How much do you know about Southeast Asia? If you don’t live there or have never been there,
the answer is probably closer to the “not much” end of the spectrum. And I mean I guess that kind
of makes sense, seeing as to how in America we mostly know of a few things from Thailand,
a few things from Vietnam, and an actually really good Disney movie that no one really
talks about for some reason. But that doesn’t stop people from having a lot of interesting questions
about the region’s countries, so I popped a Google and searched “why does…” for each of the countries
of Southeast Asia. I don’t normally like making these list-style videos, to be clear, but at
least with SEA I only have to answer 11 questions instead of 45 like in Europe, so hopefully I can
answer these questions much more thoughtfully. Anyway, let’s dive straight into Myan…
[Intro]
Why does Myanmar use imperial? They don’t, actually. Or at least,
they historically haven’t had any official measurement system. It is true that Myanmar
has for some time been one of the three countries that *officially* don’t use the metric system,
but Myanmar has traditionally used their own measurement system,
in combination with the British Imperial System, being a British colony and
all. There have been more than two measurement systems in human history, you know? Anyway,
Myanmar spent much of its post-colonial years in relative isolationism from the rest of the world.
This however has somewhat begun to change in recent years, as the country has opened up and
gradually begun the process of metrification. By the way let me know in the comments if I
should consider making a video on the history of the metric system, or something like that.
Why does Thailand drive on the left?
Normally the answer of course is either British colonialism or aligning with their neighbors,
but Thailand only has one left-side driving neighbor (Malaysia),
and of course they were never colonized by any European country. With Thailand the story goes
that the first ever car in the country was sent to the King in the 1900s as a gift from, you guessed
it, Great Britain. Although there aren’t really any easily findable sources to verify this story.
A more likely explanation revolves around Japan’s influence in the Thai automotive industry.
Why does Cambodia have landmines? From 1967 to 1975 Cambodia suffered a devastating
civil war, a Cold War proxy war which is often lumped in as part of the greater Vietnam War.
Throughout the war the different sides set up a whole host of landmines throughout the
country, some estimating 4 to 6 million, with some estimating there to be up to 10
million landmines in the country. This is particularly the case in rural areas, where
they quite famously still have a drastic effect on the nation’s tourism and agricultural sectors,
as well as thousands of Cambodian citizens.
Why does Laos speak French? Actually Laos’ only official language is Lao,
though languages like Hmong and Khmu are also spoken by minority groups,
and French is often used as a language in commerce and government because… French colonialism.
Why does Vietnam like the US? Ah yes, something I can easily
answer without any sort of controversy! This is quite a complicated question,
and it’s not like the US and Vietnam are exactly the best of friends. The PEW Research Center did
find Vietnamese people of all generations to have a more favorable view of the US, though do keep in
mind that this was of a sample size of 1,000. To way oversimplify everything, after the Vietnam War
the US led a trade embargo against Vietnam, which was lifted in the 1990’s. The US is now Vietnam’s
largest trading partner, and US policy makers look to Vietnam as a potential ally against China,
a country which has repeatedly conquered Vietnam numerous times throughout its history. I‘m told
that leaves a bit of a sour taste in your mouth. Keep in mind Vietnam largely sided
with the Soviet sphere after the war, as this was after the Sino-Soviet Split. The US’ large navy
could also potentially serve as leverage against China in the South China Sea disputes as well,
though that is a topic that really shouldn’t be condensed into a 30-60 second clip.
Why does Malaysia have an American flag?
Convergent flag evolution. The Malaysian flag, or the Stripes of Glory,
has nothing to do with the American flag, as you can see by how there are 14 stripes instead of 13.
See? Totally different. Malaysia’s flag was based somewhat off the old British East India Company
flag, with 14 red and white stripes and a blue canton with a gold crescent and 14-pointed star.
The 14 stars and points of course representing the 14 states 13 states of Malaysia.
Why does Singapore speak English? Singapore actually has four official languages,
English, Mandarin, Malay, and Tamil. Malay because Malaysia’s, like, right there (and also
they were briefly part of Malaysia in the 60’s), Mandarin because of the large Chinese community,
Tamil from the large Indian-- and particularly South Indian-- community, and English because
it was a British colony (honestly why else?). If you’re going to Singapore by the way and
don’t know which language to learn beforehand, my advice would be when in doubt just use English.
As I’ve mentioned in my Everything You Need to Know About Singapore video in fact,
English in Singapore has given rise to a local dialect called Singlish, which
incorporates aspects of English slang and the other languages spoken in the diverse city-state.
Why does Indonesia have so many volcanoes? Here is Indonesia. This is the Eurasian plate,
this is the Australian plate, and this is the Pacific plate. Most of Indonesia’s
volcanoes are located along the Sunda and Java trenches south of Java and Sumatra.
These volcanoes are mostly stratovolcanoes, or composite volcanoes, which tend to form near
where oceanic crust goes under continental crust, like the Sunda and Java trenches.
Why does Brunei exist? Yeah it’s a mystery,
I honestly couldn’t tell you… I’m kidding, I’m not gonna be lazy like 2018 me.
In short Brunei-- as any EU4 players might know-- was an empire of its own, with the Sultanate
established in 1368. Brunei was a strong regional power, even defeating the Spanish in 1578 (with
Ottoman support). However by the 19th century its power had started to gradually weaken until the
British nation attacked. The land of Sarawak was acquired from Brunei by Englishman James Brooke,
establishing the Raj of Sarawak, with Brooke as the first of the so-called White Rajahs. In order
to not have to cede any more land however, Brunei effectively became a British protectorate in 1888,
however this still didn’t stop Sarawak from taking the Pandaruan District (now Malaysia’s
Limbang Division) two years later, explaining why it’s also split into two similarly-sized pieces.
Why does East Timor exist? East Timor was colonized by the Portuguese
from 1702 to after the Carnation Rebellion in 1975 when it declared independence. The following year
however Indonesia invaded, though this invasion was not recognized as legal by the United Nations,
eventually leading to its independence in 2002. New drinking game! Take a shot whenever
the answer to one of these questions is colonialism. No don’t do that, you’ll die.
Why does the Philippines use pesos? The same reason Mexico, Colombia,
Chile, and Argentina call their currencies pesos.
[Nobody expects the Spanish] Actually I think literally everyone was expecting the Spanish here.
And finally, why is Southeast Asia so populated? Southeast Asia is home to around 650 million
people, which is actually less than that of Europe, and not even half as large as nearby India
or China. Nevertheless, the countries of Southeast Asia (like all newly developed countries)
have experienced a sharp rise in population as they industrialize, with the whole region having
only 165 million people in 1950. According to populationpyramid.net, Indonesia grew from 69
(nice) million in 1950 to 270 million nowadays, Vietnam meanwhile grew from 24 to 96 million in
that time, Thailand from 20 to 69 (nice), and Laos from 1.6 to 7 million. Okay well you get
the idea. Basically, without summarizing the entire field of demography in 10 seconds,
this is a pattern basically all industrialized countries have gone through in their history.
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