Asia Magazine #22

asiamagazine #22 | FALL 2013 | BY CHALMERS STUDENTS IN ASIA

CELEBRATING THE END IN INDONESIA GANGES - A POLLUTED GODESS THE SEARCH FOR THE BEST COFFEE IN ASIA

asiamagazine WHAT IS THE CHALMERS INTERNATIONAL TAIWAN OFFICE?

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EDITOR IN CHIEF | ANNA OHLIN

ADRESS CITO

WEB

+886 (0) 979 18 44 30 +46 (0)31 772 10 00

asiaContents 2 | asiaLetter 3 | asiaStaff 4 | How far is a swede willing to go for a cup of coffee?

6 | eartH? 9 | asiaInternships

surroundings 12 | tHe formula 1 weekend 15 | asiaInterview 16 | tHe japanese tea garden

fear tHem? 22 | asiaPhotos

witH tHe batak people 29 | tHe legend beHind tHe cHinese

32 | asiaInSweden 34 | tHe singaporean mindset 36 | tHe stream tHat mainstream tourism miss in cambodia 39 | asiaSolutions 40 | asiaApply

asiaLetter

Allow yourself to get inspired!

R

ight now you are holding a piece of asia. this maga-

A contribution to the Asia Magazine is one part of the worldwide programme, whichever asian country you

experiences and thoughts from leaving their ordinary lives

choose for your exchange studies. if you write an article, it

behind to live in asia for a year. be inspired by the culture

will not only inspire other students to embark on their own

of a continent that holds enormous amounts of history and

journey - it also provides an opportunity for you to be seen

includes some of the strongest and fastest rising economies

among the many companies with a swedish connection in

in the world. we wish to give you glimpses of the heat, the

asia that the magazine is distributed to. i really encourage those companies to consider the driven and talented students presented in this issue, who right now are in asia,

I suppose many of you are reading asia magazine for the

being impregnated with knowledge and experiences of this continent of the future.

to increase the amount of readers. the magazine is produced And do you know what the best part is? if you are in your is run by the students that are participating in the chalmers

third year of engineering or architectural studies, it is time

worldwide programme in taiwan. other chalmers students and i, on behalf of cito, truly want to thank everyone that

not going to bore you with all the arguments that you already

has contributed to this issue. to be a cito member is a won-

heard about how fun and rewarding it is to study abroad.

derful experience and you get to meet people from all over

instead i only encourage you to sit down for a while, look

the world. if you want to know more about cito and how to

through these pages and ask your heart and soul if you are

be a part of it, see page 40.

ready to go to asia.

For our loyal long-time readers, i hope that you will like the changes in the magazine that we introduce in this issue.

anna ohlin | editor in chief

we have focused on mixing longer, more profound articles with shorter and more accessible items. among our longer fast-paced entertainment in singapore on page 12 and debora writing about the pollution of the holy river ganges on page 6. an example of one of the more easily digested features is the “asia solutions” section, which shows a number various asian countries. we also have a photo competition, ‘this is asia”. the two winners of this contest can be seen on view all the best pictures that were submitted on page 22.

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Bench in Tokyo themed to the movie Forrest Gump.

asiaStaff Patric Andersson

Markus Bruus

mechanical engineering.

instrial engineering and management.

management and economics of innovation.

management and economics of innovation.

email: patric.andersson@chalmers.se

email: bruus@chalmers.se

Anna Ohlin Editor in Chief civil and environmental engineering. infrastructure and environmental engineering. email: anna.ohlin@chalmers.se

Pascal Csikasz Art Director industrial design engineering. in product development. email: csikasz@chalmers.se

Elin Almbacke Academic Exchange and Alumni Responsible

Catharina Beckman Academic Exchange and Alumni Responsible

industrial engineering and management.

instrial engineering and management.

management and economics of innovation.

management and economics of innovation.

email: elin.almbacke@chalmers.se

email: catharina.beckman@chalmers.se

Martin Falk Danauskis Academic Exchange and Alumni Responsible

Marcus Kalander IT Responsible

industrial engineering and management.

computer engineering.

management and economics of innovation.

computer engineering - algorithms, languages and logic.

email: martin.falk@chalmers.se

email: kalander@chalmers.se

Adam Johansson Corporate Relations

Corporate Relations

industrial engineering and management.

mechatronics and automation.

management and economics of innovation.

product development.

email: adam.johansson@chalmers.se

3

How far is a Swede willing to go for a cup of coffee?

O

ne big advantage of being an exchange student in asia is that you, with your new geographical position, have

duced there. and if it is expensive it has to be tasty, right?

the opportunity to travel to places you might never even had thought of before. there is one big disadvantage of being a

the coffee is called kopi luwak, and is produced by a rath-

swedish exchange student in asia, though - the painful lack

er extraordinary procedure. initially, so-called coffee ber-

of really tasty coffee. so when i realized that the most exclu-

ries are picked from trees. these berries contain seeds that

sive coffee in the world can be found only a couple of hours

can be used as coffee beans. drying, roasting and milling of

away from taiwan, i felt it was time to gather my student

these coffee seeds will result in the usual watery asian coffee. when it comes to producing kopi luwak though, there

asia. why not combine pleasure with business and go on a

is a tiny detail that differs. this detail consists of the coffee

trip while at the same time satisfy your coffee cravings?

berries being digested by a catlike animal called asian palm civet. the animals eat the berries and the seeds simply come out the natural way. in the dropping, the seeds can be gathered. later on, they are cleaned, roasted, dried and milled, and voilรก, you got all you need to brew a nice cup of tasty kopi luwak. i admit that i had expected a more glamorous production procedure for the most expensive coffee in the world. this coffee extracted from poo felt a bit too adventurous even for

A civet taking a break from its coffee-making duties

according to ico, the international coffee organization, sweden has one of the highest coffee-consumptions in the

me, but i had to give it a try. it turned out that not only did i survive the coffee, i also really enjoyed it. i am not sure that i would like to pay us$35-$80 per cup for all the 1200 cups

world. the average annual consumption per capita is more than eight kilograms. that equals almost 1200 cups per person and year, or 3.2 cups per person and day. just try to imagine the abstinence for a person with those habits, after four weeks of struggling with watery taiwanese coffee.

catharina beckman

studying at national chiao tung university, taiwan.

in my hunt for a real cup of coffee i ended up on a small is-

engineering and management.

land in the indonesian archipelago called bali. the reason

in supply chain management. catharina.beckman@chalmers.com

4

text and photo

A man sorting coffee seeds.

Ganges - a gate to heaven on earth?

T

the river is something that many people think is one of the here in india. the river gets its water from the great

most purifying things to do and if your ashes are spread in

Himalaya, which features nine of the fourteen highest peaks

it you will become liberated from the cycle of life and death.

in the world, including mount everest. it is the most sacred

some of my Hindu friends do not see the importance of the

river to Hindus, and 400 million indians live along its course

symbolic bath in ganges, but they agree that it is the best

and depend on it. ganges is also home to elephants, tigers,

place to have your ashes spread. even if some of them de-

indian rhinoceros, lions, even sharks and the rivers most fa-

scribe themselves as non-religious, they say that “to have

mous fauna: the freshwater dolphin.

your ashes spread in ganges is compulsory�.

