Asia: Future Shock by Michael Blackman

"Asia: Future Shock" by Michael Blackman is a book that tries to look into trends in various Asian countries that will most likely affect the future of these countries. Michael Blackman is a name already known to many Malaysians because of several articles he wrote for overseas dailies which did not speak well of the events happening in this country.

However, it's not just Malaysia. In several Asian countries, the governments curtail freedom in various ways. Most notably, there is no free access to the internet and where there is sometimes limited access, there is already heavy censorship. He also discusses the governmental controls over other forms of media, notably the newspapers. In Malaysia he has only not-so-good things to say about our government's policies which he believes is curtailing foreign direct investments (FDI) into the country. Blackman's contentions are often backed by figures and statistics.

To some extent, the book is like Alvin Toffler's "Future Shock." But Michael Blackman is a futurist of another sort. He does not predict future trends on technology like Toffler does. Instead, he talks about possible future scenarios for these countries based on what he sees now.

It's a very interesting read, as all my friends who have read this book have told me.