Yasmin's Juliet, the black Romeo and Papa Kassim

When Yasmin Allibhai-Brown played Juliet to a black Romeo in a school play, a long time ago Uganda, I was also there. No, I was not Romeo but acted as one of the invited guests to the 'party' where Juliet first meets Romeo.

It was an excellent production by any standards. The producer and director was an English expatriate teacher known as Joyce Mann, who tried 'integrated casting' as we know it today. What was exceptional about the play was that it was being performed in 1965 and the parents of the children who were acting in it were predominantly Asian. I was wearing my Sikh turban and my 'wife' was dressed in an immaculate sari. I did not challenge Mrs Mann too much - most Sikh women do not wear the sari. There were other races and communities on the stage, all wearing national and traditional costumes. There was also a character wearing the Gandhian 'dhoti' because I remember that he was struggling with it.

It was only when Juliet kissed the black Romeo, that the reaction of the audience went from surprise and acclaim to shock and sheer disgust. Many people could not cope with the reality of Yasmin's role. Had they come to the play expecting that the stage would be thrown into total darkness at that precise moment? Today, over 40 years later, many Indian films still shy away from showing the kissing scene. Clever cinematographic techniques are deployed and in addition many a bus or even a cow happens to pass in front of the lovers at that precise moment. The speed at which the cow or the bus passes to hide the intimate scene has not attracted any protests.

The Mail on Sunday, May 28, 2006 covered Yasmin's story and 'how her family was torn apart by racial prejiudice...'

Yasmin says that she has struggled to figure out 'why my father froze me out of his life forever...'.
I know one thing for certain. Her father, Mr Kassim Damji was actually very proud of her. When I met him at a school function he talked to me about the importance of good education. I told him that Yasmin was in my class. I added that she was very a clever student and that she was doing exceptionally well. He nodded as if saying that he did not need to be reminded about the fact that everyone acknowledged Yasmin's talents.

What went wrong in that simple and honest depiction of what I regard to be one of Shakespeare's best plays? Joyce Mann was an excellent teacher and director and was trying to portray the multicultural nature of the Ugandan society of the time. Is it possible that she misjudged the reaction of her audiences, especially parents? It was only a school play. Should she have spoken to Yasmin's parents in advance? Would any act of censorship have curtailed Mrs Mann's freedom of expression? It is impossible to say even if Yasmin had agreed for the caution to prevail.

Asian parents were confused. Not many years later, my own father refused to send me to study in England - one of his sons had married an European woman after they had met at a university in the Midlands. My father was worried that I would do the same.

Talks around the Barbeque fire

One of the first BBQs this 'summer' saw a number of East African Asians gather around the fire for a long afternoon's partying.

The topics of conversation shifted as more people joined in. These are some of the views that I remember:

1. This, ie the UK, is a great country and there is a lot going for it.
2. The UK is getting boring and problematic. It might be good to move on to another country.
3. People with diverse backgrounds will be thrown out of the UK in 20 to 30 years time.

When I challenged the outspoken exponent of the third view, the concerns seem to centre on how Asian success and prosperity was going to make everyone jealous, only to lead to an expulsion in the same way as Idi Amin expelled Ugandan Asians.

Preposterous as these claims may sound, they reflect, in my view a number of things:

• The Ugandan expulsion 1972 had left deep scars with many of the people who were affected but they have not had the help and support to deal with the issues and in some cases even the trauma they suffered.
• The legal basis on the Asians' status in the UK has still not been understood by many of them.
• Many East African Asians have little or no understanding of the UK Nationality Rules and most of the time their fears are fed by sheer ignorance.

The party guests also showed that there is another type of Asian feeling which is similar to the one I have heard in other parts of the world, especially where the East African Asian migrant has been successful, has accumulated savings and also owns property ranging from a portfolio of investments to the ownership of just the one house that he or she lives in. In their mind 'the good old days' in the UK are long gone. The basic issues that troubles these members of the Asian community is what they consider to be "uncontrolled immigration", crime and disorder and inflation. For them the 'joy of living in the UK is over'. They were quite puzzled by the fact that many hundreds of people still want to come into the UK! As I watched the exponent of this view and the people who agreed with him, one aspect that was very clear was that they were all older people. They had worked hard after coming into the country during one of the two waves of migrations from 1965 to 1972. They were actually too old to leave and unless they had substantial wealth, they were not likely to take risks! However, in their mind life in Canada and Australia seemed to be a more attractive proposition.

There was no mention of the type of action that the new Home Secretary, John Reid might be contemplating to deal with the issues that concerned them. More about this anothere time.

