Do you notice that if your Japanese friend visit Siem Reap, he/she maight bring back a cookie with the Angkor Wat shape as a souvernir.
At first i was impressed that businessman in Cambodia (to me, i refer to Cambodian citizen) can come up with that good business idea. But actually it's not. The owner is Japanese; her name is Kojima-san. If you are interested in how Kojima-san run the business, visit the link below. The text is too long for me to read.
"I saw an ad in Japan for a job opening for Japanese in Siem Reap. Back then, all I knew about Cambodia was that Angkor Wat was there. It turned out to be the place that suits me best. While I was teaching Japanese I opened a coffee shop, and the local staff made off with all my equipment. A 1.5 million yen investment, down the drain! But even that couldn't make me dislike the country."
Before her stint as a Japanese teacher, she worked as a tourist guide, taking visitors around the Angkor ruins. "Aren't there any souvenir snacks?" the tourists would ask her. She heard they would buy souvenir chocolates in Bangkok, instead, since they couldn't find any in Cambodia. "What a waste," Kojima thought.
http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200805170064.html
Although it's a business of making money, but i thank her for making this souvernir so foreign tourists who visited Angkor Wat can bring back to their home with Cambodian made stuff, not Thai or Vietnamese products.
Veasna
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Writing Essay: Compare Japanese pollution and environment with your country/area pollution and environment using evident
For so long that i haven't update my blog as I'm busy with my research. But as this blog is for my describe (as well as keep a record) of my activities and my viewpoint while I'm in Japan, i decide to post one of the class assignment in this blog. It should be noted that this text is not up-to-date as it was written 1 year ago.
One of my teachers of English (and actually she is an English teacher) told me that people's point of view (or impression) changes from the first time he/she arrived in one place or one society, and it keep changing. Do you notice that? For me, i couldn't agree with her more. Therefore, as she recommended, I keep writing.
Veasna
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Topic: Compare Japanese pollution and environment with your country/area pollution and environment using evident
Japan experienced severe environmental pollution during its push to industrialize in the late 19th century and again during the rush to rebuild the economy after World War II. Some of the worst pollution incidents caused great human suffering. In the early 20th century, for instance, cadmium poisoning caused an outbreak of a painful bone disease, called itai-itai, in Toyama Prefecture [1]. Minamata Disease caused people to sufferer paralysis to the arms and legs [2]. Smog, and arsenic poisoning produced by industry in the 1970s caused other health problems [1].
Since that time, Japan has enacted some of the world’s strictest legislation for environmental protection. Significant environmental problems such as pollution of bays and emission of carbon dioxide remain, however[1].
In the case of Cambodia, although this country has never experienced industrial revolution as Japan, environmental and pollution issues also exist. Deforestation is the most serious threat to Cambodia’s environment. Starting from the 1960s to 1980s Cambodian forests and wetlands were harmed by bombings and defoliants used in the Vietnam War, and the civil war [5]. In the relatively peaceful 1990s, timber became an important export for Cambodia, resulted in huge amount of forest to be cut down.
In addition, the pollution and contamination of streams and lakes has made much of the country’s fresh water unsafe. The coastal and marine ecological system also continues to be threatened by destructive and illegal activities.
Black gold exploration surrounding the largest fresh water lake in the country as well as in Southeast Asia is another big and the hottest environmental issue today. Agence France-Presse (AFP) [6] reported on Friday, that Cambodia is set to begin searching for oil around the vast Tonle Sap lake despite concerns about potential environmental damage. It should be noted that Cambodia has been gripped by oil fever since the discovery of undersea oil reserves off the country's southern coast in 2005. Hundreds of millions of barrels of oil are thought to lay off-shore, raising hopes that it could help pull Cambodia out of poverty.
To sum up, as Japan changed from an agricultural society to an urbanized industrial power, much of its natural beauty was destroyed and defaced by overcrowding and industrial development. Human suffering and uninhabitable environment that Japan had ever faced in the past is a good experience to teach other nations not to follow. Nevertheless, as Cambodia wants to push for the development, this country is about to sacrifice its fragile ecological system and natural resources in an exchange for economic improvement. Will Cambodia fall in the foot step of Japan in term of environmental damage remains unknown.
Reference
[1] Cybriwsky, R. A., Duus, P., Haley, J. O., Katz, R., & Varlev, P. (2006). Japan. In Microsoft Student 2007 [DVD]. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation.
[2] Sasaki, M. (1995). View of Today’s Japan. ALC.
