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Just a few months ago, Asian leaders were confident that their economies would be able to withstand the financial storm that blew from the West.

Lessons learnt from the Asian crisis a decade ago had prepared their economies, with healthy foreign reserves ready to buffer against external crises.

But Singapore, Japan and Hong Kong are already in recession, Taiwan and South Korea are teetering on the edge, and China is slowing fast.

Already hundreds of factories have closed down and thousands were laid off. How will Asia ride out this economic downturn?

This episode of 101 East aired from Thursday, December 18, 2008.