Looking just a few yards across the lawn, one saw a group of young people, mostly highly qualified sons and daughters of the same group which now feels disillusioned with life the the UK. Their minds were on the forthcoming World Cup, professional careers that they want to get into and excel and the businesses they were looking into. They were not there to get depressed. They wanted to have a jolly good time with people they had not seen for sometime. You heard loud shouts and outbursts of laughter.

The end of the BBQ brought the stories of doom and gloom to a close. The started to think about the work they had to get to the next day and a sudden sense of urgency started to grip them as they talked about their long journeys home.

Neither the youngsters nor the older people had tried to exchange views and it was quite clear that apart from a few minutes of polite engagement with the older 'folk', they were quite happy to be with their own lot.

If you are an Asian millionaire, please look away now!

The last few posts have stressed the need for action where East African Asians, the community I know best, have been urged to examine how they can take concerted action on charitable giving in order to make a difference. This is a call for taking a programme approach, based on policies, strategies and action plans aimed at generating long-term impact. It calls for the volunteering of management and organisational skills which have made the communities successful in the first place!

A word of caution, though. The Asian millionaire community in the UK must be already supporting charitable projects. But it is likely that these initiatives are personal and private rather than community based. They are certainly not aimed at leveraging funds from other sources. Private donations have their own place in charitable giving but a better option is to attract more funds to match the Asian pound.

The impact of community wide and organised philanthropy must be achieved sooner rather than later. This post is a challenge, an invitation and a plea - all rolled into one, and in one word - an appeal for joint action.

I am inviting East African millionaires living in the UK to come forward and to discuss the scope for a major and long-term community initiative. They would be placed in control of policy and sponsorship, and I will recruit senior volunteers to respond to their challenge by working on a policy framework and by producing a work programme for extensive scrutiny by 'the donor group'.

My aim is to work with the Asian millionaire community in the UK to get this going. If you have read this far, then you may be converted to working with me. Please email me. kalwant.ajimal@btinternet.com

Missed opportunities? Or is there still time to change?

Kersi Rustomji has outlined how informal or voluntary 'triggers' in the Wahindi leadership has resulted in the provision of some informal charitable giving. There are many successful beneficiaries and this form of support is best seen as an example of successful intervention in 'the donors supply chain'. An informal group or a religious organisation may adopt a given cause and continue to support it with intermittent funding, whilst still noting the qualifications that Kersi makes about lack of trust on the part of the donors and the possible failure on the part of Wahindi leaders to forge alliances with the needy communities.

There is little evidence of a structured and formal approach to charitable functioning even in a country like the UK where funding mechanism is fed by proceeds from the National Lottery and significant funding is 'on offer' where applicants can meet attainable criteria. Wahindi leadership has tended to invest their own and community funds in faith based infrastructure, a necessary and logical need in the early stages of migration. However, there is anecdotal evidence that there is excess capacity in religious buildings and associated provision such as language and religious schools in some faiths, in many towns and cities. In other cases, the motivation of splinter groups and disaffected leaders who have failed to work within shared frameworks is still leading to new investment, most of which is likely to add to the existing surpluses.

What East African Asians need to address with more vigour is to apply their collective energy to deal with mainstream issues - alcohol abuse, family planning, mental health, relationship and bereavement counselling for example. In these cases the beneficiaries are likely to be their own members but more significantly, mainstream communities as well. In practice, experience and observation suggests that the reverse tends to apply. Mainstream health charities - heart, lung, mental health and counselling for example are trying to create provision for South Asian communities by dealing with lay Wahindi leadership which may be failing to come to grips with the issues. In some cases the response is denial - teenage pregnancy does not 'happen in our community' or in others, the responsibility for rehabilitation of offenders lies with the state and local government networks. What the lay leadership needs to create is a framework for Asian professionals - doctors, social workers, dietitians to leverage more funds by using community resources to attract Lottery money.

Wahindi leaders may want to take the first step towards addressing their collective social responsibility by first building compacts within their own communities. They need to win the support of the professional and mostly younger members who bring expertise to the table and may also seek control in order to ensure quality. My personal experience suggests that Wahindi leaders connected with the migrations from the 1960s to 1970s tend to prefer control at the expense of delivery, leaving the younger and more professional drivers of change and delivery highly demotivated and feeling sidelined. However, many of them are now starting to work with mainstream charities and it is hoped that they will be able to secure trust from their own leaders in the future.

Kersi Rustomji comments on 'Shillingi for Recognition'


I am grateful for a response from Kersi Rustomji who writes from Australia. Kersi Rustomji says:

"First my congratulations on a very interesting and what will be a valuable piece in future in the total written material records, that are building around the East African Asians Diaspora.