400 Million

live along the Ganges and

rituals like having your ashes spread are only one source food, trash and sewage waste along with toxic chemicals from the industries along the river. one result of this situa-

It is worshipped as the goddess ganga in Hinduism. the

tion is an increase in waterborne diseases, like cholera and

symbolic and religious importance of the river is one of the

hepatitis. 80 percent of all health problems and one-third of

few things that most Hindus in india agree upon. a bath in

all deaths in india are attributable to waterborne illnesses.

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, initiated in 1986, was the largest single

grims visit to take a “holy dip� in the ganges. during festivals

attempt to clean up a polluted river anywhere in the world. unfortunately the project became a failure with delayed

per 100 milliliters have been observed, which is 200 000

plans and doubled expenditure. the failure has been blamed

times higher than the level of water contamination which

on corruption, technological mistakes and planning without

the government considers safe. and that is for swimming,

an understanding of the indian traditions and beliefs, which

not for drinking.

maybe is the most important thing to take in to considera-

In India,

80% of all healht problems and 33% of all deaths are attributable to

tion. actually, the water has just become worse since the project started. some people also blame the lack of support from religious authorities. this lack might be due to some priests being afraid that any measures against its pollution will undermine the central role of the water in rituals, as well as their

some things about the Hindu beliefs were hard for me to un-

own authority. there are many temples along the river, con-

derstand in the beginning. should they not take care of the

ducting a brisk trade in ceremonies, including funerals, and

river and treat it as sacred? why do they throw all the ashes

sometimes they also sell bottled water from the river.

in the river, when it also serves as a major source of drinking water? How could they worship ganges as a goddess and at

so there is also something within the religion itself that con-

the same time let it become that polluted?

tributes to the problem. and to understand why, you need to know about the following Hindu story:

7

Her destiny to be polluted is used to justify both ashes and waste being dumped in the river. it does not matter if the water is polluted, because it is still holy.

It will be hard to solve the problem with the pollution by putting more money in projects and have a policy against corruption. cleaning the goddess ganges is discouraged by not think the pollution is a problem and if they are not ready to change their mindset, the dirt in ganges will remain. in addition, pollution is not the only threat to the holy river. because of the rising temperatures, the glaciers are melting

animals and houses were washed away. some areas were totally destroyed, but there was one thing still standing: the statue of lord shiva, who is often referred to as “the destroy-

got angry and reduced them to ashes, and dispatched them

the middle of the turbulent stream. this made some Hindus believe even more in the gods.

these men later traveled to the sage, and begged him to re-

In the future run the river will instead dry out. some sections of the river had an average depth of 60 meters, but in some places it is now only 10 meters. some people believe that the dried out ganges will end this era, the next one in a cyclic order, will follow it. this is also one explanation why even an empty river seems to be a natural part of the circle of life.

souls of their fathers. whose destiny is to cleanse the dirt from human wrongdoings, and to claim that the river should be clean is therefore “wrong� from that point of view. she also brought the souls of people from the netherworld to heaven, and permanently became a connection between the three different worlds: Heaven, earth and the netherworld. because of this, people spread the ashes of their beloved ones in the river so that they can ascend to heaven.

debora falk

studying at indian institute of technology, dehli. civil and environmental engineering. infrastructure and environmental engineering. debora.falk@hotmail.com

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text and photo

asiaInternship aining work experience while studying is highly valu-

together they advertise the internship and then conduct a

able for you future, obtaining it abroad is even better.

recruiting process including screenings and interviews. a

global internship is an organization created by students at

short-list of candidates is then sent to the company for po-

chalmers university of technology who want to improve the possibilities for student to boost their career with an of today, more than 15 people have suc-

internship abroad. “we believe that

cessfully been sent abroad”, michel says. abroad. there are some internship programmes for the us, but for the

“we believe that it is of high importance

more interesting markets, like asia,

for new engineers to have both an education, like the one we get at chalmers,

says michel westher partner at global

and practical experience. most engineers

internships.

will in the future, in one way or another, have to face global challenges and work

global internships acts as a middle-

Michel Westher of Global Internships.

students to get the practical experience

man between companies and students. the internships are salaried and run for 3-12 months. “our

for this. that is where global internships comes into the

focus is on asia but we offer internships in north america

picture. we want more students working abroad and that

and europe as well”, michel westher explains. among the -

all internships are posted on the website and anyone can apply. many departments from chalmers are represented among the students that have been accepted so far. keep an

global internships was founded by jonas otterheim and johan svensson in 2011. they are two former chalmers students that recently graduated. in addition, the team consists of michel westher, carl-adam Hellqvist, shahin Zarrabi, all students at chalmers, but also maja storm, student at university of gothenburg.

students”, michel says.

FAST FACTS chalmers students:

database containing companies interested in interns rate relations responsible. | www.asia.chalmers.se chalmers career service: continuously publishes available positions. | student.portal.chalmers.se global internships: acts as a middleman between companies and students. | www.globalinternships.se

adam johansson

text and photo

studying at national chiao tung university, taiwan. industrial engineering and management. management and economics of innovation. adam.johansson@chalmers.se

9

tory of more than 3000 years. formerly known as

us to the second out of the three excavation pits containing

-

terracotta statues. it was a bit of a disappointment as there

cluding the Han, sui and tang dynasties. it was also the end

was not a single complete statue to be seen in the center of

point of the famous silk road trading route, connecting the

the pit, just a few statues in glass monters at the far end.

west and the east. during september i visited this old city

the third pit was a bit more interesting and is believed to be

and some of the famous places surrounding it.

the army headquarters due to the statues looking like high-

is where the ranks of terracotta infantrymen is to be found city in china, with an air quality not much better than that

and the pit is as large as an aircraft hangar.

of beijing. However, there are still some sights that remind you that this is one of the great ancient cities of china, one

as opposed to what one may think, the statues were not complete when they were discovered but shattered into

the most complete city wall left in china. it is built during the

pieces. the ones that are now complete have been restored

ming-era and it is possible to take a walk or ride a bicycle on

by skilled archeologists. restoring one statue may take sev-

its well-preserved masonry.

eral months and only a fraction of the statues have been restored. thousands of statues are yet to be assembled again and the restoration work is expected to continue for several

the muslim quarter, which is also home to the great mosque, one of the largest mosques in china. other than the great mosque, there is also a seemingly never-ending islamic food

decades to come.

Conquering Hua Shan besides visiting the terracotta army i also paid a visit to

Army of terracotta warriors which is estimated to consist of more than 8000 terracotta

there are a few trails leading up the mountain but i chose

statues. the army was built more than 2200 years ago to

to take the cable car to one of the peaks to enjoy the scenery

protect emperor Qin shi Huang in the afterlife, but it was not until 1974 that some peasants drilling for a well luckily discovered this army.

