If someone can afford and acquire new parts for JDM cars, and get a remapped ECU, then they may be better than local cars. As it stands however, for a person on a budget, a PKDM Suzuki can't be beaten.
I don't really get why people hate Pak Suzuki with such venom though. My family has had two brand new Suzukis in the past decade: '00 Khyber and '04 Cultus, and they both were great. The Cultus is still with us, used and abused thoroughly, with 310k km on the clock. It has never overheated either, and has always had its fan on auto. Quality can't be all that bad, can it?
If maintained properly (not from ustaads), a Suzuki will last much longer than a used JDM. Its maintenance will also be much cheaper.