East Asia and Southeast Asia

Question 1
The Three Gorges Dam built in China plays a vital role in the lives of the citizens of
China. It is vital to acknowledge that the dam was built in 2014 on the Yangtze River and has
had many effects on the people. One of the advantages of the dam is that it has helped in flood
control. The plain areas around the Yangtze River are usually vulnerable to floods, which leads
to excessive water accumulation on the plains. The Three Gorges Dam has played an essential
role in protecting the plains against floods because it is a flood diversion structure (Berglee,
2012). Notably, the Three Gorges Dam has improved the safety of the people living in the
downstream areas because of the reduced occurrence of floods. Additionally, the Three Gorges
Dam has helped in achieving environmental purification because it produces electricity, which is
environmentally friendly compared to the usage of coal as a source of power. Also, the dam has
helped improve navigation conditions on the river above the dam (Zhang, 2014). The
construction of the Three Gorges Dam helped widen the navigation channel, making it easy for
tows to sail from Shanghai to Chongqing. With improved navigation conditions, people are
privileged to have access to numerous products.
The Three Gorges Dam has certain disadvantages for the people living on the upstream
side. One of the disadvantages is its effect on local culture and aesthetic values. It is vital to
acknowledge that the dam has a long reservoir that has, on many occasions, flooded numerous
archaeological sites (Berglee, 2012). Also, the dam has resulted in the relocation of various
cultural and historical relics to higher ground. Additionally, the Three Gorges Dam has resulted
in sedimentation problems, which can interfere with the operation of the turbines in the dam.

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With reduced silt downstream, flooding is likely to take place, bringing misery to the people
living in such areas.
Question 2
After WWII, Japan experienced a resurgence in its economic power due to numerous
reasons. One of the reasons for the resurgence in its economic power was the dissolution of the
Zaibatsu, which enabled Japanese firms to become more flexible and experience change. The
dissolution of the Zaibatsu led to changes in the management of firms and alleviated the trend of
owner-managers (Addicott, 2017). It is vital to acknowledge that the dissolution of Zaibatsu
ensured that only professional managers were allowed to govern the operations of firms. The
professional managers made it possible to improve working conditions within the firms, and this
significantly promoted domestic and international competition (Addicott, 2017). Additionally,
the extensive use of technology in production resulted in the resurgence of Japan’s economic
power. It is vital to acknowledge that Japan created new technology by studying the technologies
imported from other countries. Notably, technological improvements in Japan significantly
resulted in economic stability since technologies in a particular industry influenced the growth of
other related industries.
Also, the Yoshida Doctrine helped in improving the economy of Japan. The Yoshida
Doctrine was a policy whose aim was to improve economic reconstruction and development by
reducing military expenditure by leaving defense to the United States Army (Kingston, 2018).
With minimal expenditure on military operations, it was possible to divert resources to economic
reconstruction. Also, the Income Doubling Plan helped in the resurgence of the economy of
Japan because it aimed at increasing the income of Japanese workers, which significantly

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improved their standards of living. The Income Doubling Plan also helped in increasing foreign
trade between Japan and other countries, which made the economy flourish.
Question 3
A critical examination of Cambodia indicates that it has numerous ethnic groups,
including Khmer, which is the oldest and has spread out in Southeast Asia. It is vital to
acknowledge that most people believe that Khmer came with certain agricultural activities, such
as rice farming. Additionally, Vietnamese is an ethnic minority group in Cambodia (Lim, 2016).
Notably, the Vietnamese of Cambodia mostly lived upstream along the shores of Tonle Sap.
Also, we have Chinese who mainly settled in Cambodia due to trade and commerce when the
country was the French protectorate. Regarding religious affiliations in Cambodia, the main
religion is Buddhism, as most of the people practice Theravada Buddhism (Berglee, 2012).
About 5 percent of the population in Cambodia are Christians, Muslims, Jews, and animists.
Singapore as a country is made of up of numerous ethnic groups. The main ethnic group
in Singapore is Chinese who constitute about 77 percent of the total population. Additionally,
Malay are the second largest ethnic group in Singapore followed by Indians and Eurasians. It is
vital to acknowledge that the ethnic groups have different traditions that make each of them
unique. Notably, the different ethnic groups speak different languages, and this has resulted in
problems during communication over time. Remarkably, there are numerous religions practiced
in Singapore. The dominant religion in Singapore is Buddhism, and this is the same case with
Cambodia (Phua, 2022). Other types of religion practiced in Singapore may include Christianity,
Islam, and Hinduism. Also, some of the citizens in Singapore do not practice any religion for
reasons best known to themselves.

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References

Addicott, D. A. (2017). The Rise and Fall of the Zaibatsu: Japan’s Industrial and Economic
Modernization. Global Tides, 11(1), 5.
Berglee, R. (2012). World regional geography: People, places and globalization.
Kingston, J. (2018). Japan’s foreign relations in Cold War Asia, 1945–1990. In Japan’s Foreign
Relations in Asia (pp. 3-17). Routledge.
Lim, A. C. H. (2016). Ethnic Identities in Cambodia. In The Handbook of Contemporary
Cambodia (pp. 379-387). Routledge.
Phua, K. Y. (2022). “Contramodernist Buddhism” in a Global City-State: Shinnyo-en in
Singapore. Religions, 13(3), 265.
Zhang, W. (2014). Weighing the Pros and Cons: Transformation of Angle of View for Three
Gorges Dam. Natural Resources, 05(16), 1048–1056.
https://doi.org/10.4236/nr.2014.516088