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The terracotta army of Emperor Qin Shi Huang imagine what it would be like when it is wet or icy. the trails able to visit two of them before my legs gave up on me. the

are also very crowded so care needs to be taken, especially

view from the peaks is really stunning.

when meeting other people during steep parts. for those more adventurous than me, there is also a plank walk at the

i thought the climb was quite tough just wearing a rucksack,

southern part of the mountain where you walk on wooden

hence i was amazed by all the workers carrying water, food

boards with a vertical drop below of 2000 meters.

and other supplies to the top of the mountain, balancing it carefully on a pole hung over their shoulder with the sup-

-

plies hanging down on both sides. an old man, probably in

ings. as i have also studied chinese for one year it was fun to get to use some of the words i have learned, it helped a

at the same time balancing a heavy load on his shoulder. as if this was not enough, he also did some singing and posing,

able to speak english. so with tired legs and a lot of new ex-

such as standing on one leg, to imitate on of the best-loved

periences i went back to my university in singapore to con-

characters in chinese literature, the monkey king sun wu-

tinue my studies and plan for a new trip to china.

kong. the mountain can be quite dangerous to climb and a bit slippery. even though the weather conditions were perfect when i climbed the mountain i managed to slip twice. i can only

jesper andersson

text and photo

studying at national university of singapore.

in computer science - algorithms, logic and languages. jespa@student.chalmers.com

11

The Formula 1 weekend Turning a rookie into a self-appointed expert

hen going

of my life, i

weeks, had this friday found its way back to the singapo-

was honestly a bit worried. as a person with no inter-

rean sky. the sweltering heat made the sweat running on our bodies, and what used to be my favourite bright-red dress suddenly turned into a more or less spotted dress with

the weekend ended up being a personal success, and when i

emerging dark-red areas. we grabbed some beers to cool off

look back on the race weekend, i do it with joy in my heart.

a bit, and headed over to our seats.

this is the story about the weekend that turned this uninterested exchange student into a self-appointed formula 1 expert.

stand, with a spectacular view of marina bay sands - we climbed the stairs to our seats on the 68th row. we went up,

time for me and my friends to wake up and get ready for singapore formula 1 grand prix. we started off the day by den little pearl, situated in an industrial area, provided all

“

and up, and up, and then continued up a little bit further, un-

“

It was early Friday afternoon in the city of singapore and

then continued up a little bit further, in the far left corner.

til we reached our seats situated in the far left corner. but american styled burgers and some german beer. filled up with fuel, so to speak, we headed off towards the

now not-so-cold beer in my hand. the conditions were per-

racing area. the sun, which had been gone for a couple of

fect for watching the races that were about to start.

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we heard the cars, which now had started from some distant place. Quickly, i inserted my fashionable, bright yellow ear-

-

-

that took place right before my eyes. the cars, which now

neath the formula 1. my friends had informed me that there

did not look as ridiculously small as the day before, zipped

was a swede competing in this race, a young guy named mar-

past us one by one in a high-speed manner, and i started to

cus ericsson. with that patriotic feeling all expats get when

feel like i was becoming a part of the excited audience that

they see something from home, i felt like i needed to be en-

surrounded me. we quickly headed over to the

and i really tried to. i really tried to focus on those small toy-sized cars passing one after another on the track. it did not go too well - my focus shifted to arranging plans for the

our way into the crowd and waited for my old favourite band

after one, my friends also gave up. we headed out for some

notes of the much beloved song mr brightside came out of

good old carbonara and white wine and continued into the

the lead guitarist dave keunings stratocaster. the concert

streets of singapore.

was actually pretty great, but it was ironic when the singer, brandon flowers, spoke in chinese to the audience which

a feeling that something was missing. the evening before, my phone had been stolen and my foot had been torn up by a broken glass, at one the infamous clubs of singapore. it was not entirely easy to head out of bed, but after a few more hours feeling incredibly sorry for myself, i once again headed over to the formula 1 area to meet up with my friends.

in turn was mostly made up of drunk, middle-aged, western

“

men visiting formula 1 for business purposes. they did not

band to enter the stage.

“

The day after, i woke by 2.30 pm with a pain in my foot and

upon arrival, we headed over to a hidden gem, which was

have much of a response. after dave keuning had strung his

the spectator spot that we had found last minute the day be-

last chord and i had laughed a bit to the dance styles of the

fore, situated just beside one of the curves of the track, with

previously mentioned middle-aged men, it was time for me

a conveniently located television screen in front of us show-

to head back home for some sleep and probably some night-

ing all necessary information regarding the track. it was time aloha shirt dangling in front of me. the drivers to learn the track before the actual competition

13

i realised that it was now the last

techniques. when i also realised that my new friend, the in-

day of racing. i headed over to our favourite spot beside the

credibly old sony ericsson, actually had a radio receiver so

-

i was able to tune in the actual expert commentators, i got

versation with a finnish man next to me regarding whether or not kimi räikkönen, the finnish driver of the lotus team

“

I soon found myself standing

“

-

who had experienced back problems the day before, would

in front of my eyes. when meeting up with my friends later

be able to start.

on, i had now become the self-appointed expert commentator of the group.

as the race began, i eagerly awaited the cars to pass me by. after celebrating selead and impressed the singaporean audience by dominating the competition. the race went on for 61 laps, or 2 hours, and since my so called friends headed over to other

my body. even though my formula 1 weekend had been

places to view the race, i soon found myself standing alone

lined with a number of setbacks, my overall feeling was pure

in the crowd, cheering along with a commitment that bore

happiness. when i look back today, i look back upon a great

no witness of me, just two days earlier, being entirely bored

weekend shared with wonderful friends and incredible en-

by my friends discussion about engines, wheels and driving

tertainment, both from the track as well as from the stage.

FAST FACTS first organised: 2008 capacity: 82 000 people

average gear changes per lap: 80

circuit length: 5.073 km

Headlining performances of 2013: rihanna, the killers,

laps: 61

big bang, tom jones. the closing concert also featured

race distance: 309.5 km

justin bieber and owl city.

ingrid Hagberg

text and photo

studying at nanyang university of singapore. industrial engineering and management.

