete in a commercial tender. He rightly guessed the chances of securing a plot without tender were much better in Geylang than in Tekka. Secondly, North Indians by then were big donors at the Sivan Temple. The bulk of North Indians in Singapore lived on the east coast. They would support the building of the temple in Geylang more enthusiastically than they would a new temple in Tekka area where the North Indians already had a temple.

Chandra Das said: “There was a hell of a hue and cry. Why Geylang, a Malay area? I said: Where is Mariamman Temple now? At the heart of China Town.” SR who had by then assumed chairmanship of HAB supported him.

As seen in the earlier chapters, VR's first significant contribution to HEB was getting the accounts of its four temples and the board itself up to date and organized in such a way that temple clerks could continue to maintain them. He did not simply introduce the procedures and leave their supervision to the temple committee's finance member. He virtually became the chief accountant of HEB and spent all his evenings making sure that the cash, accounts and stocks tallied after every special prayer or festival and every month. His presence at some temple or other of HEB during office hours every day and often late into the night created a work culture at the board and its temples that meant no one handling money or stocks could escape being scrutinized.

In terms of procedures at temples, one of VR's important contributions was that collection from plates or trays extended by priests, thattukkasu, should be accounted for and shared among all temple workers and priests. Collection of money in this form is a recent phenomenon at Hindu temples. In the old days, people who built the temples or those who came in later to support them would have provided sufficient endowments to pay for their upkeep and the payment of salaries and benefits to priests and other employees. When income from endowments was not sufficient, well-off members of the congregation would provide the necessary funds through their committees without involving the priests in any way. In some temples, collection boxes (undial) would be installed but far away from the sanctums. The idea was the priest should not know who was placing how much into the collection box and that he should treat all worshippers, rich or poor, in the same manner.

Some time in the middle of the last century, some enterprising priests in India started adapting a practice of vicars of churches. In fact they improved on it. Vicars only passed around trays or bins through elders or altar boys at the end of the service. Hindu priests who were performing a ritual of deeparathanai (worship with light) by showing burning camphor on a conical-structured plate or a lighted oil lamp around the god-form in the sanctum sanctorum now put the camphor or the lamp on a wide flat plate and extended it to the devotees immediately after coming out of the sanctum.

The “Financial Sector Development Strategy 2006-2015” envisages the development of a sound, market-based financial system. Capital market and banks function complementarily to enhance the efficiency of the financial system which is crucial for stimulating economic growth. The vision for capital market development is to have an efficient and transparent capital market structure with a critical mass of issuers for mobilizing long term investment funds. The market will address risks, remove obstacles to financial development and support risk management and financial resource accumulation and allocation.

The development of the securities market will yield the following benefits:

1. • In addition to bank deposits which are basically held on short-term basis, capital market will increase the mobilization of savings, by providing an array of attractive saving instruments, which can be used for financing long term investments. Capital market also provides a convenient mechanism for channeling foreign savings into portfolio investment. At present Cambodia can only attract foreign direct investment since capital market and the associated securities exchange infrastructure do not exist. Foreign portfolio investment will become a possibility once the securities exchange is established and rules are framed for foreigners to invest in Cambodian securities onshore.

2. • It will lead to a more rational allocation of resources because funds, which would otherwise be spent on consumption, or kept in idle demand deposits with banks, would be mobilized and redirected to promote productive business activities;

3. • Investors are usually reluctant to participate in long-term investment projects, even those with high return. With a capital market, investors can stay liquid while investing long term.

4. • Securities market improves corporate governance through information disclosure requirements which ensure better management standards and efficiency;

5. • Public companies owned by a multiple of stock holders through the stock exchange and subject to regulation tend to have a better record of good management than privately-held companies;[…]

The main motivator of industrial development, wealth creation and accumulation is the private sector. While much progress has been made in reviving the private sector after the Khmer Rouge regime it is yet to exhibit the dynamism of private initiative which has been the hallmark of the outstanding economic performance of the Southeast Asian countries in recent years. There are constraints and roadblocks which prevent it from playing an even greater role in development policy performance.