I was born in Kampala in 1936 but moved with my parents to Mwanza in Tanzania, before I was one year old. I grew up in Mwanza till the age of 9, then after a stint in India settled in Kenya till 1974. I just wish to comment on your Shillingi for Recognition in which you have queried the Indian/Asian attitude to charity toward the indigenous people in East Africa. My childhood and adult experiences are that, in all the three East African countries, it was the Asian community that was in the fore front of charity to the local people. This extended from giving a one cent, centi moja, or hela moja in Tanganyika, to the indigent who came to the houses every Friday, to larger charitable organizations as free dispensaries. My childhood recollections of this in Mwanza, Mombasa and Nairobi is also of the shopkeeper providing the same to the 'maskini,' poor. I knew and know of Asian doctors who assisted gratis at the public hospitals utilized predominantly by the indigenous peoples.Most of these 'public assistance' type of charitable work was carried out on and by 'faith/community' basis rather than a unified Asian/Indian approach. eg Sikhs, Lohanas, Wishas, Arya Samajists, Parsis etc offered these as their own bit of charity responses. This diversified charity behaviour, did not therefore create a whole picture of Asian/Indian charities in the old East African countries. My experience of 2003 in Kenya was that while the remaining Asian/Indian community, offered charitable aid and assistance, it was still somewhat fragmented on faith/community basis rather than a unified Asian/Indian front.However, the unified front sometimes does come to the forefront during catastrophes or crisis on national scale. One of the most common response to my inquiry in Kenya was, that the donors were very conscious of 'magendo' corruption, hence rather cautious of pouring their aid into some of the causes, in large amounts, as transparency was not clear. Many preferred to give aid on personal or communal basis, directly to the causes they supported and trusted. From a national or ethnic basis this may not be the most 'open' charity, but charity does exist, even if not too openly or on very large scale. This is also somewhat true of donating to the previous countries of the Diasporan set, though there are those who do not contribute as they have a strong sense of betrayal..I hope this will be of some assistance to you."

Kersi Rustomji.
Australia.

Kersi Rustomji is the author of an autobiographical work, 'Jambo Paulo, Jambo Mykol'. I hope to provide information on how readers may be able to access it.

Kalwant Ajimal

An East African in New Zealand

The work of Ruth DeSouza, who lives in Waitakere City in New Zealand provides interesting insights into how her past relationship with East Africa has shaped her motivation and dedication to her work in consulting, diversity action and writing. Ruth's book.'Walking upright here' is available from www.lulu.com

When I first arrived in England as a refugee in 1972, owning a television set was a luxury that I could not afford. I was delighted when a relation, who had migrated from Kenya in 1968 (with all his money intact) invited me to watch a television debate between Enoch Powell and Professor George Hines, a distinguished West Indian academic from London University. Powell was arguing, in essence, that success was a product of culture, that of being born into a superior racial grouping. Hines emphasised the role that nurturing and the learning process plays in human development in all cases.

I was reminded of this debate when I was looking at Ruth's website www.wairua.com and the richness of her interest in diversity. I also realised how my own backgound, like Ruth's, was shaped by our exposure to society, life and education in East Africa.

What if Enoch Powell and Idi Amin had been involved in a mentoring relationship? Imagine Idi Amin as Powell's mentee or vice versa.

'No' from Jatania?

Well, I did send a note to Mike Jatania, one of the Jatania brothers, who have been extensively featured in the UK Press for their success in acquiring top, world class consumer brands for their company.

I have not received a reply but being a patient person, I will not jump to any conclusions so soon after contacting them. They have other things to get on with and so ' the man with a blog' can wait.

Forget about the Tebbitt test!

This is one is much more important. This is no game of cricket, seriously. How many East African Asians support charitable causes in the country of their origin? The logical line of enquiry would be to establish which of the three East African countries would they support?

Mostly, they do not prefer to support charitable causes in Africa at all unless there is a major disaster or a special appeal to which they can respond. The term ‘country of origin’ therefore automatically refers to the country of origin of their parents. That is their emotional or spiritual home. It the home that most benefits from charitable giving.

Many would say that there is nothing wrong with making that choice. Hundreds of worthy causes in the Indian Sub-Continent deserve support and indeed they must be helped at all times. The main concern is that the South Asian charitable projects may have unfair advantage over the African ones. The problem arises when East African Asian donors make their choices by using subjective criteria and indeed any one of them would be entitled to challenge this by saying,” I can support any charity I like. Its my money you know?”

Lord Tebbitt’s test of loyalty is hopelessly now out of date. It is no longer interesting to find out which team of cricket an East African Asian migrant would support. It is more significant to find out which country’s charities do the East African Asian support for charitable giving.

Shillingi for Recognition?

"Shillingi'' is the Shilling, the East African measure of currency. In the early 1970s, when most of the Asians were leaving the East African countries of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, 17 Ugandan shillings could be exchanged for £1 Stg.

