Asian Geographic Issue 04/2018 (132) | Page 10

{ PUBL ISHER’S NOTE } ASIAN Geographic can be found on board and at the following locations: Airlines & Lounges Clubs & societies CAFÉS & Restaurants PHOTO © SHUTTERSTOCK “If I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning.” tOURISM BOARDS Mahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) attractions I nspiration allows one to transcend normal situations to accomplish the extraordinary. Think Mahatma Gandhi for example: He is a great icon of humanity today, but at the beginning, as an ordinary person, he had the vision of not only rising above his circumstances but also changing the world. More recently, in May 2018, the entrepreneur Jack Ma, upon receiving his doctorate from the University of Hong Kong, also spoke of the importance of having a vision: “People like us [...] believe in the future, we have dreams. [We] [...] never give up.” We were also moved by King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck’s speech to the graduating cohort at the Royal University of Bhutan in June 2018. He underlined the fact that the country’s tremendous achievements since 1949 had leveraged on the Bhutanese values of integrity, responsibility and providence. He also encouraged them to “evolve, adapt and upgrade”. In this issue of Asian Geographic, our feature stories put the spotlight on impressive people. In “Astonishing Asians”, we are inspired by 100 of the region’s most outstanding personalities across several industries (pg 42). In “En Plein Air”, we speak to talented artists in several Asian cities to understand their passion for on-location drawing (pg 72). In “Picture Perfect”, we interview the veteran Asian photographer Michael Yamashita and share his awe- inspiring photographs of Singapore (pg 12). We hope you enjoy reading this issue of Asian Geographic. commercial centres hotels & resorts Newsstand Distribution ASIAN Geographic can be found in the following countries. If you have difficulty finding us on newsstands, please contact our distributors: ChinA and HONG KONG Times Publishing (HK) Ltd; INDONESIA Java Books; Philippines Alpha Stream Marketing; Malaysia Pansing Marketing Sdn Bhd; Singapore Singapore Press Holdings Ltd; THAILAND Asia Books Co Ltd media correspondents India, Sri Lanka RMA Media, Faredoon KUKA • [email protected] Nepal, Bangladesh Media South Asia (P) Ltd • [email protected] Thailand Radius • [email protected] China Hainan Periscope Social Media Company • [email protected] Japan Keiichi ARANTANI • [email protected] Other Asian Geographic Magazines Pte Ltd publications & events: a feature | ASEAN John Thet CHEAT SHEET ASEAN at a Glance Her 10 member states banded together to secure the first Asian miracle: peace in a conflict-fraught region. We present a handy guide to understanding every country in Asia’s first regional community 0.44 16.2 MILLION MILLION Brunei CamBodia Main Religion: 78% MUSLIM Government: Absolute Monarchy Main Religion: 96% BUDDHIST Government: Constitutional Monarchy VENICE OF THE EAST POPULATION 4 main BeLieF sysTems in asean THE PEARL OF ASIA BuddhisT CAMBODIA, LAOS, MYANMAR, SINGAPORE, THAILAND musLim 260 Erratum: In the previous edition of Asian Geographic (Issue 3/2018, No. 131, p.94), we inadvertently stated that the majority of people in Brunei are Buddhists. It should, of course, have been Muslims. We are sorry for the error. MILLION Laos Main Religion: 87% MUSLIM Government: Constitutional Republic Main Religion: 64% BUDDHIST Government: Socialist Republic EMERALD OF THE EQUATOR INDONESIA, MALAYSIA, BRUNEI 7.1 MILLION indonesia roman CaThoLiC PHILIPPINES LAND OF A MILLION ELEPHANTS indigenous/ irreLigious VIETNAM 31 55.1 MILLION 104 MILLION MILLION maLaysia myanmar PhiLiPPines Main Religion: 61% MUSLIM Government: Constitutional Monarchy Main Religion: 87% BUDDHISM Government: Constitutional Republic Main Religion: 82% ROMAN CATHOLIC Government: Constitutional Republic WILD EAST LAND OF THE GOLDEN PAGODA 5.8 68.4 MILLION 96.1 MILLION singaPore ThaiLand Main Religion: 33% BUDDHIST Government: Parliamentary Republic Main Religion: 95% BUDDHIST Government: Constitutional Monarchy LION CITY PEARL OF THE ORIENT SEAS MILLION VieTnam LAND OF SMILES DATA SOURCES: BBC, ECONOMIC PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT OF BRUNEI, SEASIA, INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND, UNITED NATIONS, WORLDOMETERS, COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD, NATION MASTER, ECONOMYWATCH, ASIA HIGHLIGHTS, PHILIPPINES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 94 LAND OF THE BLUE DRAGON Main Religion: 81% INDIGENOUS/IRRELIGIOUS Government: Socialist Republic