100 things you never knew about SE Asia

13. The Dutch traded Manhattan Island for a spice island in Indonesia

8. Thailand was the first country on Earth to enter the Bronze-Age 3,600 bc, the site at Ban Chang has the oldest Bronze artifacts on Earth. Thai Bronze was superior in quality to the much later Mesopotamian Bronze and the Thais taught the Chinese how to make bronze.

I don't know the exact details but I remember I've read that this allegedly oldest Bronze Age site was disputed and more recent datings were suggested.

Originally posted by Omar al Hashim 13. The Dutch traded Manhattan Island for a spice island in Indonesia

That's not true, Manhattan (or rather the entire New Netherlands) was traded for Suriname.

14.THE largest undivided leaf in the world, Alocasia macrorrhiza, comes from Sabah,Malaysia. A specimen found in 1966 was 3.02 metres long and 1.92 metres wide.

16. Open House Tradition. The open house or rumah terbuka tradition is unique to Malaysia. The open houses are usually held during major festivals and celebrations like the Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Chinese New Year and Deepavali.

Originally posted by Paul 3. Malaysia runs the last apartied system in the world. Chinese and Indian Malays are considered second class citizens and descriminated against by the law. They are denied education by quotas and economic rights.

Malaysia's situation is complex. It's not clear-cut like the Apartheid system (where blacks can't walk in white areas and can't vote freely in elections). The Malaysian racial policy stems from the fact that, after independence, Malays, who mainly lives in rural areas, were the disadvantaged in society, compared to Indians and Chinese. Then successive UMNO governments put in laws giving ethnic Malays, as "natives" or "sons of the soil" preference in education, employment and so on. On the other hand, Malaysia has freedom of religion and freedom of speech (well, compared to, say, Vietnam...), and there's no major outbreak of racial conflicts. There's no racial segregation or overt hostility between ethnic Malays, Chinese or Indians.
Such a system is bound to have critics,  especially now that Malays is no longer the disadvantaged ethnic group they were 40 years ago, which is why you see so many people supporting Anwar now.


Edited by Voskhod - 12-Oct-2008 at 03:34

Originally posted by Voskhod Originally posted by Paul 3. Malaysia runs the last apartied system in the world. Chinese and Indian Malays are considered second class citizens and descriminated against by the law. They are denied education by quotas and economic rights. Malaysia's situation is complex. It's not clear-cut like the Apartheid system (where blacks can't walk in white areas and can't vote freely in elections). The Malaysian racial policy stems from the fact that, after independence, Malays, who mainly lives in rural areas, were the disadvantaged in society, compared to Indians and Chinese. Then successive UMNO governments put in laws giving ethnic Malays, as "natives" or "sons of the soil" preference in education, employment and so on. On the other hand, Malaysia has freedom of religion and freedom of speech (well, compared to, say, Vietnam...), and there's no major outbreak of racial conflicts. There's no racial segregation or overt hostility between ethnic Malays, Chinese or Indians. Such a system is bound to have critics,  especially now that Malays is no longer the disadvantaged ethnic group they were 40 years ago, which is why you see so many people supporting Anwar now.

good explanation.

21. Polynesians are South East Asians.

22. Madagascar speaks an Austro-Indonesian language and was conquered by sailors comming from Indonesia 2000 years ago.

23.The Association of Southeast Asian Nations,commonly referred to as ASEAN, is a geo-political and economic organization of 10 countries located in Southeast Asia, which was formed on August 8, 1967 by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Its aims include the acceleration of economic growth, social progress, cultural development among its members, the protection of the peace and stability of the region, and to provide opportunities for member countries to discuss differences peacefully

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASEAN

24. The smallest country in South East Asia is Singapore..

correction:


28. The Philippines has the longest running communist insurgency in SE Asia.