Asian philanthropy never used to be linked with 'political honours' as the case has been made in the UK during the last few weeks. Instead many of the rich East African Asian families have established their own charitable interests to carry out support programmes for the poor and the sick. In the case of the Madhvanis and the Mehtas, the Ugandan Asian families which build their fortunes by running sugar mills, their philanthropy was visible and well planned. They ran community projects, hospitals and leisure schemes not only for their staff but also for the general public.

I hope to talk to many of the 'new rich' in England. There is one interviewer that the Asians will not be too keen to avoid - me! I am interested in talking to them to bring real human interest stories and their non-businessachievementss to this blog. If I am lucky and they are prepared to trust me, I hope to publish several stories on their philanthropic interests.

Ja Ja Jatania!

The Sunday Times ( April 30th 2006) reported that Unilever, the multinational, “ is close to selling two of its US haircare brands to the Jatania brothers for between £70m and £82m."

The Jatanias are reported to have an ‘ estimated £850m fortune’ and were said to be in talks to add Finesse and Aqua Net to their growing stable of brands. Reports published today, 10th May, suggest that the Jatanias' company Lornamead has now completed these deals.

This is big business at work. The Jatanias continue to attract interest in the media. This blog hopes to bring further information and news relating to the background of the Jatanias as a former East African family. I am interested in writing more about the 'human side' of the Jatania family.

The blog also hopes to feature other former East African Asians involved in running big business in the UK and abroad. Their work and achievements should be an inspiration to many and their response to what may be seen by some of them as a constant erosion of privacy may also be interesting for this blog. However, we cannot repeat the mistakes that the mainstream Press tends to make! I wish I had not thrown away my copy of the Sunday Times Rich List but I will be working hard to trace Asian families included in the List from now onwards.

Besides, there are many East African achievers who have not made it to the list. Their experiences are also important.

Uganda becomes Independent, October 1962.

Uganda became independent when I was thirteen years old. My main recollection of that great event is that of fear, apprehension and caution.

The majority of Asians were very concerned about their safety. The rumour mill had been working incessantly. The worst of their fears were that law and order was going to break down at midnight, when the British flag was going to be lowered for the last time and the Ugandan flag was going to be hoisted. The change of rule was going to result in looting and violence. The Africans would fight amongst themselves but most of the anger would be mainly against the foreigners who would suddenly become objects of hatred. This was the summary of fear based on misinformation.

The vast majority of Asian families stayed at home and listened to the proceedings on radio. I recall long speeches being made. Most of them went over my head. I remember when the Ugandan National Anthem was played and the stadium erupted with resounding cheers of celebration. Uganda was independent. The celebrations had started and we were at home. Then someone thought that they had heard a loud noise outside the house. Everyone tiptoed to the window to have a look – the lights had already been turned off by someone with a presence of mind. There was nothing of concern there, only a lone African man who must have started his celebrations much earlier, judging by his unsteady and slow walk up the hill. He was talking to himself.

It was such a great pity that we did not go to the stadium to see the independence ceremonies. The country had seen that transition without bloodshed and we had missed a unique event. Imagine my disappointment when we heard the next day that many of the Asians who were known to us had gone to stadium as well.

“Wahindi Rudi India”


The word ‘wahindi’ is Kiswahili for people of Hindi background – used in general to describe the Asian community even if they were from other parts of the Indian Sub-Continent such as Pakistan!

In the early sixties, soon after the East African countries became independent from British rule, the Africans started to become hostile towards the Asians. Their resentment showed in simple things like haggling at the fruit and vegetable markets where everyone tried to get the best deal for themselves.

‘Wahindi Rudi India’ simply means ‘Indian, go back to India’. The first time I heard this was when Asian shoppers were haggling at the market. The process had started with goodwill on both sides. The African trader knew what he wanted from the deal but the Asian shopper was also persistent in trying to drive a hard bargain. The bargaining process was interrupted by the African’s taunt,’ Wahindi Rudi India’. The Asian shopper felt disgusted and left the scene and the African did not try to call her back. Resentment against the Asians had been growing but its open display at the market was a shock for me.

Did Asian community leaders ever try to deal with this type of resentment? Did they try to advise their communities on how to modify their dealings with the Africans after independence? What approaches did they use?

Keeping Idi at bay

When Idi Amin announced the expulsion of the Asian community from Uganda the prospect of confronting Idi Amin on a collective basis was never considered. He was trigger happy and dangerous. The only thing one could predict about the man was that he was unpredictable. But it is also known that he had his own fears about many things.

