In the past year, the financial crisis which engulfed southeast Asia in 1997 spilled out into the streets, toppling Indonesia's President Suharto after 32 years in power, and undermining the region's other long-serving leader, Dr Mahathir Mohamad of Malaysia.
In these two countries the economic turmoil provoked an unprecedented battle between the patronage style of government, which tolerated cronyism and corruption, and the forces of democracy and reform. In Indonesia it was bloody.
The tropical archipelago of 200 million people began the year in deep crisis. The rupiah had been crumbling for six months, despite a $40 billion aid package from the International Monetary Fund. On January 22nd the currency crashed to a fifth of its 1997 value. Indonesia stopped servicing foreign debt. As food prices escalated, so did social tensions.
Mobs attacked shops owned by ethnic Chinese in Central Java. Idealistic students begin a campus campaign for reforms and, daringly, for Suharto to step down.
In March the IMF delayed the disbursement of funds as the ageing-president stalled on reforms to protect his family's business interests, but Suharto was still re-elected president for a seventh five-year term by the 1,000 hand-picked member of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR).
Rioting in provincial towns broke out after fuel prices were raised by 71 per cent. Poverty and unemployment became widespread. Tourism collapsed, leaving luxury hotels in Bali and other resorts empty.
On May 12th police shot dead four student protesters in Jakarta and the simmering anger of the people erupted. Two days later the capital was engulfed in rioting and looting which left 1,200 people dead, mostly in burning buildings.
An official inquiry later established that Lieut-Gen Prabowo Subianto, Suharto's son-in-law, was linked to the violence, and that Chinese women were systematically raped during the unrest.
Students occupied parliament and on May 21st, with his closest allies deserting him, the president resigned, handing power to his protege and vice president, BJ Habibie. The army backed Habibie on constitutional grounds. After a lull of a few weeks demands that Suharto be tried for corruption began to grow.
On September 7th students resumed their protests, with calls for Habibie to step down. On November 10th an MPR special assembly session began in parliament to consider limited reforms. On the third day, now known as "Black Friday", 15 student protesters were shot dead by police and soldiers as they attempted to reach the parliament.
The MPR passed 12 reform decrees, partly meeting students' demands. General elections were set for June, the military's role was to be progressively reduced, future presidents were limited to two five-year terms and Suharto investigated for corruption. But religious tensions in a country where a Muslim majority lives alongside a minority of other religions such as Christianity and Hinduism, were now feeding off the political unrest.
A week later over a dozen people died in Jakarta as Muslim mobs attacked Christian churches, leading to retaliation by Christians against mosques.
In neighbouring Malaysia, which in 1998 slipped into recession for the first time in 13 years, pro-reform elements took heart from events in Indonesia, and saw an opportunity to move against Prime Minister Mahathir, who had been in power for 18 years. However Malaysia, unlike Indonesia, had not suffered a financial catastrophe, it remained relatively prosperous, education levels were high and political and legal bodies well established.
These institutions were to come under strain as the year progressed and the crisis took a bizarre turn. The catalyst was tension between Dr Mahathir and his Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, Anwar Ibrahim.
In May Mr Anwar called for an end to cronyism, nepotism and corruption in a thinly-veiled challenge to his leader, and in June his allies repeated the call at a meeting of the ruling United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) youth wing. Dr Mahathir countered with charges that Anwar's relatives benefited from government contracts, and began to undercut his deputy.
On June 24th he gave adviser Daim Zainuddin the economic portfolio, and shortly afterwards forced out newspaper editors and a television chief close to his rival. On September 1st Dr Mahathir announced radical currency controls to contain speculation. These were opposed by Mr Anwar and on September 2nd he was sacked. Mr Anwar, claiming he was the victim of a conspiracy, toured the country to promote a reformasi (reform) movement.
On September 19th his adopted brother and a former speechwriter were given six months for being sodomised by Anwar, setting the scene for a sex and corruption trial against the former minister. On September 20th Anwar was arrested after leading thousands of supporters in a protest calling for the resignation of Dr Mahathir, who accused Anwar of inciting Indonesian-style riots to topple him. Police with water cannon broke up peaceful protests in Kuala Lumpur.
On September 29th Anwar appeared in court with a black eye and pleaded not guilty to five corruption and four sodomy charges. He said police beat him and denied him medical attention. Leading world figures condemned the treatment of Anwar, whose trial began on November 2nd.
The trial was a sensation in Malaysia, with police accused of beatings, psychological torture, lying under oath and coerced confessions. It also isolated Dr Mahathir internationally, with US Vice president Al Gore, in Kuala Lumpur for an Asia-Pacific conference, insulting him publicly at a dinner on November 16th by backing reformasi in Malaysia.
Like President Habibie, Dr Mahathir is still in power going into 1999, but few observers give short odds on either surviving the forces of change in the coming months, or being around to lead their countries into the new millennium.