Quality and operations management. ingrid.hagberg@gmail.se

14

asiaInterview

jonathan elnäs a swedish engineer in shanghai Photo by Jonathan Elnäs.

to improve the communication between scania china and the factories, as well as to learn how a distributor acts and functions. i help developing the work process to make the after sale more effective.

i was offered the position because scania had a need and i matched the sonal development plan, which all the employees at scania discuss with their supervisor.

name: jonathan elnäs education: mechanical engineering company: scania sales china

part when working in China?

shanghai is the most recognisable place in china for a westerner. there are a lot of activities and culture to take part of, and i eat out every day without going

alexander gösta

text

the hardest part is language. my mandarin is very limited and few of our customers speak english. the culture is so different. sometimes when travelling with work i feel like an ufo, really lost in translation.

ellen simonsson

studying at tongji university, shanghai.

studying at tongji university, shanghai.

architecture and engineering.

architecture and engineering.

in architecture and urban design.

in architecture and urban design.

alexander.gosta@gmail.com

ellens@student.chalmers.se

text

15

The Japanese Tea Garden

I

t is a meditative place where you can get peace of

the tea ceremony takes place inside the tea house, which

mind and escape from the stressful city. the worries

is called “chaya” in japanese. a tea house is usually located somewhere along the path, but rarely by the end of it. the

garden has the ability to make your mind think clearly again.

reason for this is to emphasize that this is a process, not a walk towards a determined goal. the tea ceremony begins

the tea garden was developed with respect to the ritualized

at the very same same moment as when a guest enters the

way to drink tea and was developed during the latter part

garden.

of muromachi and azuchi momoyama period. the ideal in

“

A tea house is usually located

other japanese gardens by focusing more on the passage to the teahouse, which is more of a movement through different sequences of the garden. tea gardens usually consists of two parts; an outer part, soto roji, and an inner part, uchi roji. these parts are separated by a gate, where there is a small building, machai, where visitors are waiting for the host to escort them through the rest of the garden.

16

“

garden is roji, which means “path with dew”. it differs from

rarely by the end of it. The reason for this is to emphasize that -

the tea houses may vary in design. some look like a hut in

-

the forest which only consists of the the room. others con-

ticipants without contradictions but also harmony with na-

sist of a larger complex with several rooms, for example a room for preparation of meals etcetra. it can also be placed

participants show respect and humbleness.

inside another building so that it is hidden and impossible to see from the outside. the inspiration of the design of the teahouses was a combination of minka and the japanese japanese peasant house. they wanted to highlight the beauty

by washing hands with water from a hollowed stone and

of a simple way of living. with its

rinse your mouth before entering

simple materials and shape, the

the tearoom. the spiritual puri-

tea house looks modest and unpretentious. the walls are made

on the ritual and simultaneously

of reeds or wood debris. the

empty and open the mind. the latter concept jaku; the mental

a traditional japanese mat, which

experience is a search for peace

is usually 90x180 years centim-

of mind and quiet rest.

eters and 6 centimeters thick. these units have been standard

the design of the tea gardens

dimensions in japan for almost people sitting or one person lying

“

down. the tea room is character-

ized by its introvert interior. the openings, through the walls, are small in order to prevent the par-

ticipants from getting disturbed by distractions from the outside.

to perceive the room. the japa-

It is all about emptying and opening the mind of the participants in order to achieve a spiritual experience of stillness: you can compare it to meditation.

nese architect toyo itoh writes in his book, the gardens of japan:

“

800. the size is suitable for two

“the roji is usually small, but its nese gardening has been enormous. the roles of movement and squential experience are only two

of its innovations; another is the idea of using to aesthetics participants goes through a physical and spiritual cleansing

advantage things originally intended for other purposes, or

process before tea ritual through roji. there is different sta-

things that people have discarded or overlooked.”

tions along the way where the participants stop to, for example, wash their hands. the rhythm of the walk is controlled

the idea to perceive sequences by progression has not only

by stones with different distances to each other, tobi ishi . it is all about emptying and opening the mind of the partici-

the development of the japanese architecture as well, which

pants in order to achieve a spiritual experience of stillness:

-

you can compare it to meditation. the meditation involves the body and all senses together in the physical experience; moving through the garden, hear the sound of water, smell and fell the taste of the tea and watching the beautiful impeccably cleaned tea items. the tea ceremony pursued four ideals; wa, kei, sei and jaku. these concepts can be translated to harmony, reverence, purity

tects, even today.

edvard nyman

text and photo

studying at tokyo institute of technology. architecture. architecture.

17

Introducing Tsinghua University A

middle-aged woman was standing in front of us. “maybe you are europeans, americans, asians, afri-

the canary metaphor is sometimes not far from the truth -

cans or latin-americans. but from now on, we have the same

like when the air Quality index recently soared to over 300

name: we are all tsinghua people”. little did i believe that i would be hearing those words being uttered in a sweaty -

engineering university, tsinghua is a natural partner for chalmers. in the words of gusta-

a couple of weeks ago, squeezed in between my newfound british friend and a french trio, attending the orientation

“chalmers has declared in its internationalization strategy

day for international students at tsinghua. in this article i

that cooperation with top universities is a priority. tsinghua

will introduce this highly regarded school, some of its cul-

is the top ranked technical university in china and among

ture and my impressions of the university so far.

the top 50 universities in the world. therefore, tsinghua is an excellent partner for cooperation with chalmers within

the college sweaters here. tsinghua university is a healthy

this collaboration are to increase its international exposure

102-year old which is considered old by chinese university

in areas where chalmers is known for its quality in expertise

standards. in the beginning, it served to prepare chinese stu-

in areas such as energy, transport, materials and sustain-

dents for studies in the united states and in 1925 it started

able development, which are the main areas of cooperation with tsinghua.”

of the cultural revolution in 1978, tsinghua has evolved to include all disciplines.

Tsinghua is widely considered to be the most prestigious university in mainland china, together with its rival and neighbour peking university. this results in a highly competitive admission. in recent years, more than 70% of the top 10 students for engineering and science disciplines

“

Tsinghua is the top ranked technical university in China and among the top

“

traditionally been engineering & sciences but since the end

Tsinghua is an excellent partner for coeducation and research.

After being here for almost one month, the campus strikes

me as one of the most impressive things of tsinghua. the tsinghua university. the undergraduates that are admitted

campus is enormous and it feels like a real university cam-

are roughly the top 0.1% out of the 10 000 000 chinese high-

pus: most of the students live in dormitories on the campus

school students that take the national college admission

and there are a lot of things to do, with a huge amount of -

as tough when applying as an exchange student from chalm-

18

cert hall, two super markets et cetera. by taking a bike tour

One thing that struck me as quite odd was the thousands learn a bit about the history of the university. the oldest

of troops marching around the campus in military clothes

part of the campus is very beautiful as it lies on the foundation of the old imperial garden of the Qing dynasty. the

were no disciplined rambo-style elite soldiers, but rather

main building of the campus was built during the mid-20th

students younger than me. further research has given me

century and has a more soviet-style architecture, which is

the answer that this military training is compulsory for the

natural as both cultural and economic support came from

undergraduate freshmen. after witnessing one of the last

the soviet union. newer facilities such as the Humanities

rehearsals, i can conclude that the training both include

library and concert hall have a more westernized style,

some kind of martial arts derivative which to put it kindly could be perceived as mildly intimidating, as well as a group dance show which i would describe as a combination of the

orientation day, i was proud to hear that the library was drawn by the famous swedish architect mario botta, but later googling proved that he is in fact swiss. even the chinese

year students at chalmers, for good and bad.