This episode refers to Amin’s visit to a Sikh temple in Kampala. A few members of the Asian community had decided to remain behind even after the majority had left the country. Amin arrived at the temple and asked for the person in charge. People told Amin that the person he needed to see was the caretaker president of the temple and that he was praying at that precise moment. Amin decided to wait. The president’s prayers were soon interrupted by a rather terrified member of the community to inform him that Idi Amin had arrived at the temple. He was waiting downstairs. The president decided to continue and had no plans to interrupt his prayers. After sometime Idi Amin asked how long the prayer was going to take. People tried to calm him down. Amin became impatient and after a reported one hour he left in a huff.

Why did Idi Amin not harm the president of the temple? What was the purpose of his visit? There was some speculation that Amin had come that day to ask for the keys to the temple complex and that he had been talking of plans to turn the temple into a dance hall.

Some interesting challenges

Former Ugandan Asians often talk about their days in that country with strong nostalgic feelings. These discussions go beyond the simple issue of enjoying the sun and dealing with household chores. Ugandan Asians are now quite content with washing their cars, polishing their shoes, ironing their clothes and even killing the spiders in the house. Besides you can find the sun in many other places in the world.

On one occasion when Ugandan Asians were exchanging views on an internet chat list the nostalgia went on rather unchecked, much to the consternation of one participant who used words to the effect "If you guys are so concerned about the welfare of Uganda, why don’t you go back?” He even reminded the group that there was no Idi Amin there who could harm them. Consider the implications of that remark!

Going back to the issue of household chores, one of the most unsettling experiences one recounts is about the treatment of ‘houseboys’ or ‘house servants’. The terminology itself is obnoxious. No person can reach a position that another becomes a ‘servant’ to him or her. Most families treated their domestic workers quite well but on balance some workers received more than their share of poor treatment at the hands of their Asian employers. While there is a need to maintain a due sense of balance and proportion, this issue remains an ugly legacy of what was mostly a productive relationship.

Time for some contentious issues

People in the world of business and economics often work on “what if” analyses. It is all about looking into various scenarios and options to investigate what might happen if given actions or projects could be explored differently to realise the same results using various analyses of risk factors.

My ‘what if’ approach to the East African Asians leaves me with some probing questions, some of these will not be popular, depending on the background of the reader:

What if……

….The East African Asians had demonstrated more unity at the time they experienced hardship? There were fragmented communities and joined at best by religious or cultural allegiances.

….The leadership had been more vigilant and less concerned about their own safety when the community was threatened?

….The Ugandan Asians had tried to block Idi Amin’s threats with a display of common solidarity? People argue that Amin was trigger happy and any attempts to regain respect would have been futile. Really?

….The Asians had maintained a policy of stronger alignment with the British colonial authorities before independence?

….The Asian leadership had worked closely with British Government after independence to prepare a more cohesive platform for managing their relationships with African governments?

….The East African Asian leadership which was largely faith based had tried to win support from their own professional sons and daughters many of whom were historians, psychologists, lawyers and politically aware and sometimes, more capable?

….The faith based leaders had worked more effectively through cross-denominational strategies?

….The professional Asians who could not work with faith based leadership had taken more initiative whilst recognising the deficiencies in the traditional leadership?

….These patterns of fragmented leadership have been replicated in the countries where East African Asians have gone to settle?

The faith based leaders were modest in their aspirations and provided the essential religious and community infrastructure for their communities. They led their institutions mostly quite effectively and in the absence of support from younger and more qualified professionals, they performed remarkably well. They achieved what they had set out to do- to provide places of worship. Perhaps it was unrealistic to expect more from them.

The Rise of the Middle Class

The rise of the Asian middle class is an interesting phenomenon. In the main, the majority of East African Asians tend to fall into this category more easily than any other classification but it has to be noted that the Asian people who came from East Africa to the geographical areas of interest to this blog - namely United Kingdom, Europe, USA and Canada - were a very mixed bunch. Classifying people into socio-economic categories is fraught with difficulties but the Asian middle class does exist! Don’t take my word for it. Can anyone help?

Having made these qualifying remarks, I see the middle class as a strong, economically viable and culturally vibrant people. They work hard and sometimes also play hard. Those who arrived during the waves of migrations from 1968 to 1972 are parents in their 50s and 60s. They have grown up children and many of them are in the professions with the majority of older children working in service industries. Why is this grouping of people interesting? I am afraid you’ll have to wait until I come back to this subject with some views!

A few words of caution

Many of my views are not supported by research or an evidence base. They are a personal view and they apply in their entirety to the East African Asians and no other sections of communities where Asians people from diverse backgrounds have migrated from different parts of the world.

