MAP OF SINGAPORE

SINGAPORE






• OFFICIAL NAME: REPUBLIC OF SINGAPORE
• CAPITAL: SINGAPORE CITY (1°17′N, 103°51′E)
• INDEPENDENCE DATE: 3 JUNE 1959 (SELF-GOVERNMENT UNDER THE UNITED KINGDOM), 9 AUGUST 1965 (SEPARATION FROM MALAYSIA)
• TYPE OF THE GOVERNMENT: PARLIAMENTARY REPUBLIC

• PRESIDENT: SELLAPAN RAMANATHAN











• HEAD OF GOVERMENT (PRIME MINISTER): LEE HSIEN LOONG

• SIZE OF THE CONTRY: 704.0 KM 270 SQ MI
• POPULATION: 4,553,009 (JULY 2007 ESTIMATE), 4,117,700 (2000 CENSUS), 6,369/KM 16,392/SQ MI (DENSITY)
• LANGUAGE: ENGLISH, MANDARIN CHINESE, TAMIL, MALAY
• RELIGION: MULTI-RELIGIOUS COUNTRY. Singapore is also a multi-religious country. Around 51% of Singaporeans practice Buddhism and Taoism. About 15%, mostly Chinese and Indians, practice Christianity. Muslims constitute 16%, of whom Malays account just over 13%. Smaller minorities practice Sikhism, Hinduism, and others, according to the 2000 census. About 15% of the population have no religious affiliation
NATURAL RESOURCES: DEEP WATER PORTS, FISH
• GDP (2006 ESTIMATE): AGRICULTURE: 0%, INDUSTRY: 33.8%, SERVICES: 66.2%
• GNP: $29,454
• MAJOR EXPORT: MACHINERY AND EQUIPMENT (INCLUDING ELECTRONIK), CONSUMER GOOD, CHEMICALS, MINERAL FUELS.
• MAJOR IMPORT: MACHINERY AND EQUPMENT, CHEMICALS, MINERAL FUELS, FOODSTUFFS.
• MAJOR TRADE COUNTRIES (2006): MALAYSIA 13%, US 12.7%, CHINA 11.4%, JAPAN 8.4%, TAIWAN 6.4%, INDONESIA 6.2%, SOUTH KOREA 4.4%
• MEANING OF THE FLAG:
THE FLAG OF SINGAPORE CONSIST OF TWO HORIZONTAL HALVES, RED ABOVE WHITE. IN THE UPPER LEFT CORNER, A WHITE CRESCENT MOON AND FIVE WHITE STARS FROM A CIRCLE: RED: symbolizes universal brotherhood and equality of man.WHITE: stands for pervading and everlasting purity and virtue. WHITE CRESCENT MOON: represents a young nation on the rise moon. FIVE STARS: stands for ideals of democracy, peace, progress, justice and equality.The flag was also carefully designed to please the community. Red was chosen, as it symbolized good fortune for the Chinese and courage for the Malays. White was chosen as it was the traditional Malay and universal colour for purity. The Malays wanted a crescent moon to symbolize Islam. So, the government came to a compromise with five stars and a moon instead of the traditional star and crescent representing Islam. While the crescent may be seen by some as an Islamic symbol, the moon on the flag represents a young nation. Democracy, peace, progress, justice and equality are symbolized by the 5 stars, although it is not assigned which star represents which quality.

Map of Singapore

MAP OF BRUNEI

BRUNEI

• OFFICIAL NAME: NEGARA BRUNEI DARUSSALAM

• CAPITAL: BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN (4°55′N, 114°55′E)

• INDEPENDENCE DATE: 1 JANUARY 1984 (END OF BRITISH PROTECTORATE)

• TYPE OF THE GOVERNMENT: MALAY ISLAMIC MONARCHY

• HEAD OF STATE & HEAD OF GAVERNMENT: SULTAN HAJI HASSANAL BOLKIAH MU’IZZADDIN WADDAUL

• SIZE OF THE CONTRY: 5,765 KM (2,226 SQ MI)

• POPULATION: 383,990 (2007 ESTIMATE), 332,884(2001 CENSUS), 65/KM 168/SQ MI (DENSITY)

• LANGUAGE: MALAY (OFFICIAL LANGUAGE), ENGLISH, CHINESE,IBAN

• RELIGION: ISLAM

• NATURAL RESOURCES: NATURAL GAS & OIL

• GDP: US$ 12,582 BILLION (2006 ESTIMATE)

• GNP: US$ 4.0 BILLION

• MAJOR EXPORT: OIL, PETROLEUM PRODUCTS, NATURAL GAS, GARMENTS

• MAJOR IMPORT: MACHINERY, TRANSPORT EQUIPMENTS, MANUFACTURED GOODS

• MAJOR TRADES COUNTRY (2006): SINGAPORE, MALAYSIA, UK, JAPAN, CHINA THAILAND, SOUTH KOREA

• MEANING OF THE FLAG:
The crest consists of:Bendera - the flag.Payung Ubor-Ubor - the Royal Umbrella.Sayap - the wing.Tangan (Kimhap) - the handBulan - the crescent.The Bendera and Payung Ubor-Ubor have been Royal regalia's since the creation of the crest.The Sayap - the wing of four feathers - symbolizes the protection of justice, tranquility, prosperity and peace.Tangan or Kimhap - the hand - signifies the Government's pledge to promote welfare, peace and prosperity.Bulan - the crescent - is the symbol of Islam, the national religion of Brunei Darussalam.The characters inscribed on the crescent is the National slogan, "Always in service with God's guidance".The scroll beneath the crest reads "Brunei Darussalam" which means "Brunei, the abode of peace