Another surprising phenomenon is the way the chinese

“

“

students socialise: by sitting in large circles at the football

no disciplined Rambo-style elite soldiers, but rather students younger than me.

these students. sometimes the chinese version of a wonderwall-douchebag sings and plays a chinese schlager-song on the guitar, sometimes they play mah-jong and sometimes they just sit and chat. but rarely do you see what you can expect in universities in europe: excessive drinking and need not go longer than to wudaokou. most of the large universities in beijing, including tsinghua, are located in the Haidian district in the northwest of beijing and wudaokou is the area in the middle of it all that serves as an oasis for thirsty students. there is an overrepresentation of

19

Military training on the campus grounds.

foreign students here and most venues with names such as wards international students. for all intents and purposes, it acts as a place to enjoy the evening and get some variation

FAST FACTS number of students | 34 336 international students | 3 450

To conclude, i must say that i am very happy that chalmers

campus area | 389,4 hectares

has added tsinghua to its roster of highly prestigious univer-

student associations and societies | 150

sities in east asia. the quality of education is high, and even though the administration can be frustrating, the possibili-

2

number of beds in student dormitories | 28 736 number of tennis courts | 32

with 150 different student associations and beijing is a great

number of basketball courts | 36

city to learn about china and study chinese in. finally, there

number of canteens and restaurants | 28

are many international students from all over the world at

alumni governors and ministers | 280

the time here, which i surely have been doing during this last

military generals | 100

month.

-

robin feng

text and photo

studying at tsinghua university, beijing.

motto | self-discipline and social commitment university spirit | action speaks louder than words

industrial engineering and management. management and economics of innovation. robinfeng91@gmail.com

20

DEADLY TYPHOONS - SHOULD WE FEAR THEM?

B

efore arriving in taiwan, i had not given the typhoons

but how threatened are we of the typhoons? should we pack

that are common for the area much thought. it was

our bags and leave taiwan right away with the fear of dying

not until i turned on my computer one morning to read the

in the next typhoon and dissuade people from going here?

-

no, everyone i have talked to in taiwan is not seriously wor-

line at all the swedish news sites was about the worst storm in the world in 30 years, the “monster typhoon usagi”. and

you stay inside during the worst hours and especially avoid

it was about to hit taiwan. i had heard from people at cam-

going to the mountains where rocks easily fall you will be

pus of the big storm and that it might affect us during the upcoming weekend. the severity was unclear for me though. so if this was the biggest news in sweden it must be serious,

so do not let the typhoons and the swedish sensational jour-

right?

mon sense you will be safe. but beware of the power of na-

as promised, the storm reached taiwan and left us a day

ture; to it, the human race is quite vulnerable.

later leaving us a little relieved but mostly disappointed. no problem visiting the grocery store. did the swedish media exaggerate? i decided to look into the differences between

FAST FACTS

the typhoon news of taiwan and sweden.

typhoons are tropical cyclones with a wind speed exceeding

i found some articles showing the differences between the

they are most common between june and november.

would be the worst storm in 30 years, taiwan reported that

a typhoon can be form and develop when the following six

storms of similar strength hit taiwan in 2005, 1998, 1997

conditions occur simultaneously:

typhoon” anywhere in taiwanese media. the swedish arti-

atmospheric instability

cles are further on not as precise regarding the geographical

high humidity in the lower to middle levels of the

positions of where the typhoon will hit. it is not surprising

troposphere enough of the so called coriolis force to develop a

indeed sounds more serious hearing that a typhoon will hit

low pressure center

“taiwan” than hearing that it will hit the “south eastern part

a pre-existing low level focus or disturbance

of the island”.

low vertical wind shear

despite this, looking for typhoon articles really made me realize how big the problem with typhoons is. the typhoons hit east asia several times per year and often they claim many casualties. in fact, 33 people in asia died from usagi and more than 600 taiwanese people died from the typhoon morakot in 2009. trees are drawn up with their roots, waves

anna ohlin

text

studying at national chiao tung university, taiwan. civil and environmental engineering.

villages.

infrastructure and environmental engineering. anna.ohlin@chalmers.se

21

asiaPhotos How is Asia best represented in a single picture? beissue submitted by robin feng and edvard nyman, are featured as the back cover and content page picture, respectively. both these photos, three runner ups and a collage of the best of the rest is presented here.

Back cover photo

Content page photo

Title: Night Market in Beijing Location: China Photographer: Robin Feng

Title: Zen Painting Location: Japan Photographer: Edvard Nyman

Runner Ups

Location: Taiwan Photographer: Catharina Beckman 22

Location: Thailand Photographer: Marcus Kalander

Location: India Photographer: Debora Falk

Grassy slopes of Green Island.

Photos by Elin Almbacke.

A R E

O

YO U

T E L L I N G

A

L I E

n a trip with two friends of mine to the beautiful resort

bachelors, to men with pot bellies, to a young attractive girl

on the taiwanese east coast called green island we

with a dog in her lap, to a famous singer from a taiwanese

came across a small restaurant in which we decided to have

tv-show. we saw that they were playing a game where each

dinner. it turned out that, this night, the restaurant crew had decided to have a get together with family and friends, due

given us the beer what the game was about. she told us she

to off season. we enjoyed the local cuisine of both beverages

did not know how to play it but that she would get someone

and food until the restaurant was about to close. the mo-

to teach us.

ment we were about to leave a woman, who turned out to be the owner of the restaurant, came up to our table and asked

seconds later we were approached by a big taiwanese

us if we wanted another beer, which of course would be on

man wearing nothing but a pair of swimming trunks and a

the house. certainly we could not risk insulting them by de-

Heineken apron. this was apparently the chef of the restau-

clining this offer. now ready to enjoy an evening with family, friends and three while enjoying the beer we could not help to notice that

swedes. His english was very poor but he still managed to

there were an awful lot of sounds and laughter coming

teach us the game. it came to be a long night, way beyond

tives were seated. it was a mix of people ranging from young

24

closing time, of games, songs and socializing.

?

The rules of Liar’s Dice to hide them with. the purpose of the game is to, only by looking at your own set of dice, make an as high bid as possible of the minimum number of dice play, without being caught lying.

everyone shakes their dice and puts them on the table with the cup covering them.

for example, “four twos”.

the next player has two options: a) claim that the previous person is lying. b) counter the previous bid in three ways: i] counter with the same set but a higher

when a player lifts their cup all other players also have to show their dice. if the combined number of dice is

ii] counter with a larger set like “seven twos”.

lower than the previous player claimed, he or she loses.

iii] counter with i. and ii. combined, for example

dice in play with the value of one are always counted as being of the most recently bid value, and is added to the total tally. so if a player has guessed seven threes, and

the number of dice in a set matter more than the value of

there are four threes and four ones in total in play, the

the dice, for example “four twos” beat “three sixes”.

total number of threes are considered to be eight, and

step 3 is repeated until a player claims that the last person bidding is lying and decides to lift their cup and show

correct, the player calling the lie is wrong and he or she

their dice. any player can, at any time, lift their cup to call

loses.

the lie.

the game either restarts with the same number of players, or the losing player has to leave the game and step 1-4 is repeated until there is only one winner left.

martin falk danauskis

text

studying at national chiao tung university, taiwan. industrial engineering and management. in management and economics of innovation. martin.falk@chalmers.se

25

A typical Batak gathering for a funeral.

