Regional Geography

This video of the rice farming in Thailand shows exactly how hard the rice planting truly is. Here it shows them bending over hour after hour sticking rice plants into the shallow pools. Here in Thailand most of the planters are women. Agriculture is considered the women's job here and have to do all this work themselves. After seeing this it truly is hard work for the mass production of the rice fields so they have a way to export most of this rice they are planting.

Inspirational video, as i see a group of young men who inspire to be one of the greatest fighters to come out of the Philippines. Its a very good story and for them to have this dream to make it out with boxing its very aspiring to anyone who has a dream to become a doctor,  scientists, basketball player or anything. Its all about hope and this young men have that. Escaping poverty is difficult and very tough and one day we hope to see many more good fighters from all across the globe to represent their countries just like Manny Pacquiao did.

i think this a great for a whole country of young men can have a great roll model like manny to model themselves after, what is best about this is that he got great doing somthing that is still important to their culture. he also never forgot where he came from and still have great influence in culture and politics of his home.

This article touches on something I've always thought about when considering tourism and development. Many of the cities and places I like to visit I go to because of there charm and lack of robust tourism culture. This is a bit of a dual edged sword. Cities and countries stand to gain considerable wealth from the expansion of their tourism industry. But, part of me wonders if something else is also lost. 

Due to rapid pace of political change in the last year tourists and foriegn investors are flooding into Myanmar. The country went through 50 years of brutal military rule and isolation that has left them stuck in time. What has been so heartbreaking for the people of Myanmar has is they same thing that makes it attractive and appealing to tourists and brings them now pouring in. Many of the tourists like it there because it hasnt been "ruined" by corporations and fast food chains yet.  

(Southeast Asia topic 9 [independent topic 1])

Myanmar (aka Burma) might end up being the next 'hidden gem' that ends up being scratched by over-visitation and over-westernization. However, this is by no means set in stone (no pun intended...).  Just as locals don't want to spread word about their favorite swimming hole, many past visitors and some locals hope that they can maintain that which keeps Myanmar unique. On the other hand, the welcoming of change offers the lure of increased tourism revenue and further globalization to an area recovering from isolationism. In my opinion a balance should be reached, in which local culture is properly maintained while modest introduction of foreign culturals is done in an as-necessary, beneficial-majority-proven basis.

Yet another collection of pictures I'm scooping, but this time there's over 100 of them! Getting a western view into the insulated society of Burma is a rare opportunity, this shows some interesting pastimes such as Water buffalo surfing, but also things of major cultural significance, such as the importance of Buddhism.

This article depicts the differences and the little things that we in the USA take for granted for instance in this case it is a cd that is known as the "Western" type of misc and mass media culture that has been transported in this Burmese society.  It truly is the little things such as the Robbie Williams CD that is being depicted as not only the Western musical society but also being grouped with Bob Marley songs that would depict from the Burmese translation the Western society. And even though the people in this society don't know what the lyrics mean they can still be moved by the melody.  

I found the fact that the government of Burma banned certain music, it seems like an odd thing to refuse the people of the country, but we forget that it is the small things that we take for granted in the US, that are seen as luxuries in other parts of the world and that is an interesting idea to wrap your mind around.

(Southeast Asia topic 3)

This video offers valuable insight into the difference between what is meant to be seen and what else there is to see. "The Capital" really does seem like a fantasy world to me: isolated, decorated, and devoid of many inhabitants. As the title suggests, it's like marketing Disneyland as the typical American city. I was also surprised by how despite the low population in the capital city, a huge infrastructure exists as if a major influx of people were planned to have arrived by then. This can be a lesson on how even at the national level, some can talk the talk but not walk the walk, and how some things can look good 'paper', but not when reality hits.

Naypyidaw is the capital for the Junta and not the people of Burma. I find it troubling that even when officials come to visit Burma, they are given a tour that is heavily censored and hides them from people so they are not allowed to give their honest opinion of the Junta. The secretariat general of the UN is quickly whisk from place to place that the government approves and can manipulate to fit what they want the image they want to portray. 

by moving the capital to the center of the country it is symbolic of the capital being accessable to the whole country and that the capital is equally concerned with everyone. 

Burma is an area where the identity of the people has been muddled. This is an election that signals the people of Burma acting to clarify their needs through free and fair elections. Democracy is a powerful tool in regards to expressing the voices of the people. Aung San Suu Kyi is now the face of that voice.

This video explains that today the nation of Burma is at the cusp of change. This nation long oppressed by its government now stands to usher in a system of democracy and bring with it a hope of improving the lives of it's citizens. Sadly uplifting events are far and few between today but also long as people such as this aspire to bring change and better things for themselves and their families change can happen. Hopefully the people actually are able to achieve this level of freedom they seek and won't simply end up with a new brand of oppression.  

It's easy to forget that for most of history, even the greatest of empires were subject to the whims of the climate. The ability to survive in places where humans really shouldn't thrive is only a recent development thanks to technology, but a drought is something the mightiest army can't fight, and all the wealth in the world will not stop, without the right technology.

(Southeast Asia topic 10 [independent topic 2])

Naturally, that which fails to adapt to its environment will not survive. Such was the likely fate of Angkor. But was this early industrial area the cause of its own drought demise? I'll answer this question with another modern one: Are booming metropolises of today having an impact on their environment? Look at the American Southwest, where the booming populations of Las Vegas and Phoenix, and the water use that goes along with it, are slowly sucking dry Lake Mead. Though in both cases the climate is becoming drier itself, adaptations could be the remedy. Just as the inhabitants of Easter Island caused their own demise as well, it truly pays to learn from the past and take proactive precautions to prevent such worse-case scenarios. Luckily today there is knowledge to do such that, and now the issue goes to getting that message acknowledged and acted upon.

This reminds me of the theories as to why Easter Island fell. Although what many people know of Easter Island is the giant heads, there was once a flourishing civilization in the area but many scholars theorize that they deforested the island to a point that they ran out of resources and had to flee to survive.