I have made a few generalisations. Despite all these shortcomings, I reckon that my main assertions are valid and do provide hopefully interesting challenge at a time when the contribution of Asian wealth at the top of the United Kingdom’s enterprise economy is receiving more credit and recognition than the aggregate contribution that East African Asians have made by generating and investing billions into the UK economy during the last five decades. I am interested in finding out how East African Asians have been getting on with their lives in other parts of the world, notably USA, Canada and Europe.

Adjustment to new lives

It is important to address the impact of the developments highlighted earlier on Asian family and community life. In the main, East African Asian migration to the new countries resulted in a high level of adaptation. Their success in bringing about this change is not fully recognised. In addition to finding suitable employment, they invested heavily in their childrens' education.

Asian community groups were also founded and many community organisations that were based largely within the religious temples and mosques also began to deal with more accurate provision of support. The temples and mosques played a major role in developing community cohesion and gave birth to new expectations. Many Asians took full advantage of these developments and worked hard on adjusting to their new environments. Their success, in terms of developing a new community order, was far greater than what has ever been researched and recorded.

There is a view ( also not substantiated by proper research) that the relatively high incidence of alcoholism amongst the East African Sikhs, for example, is explained by low levels of self esteem resulting from their inability to find jobs that they would have considered to be worthwhile. It is a credit to hundreds of Sikhs who came to the UK from Kenya in 1968 that they were willing to work in relatively lower level jobs compared to their previous positions in Kenya. There is anecdotal evidence that they all felt under-utilised by the UK job market. It only valued paper qualifications obtained in the UK. Others reported that these jobs also kept them apart - many of the East African Asians did not have the communication and social skills that were valued by British employers. There were articulate and well educated East African Sikhs who were driven to work in factories. What they seemed to lack was the experience of learning to survive and learning to learn in an industrial and commercial economy.

Radical upheavals

In Uganda, there was worse to come. A notorious army general, Idi Amin Dada, who had become popular as an entertainer and as a boxer decided to turn his mind to politics and to do more important things. On one occasion, he opened his speech with words to the effect, “ I am different because I think” he told an audience at Makerere University, the foremost university in Africa. “ I can think,” he repeated. I was in the audience. Then Amin went on to add words to the effect.... “Now when I left home today, I did not know what I was going to say in this very speech, but I am now talking beautifully to you now because I can think” Amin said that he had immense confidence in his capabilities, a factor that put him above others. But what was most important was his ability to think on his feet.

Amin also showed a predisposition to manage Uganda by drawing his inspirations from his dreams. He is said to have reported that he had been visited by God and that only he had been told to take a few urgent actions. Some people explained these outbursts by referring to his increasing discomfort caused by syphilis. Others said that Amin had resorted to dealing with his demons by inventing a unique form of self healing and group therapy – he started to share his traumas publicly. Idi Amin soon expelled around 90,000 Asians after he had reported this dream.
Most East African Asians with relatively good backgrounds and skills made less than welcome career starts in the UK even though many of them were able to transfer their skills to a vast range of jobs and career opportunities. Those who joined the UK civil service had to accept lower level positions. Others worked in industry and commerce and were much valued owing to their experience, their good command of English and their business skills. A few of them progressed to senior supervisory and managerial positions but the majority of older East African Asians have been retiring in careers that they feel had not allowed them to achieve their full potential.

Africanisation and Disillusionment

Many Asians became disillusioned after losing relatively senior positions in the old East African civil service. ‘Status’ is a relative term and in some cases it meant just having a white collar job. East African Asians worked well in low to middle ranking positions that were mostly several grades below their English managers. They rejoiced in the recognition that the managers gave them for turning out high quality and reliable work in secure professions such as the Inland Revenue, Customs and Excise, banking and teaching.

Other East African Asians worked in technical and service industries, where they were either self-trained or trained on-the-job but felt that they had been performing better than their African counterparts. They had held secure positions and had enjoyed advantages from being there first and by forming support networks to help each other.

They did well until the time came when a new word entered the vocabulary –“ Africanisation”. Their coveted jobs were opened up to local Africans and the Asians became victims of unfair competition as they saw it. The loss of jobs meant that the Asians had to leave. In most cases, there was advance notification- the Government just would not renew their work permits.

And now, some very bad news

There is also some bad news. A few Asians have found more comfort in prison. Its free to them and only costs the taxpayer a few bob a week. A tiny number of East African Asians have been caught whilst engaged in commercially fraudulent activities, tax evasion and benefit fraud. Just when does crossing the line become too much? Let us keep this in proportion. It might be more useful to pursue this topic when more accurate and reliable data can be obtained.
Asian communities are appalled to see violent street crimes that involve young Asians. Who can blame them for instantly rejecting the young wayward members of their community? How can you understand their disgust when they see young Asians put on serious charges for an increasingly wide range of offences?

