Most stress in Vietnam, least in Taiwan
SINGAPORE - Vietnam is the most
stressful country to live and work in Asia for
expatriates, while the least stressful is Taiwan, the
Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC) said.
``Many of the causes of stress can be boiled down to a
bureaucracy that views itself as the ultimate defender of
an ideology that is under attack on all sides,'' PERC
said of Vietnam in its latest fortnightly report, received
by Reuters on Tuesday.
Frustration at the complexity of corporate life, the slow
pace of progress and the frequent changes of legislation
were among the major sources of stress in Vietnam, it
said.
Taiwan, though politically isolated, marched to a
different drummer from the rest of Asia with its solid
economy and was the least stressful place in Asia in
1998, PERC said.
``Taiwan was one of the few places in Asia where
stress levels have fallen in the past 12 months,'' it said.
The findings were based on a survey of expatriates
which asked them to rate the countries in which they
lived, and received more than 600 responses.
Expatriates in Taiwan were feeling more comfortable
with their situation than any other expatriates in Asia,
PERC said.
``In fact, Taiwan stood out like a sore thumb in our
survey.''
But the island could experience a jump in stress levels in
the near term, depending on the government's efficiency
in helping companies and banks and reducing the
public's fears of more scandals.
Vietnam was followed by South Korea, Indonesia and
Thailand, China, India and Malaysia on the stress scale.
In terms of the increase in stress levels, Indonesia and
Malaysia topped the list due to political and economic
instability, and keeping stress to manageable levels
would be a big added expense for most companies in
Indonesia, PERC said.
However, South Korea and Thailand, which tried to
keep problems hidden a year ago, were implementing
genuine reform programmes faster than other troubled
countries, PERC said.
The stress for expatriates in China and India came from
their immensely rich cultures which tend to be
exclusionary.
The annual survey by PERC was conducted among 12
Asian countries. It was first conducted in 1996.
The Philippines were the second least stressful place to
live after Taiwan, mainly due to a more settled political
situation. It was followed by Japan, Singapore and
Hong Kong.
The overall stress of living in Asia is receding as people
living in the region had a better understanding of the
hard slog ahead than they did a year ago, PERC said.
Businessmen in Singapore, it said, had suddenly
awakened to the fact that the city state was not as
stable and risk-free as it was often assumed, while
Hong Kong had been caught almost completely off
guard by its vulnerability to developments elsewhere in
the region.
``People have come to accept the reality of the
difficulties and the recognition or acceptance has
reduced stress levels,'' it said.
Reuters - December 15, 1998.
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