A second feature is the extensive lowland plains separated by forested hills and mountain ranges. These fertile plains are highly suited to rice-growing ethnic groups, such as the Thais, the Burmese, and the Vietnamese, who developed settled cultures that eventually provided the basis for modern states. The highlands were occupied by tribal groups, who displayed their sense of identity through distinctive styles in clothing, jewelry, and hairstyles.
A third feature of mainland Southeast Asia is the long coastline. Despite a strong agrarian base, the communities that developed in these regions were also part of the maritime trading network that linked Southeast Asia to India and to China. The islands of maritime Southeast Asia can range from the very large for instance, Borneo, Sumatra, Java, Luzon to tiny pinpoints on the map Indonesia is said to comprise 17, islands.
Because the interior of these islands were jungle clad and frequently dissected by highlands, land travel was never easy. Southeast Asians found it easier to move by boat between different areas, and it is often said that the land divides and the sea unites.
The oceans that connected coasts and neighboring islands created smaller zones where people shared similar languages and were exposed to the same religious and cultural influences. The modern borders created by colonial powers—for instance, between Malaysia and Indonesia—do not reflect logical cultural divisions.
A second feature of maritime Southeast Asia is the seas themselves. Apart from a few deep underwater trenches, the oceans are shallow, which means they are rather warm and not very saline. This is an ideal environment for fish, coral, seaweeds, and other products. Though the seas in some areas are rough, the region as a whole, except for the Philippines, is generally free of hurricanes and typhoons.
However, there are many active volcanoes and the island world is very vulnerable to earthquake activity. A distinctive feature of Southeast Asia is its cultural diversity. Of the six thousand languages spoken in the world today, an estimated thousand are found in Southeast Asia. Archeological evidence dates human habitation of Southeast Asia to around a million years ago, but migration into the region also has a long history.
In early times tribal groups from southern China moved into the interior areas of the mainland via the long river systems. Linguistically, the mainland is divided into three important families, the Austro-Asiatic like Cambodian and Vietnamese , Tai like Thai and Lao , and the Tibeto-Burmese including highland languages as well as Burmese. Languages belonging to these families can also be found in northeastern India and southwestern China.
Around four thousand years ago people speaking languages belonging to the Austronesian family originating in southern China and Taiwan began to trickle into island Southeast Asia. In the Philippines and the Malay-Indonesian archipelago this migration displaced or absorbed the original inhabitants, who may have been related to groups in Australia and New Guinea. Almost all the languages spoken in insular Southeast Asia today belong to the Austronesian family.
A remarkable feature of Southeast Asia is the different ways people have adapted to local environments. In premodern times many nomadic groups lived permanently in small boats and were known as orang laut, or sea people. The deep jungles were home to numerous small wandering groups, and interior tribes also included fierce headhunters. In some of the islands of eastern Indonesia, where there is a long dry season, the fruit of the lontar palm was a staple food; in other areas, it was sago.
On the fertile plans of Java and mainland Southeast Asia sedentary communities grew irrigated rice; along the coasts, which were less suitable for agriculture because of mangrove swamps, fishing and trade were the principal occupations.
Due to a number of factors—low populations, the late arrival of the world religions, a lack of urbanization, descent through both male and female lines—women in Southeast Asia are generally seen as more equal to men that in neighboring areas like China and India.
Cultural changes began to affect Southeast Asia around two thousand years ago with influences coming from two directions. Chinese expansion south of the Yangtze River eventually led to the colonization of Vietnam. Chinese control was permanently ended in , but Confucian philosophy had a lasting influence when Vietnam became independent. Buddhism and Taoism also reached Vietnam via China.
In the rest of mainland Southeast Asia, and in the western areas of the Malay-Indonesian archipelago, expanding trade across the Bay of Bengal meant Indian influences were more pronounced. These influences were most obvious when large sedentary populations were engaged in growing irrigated rice, like northern Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Burma, Java, and Bali. Rulers and courts in these areas who adopted Hinduism or forms of Buddhism promoted a culture which combined imported ideas with aspects of local society.
Differences in the physical environment affected the political structures that developed in Southeast Asia. When people were nomadic or semi-nomadic, it was difficult to construct a permanent governing system with stable bureaucracies and a reliable tax base.
This type of state only developed in areas where there was a settled population, like the large rice-growing plains of the mainland and Java. The Chairmanship expressed their commitment to preserving Southeast Asia as a Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone and addressed other issues relevant to disarmament, nonproliferation, maritime security, and counterterrorism.
On 9 January, Mr. He succeeds Dr. Surin Pitsuwan of Thailand, and his term expires on 31 December He further called for the DPRK to remember its obligations under United Nations Security Council Resolutions, and emphasized the importance of dialogue in resolving the tension in the Korean Peninsula.
One of the key topics is the planned rocket launch by North Korea. On 2 April, in Jakarta, the U. The lecture was given on the 35th anniversary of U. It also covered international issues and transnational crime.