You can never get rid of fear

Many East African Asians who came to Britain had lost their trust in good government and lost their confidence in a constitutionally managed State to such an extent that they also built second homes in the Sub-Continent, just in case there was another expulsion, this time from the UK. The speeches of Enoch Powell had left them in turmoil. Physical attacks on the streets have also made the East African Asians very nervous.

Dealing with some false impressions...

There are also concerns relating to what we do know about those ever-present Asian newsagents and operators of convenience stores who continue to provide tremendous benefits to the communities in which they are based. The average shop unit provides living rooms above and behind the shop. This is where the average Asian newsagent's family has lived - on busy and noisy city streets, in close proximity to street crime, drugs and even vice and most importantly, with no safe playroom for their children.

High street bank managers would also certainly confirm why they consider Asian shop-keepers to be better or safer customers - their labour costs are low as the average Asian family subsidises the business. The storekeeper’s wife, old parents and children all 'pitch in' and do various jobs free of charge. This level of family support makes the business competitive but it does not generate a rightful and proportionate amount of wealth for the family as a whole. It is good for the business balance sheet but not too good for generating self-esteem for the workers who provide free labour. Is this necessary?

It seems that the Asian housewives invariably lose out by not being able to work at a full market rate. Owing to the high cost of childcare, the wives should only have to work in the shops when the children are small. In practice, the housewife continues to support the shop even when the children have gone to school as the business cannot afford to recruit outside help at market rates.

There are some key questions. Does the average East African Asian shop-owner's wife acquire an unhelpful dependency relationship after being held 'captive' in the same shop environment and in many cases the shop is the only workplace they know where the husband provides minimal training, and even that only under pressure. On the other hand, does the opportuntiy to work in the shop provide lessons and skills that can be transferred to toher sections of the UK economy?

Also, many newsagents and owners of food stores do break out of this cycle of dependence on the extended family and make substantial progress to be able to buy shop no 2, 3 and 4... Others have made enough progress to separate their businesses from their personal lives and are able to buy homes in better parts of the town or are able to move to more affluent boroughs. The shop front amy also become a mask for other businesses. Many Asian shop owners trade in stocks and shares on a regular basis. Others get involved in property development. It is remarkable that East African Asians have been able to move into more challenging and profitable lines of business after making a start in retailing.

The emergence of the next generation of Asian shopkeepers from Sri Lanka, South India and Bangladesh also merits exploration. These entrepreneurs saw their marketing catchment areas differently in many ways. Some comparisons would provide useful and continue to endorse the value of Asian business acumen.

However, there are other positive outcomes in the lives of Asian who came from Uganda, for example, but the benefits are not quantified in the language of wealth. The Ugandan Asians who fled from Idi Amin's atrocities soon realised that they could enjoy a good night's sleep in a secure and safe environment. They realised probably for the first time in their lives that their civic rights were protected and even guaranteed. Their investments were secure and no one was going to nationalise their business at short notice, or worse, at no notice! Also the Asians were not going to be forced to run shops but only as long as they did so in the rural areas, where conditions were harsh and markets were tiny. Government officers and politicians in African countries made those decisions for the Asians; the rural areas needed supplies and commerce but rural Africans did not have capital and experience to start viable retail businesses which also offered a wide choice!

To me, it is more satisfying that a whole generation of children born to Ugandan Asian parents are making much better use of their parents' freedom and voting rights in a country with a respected democratic tradition. This is much more significant to some than any bid that Mr Mittal makes for a steel company or how many drug companies are owned by Asian pharmacists.

But there is some bad news for the Asian newsagent. In many cases his children do not want to carry on working in the shop anymore. Many hundreds of children have enjoyed access to good British education and are now in the forefront of various professional careers, others have acquired marketable skills for working in the professional markets and service industries, and yet many others have gone on to set up new businesses, not as newsagents but as entrepreneurs in non trading environment, in the new cultural economies also, using internet technologies to sell.

Asian children are making changes

The children of the early migrants seem to want to "breakout of the family mould" and start their own lives where possible, but along very different lines. They want to be independent and adventurous. Newly married daughters-in-law are seeking early exits from the perceptively prying eyes and sometimes disastrously toxic presence of their domineering mother-in-laws. On the other hand, young Asian couples are also facing the same prospect of coping with high property values and having to learn to manage their personal finances without becoming riddled in debt that is offered by the same credit card companies and easy loan schemes which may have impoverished their non-Asian neighbours.

Very few Asian parents want their sons to leave home. At the same time, the sons do not see this type of dependence on their parents to be an issue. The coexistence can be explained away by using powerful constructs from culture. Indeed, while there are hundreds of success stories of the Asian extended family system, there are also many notable problems.

