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China's democratic revolutionary leader Sun Wen, China's advocate of market reform Deng Xiaoping, former Taiwanese president Lee Teng-hui who led Taiwan's economic development, Singapore's founder Lee Kwan Yew, former Philippine president Corazon Aquino, former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-Shing.
What do these prominent figures, who are of different nationalities and characters, have in common? All of them carry in their veins the blood of the Kejia people, the best merchants in China's history. The Kejia once prospered in the center of China, but about a thousand years ago they began to migrate to Sichuan, Guangdong, and Fujian, taking flight from natural disasters and persecution for their support of the wrong leaders. But in their new homes in China they were still subject to the jealousy and hatred of the locals. They then marched on to various corners of the world, bringing with them their enterprising spirit.
In India, the local version of the Kejia are the Marwaris, merchants who started in the Marwar region of Rajasthan, a desert area of the northwest. This region has produced as many as 10 Indian billionaires (in U.S. dollar terms), including Lakshmi Mittal, the fifth richest man in the world. Why have so many billionaires come from this region? Visit their native place and you can find the explanation easily. There is very little rain in Marwar, and very little vegetation grows on the vast plains. Due to the extreme shortage of water, what few trees scattered here look like dwarf potted plants. The locals have to walk dozens of kilometers to fetch water, and the most precious asset in each house is a water tank. Mehta, the chairman of the Marwari Society, said, "Because we couldn't do farming, we had to do business."
It often seems that merchants and other motivated people are born from the worst conditions. A tough and barren environment provides them with the determination to find enormous success.
Nevertheless, the axiom that adversity is the catalyst for success doesn't always hold true. One of our favorite sayings is "When one door shuts, another opens." But this proverb is actually a shortened version of "When one door shuts, the situation changes. And the changed situation leads to another door opening." Very few good things in life remain unchanged.
Change prompts innovation, and by innovation we don't mean one-off happy accidents. Jack Welch, the former chairman of GE, the world's largest company, said, "Corporate innovation is not about how much a company has changed compared with a year or two ago, but about how fast it can adapt to external changes." In a similar way, we can also attribute the success of the Kejia and the Marwaris to innovation.
Many people worry that South Korean enterprises are slipping. Even Samsung Electronics, one of our most admired companies, has been reporting worsening results. The country is faced with many external adversities, such as high oil prices, artificially low foreign currencies and offensives from overseas companies. The people have no choice but to rely on how quickly our enterprises can adapt to rapid changes, how quickly they can innovate -- just as the Kejia and the Marwaris overcame adversities through innovation. Ironically, this is a good time to show how innovations can be implemented against those who only talk about innovation, but never play their role.
The column was contributed by Lee In-yul, the Chosun Ilbo's correspondent in New Delhi.
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