I

ndonesia is situated where three tectonic plates in-

has one tourist-oriented village called tuk tuk and a central mountainous region, which is surrounded by villages along

activity, which has shaped the landscape. the island of sa-

the coastline.

mosir, which resides within a lake on the island of sumatra, is home to the batak ethnic group who are known for their

on samosir you might be surprised

easygoingness and love for music. i participated in ceremo-

by the greetings coming from all directions, usually in the

nies of the batak people during my visit to samosir, where i was surprised by their different view on life and death. be used in most situations. the amount of “Hello� i respondSamosir Island is located

-

ed to, and initiated in the end, during my trip around the is-

est volcanic lake. the island was formed by the eruption of

land were staggering and very heartwarming. they also like

a supervolcano some 75,000 years ago, which is estimated

to joke about the fact that they were a cannibalistic society

to be one of the largest known eruptions in history. samo-

less than two hundred years ago and they have interesting stories that might have questionable authenticity of the his-

within an island. the island is inhabited by the ethnic group toba batak, or just batak, as they prefer to be called. samosir

26

torical struggle between the batak and the dutch settlers.

It is also interesting to note the tendencies of batak fami-

there was, to my surprise, more transparency and inclu-

lies being very large. families with more than ten children are not uncommon, but people nonetheless introduce them-

proven by invitations to a funeral and a childbirth in a period

selves with their family names, which made it incredibly hard

of three days. the most fascinating show of the culture and

“

“

more transparency and inclusive tendencies in their

large in sweden.

Bataks are also known during the evenings you can hear groups of people singing to the music of guitars all along the island. during my visit i

tradition was the funeral. the man who was buried had an

was often invited to their gatherings, even when our verbal

extraordinary number of children and grandchildren, and

exchange was minimal due to the mutual disability to speak the man had lived and died in jakarta and had relatives spread all over western indonesia, of which many travelled often spent drinking what

to samosir for the ceremony. i spent an evening and the fol-

they call “jungle juice” or “tuak”. it is created from the sap

lowing day observing and taking part of the ceremonies as

of palm trees and is an alcoholic beverage that looks a bit

well as talking with the people there. the more i saw of the

like milk. but barely anyone would touch the subject of the

ceremony, the less i understood.

process of making it or the level of alcohol. nonetheless, everyone drank tuak during the evenings and the low price was

I ended up at the ceremony after being led there by men

said to be the reason for its popularity as it was less than a

who had earlier invited me to share some tuak. they wanted to show me an old and traditional batak house.

27

a family tree could have made it completely clear to me. the

The head of a Water Buffalo - A common funeral gift.

cut open with an axe on the ground and harvested for edible parts. it was somewhat gruesome, yet interesting, to watch for someone who has never seen such a thing up close in reality and especially so when it occurred at a funeral.

“ on outside the house with food, music

funeral was conducted, large and very colourful signs were

“

However, there was a celebration going

Around the area where the

such a thing up close in reality

placed, produced by loved

occurred at a funeral.

popularity of this kind of signs

ones and family members. the was evident, at least across north sumatra, as you could

and dancing. i was introduced to a son

see them being created for everything between a funeral and an anniversary for a gym. at this event, there were between front door i saw an open casket in the middle of the room. i

20 and 40 of signs set up. they usually said “goodbye” or

almost panicked as i realized that i had been taken to a funer-

-

al. i was urged to take photos of not only the house but also of

tion about the deceased and the creator of the sign. these

the casket and the person lying inside, something i felt very

signs are nearly impossible to miss because of their strong

much at unease doing. the ceremony continued with tradi-

and beautiful colours, which left me not only puzzled in the

tional music and, very surprisingly, joyful dancing around the

beginning but also intrigued of their purpose.

open casket inside the house. i was asked to join in, accepted and repeatedly was paired up with people and encouraged to

The ceremony was concluded in the evening with a chris-

dance along.

tian funeral. the traditional part of the whole funeral was, to say the least, very different from funerals in sweden, while

The following day there was a 12 hour ceremony with food,

the christian part had many similarities. i am glad that they

drinks and good company with hundreds of people who

gave me the opportunity to experience a part of their very

participated in ceremonies indescribable in words or pic-

different culture. an opportunity, i believe, which someone is much less likely to get in many other parts of the world.

enough in english took every opportunity to talk with me or

the funeral, none of it felt strange in the end as i realized that

offer me food or drinks. many of these conversations ended

it was more a celebration of a full life, than mourning of the

with the request to tell everyone about their corner of the

passing of one.

world, as i am doing right now.

Among the gifts to the family of the deceased from the other families, such as money and beer, was a water buffalo. the water buffalo had been slaughtered and cut up into pieces, and every piece was given to a particular part of the

daniel gunnarsson

studying at national university of singapore. information technology. in computer systems and network.

parts of the water buffalo went where, but nothing short of

28

text and photo

daniel.gunnarsson123@gmail.com

C

they where to catch up with the Queen mother, she took one mid-summer when the weather is warm and the grass

of her golden hairpins and made a stroke and a billowy river

and tress reveal their luxurious greens. at night when the

appeared in front of the cowherd. the weaver maid and the

sky is dotted with stars it is possible to see the milky way

cowherd were separated on each bank of the milky way for-

spanning from north to south. on each bank of the milky way

ever. eventually the Queen mother allowed the lovely couple

lies a bright star. these stars are called the cowherd and the

to meet once a year. this day is the 7th day of the 7th lunar

weaver maid. they are enclosed with a beautiful love story

-

passed down from generation to generation.

enth. this year it was celebrated on the 13th of august.

one day a fairy from heaven, the weaver maid, fell in love

today this story has taken root in the heart of the chinese

with a cowherd and secretly came down to earth and mar-

-

ried him. they lived a happy life and she gave birth to a boy and a girl. unfortunately, the god of Heaven soon found out

during this festival but it is mainly the urban youths that are

about the marriage and ordered the Queen mother of the western Heavens to bring the weaver maid back home. the

and stores are full of joy as they sell more commodities in the name of love.

patric andersson

text

studying at national chiao tung university, taiwan. mechanical engineering. in management and economics of innovation. patric.andersson@chalmers.se

29

Surviving Taiwan with Allergies A re you out of your mind!? them about my upcoming exchange year in taiwan. usually you receive tones of cheer when announcing exchange studies, but not me - i got concerns.

