Asia's Good Times at Risk

Illustration for TIME by Nilanjan Das

The muslim holiday of Hari Raya, the final days of Ramadan, is usually a joyous time in Malaysia. The offices of Kuala Lumpur's skyscrapers empty as Malaysians travel to their home villages to celebrate with family and friends. But this year is different. As Ahmad Mustapha, a 48-year-old banker, boarded a bus in Kuala Lumpur with his wife and two children to visit his parents, all he could think about was what might happen to him and to his country when he returned to work. After Wall Street's U.S. stock swoon on Sept. 29 and Washington's inability to pass...

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