The EconomistApril 14th 2018 Asia 2312 enticements. Visitors also flock to coun-
tries with cheap currencies: the weakness
of the ringgit last year helped draw visitors
to Malaysia, for example. Many countries
in the region depend on the cash: tourism
accounts for about 28% of Cambodia’s
GDPand more than 20% of Thailand’s.
The most remarkable growth has been
in tourists from China. The number visit-
ing South-East Asia has increased fivefold
over the past decade (see chart). Newly
wealthy Chinese spent almost $261bn trav-
elling abroad in 2016, up from $73bn in 2011.
Indonesia, for one, has relaxed its visa
rules to attract more of them. More seats on
cheap flights have also helped pull in tour-
ists: between 2013 and 2016 the number
available each week on flights to South-
East Asia from China increased from
92,000 to 188,500.
But for the frenzied holidaying to con-
tinue to grow, infrastructure must improve,
reckons Paul Yong ofDBS, a Singaporean
bank. Airports in places such as Manila
and Jakarta are crumbling and surrounded
by snaking traffic. Plans are afoot to in-
crease annual capacity at Bangkok’s air-
ports by tens of millions over the next four
years. Hanoi’s Noi Bai will be expanded at
a cost of $5.5bn to accommodate 35m pas-
sengers by 2020. Airports in Singapore and
Kuala Lumpur are to be upgraded too.
Other threats to thriving tourism are far
harder to plan around. Travel operators
tremble at the thought of economic down-
turns, volcanic eruptions and epidemic
diseases. The head of one luxury holiday
company says the regional outbreak of
SARS, a respiratory disease, more than 15
years ago almost brought the industry to its
knees. Political spats between China and
its neighbours are another problem. So too
is the manner in which Chinese visitors
have been vilified in the region for snaf-
fling prawns at buffets, barging into queues
and misbehaving on planes. It makes
many of them feel unwanted. But given
that just 135m of China’s 1.4bn people have
ever travelled abroad, South-East Asian
countries should prepare to welcome
many more Chinese—even when they clog
up the infinity pool. 7
Up and awaySource: ASEAN *ASEANcountriesChinese tourist arrivals in South-East Asia*, m051015202000 02 04 06 08 10 12 14 16N
AJIB RAZAK has finally picked his mo-
ment. On April 7th he dissolved par-
liament, paving the way for a general elec-
tion to be held on May 9th.
The dissolution came just days after a
government agency ordered Bersatu, a po-
litical party founded in 2016 by Mahathir
Mohamad, a former prime minister who is
now leader of the main opposition co-
alition, to suspend activities. The order
was more of an irritation than an extirpa-
tion. Dr Mahathir will continue to blast Mr
Najib, while contesting the claim of the
Registrar of Societies that there were omis-
sions in Bersatu’s paperwork. But it is an in-
dication of how stacked the poll is against
the opposition.
The election is for both the 222-seat na-
tional parliament and assemblies in 12 of
Malaysia’s 13 states. The ruling party, the
United Malays National Organisation
(UMNO), has held onto power for more
than six decades. But its grip is weakening.
At the previous election, in 2013, the ruling
coalition failed to win the popular vote, re-
taining power because of a wildly unfair
electoral system. The leader of the opposi-
tion at the time, Anwar Ibrahim, was sub-
sequently jailed on flimsy evidence for so-
domy, which is a crime in Malaysia.
Racial politics will dominate the poll.
About 69% of the population are either Ma-
lay or members of other indigenous
groups, collectively referred to asbumipu-
tra. About 24% are ethnic Chinese and 7%Indian. The bumiputrahave long been the
beneficiaries of a system of racial prefer-
ences, including easier access to university,
jobs in the civil service and government
contracts, originally intended as tempo-
rary measures to combat their relative pov-
erty. UMNOcasts itself asthe defender of
this system, which has earned it the loyalty
of many Malays.
Whether this quid pro quo will endure
is uncertain. Politicians and pundits whis-
per of a hung parliament. Since the last
election, news of the disappearance of
$4.5bn from a state development fund,
1MDB, has embarrassed the government
and touched Mr Najib himself: almost
$700m entered his personal bank account.
He denies any wrongdoing, saying the
money was a gift, later returned, from an
unnamed Saudi royal.
The fact that Mr Najib managed to keep
his job in spite of the scandal at1MDB
amazes many. The fact that he may win it
back at the election flabbergasts them. But
as 85% of the workforce pay no income tax,
many felt little outrage at the disappear-
ance of state money, reckons Wong Chen, a
politician aligned with Pakatan Harapan
(PH), the opposition coalition. Besides, cor-
ruption allegations also dog some of the
opposition’s most prominent figures, in-
cluding Lim Guan Eng, the head of the gov-
ernment of the state of Penang.
Instead, voters seem most exercised by
the rising cost of living. Higher fuel pricesPolitics in MalaysiaMalay mêlée
KUALA LIPIS
The long-expected election campaign promises to be nasty, brutish and short