MAP OF BRUNEI DARUSSALAM

MAP OF MALAYSIA

MALAYSIA

• OFFICIAL NAME: FEDERATION OF MALAYA
• CAPITAL: KUALA LUMPUR (3°08′N, 101°42′E)
• INDEPENDENCE DATE: 31 AUGUST 1857 (FROM THE UNITED KINGDOM
• TYPE OF THE GOVERNMENT: FEDERAL CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHY

• HEAD OF STATE: YANG DI PERTUAN AGONG DULI YANG MAHA MULIA Al WATHIQU BILLAH, AL-SULTAN MIZAN ZAINAL ABIDIN IBNI ALMARHUM AL-SULTAN MAHMUD AL-MUKTAFI BILLAH SHAH AL-HAJ

• POPULATION: 27,122,000 (JUN 2007 ESTIMATE), 24,821.286 (2000 CENSUS), 82/KM 213/SQ MI (DENSITY)

• SIZE OF THE CONTRY: 329,847 KM (127,355 SQ MI)

• HEAD OF GOVERNMENT: DATUK SERI ABDULLAH BIN HAJI AHMAD BADAWI

• LANGUAGE: MALAY (OFFICIAL LANGUAGE), CHINEE, TAMIL, ENGLISH. THERE ALSO IBAN & KADAZAN.

• RELIGION: ISLAM (OFFICIAL RELIGION), BUDDHIST, CHRISTIAN, HINDU, CONFUCIANISM, TAOISM & OTHERS

• NATURAL RESOURCES: RUBBER,PALM OIL, COCOA, PEPPER, PINEAPPLE, TOBACCO

• GDP: 2006 ESTIMATE: 8.3% (AGRICULTURE), 48.1% (INDUSTRY), 43.6% (SERVICES)

• GNP: US$ 3.248

• MAJOR EXPORT: PALM OIL, RUBBER, TEXTILES, CHEMICALS, NATURAL GAS, WOOD PRODUCTS, PETROLEUM, ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT, LIQUEFIED

• MAJOR IMPORT: CHEMICALS, VEHICLES, IRON & STEEL PRODUCTS, ELECTRONICS, PETROLEUM, PLASTICS

• MAJOR TRADES COUNTRY (2006): JAPAN 13.3%, US 12.6%, CHINA 12.2%, SINGAPORE 11.7%, THAILAND 5.5%, TAIWAN 5.5%, SOUTH KOREA 5.4%, GERMANY 4.4%

• MEANING OF THE FLAG:
The flag of Malaysia, also known as the Jalur Gemilang, comprises a field of 14 alternating red and white stripes along the fly and a blue canton bearing a crescent and a 14-point star known as the Bintang Persekutuan or Federal Star. The 14 stripes, of equal width, represent the equal status in the federation of the 13 member states and the federal government, while the 14 points of the star represent the unity between these entities. The crescent represents Islam, the country's official religion; the yellow of the star and crescent is the royal colour of the Malay rulers; the blue canton symbolizes the unity of the Malaysian people. This blue canton was originally chosen to represent a connection between the federation and the Commonwealth but this was gradually downplayed and eventually supplanted by its current interpretation.

MAP OF MALAYSIA:

ASEAN SUMMIT, PHILIPPINES.

For this blog of ASEAN, I would like to talk about Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Philippines and India-ASEAN Summit. According to my reading, that is the some latest issues of ASEAN nowadays. The issue of ASEAN Summit in Philippines is very interesting for me because there is an agreement of drafting a new charter of ASEAN. As we know, ASEAN have no charter before. The agreement to draft a charter would bright ASEAN in the future in many aspects. There are two sub-titles about ASEAN Summit in Philippines and the other is about India-ASEAN Summit.

Title: 12th ASEAN SUMMIT CEBU, PHILIPPINES.

The annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will be held in the Philippines. In this meeting, the issues or problems that will talk are a charter proposal and a counter-terrorism convention that would give the ASEAN more ability in enforcing agreements among the nations.

Title: Southeast Asians to draft EU-style charter.

Among the agreement that approved during the annual summit of the Asean in the Cebu, Philippines were the drafting of a new charter that seeks to integrate Southeast Asia much like European Union (EU), establish a free-trade zone by 2015, intensify the war on terrorism, protect and promote the rights of migrant worker in order to ensuring the workers access to services in the country where they work, their education and training, social-welfare benefits on them, the prompt payment of wages, living conditions and decent working. There is also the campaign against HIV/AIDS in the region through education and awareness.During the meeting, a proposal also includes a curriculum, called Asean Studies in universities of the Asean countries. The Summit officials said, the curriculum was part of Asean’s attempt to harness and engage the youth in the pursuit of the vision of one caring and sharing region community.The declaration of the charter has been signed by the Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines. This charter will enable Asean to meet future challenges and opportunities of regional integration and Asia’s widening links with the rest of the world.

Title: PM Goes to India-ASEAN Summit to Accelerate New Initiatives.

In other news, India is trying to start new initiatives with ASEAN in order to accelerate the process of economic cooperation in the South East region, called India-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (FTA). In this participation with ASEAN, India will get better opportunities like energy security, mitigating national disasters, stability of the regional financial systems, environment, and other subjects of common interest.As information, India along with China, Japan and South Korea are the dialogue partners of ASEAN countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and Brunei.