The meeting was intended to meet the following goals:. Given the nuclear catastrophe in Japan, Mr. Yudhoyono stated that nuclear energy needs to be reexamined.
The signing ceremony acted as the official launch of the center. The forum reaffirmed the importance of bilateral dynamics between China and ASEAN and identified economic opportunities for the two sides. On 4 May, H. The statement also congratulated the United States on the successful outcome of the Nuclear Security Summit and promised the support of ASEAN countries to work towards preventing nuclear terrorism.
It also encouraged both parties to implement the Joint Statement of 19 September and to resume the Six Party Talks and the implementation of relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions. Among other subjects, the conference debated and adopted resolutions regarding drugs trafficking, terrorism, arms smuggling and human trafficking. They also encouraged early resumption of the Six-Party Talks and the possible use of the ARF as a regional security forum including all participants to the Six-Party Talks.
On 7 January, Dr. Ong Keng Yong. Contracting Parties agree not to participate in any activity that constitutes a threat to the political and economic stability, sovereignty, or territorial integrity of another Contracting Party.
On January, the 12th ASEAN Summit, postponed due to Typhoon Seniang, convened amid controversy regarding corruption and the overpricing of lamps used to light the routes to and among summit venues. ACCT contains provisions intended to ease prosecution and extradition of terrorism suspects. The EAS also attempted to improve relations with China through the signing of an agreement on the trade of services.
He also stressed the importance of arriving at a peaceful resolution of the problem through negotiations and expressed optimism about the role that ASEAN could play as an intermediary—helping to address both humanitarian, economic and security concerns in the region. The Ministers called upon the NWS to ratify the protocols to the treaty and for the accession of Israel, India and Pakistan to the treaty.
The ministers also discussed their intentions to strengthen the regions relationship with the IAEA and capacity to implement safeguards. The Plan is intended to increase regional coordination in opposition to nuclear weapons and deepen regional participation in the relevant international agreements. In addition, the states agreed to consider accession to other relevant instruments such as the CTBT and the counter-terrorism conventions related to nuclear weapons.
The potential increase in the use of nuclear energy was discussed in this regard. They emphasized the need for denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and called upon concerned parties to utilize the upcoming ASEAN Regional Forum as an opportunity to resume the Six-Party Talks towards a peaceful resolution of the nuclear issue.
Increasing female literacy especially in the Philippines and exposure to Western feminism encouraged elite women to confront issues of gender inequality. From the late nineteenth century nationalist movements developed across Southeast Asia. Male leaders focused on political independence, but educated women were equally concerned with polygamy, divorce, domestic abuse and the financial responsibilities of fathers.
Yet despite active involvement in anti-colonial movements, sometimes as fighters, but more often as strike organizers, journalists, couriers and clandestine agents, women were viewed as auxiliaries rather than partners.
Such attitudes were still evident in the independence movements that exploded after the surrender of the Japanese, who occupied most of Southeast Asia between and Theoretically, the independent states that emerged over the next 15 years were committed to gender equality, but this has rarely been translated into reality.
In recent years the number of women holding public office has increased, especially in local government, but only in the Philippines has female representation in national government risen above 10 per cent. The few individuals who have attained the highest political offices such as President in the Philippines and Indonesia have done so because they are the daughter or wife of a famous man.
Gender stereotypes that favor males over females are often reinforced in school textbooks and are sometimes encouraged by religious teachings. For example, Buddhists still believe that rebirth as a woman rather than a man indicates that less merit was accrued in past lives. Although all Southeast Asian countries except Laos and Vietnam have signed the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and have made advances promoting gender equality, it is difficult to change the preference for sons, especially in Vietnam with its strong Confucian heritage.
It is not easy to generalize about the economic position of Southeast Asian women because of the gap in development between Timor Lorosae, Cambodia and Laos among the poorest countries in the world , and prosperous Singapore and Brunei Darussalam. Nonetheless, the continuing acceptance of the idea that a woman can generate and control her own income is still evident, although women receive less pay than men for the same work and the options for unskilled workers are limited.
In poorer countries and impoverished regions this is apparent in the prevalence of prostitution and the disturbing trafficking of women.
From the mid s, however, as Southeast Asian countries gradually shifted to export-oriented economies, lower-paid women have become essential to factory work. In consequence, women have been more active in labor movements.
As overseas domestic workers, they have also been increasingly important to national economies, remitting large amounts of money to their families. Because of world-wide shortages, qualified women can find employment abroad in skilled occupations such as nursing.
Obtaining vocational skills and academic qualifications is far more possible than hitherto as Southeast Asian women gain greater access to education. With the exception of Cambodia and Laos, the numbers of women progressing to post-secondary training is also rising, and in Brunei, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines there are more female graduates than males; the rates for Vietnam and Indonesia are almost equal.
The expansion in education has contributed to the blossoming of female-oriented Non-Governmental Organizations NGOs since the s, which have given the knowledge and organization skills that equip them to argue for issues.
The heritage of relatively favorable gender relations and the resilience and pragmatism of local societies indicate that Southeast Asian women can look towards a promising future.
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