Adrenaline injection. this is my story about how to survive taiwan with severe anxiety but also about successful strategies and the kindness of the taiwanese people.

e

some of these things are of deadly character, which is why i always carry two adrenaline auto injectors and 12 cortisone

in the heart, as you see in all great movies like pulp fiction

th Yours truly have All

lnuts, kind of nuts, haze

ing on a daily basis and may have added a voice to the choir in trying to prevent me from going to taiwan.

Almonds of course i have had my fair share of doubts and worries myself. in fact, after three weeks, i still worry about what to eat every day, especially when trying out a new meal or a new

Beetroot

for dinner than cooking at home. Hence, most grocery stores offer less fresh food but provide a great selection of semiit a lot harder to cook at home even if you want to.

Berries ’s Well, I think that

all.

have developed strategies to maintain my health during this year. there is a lot of pre-research behind this. there is also constant ongoing research in order to be safe. i would now like to share my experiences with you and provide a list of advice about how to be safe in a food culture different from what you are used to without even knowing the language or being able to read the characters, when struggling with allergies.

30

Buying in food the market.

Photo by Catharina Beckman

First of: Do not take any chances!

the list could go on forever and this is probably the biggest tip i can provide, even if you are not allergic. new friends

secondly, do your homework before departure: conduct some research regarding the food culture e.g. search online, ask people that have been living in the

“I speak English, do you need my help?� the people in taiwan are very friendly and helpful, which is

or you can even call the embassy if you have more speat restaurants usually speak very poor english but almost prepare a list of your allergies written in the language of the country of interest. ask a native to help you, it is

customer just pops out at me with a great smile saying “i

more accurate than computer aids.

However, the year has just started and i will not say i made grocery stores where you can eat and shop respectively.

it just yet. if everything works out as it should, i will be back

try making friends with natives. natives can provide

with a follow up and additional advice in the next asia magazine.

extending your social network, which is usually until then, take good care whether you are allergic or not understanding the culture better

and tell your allergic friends that living in asia could be an

answer questions you may have Help out at restaurants and stores to make your meal more safe Help translating ingredient lists on groceries

text

studying at national chiao tung university, taiwan. automation and mechatronics. product development.

31

asiaInSweden

I

magine that you grew up in Taiwan or Mon“during a stroll in gothenburg, one thing in particular oc-

thoughts be if you suddenly were to walk along the

curred to me. this must be the land of a thousand statues.”

change students at Chalmers. It is meant to and can also work as a base for good self with a shortage of words.

Not a city suitable for heels

“if you are a small asian girl in sweden and you often want to wear heels. it helps a bit, at least, but you are still a lot shorter than the locals. pedestrian roads in gothenburg are made of small pieces of tile-like stones which i know is very environmentally friendly, but walking on those kind of roads with high heels is a punishment. the worst thing is that all the clubs and bars are located in downtown where they only have these kinds of stone roads.”

are super-sporty “i was very surprised to see mothers running with their babies in the stroller just like the typical Hollywood mum. the baby cannot even walk yet but they already get to feel the wind from the speed in a horizontal position in the stroller. maybe the early debut is the reason all swedish love to run and jog.”

”among ten girls you meet on the street, eight of them will dress in exactly the same style. this ordinary style consists of a leather rock jacket, combined with black legging, boots and blonde hair. where does this style come from? However, this is the swedish style.”

32

build a house-like construction to protect the seeds from the wind,

“Too good to be true”around campus speaks english. but even taxi driv-

which we destroy once the coal has turned red. they have this awe-

had that kind of bottle in stores at home.”

ers, bus drivers, shop clerks, cleaning ladies, old

amazing how well everybody can speak it.”

“it is insane how well and thorough swedish guys prepare to parties. they are not only well-groomed, they actually wear tuxedo to parties. not only a few out of

Oh my, there are wild rabbits running in the streets

student parties at chalmers where around 50 percent of the group were suited up. the reason? the other participants of the party were us exchange students.”

“one thing that really surprised me in gothenburg was the rabbits that you could spot jumping their way across cam-

FAST FACTS

pus, or anywhere else for that matter. the other students did not even seem to notice them, but i found them quite exotic. it is nice when you can enjoy nature even as central as in the cities”

nctu europe is the sweden-based equivalent to cito. their main objective is to promote exchanges and cooperation with national chiao tung university in taiwan. contact: day 12:00-13:00 web: www.europe.nctu.edu.tw e-mail: europe.nctu@gmail.com

elin almbacke

text

studying at national chiao tung university, taiwan. industrial engineering and management. management and economics of innovation. elin.almbacke@chalmers.se

33

The Singaporean mindset in singapore everything seems

li wei and i discussed and compared chinese and swedish

similar to a european society. it is amazing how this

culture the other day. in sweden, there is a stronger tradition of people voicing their opinions before something is decided,

it has grown to a great world economy. How is that possible?

which while being more democratic also can be time-consuming. li wei told me that if the chinese government wants things done, that will be done - fast.

-

although this could possibly create a gap between the gov-

ture is, at least partially derived from chinese culture and

ernment and the population. the acceptance of the authori-

their moral values. since singapore is such a young country,

tarian government leads to a lack of critical thinking among

“

this article will mainly regard chinese culture.

the people. it also creates a tendency among the people to consider many things to be either black or white.

tradition of people voicing their opinions before something is

the black and white thinking is something i really have no-

democratic also can be time-consuming.

not so much for shades. a typical example of this is when we ask for directions, for example “is orchard road this way?”. if you get a yes you obviously continue in that direction, but

“

in china, respect for elders and for authorities, such as the

that does not have to be the right way, not at all. many peo-

government, are very important. i have a friend, li wei, who

ple who do not understand what you are asking for just say yes to get rid of you, it seems. so we have started evaluating

He told me that you are not supposed to argue with an elder.

how trustworthy every yes we get are before going blindly

neither should you question their judgment. what an elder

towards something.

goes for the government.

34

when people, especially kids, are not supposed to question

interviewed persons answered something like: “no, because

things it might lead to that people do not get to practice their critical thinking. furthermore they do not get to practice on

-

thinking of “what could have caused this?” but they just an-

swered the same as they did when they were asked if they

swer yes or no instead of “it depends.”

were for or against the mandatory death penalty.

