Southeast Asia

My motivation for pursuing a Ph.D. in Political Science at UC San Diego (UCSD) emanates from my lifelong goal to be a leading scholar in the fields of International Relations and Comparative Politics, teaching and conducting research at a major research university. UCSD’s Department of Political Science’s model of cross-disciplinary work, ethos on close mentoring and supervision, emphasis on methodology and multivariate analysis, wealth of world-class faculty across subfields, combined with the…

Nowadays, forest performs a significant role our daily life. One of them is peat land forest. Peat land can be found in almost every country in the world. In Southeast Asia there are 27 million hectares of peat lands, of which 83% is located in Indonesia (Wetlands International, 2014). According to Wetlands International, (2014, p. 1) “Peat land is wetlands with a thick organic soil layer (peat) made up from dead and decaying plant material”. However, despite the fact that peat land has an…

The environment in which the Khmer empire developed are crucial for understanding the empire’s rise and fall. At its peak, the empire controlled one-third of mainland southeast Asia. The empire is located in a hot tropical environment in which temperature are almost constantly above seventy degrees Fahrenheit. The capital Angkor which is located at the basin of lower Mekong River in Cambodia, has a monsoon climate in which most rain comes in the summer months from June to November. The winter…

are still used in construction! You see, Thailand may be small, but it has culture, history, and weird facts just like any other country. Want to know more? มาค้นพบ ในประเทศไทย, or as they say in English, come discover Thailand! Thailand is in Southeast Asia and is shaped like an elephant's head and trunk. It is roughly 200,000 square miles, about 2 times as big as Wyoming. Thailand borders 3 countries Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar. As far as water, Thailand borders the Gulf of Thailand and…

I conducted my interview with a man named David Chan. I was able to find him using group messaging app that contained a chat with everyone in my residence hall. I got many responses when I said I needed someone of a multicultural background but David aligned with the criteria the best because I personally am not culturally competent when it comes to a place like Malaysia. We attempted to find a date where we could meet up for the interview, however we couldn’t find a time that fit both of our…

Extra credit response #1 Out of the list of movies that was available to watch, I chose “Embrace of the Serpent” out of complete curiosity. The movie was quite unique I would have to say. The plot was about an Indian man named Karamakate who was the last shaman that survived from his tribe. His mission was to travel two scientists to find a sacred plant called Yakruna. Both these missions occurred at two different periods in Karmakate’s life and both men were out to find it out of…

Two hundred years ago, Singapore was a jungle. An obscure tropical island barely inhabitable. Today it is an Asian Tiger. An economic giant. This City state has no natural re. Its land is infertile. So why has it lured so many people seeking their fortune. Today, Singapore has been shaped by one man……… he Ruled the country for a ¼ of a century leading into the modern age. But what was S before Lee, How did it ever into the world’s stage. “unless you know where you are from, unless you know what…

In 2016, the world has become exceedingly globalized. Messages can be sent across the world in seconds, and missiles in minutes. Therefore, a conflict in one section of the world can create an international security issue that impacts the entire international system. The South China Sea debacle has been rife with conflict for not only the claimants involved. China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, and the Philippines are all tangled up in a dispute of territorial and jurisdictional claims over…

The best examples of colonial architecture in Malaysia are found in Melaka (Malacca). Melaka and George Town have developed over 500 years of trading and cultural exchanges between East and West in the Straits of Malacca. The influences of Asia and Europe have endowed these towns with a specific multicultural heritage; of government buildings, churches, squares and fortifications. Melaka demonstrates the early stages of this history originating in the 15th-century Malay sultanate and the…

Indonesia is a country located in Asia that is home to over 17,000 islands, 6,000 of which are populated. The name, Indonesia, means “land beyond the Indus River.” The name was coined by the British in the 19th century. Indonesia is a rich and racially diverse country, brimming with culture and tradition. The country is also home to the largest population of Muslims in the world, making it a centerpiece in the celebration of Islam traditions. Food prohibition has been practiced for centuries all…