[3] Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (Ed.). (2005). CDM for Cambodia (2nd ed.). Ministry of the Environment, Japan. Retrieved October 16, 2007, from http://www.iges.or.jp/en/cdm/pdf/countryguide/cambodia.pdf
[4] Khieu Muth (2000). Cambodia. 2000 Top News on Environment in Asia. Retrieved October 16, 2007, from http://www.iges.or.jp/en/pub/pdf/asia2000/full.pdf
[5] Chandler, D., & Rooney, D. F. (2006). Cambodia. In Microsoft Student 2007 [DVD]. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation.
[6] AFP (2007, October 12). Cambodia 'set to probe for oil' despite environment worries. Agence France-Presse . Retrived October 16, 2007, from http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iDWu8uQKvc0wgWBIsT-TEHo4vwMQ
One of my teachers of English (and actually she is an English teacher) told me that people's point of view (or impression) changes from the first time he/she arrived in one place or one society, and it keep changing. Do you notice that? For me, i couldn't agree with her more. Therefore, as she recommended, I keep writing.
Veasna
--------------------------------------------
Topic: Compare Japanese pollution and environment with your country/area pollution and environment using evident
Japan experienced severe environmental pollution during its push to industrialize in the late 19th century and again during the rush to rebuild the economy after World War II. Some of the worst pollution incidents caused great human suffering. In the early 20th century, for instance, cadmium poisoning caused an outbreak of a painful bone disease, called itai-itai, in Toyama Prefecture [1]. Minamata Disease caused people to sufferer paralysis to the arms and legs [2]. Smog, and arsenic poisoning produced by industry in the 1970s caused other health problems [1].
Since that time, Japan has enacted some of the world’s strictest legislation for environmental protection. Significant environmental problems such as pollution of bays and emission of carbon dioxide remain, however[1].
In the case of Cambodia, although this country has never experienced industrial revolution as Japan, environmental and pollution issues also exist. Deforestation is the most serious threat to Cambodia’s environment. Starting from the 1960s to 1980s Cambodian forests and wetlands were harmed by bombings and defoliants used in the Vietnam War, and the civil war [5]. In the relatively peaceful 1990s, timber became an important export for Cambodia, resulted in huge amount of forest to be cut down.
In addition, the pollution and contamination of streams and lakes has made much of the country’s fresh water unsafe. The coastal and marine ecological system also continues to be threatened by destructive and illegal activities.
Black gold exploration surrounding the largest fresh water lake in the country as well as in Southeast Asia is another big and the hottest environmental issue today. Agence France-Presse (AFP) [6] reported on Friday, that Cambodia is set to begin searching for oil around the vast Tonle Sap lake despite concerns about potential environmental damage. It should be noted that Cambodia has been gripped by oil fever since the discovery of undersea oil reserves off the country's southern coast in 2005. Hundreds of millions of barrels of oil are thought to lay off-shore, raising hopes that it could help pull Cambodia out of poverty.
To sum up, as Japan changed from an agricultural society to an urbanized industrial power, much of its natural beauty was destroyed and defaced by overcrowding and industrial development. Human suffering and uninhabitable environment that Japan had ever faced in the past is a good experience to teach other nations not to follow. Nevertheless, as Cambodia wants to push for the development, this country is about to sacrifice its fragile ecological system and natural resources in an exchange for economic improvement. Will Cambodia fall in the foot step of Japan in term of environmental damage remains unknown.
Reference
[1] Cybriwsky, R. A., Duus, P., Haley, J. O., Katz, R., & Varlev, P. (2006). Japan. In Microsoft Student 2007 [DVD]. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation.
[2] Sasaki, M. (1995). View of Today’s Japan. ALC.
[3] Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (Ed.). (2005). CDM for Cambodia (2nd ed.). Ministry of the Environment, Japan. Retrieved October 16, 2007, from http://www.iges.or.jp/en/cdm/pdf/countryguide/cambodia.pdf
[4] Khieu Muth (2000). Cambodia. 2000 Top News on Environment in Asia. Retrieved October 16, 2007, from http://www.iges.or.jp/en/pub/pdf/asia2000/full.pdf
[5] Chandler, D., & Rooney, D. F. (2006). Cambodia. In Microsoft Student 2007 [DVD]. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation.
[6] AFP (2007, October 12). Cambodia 'set to probe for oil' despite environment worries. Agence France-Presse . Retrived October 16, 2007, from http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iDWu8uQKvc0wgWBIsT-TEHo4vwMQ
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Introduction of handmade vegetable musical instruments
I saw this clip, and i liked it very much. THis man is really talent in using vegetable as musical instruments.
Actually, he posted many video clips to demonstrate his skill. If you are interested, go to youtube and search for the title mentioned above.
Here is an example
Actually, he posted many video clips to demonstrate his skill. If you are interested, go to youtube and search for the title mentioned above.
Here is an example
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