-

all of this is very interesting to me since critical thinking is

datory death sentence” here in singapore where the interviewer asked children in their early teens if they were for

choices, consider your opportunities, do your research and

or against the mandatory death penalty. most people were

then come back with an answer. usually the answers are

for. what was very interesting and very meaning for the sin-

effected by many variables, many more variables than we

gaporean culture was the answer to the follow-up question

could possibly include in our equation. Hence, the “correct”

from the interviewer. the question was: “do you know what

answer might not always consist of a yes or a no.

one of them answered yes. so, without knowing what they

what seem to be highly regarded in sweden these days are social standards, social well-being and environmental re-

answered yes/no totally uncritical. this, similar to when we

sponsibilities. when talking to li wei about business and

asked for directions. important.” He also mentioned a very powerful chinese polifurthermore, the interviewer explained the meaning of the that no matter why the offender posses the drugs, the death penalty is the valid sentence. this followed by “do you still think the offender deserves the death penalty?” one of the

“

that is what i will conclude my article with:

“

term to the teenagers and told them that it basically means

cat that catches mice is a good cat.” - Deng Xiaoping

lukas suter

text

studying at nanyang university of singapore. software engineering. management and economics of innovation. lukas.suter.1991@gmail.com

35

THE STREAM THAT MAINSTREAM TOURISM MISS IN CAMBODIA

S

iem Reap is the second most populous city in cam-

gle metre that occasionally separates the surface from the

bodia. it is a classic tourist destination because of

bottom. because of this, the area looks radically different

its proximity to one of the most famous tourist attractions

depending on when you view it. in this unusual environ-

in the world: angkor wat, with around two million visitors infrastructure with relatively modern buildings dominate,

Float is what they actually do: every component of the villages - housing, schools, markets selling basic commodities,

-

and everything else - are all are based on either boats, rafts

bodia is a poor country. in fact cambodia is ranked 146th out village of this type to siam reap is locally referred to as, simover countries ranked by gdp per capita in the year 2012.

If you follow the typical itinerary of tourists visiting cam-

and wind sheltering made from whatever material avail-

bodia, consisting of staying over in siem reap and going on

able. wealthier residents may have a more proper house on

a few daily excursions to the angkor region, you might have developed country. but by taking such a trip you might be missing out on a more authentic experience of the daily life in cambodia.

That was why i and a friend of mine decided to take a short tuk-tuk drive south of siem reap. there lies the combined lake and river system of tonle sap, which translated from the

case the everyday life is spent entirely upon the undulating

“

lake.

Wealthier residents may have a more

“

the lasting impression that cambodia is a reasonably well-

case the everyday life is spent entirely upon the undulating lake.

The main industry in these types of communities is, withfresh water reservoir in south east asia. it is an unusual and and the area it covers in the wet season is six times greater than in the dry season. during this transformation the lake also gains about eight meters of depth, compared to the sin-

36

son spawn as much new food as possible. only during

Photo by Marcus Kalander.

Photo by Marcus Kalander.

depths, big catches are commonplace - in the entire tonle

to the tour-takers which they are then supposed to give as

sap area, up to 10 000 metric tonnes are caught under the -

is shipped right back to the shop, where it can be sold over

dustry for the country as a whole cannot be mistaken: the

again. the money goes to the initiators of this entrepreneur-

cambodian currency, riel, derives its name from a small sil-

ial idea instead of to the community.

ver carp which is central in many cambodian diets.

Reports of scams like this are numerous in cambodia, and But despite the seeming abundance of nourishment sup-

particularly in the tonle sap area. this has led to bad re-

plied by the tonle sap system, there are many things lack-

views and a bad reputation for the villages on popular services concerned with travelling such as tripadvisor.

national average, which is only 65 years and 77 per cent, re-

, one has to bear in mind that the tough living

spectively. furthermore, the infant mortality rate is higher

conditions on the changeable lake easily leads to corruption

than the national average which is 52 deaths per 1000 births.

when a new vein of income is found. this is true not only

the life on the river also means that drowning is a common

here but universally; it is not acceptable and should not be

cause of death. this is especially common among younger individuals, and we understood why when we saw small

both you and the community since they gain income from

children making their way across the river in tiny saucepan-

the boat tours, and you gain insight to a cambodia that is more than the grandeur of angkor wat.

impressive sight, but at the same time a bit disheartening.

An increase in tourism in the area has given it a substantial economical boost in recent years. industrious residents

pascal csikasz studying at national chiao tung university, taiwan

ly rich tourists. this is evident by the many tour packages

industrial design engineering.

offered along the lake shores, but it is also often displayed

in product development.

in a more cynical way. the tour guides routinely try to sell

csikasz@chalmers.se

38

text

asiaSolutions If you ask the average swede, he or she would say that sweden is a country of convenience. but it is asia that is in front when it comes to innovation in making everyday life as simple as possible. below you can see some examples of this, found by our contributors around asia.

location: bar, shanghai. after having several drinks these useful handles helps you use the facilities when having urgent needs.

location: apartment. singapore

location: train station, tokyo.

this clean design in combination with the electronic and mechanical interaction make the ordinary locking procedure a pleasant experience.

useful. perfect when other stores are closed a warm night.

Submitted by Anna Ohlin

Submitted by Ramian Raissi

location: restaurant, singapore.

location: taxi, taipei.

location: garage tunnel, tokyo.

a device helping you call for the bill or the

a screen taped to the back of the passenger

for a big, bike-loving population this is

waiter in a big restaurant.

seat is controlled by an ipad in the front of

a space-saving way of storing the bikes.

much more convenient than waving.

this karaoke taxi. find a song on youtube and sing in the microphone. the speakers on the roof lets the whole street hear.

Submitted by Marcus Kalander

39

asiaApply Chalmers International - Part of the Chalmers’ World Wide Programme

T

he economies in east asia have showed a remarkable development during the end of the 20th cen-

tury. japan has become accompanied by china among the and challenging. among those with technical education, an increasing portion will have contacts in the whole region from singapore to japan within their professions. with this in mind, chalmers has developed a special exchange programme based in taiwan, giving students an opportunity to study in and gain experiences from these economies.

Y before the 1st of december. attach a motivational cover let-

the exchange programme is called “the asia programme�

ter in swedish along with a photo of yourself. if you are a student of architecture or architecture and technology you

is the foremost technological university in taiwan. nctu is

need to submit an additional portfolio as well. choose two

nology. However, in cooperation with the neighbouring

master programme and double check this with the coordina-

national tsing Hua university, the exchange covers all engi-

tor of you master programme.

neering programmes at chalmers. courses held in both english and mandarin can be chosen. parallel to the studies at nctu the students maintain the

Have reached your third year of studies at an engineering or architecture programme

cito includes arranging representation events for taiwan-

Have the minimum average grade of 3.7 credits

ese students at nctu as well as visiting companies and representing chalmers throughout east asia.

Contents of the Asia Programme intensive course in mandarin, 4 weeks in july august at nctu in Hisnchu, taiwan full academic year of engineering or architectural

which university is based only on the grades of the students and the motivational cover letter is used to distinguish between students with the same average grade. in february you are informed whether or not you have been nominated for a university or not. if you are not nominated, for any of

studies at nctu

the universities you applied for, you still have a chance to

maintenance of the chalmers international taiwan

study abroad by applying in the second selection for the uni-

company visits throughout east asia

40

the selection of which student that will be nominated for

CHALMERS IN ASIA

Chalmers University of Technology

SE-412 96 Gothenburg, Sweden Phone: +46 (0)31 772 10 00 www.chalmers.se