The first majority choice


A fundamental choice that early East African Asian migrants had to make was about where they wanted to live. The majority chose to live near family and friends and in the process bought or rented houses mostly in the less affluent parts of British towns and cities. With a few exceptions, they are probably still living there thirty or so years later. The majority of Asian families are not much different as far as their capacity to earn a living from a fairly narrow range of jobs and occupations is concerned. They own the same types of houses and work the same long hours as most of their neighbours but what seems to make them visible may be their attitude towards enjoying the material comforts of life and their practice of the sharing of family wealth. This may also sometimes explains their distinct patterns of spending.

The large and extended family structures of the past are proving to be unsustainable. They are rapidly breaking down. Only about 20 years ago young adults, mainly sons, stayed at home when they got married. This was also seen as a demonstration of their respect for the family values that were articulated by their parents. While they were able to cope with the loss of personal freedom and privacy as a result of their decision to remain under the direct control of ageing parents, many are recognising that the cost of raising their own children and paying for their education has spiralled. Until only a few years ago, an 'average' Asian family from East Africa also had notably different views about their children's choice of leisure and employment. For example working in the local McDonald's or Tesco stores was regarded as menial and a low level employment. This type of work was considered to seriously erode the family's image in the eyes of the tribe or 'clan' and even other Asians in their neigbourhood.

Let us be positive.. But also realistic

I estimate that business and financial success of only the top 20 to 30 Asian families has produced individuals and families with 'very high' net worth. However, there are several critical aspects about wealth creation that are not always apparent or have not received serious interest from research organisations. I think this an important area for research but I am not aware of any institution or individual who has made the wealth of East African Asians a serious subject of study. Who should be carrying out the research and for what purpose? How will it help in understanding the success of a small number of East African Asians? Why are the lessons important? To whom?

The Sunday Times Rich List

The Sunday Times newspaper publishes a Rich List, an interesting publication which has provided regular insights into the prosperity of a small number of very rich East African Asians who have made it into the list. Before I became interested in producing an analysis for this blog, I used to throw away my copy of the Rich List. Why should I waste my time by drooling over the wealth of other people? How is this going to make a difference to my life?

One of the issues that interest me now is: The Sunday Times Rich List provides
up-to-date information of the emerging wealth of East African Asians. Assuming one accepts the Sunday Times writers' criteria for measuring and updating wealth, how do the people who are featured in the list actually feel? How many lay people, charities and potential business collaborators are actually driven to make contacts with the people in the list? One would imagine that the publication of every list must result in a wide range of unsolicited contacts. Is this a good use of the list? Is it a fair use of the list? How do the rich feel and respond? Where the rich receive requests for charitable donations, how many of them actually support requests to fund the various causes?

To be fair, how many of the East African Asians in the Rich List have their own schemes or have registered their own organisations for supporting their preferred charitable causes in British society today? Should we leave the concern for philanthropy to them, after all it is their choice how they use their money. The answer to this is not as clear-cut as it may appear on first reading. Does success produce a responsibility for the less advantaged sections of the community?

Success may also be a problem!

It is not often realised that stories of success of East African Asians may also have negative outcomes. While some of the following assertions may sound academic or unrealistic, a number of questions do arise, such as:

• Is there a danger that the East African Asian could become a target for hatred or jealousy? Success does not appeal to everyone.
• Asian wealth is not uniformly shared amongst all sections of the community. Asian affluence exists alongside Asian poverty, but this fact does not appear to attract attention.
• Questions relating to distribution of wealth do not seem to be challenged.
• East African Asians have a unique propensity to make vast fortunes- this may also create the impression for some people that they are making the fortunes that they do not deserve.
• The Asian community is fully self-sufficient and may not need external support in terms of welfare. Are the Asians deserving of various sources of external support such as programmes funded by the National Lottery, projects run by mainstream charities and indeed, ongoing support from government agencies?

There is a need to examine what may be called the “The East African Asian Dilemma”. More about this later.

Why is success important?

East African Asians may take pride in making such assertions about success. The achievements of some of their contemporaries in the business arena, for example, is a clear indicator of their hard work and perseverance. For many East African Asians, the mere confirmation of the resounding success of other Asians is a clear motivator. If one individual or group can succeed under the conditions that prevail in the UK market, others can! For yet another type of East African Asian, the success of the early arrivals in the UK also provides critical lessons to learn from. How did a particular entrepreneur do so well in his market? What did he do right? What did the person do wrong? Clearly these lessons are important for any new aspiring Asian who wishes to work in the same markets, say, pharmaceuticals, hotels, retailing and wholesaling.

Asians have also done well in the professions and the success of the emerging Asian middleclass is also seen as a testimony to the same work ethic that led to the celebration of the success of millionaires.