First, Japan, the biggest Asian economy and the one which had been the main driving force, fell back into a period of very slow growth at the beginning of the 1990s. Second, the Asian crisis which started in mid-1997 and lasted for about 18 months, severely dented many people’s confidence in Asia’s future.
1  For those who are not, the relevant references are “The War Diaries of Weary Dunlop”, Penguin, 1990, and “Weary: The Life of Sir Edward Dunlop”, Sue Ebury, Penguin, 1995. 2  Sir Laurens van der Post refers to him in his book “The Night of the New Moon”.