RETURNING to the islands triumphantly is the dream of everyone who's been away for any length of time. But when your homecoming is forced by money and madness, the joy in touching down again on Hawaiian soil is muted. Not a joyful
homecoming
from AsiaAnd that's why Ron Mullers had bittersweet emotions in getting himself and his family back to Honolulu.
The Kalani High alumnus had left the islands in 1978 to boost his career in Indonesia. He was a food and beverage man, having worked in Waikiki's fine dining scene, including the peak years of the Hawaiian Regent's Third Floor restaurant.
"The competition was tough here in Hawaii, everyone is so akamai," said the 44-year-old entrepreneur. "In an underdeveloped country; it's like being in the land of the blind where one eye is king."
He married a few years after his arrival in Jakarta, and soon his business dealings began to zoom.
He brought over the American franchise concept, opening Pizza Hut, Dairy Queen and other fast-food restaurants that eventually totalled 50 outlets with 3,000 employees.
He lived in a sprawling estate home with seven servants, and entertained visiting Hawaii buddies with excursions to luxury men's clubs and upscale karaoke.
"Like everyone else, I thought the growth potential and opportunities would never end," he said. But then came the day when economic dominoes began falling in Asia.
The financial crisis that began in Thailand in July 1997 soon engulfed nearly every other Southeast Asian country. Indonesia was one of the hardest hit.
Its currency began a freefall, and when the rupiah hit rock bottom in eight weeks' time, it was worth only one-seventh of its previous value. And that meant Mullers' fortunes were wiped out on paper.
"It was total panic... everybody panicked. You think, 'How do you get out of this financial mess?' " he recalled.
Anti-government protests soon erupted, and then the violence turned even uglier.
RAMPAGING crowds began targeting the dominant ethnic group in commerce, and Mullers hurriedly hustled his family out before lawless mobs moved in.
"For him, it's OK because he's white," said wife Iin, "but because I'm Chinese he didn't want us to be there."
Chinese businesses were burned to the ground, and Chinese women became the targets of gang rapists.
"One of our employees' relatives was raped eight times and she got crazy, and now she's in a mental institution," said Iin.
Ron regularly flies back to Asia to check on his remaining and new business interests. Among other things, he's now involved in the development of putt-putt golf courses, hoping to get customers out on the artificial greens in places from Germany to China.
But his wife and two daughters are staying put in Honolulu for now.
"Since it's still very unstable, it's safer for them to be here," said Mullers. "We always had it in the back of our minds to come back to the islands, but this forced the issue a lot sooner. It's good to be back home."
Dalton Tanonaka is a veteran print and broadcast
journalist who's worked in Hong Kong, Japan, the
mainland and Hawaii. He can be reached by
e-mail at tanonaka@aol.com