The Overseas Chinese Connection: An ASEAN Perspective.

This article focuses on the assimilation of overseas Chinese in economies in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The Chinese culture is dominated by a number of attributes which affect economic organization. One is respect for hierarchical position and leadership. Another is a group or collective orientation, directed particularly to family and local community, but coexisting with a strong sense of national identity and respect for the national leader. The traditional Chinese behavior is regulated by Confucian appeals to good conduct. Reculturization is defined in the context of a new breed of Chinese making inroads back into China as it opens its overseas economy to foreign infusions of capital and technology. These younger generations of Chinese from the ASEAN economies have become citizens in their respective countries. They have the advantage of Western education and exposure to Western technology and management practices which add an extra dimension to their role in connecting with each other. Also, many of these new Chinese have learnt about political sensitivities in multi-ethnic settings and implicitly accept the rule of politics which are often discriminatory toward overseas settlers. The driving force of the reculturization effort is essentially economics rather than social or political factors.