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PANIC '97: Indonesians rushed to buy food as the rupiah sank

Ten years ago a financial typhoon known as the Asian Crisis smashed into Bangkok. Over the next 15 months it swept through Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong and Seoul. Tens of thousands of people lost their jobs. Others paid a higher price. Hundreds of Indonesian Chinese, accused by rioters of being accomplices to a corrupt regime, lost their lives or were raped in the violence that accompanied the ouster of Indonesia's long-serving autocrat Suharto. Abandoned half-built buildings throughout Asian cities stood as mute reminders not only of the shattered hopes of many an empire builder but also those of ordinary workers...

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