| | Finally getting a bit of a breather after a crazy 3 weeks of travelling in Australia (to visit Marcus), Malaysia and Cambodia (SEA Studies Research Trip). I leave on June 21 for HK. While really tiring, they were all really good visits in their own way. It was great to see Marcus again - have really been looking forward to it for a long time. As for Malaysia and Cambodia, they had great academic value and taught me a lot more about myself in a professional setting, as well as about those two countries. First thing's first, here are pictures from my trip to visit Marcus (and Amanda) in Canberra! Canberra is a rather simple, not that exciting city, but fun because of the people in it that I know  Plus there is the casino which enabled me to cover all expenses and more during the trip!  
 
 
 
 
 
Next are pictures from the Malaysia portion of the trip. I took a 5-hour bus ride (that became 7 hours) to Malaysia on the cheapest bus line prowling between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. Took forever thanks to traffic jam, slow passengers taking their own sweet time at rest stops, and an overly "laid back" bus driver. What a difference compared to the efficiency of Greyhound Australia or Murray's, which met schedules on the dot. In any case, the KL trip was great. We met with Datuk Anwar Ibrahim, the ex-Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Tengku Razaleigh at his house (a Kelantan prince who once vied with Mahathir for Prime Ministership), various gov't officials from the health, foreign and defense ministries, various political parties, editor of Malaysiakini and NGOs. Some of you should recognize some of the people in the pictures. We also visited a PETRONAS oil refinery in Melaka, Al Jazeera in KL, and a pondok (madrasah) in Selangor The Southeast Asia Regional Center for Counter-Terrorism was so nice when we couldn't get taxis that they sent their bus to collect us...pictured below. This trip was no joke. We really woke up at 8am everyday and only got back to the hotel around midnight, with back-to-back meetings all day long, especially during meals. All in all, it was a great trip, and the biggest takeaway is that M'sia is very much a race-based society that has to manage its multiethnic relations well and ensure its economy is flexible and competitive enough to keep up with China and India.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The second leg of our trip was to Phnom Penh, Cambodia, where we met with various development agencies (UNDP, Council for Development of Cambodia), gov't officials (Ambassador-at-Large Roland Eng at his beautiful house), political parties (including Mu Sochua, SG of the Sam Rainsy opposition party, also winner of Haas Int'l Award and nominee for Nobel Peace Prize). We also met many NGOs. We also went to an ecotourism site where we got to stay with a rural family - for the first time in my life I saw some piglets and a gigantic pig. I actually am thankful I've done the military thing as uncomfortable conditions don't really bother me anymore - I must say I slept very well despite it all. Other notable visits include to the UN-sponsored Khmer Rouge Tribunal, the Documentation Center of Cambodia (that set up the genocide museum at S-21), dinner with Phnom Penh post managing editor and Tim Page (his character is played in Apolocalypse Now - he's a really famous photographer, and took some portraits of us too!) Also, a friend and I were walking around and saw two boys catching birds, to cage them, then sell them to Buddhists seeking merit by releasing a bird. I thought it was a sick practice, but then again, these are people just trying to make a living. Perfect metaphor for life in Cambodia. In sum, Cambodia is a country that is in deep need of healing to move beyond its civil war legacy and needs to rid itself of corruption to move forward at the same pace of Vietnam. I actually personally believe that the multilateral development agencies and the foreign-supported NGOs should probably tone down their presence and aid and force the Cambodian gov't to act more responsibly instead of throwing so much money in there in the development game without achieving too many results or much redistribution.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
  
 
 
 
In remembrance of those who lost their lives under the Khmer Rouge. Our prayers are with you and we hope the world will bring the surviving KR leaders to justice.  
Finally, here are pictures of recent visitors to Singapore for several hours - Nora and Gaew. Nora managed to get a glimpse into Singaporean society in just 8 hrs overnight - not bad I must say. Thanks to all my Singaporean friends who tagged along and made the experience more fun. Sharon will be dropping by this weekend as well.  
 
 
 
 
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