Manufacturing activities are by and large located in the private sector. The average annual growth of manufacturing industry's value added was 15.4% per year during 1994-2008. This is at variance with the behavior of the index of production for the formal manufacturing sector which shrank during this period. An explanation could be that in this period, the contribution of manufacturing to GDP came from the informal manufacturing sector

The size of the enterprise provides a basis for analyzing Cambodia's corporate sector. Three large groups of enterprises can be distinguished from this perspective: large businesses, small- and medium-sized businesses, and micro-businesses of the informal sector. The first three groups viz, large, medium and small businesses comprise the modern sector and engage in commercial scale activities. The broad definitions and distinguishing characteristics of each group are as follows:

Modern sector (SME Development Framework, 2005, p. 13):

1. • Big businesses: The company could be privately owned or State-owned. Privately owned big businesses are often a branch or partner of a foreign company. Big business is generally defined as having more than 100 permanent employees or having more than US$500,000 in capital invested, excluding land.

2. • Medium-size enterprises: In general these are funded by family capital and organized in a modern way. They generally employ from 51 to 100 workers with an annual turnover between US$250,000-US$500,000. They can be physically located, since they occupy fixed sites, are registered with the appropriate authorities, keep regular accounts, and often try to keep their identity distinct from that of the principal owners or promoters.[…]

Overview

The provision of energy is a major dimension in development; it is a household necessity in a modern society and is a production factor the cost of which directly affects the competitiveness of a range of goods and services where it is a direct or indirect input. The energy potential of Cambodia is still not fully known. A thorough exploration and mapping of the geographical distribution of all available sources of energy is needed for Cambodia to enable a more systematic development of the energy sector. The availability of reasonably priced power is a key ingredient of rural development, particularly in such activities as irrigation, processing of agricultural products, and SME development. The high cost of rural electricity is an important reason for the slow development of the Cambodian rural economy.

16.1.1. Power Sector Strategy

Cambodian's Power Sector Strategy (2001-2005) sets out the priorities and a major investment program to lower tariffs and bring reliable electricity supplies to considerably more Cambodians. The investment program includes: (1) the development of a generation and transmission grid to link large electricity generation units to Phnom Penh and the provincial capitals; (2) rehabilitation of distribution systems in provincial towns; and (3) the development and implementation of rural electrification plan. Rehabilitation and expansion of Phnom Penh's electricity supply system is being continued. Generation capacity is also being expanded with an interconnection from Viet Nam and over the next five years from a new thermal plant in the coastal area. These improvements will enable a more reliable and secure electricity supply to the regions outside of Phnom Penh, which will help deconcentrate the development of industry.

The program to establish the National Generation and Transmission Grid commenced in 2000. The first stage of this program is the construction of transmission line between Viet Nam and Phnom Penh through Takeo Province. The second stage is the construction of transmission line from Sihanoukville to Kampot province.

After more than three decades of civil war, Cambodia has experienced relative peace since 1998 and has been rebuilding its infrastructure, economy, and social fabric, and thereby enabling the country to redirect its resources and strengths toward sustained, equitable development. The country's achievements during the 20 years of reconstruction from January 1979 onward show what the Cambodian people are capable of doing when they put their talents and ingenuity to work for a peaceful cause. Cambodia is now back on track to achieve its destined place in the vanguard of the community of nations.

Three significant phases in the recent economic history of Cambodia can be discerned: A period of rebuilding from 1979-1990, a transition and reconstruction phase from 1991-1998, and a development phase beginning in 1999. Cambodia's economy grew steadily in all the three phases.

Cambodia had to virtually start from the scratch to rebuild the country after the defeat of the Khmer Rouge regime. At the very outset, the country had to face the harmful consequences of the economic embargo imposed in 1979. The annual rate of economic growth did not exceed 3.4% during 1988-1991, even though average annual growth in the manufacturing sector reached 6.3%.

