Rojak turns 50! Not that it has been 50 weeks since I first started this since I’ve missed quite a few weeks due to travels or sheer forgetfulness -it’s more like one and a half years. This week, we feature quite a few stories from Southeast Asia like the Cambodian dinosaur found on the walls of Ta Prohm (first featured in an earlier rojak) as well as several related to the 200th anniversary of Darwin’s birthday.
- The mysterious Cambodian dinosaur is sighted again, still without any explanations. Any takers?
- Some people spend all their lives chasing bigfoot, while in Indonesia, some people spend their lives chasing the Orang Pendek, who has small, rather than big feet.
- Singapore’s Heritage TV brings you on a video tour around the historic Fort Canning Hill, home to Singapore’s ancient royalty and (literally) tons of archaeological remains.
- The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is criticised for its silence over the Myanmar envoy to Hong Kong’s outrageously racist remarks over the Rohingyas, an ethnic group residing in the mountains between India and Myanmar. The envoy calls these people, who have been denied acceptance and citizenship, as “ugly as ogres“.
- I want one of those: A scanner than can examine artifacts up to two tons. Now, if I only can clear some space in my room…
- Read about a central Vietnamese gong tuner who is on his ancestors’ wavelength.
- Writer Glenda Clarke brings us to the stupas and reliefs of Borobudur.
- The Archaeology Channel presents a 7-minute video about Saving the Temple of Banteay Chhmar.
- The fears of many traditional arts practitioners in Indonesia have come true as Jaipong becomes the first to fall victim under Indonesia’s ambiguous anti-porn law.
- Penang locals are trying to preserve and protect Tanjung Tokong, a living settlement that goes back to even before the arrival of the British.
- In celebration of Charles Darwin’s 200 birthday, we offer you the answer to the question, “What would you look like, 400,000 years ago?” Now you can find out in Devolve Me.
- What do Malaysian kids think about Darwin’s theory of evolution?
- And Darwin might have been more Buddhist than we thought.
In this series of weekly (at least, it tries to be weekly) rojaks (published on Wednesdays) I’ll feature other sites in the blogosphere that are related to archaeology in Southeast Asia. Got a recommendation for the next Wednesday rojak? Email me!
The Cambodian dinosaur could be SE Asia’s Mokele Mbembe, although there’s not much anywhere, not even on Cryptomundo. The only entry there doesn’t have any conclusions on what’s actually there.
http://www.cryptomundo.com/cryptozoo-news/dino-cambodia/
The dinosaur has been used to defend the idea of creationism as well, in this hilarious article: http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/2007/01/15/evidence-dinosaurs-angkor
Noel, thanks for the laugh. My best guess is that it is actually a carving of a rhino or wild boar on a palm leaf that has eroded away over the centuries.