Innholdsfortegnelse for 2/2021 i ASIAN Geographic

Decades later, controversy still surrounds the family. From the truth behind his military career in World War II (WWII), to his corrupt dealings, to Imelda’s plundering of the country’s money for designer clothes and jewellery, let’s examine the Marcos years and how he fell from grace, facing an overwhelming public revolt that led to his expulsion from the country, and the subsequent rise of the Philippines. BEGINNINGS OF THE Marcos Dynasty FERDINAND Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr., known simply as Ferdinand Marcos, was a Filipino politician, lawyer, and kleptocrat who served as the 10th President of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He adopted “Constitutional Authoritarianism” under the New Society Movement, which essentially allowed him to rule as a dictator under martial law from 1972 until 1981 and keep most of his…

One of the 20th century’s most brutal and radical dictators, Cambodia’s Marxist leader Pol Pot tried to take Cambodia back to the Middle Ages and forced millions of people from the cities to work on communal farms in the countryside. His regime, known as the Khmer Rouge, lasted four years from 1975 to 1979 and by some estimates, took the lives of over two million people. Pol Pot conducted a rule of terror, his smiling face and quiet mannerisms belying his brutal nature. He and his inner circle of revolutionaries adopted an extreme form of communism based on Maoism and Stalinism. They tore apart Cambodia in an attempt to “purify” the country’s agrarian society and turn its people into revolutionary worker-peasants. His brutality left a scar on the country and,…

From the 1962 Democracy Protests, through the 1974 U Thant Crisis, the 1988 Uprising, and the 2007 Saffron Revolution, to the 2021 Spring Revolution, Myanmar has fought against the whims of its military leaders and suffered at the hands of the army. To make sense of the tumultuous events of the past six decades, we must understand the complex politics and power struggles that have dominated this country once known as Burma 1945–1962 Burma’s Independence WHEN examining Burmese politics leading up to the various coups, the impact independence leader Bogyoke Aung San had on Myanmar – and the subsequent fallout following his assassination in 1947 – cannot be understated. His death had profound implications for subsequent decades in Burmese history. Hailed as the Father of the Nation, Aung San began…

1946–48 The Beginning BEFORE the merger, Singapore and Malaya had existed under “British Malaya”, a term used to loosely describe a collection of states on the Malay Peninsula and the island of Singapore that was under British hegemony from the late 18th to mid-20th century. The term often refers to the Federated and Unfederated Malay States, which were British protectorates, as well as the Straits Settlements – including Singapore – which were under the direct rule of the British Crown. Prior to World War II (WWII), the territories within British Malaya were not ruled under a single unified administration. Instead, three different groups of polities under the sovereignty and direct rule of the British Crown governed British Malaya. The three groups of polities were: 1. The protectorate of the Federated Malay…

How did a country whose gross domestic product (GDP) per capita income was stuck between USD200 to USD300 in the mid-1980s suddenly boast economic growth that now rivals that of China? What changed for Vietnam and who is responsible for this quiet success? Post-War STRUGGLES WHEN the 20-year long Vietnam War ended on April 30, 1975, Vietnam’s economy was one of the poorest in the world and growth under the government’s subsequent five-year central plans was anaemic at best. Besides impacting the economy, one of the most immediate effects that the country felt was the staggering death toll from the war. The war killed an estimated 2 million Vietnamese civilians and 1.1 million North Vietnamese troops as well as 200,000 South Vietnamese troops and 58,000 US troops. Those wounded in combat…

A country of rich history, Thailand encompasses some of the oldest settlements in the world. The Thais pride themselves on having maintained their independence as unlike its neighbours within the Southeast Asian region, the country avoided colonisation by Western powers. Yet it goes without saying that the country has had its fair share of struggles, especially in its journey towards democracy. From kingdoms to military coups and internal corruption, Thailand has fought tooth and nail to achieve democracy, but even now, the battle is not over. SIAM, as Thailand was formerly known, had not always existed as a single kingdom. Instead, it used to be several different kingdoms. The Kingdoms of Lan Na in the north of Thailand, Sukhothai and later Ayutthaya in the central region, as well as the…

A National Geographic team of explorers and scientists has installed a weather station – the highest in the Southern and Western Hemispheres – just below the summit of Tupungato volcano, in the Southern Andes. The exploratory mission to Tupungato volcano, one of the loftiest peaks in the Americas, is the latest in a series of National Geographic expeditions known as Perpetual Planet Expeditions, which are supported by Rolex through its Perpetual Planet initiative. Perpetual Planet Initiative Exploration is inextricably linked to the history of Rolex. As early as the 1930s, company founder Hans Wilsdorf began to test his watches using the world as a living laboratory. As the 21st-century unfolds, the company has moved from championing exploration for the sake of discovery to one of safeguarding the planet and reinforced…