Growth has been particularly strong since the early 1990s, with the implementation of macroeconomic reforms and normalization of economic and trade relations with the countries of the region. An annual average rate of 6.3% was achieved during 1994-1998, despite the upheaval caused by the Asian financial crisis of 1997-1998.

Since 1999, Cambodia has been working towards accelerating development. Growth was 11.9% in 1999, although slowing to 6.6% in 2002, with an annual average rate of 8.8% for the five-year period of 1999-2003. This growth is attributed to two flourishing sectors: garments and tourism.

Trade Liberalization in Cambodia

The principal goal of Cambodia's foreign economic policy is to expand and strengthen economic ties and international cooperation through the integration of the Cambodian economy into the regional and world economy. This goal is designed to utilize the advantages of international division of labor to promote economic development and improve the welfare of the population.

Since the late 1980s and especially in the early 1990s Cambodia has embarked on trade liberalization and integration. The private sector was enabled to establish trading companies with a maximum foreign participation of 49 percent. Since 1993, the general licensing for most goods has been eliminated when registered companies undertake such trade.

22.1.1. The Role of Tariff

There are several arguments in favor of tariffs:

1. • to maximize benefits from strategic application of tariffs. Tariffs could increase a country's welfare by enabling excess profits to be shifted from foreign to domestic firms;

2. • as instruments for temporary protection of a specific “infant” industry. It is argued that certain industries are initially uneconomic but they may become competitive (at world price) in the long run because costs may decrease over time through learning-by-doing effects;

3. • to raise budget revenue. Trade taxes however are not optimal instruments for achieving a revenue objective because they distort production and consumption choices. Preferred instruments for raising revenue are taxes such as income taxes or commodity taxes (excise taxes, VAT), which are applied neutrally to domestically produced and imported goods;

4. • to reduce imports as a remedy for balance of payment problems.

22.1.2. The Advantages of Uniform Tariffs

The advantages of a uniform tariff is as follows:

1. • Administrative convenience. If tariff is uniform, there is no incentive to misclassify goods. This enables customs authorities to concentrate on ensuring that the value of the imported goods is not understated and could reduce to corruption related to customs clearing. Thus, it will lower the administrative costs of trading.[…]

Definitions

23.1.1. Central Government Debt

The central government debt includes:

1. ⇒ In the strict sense:

2. • Domestic and foreign loans taken out by the government.

3. • Domestic and foreign loans guaranteed by the government.

4. • Treasury bonds (and other public securities).

5. • Treasury debt towards the Central Bank.

6. ⇒ In the broad sense, the following items are also included:

7. • Deposits of Treasury correspondents (private persons, companies and agencies authorized to deposit funds on Treasury accounts).

8. • Any budget arrears.

Given the current organization of the Ministry of Economy and Finance in Cambodia, government debt management is shared among three agencies:

1. • Treasury Directorate: for the domestic debt, except for domestic loans in foreign currency that are managed by the Directorate for Investments and Cooperation (DIC).

2. • Debt Management Unit of the DIC: for the foreign debt, as well as for domestic loans in foreign currency.

3. • National Bank of Cambodia (NBC): for the balance of payment support loans granted by the International Monetary Fund.

23.1.2. Foreign Debt

The foreign debt of a country is the total of long-term debts owed by residents of this country to non-residents. This definition and the following ones are provided by the World Bank. They are of high importance for at least two reasons:

1. • Debt data make it possible to measure the country's debt-servicing capacity and are necessary to draw up the balance of payments.

2. • Long-term debt means a loan or an obligation with a maturity of more than one year from the date it was issued.

The length to be considered is that which separates the date of loan agreement signature (loan commitment date) from the last payment due date.

(It is noteworthy that debts with an initial maturity of less than 2 years rather than 1 year are considered as short-term debts by certain countries. However, the World Bank definition is the one we will use, as it serves as the basis for the compilation of international statistics.)