Malaysia is one of the most culturally, ethnically and geographically diverse and unique countries in the world, not to mention beautiful. Come take a closer look at the country who's motto is “Unity is Strength.”
馬來西亞是全球文化、種族與地理最多元獨特的國家之一,更不用說是美不勝收。讓我們一起來探索這個國家格言為「團結就是力量」的國度。
A closer look 說古論今
Malaysia is dotted with plains, forested hills and mountains that cover both East and West Malaysia. West Malaysia shares a border with Thailand and Singapore, and is made up of nine sultanates, two states with governors and two federal territories. Across the South China Sea, East Malaysia on Borneo Island borders Indonesia and Brunei, and consists of just two states and one federal territory.
Malaysia has been a major trading hub and port center for centuries, and is mentioned in Chinese texts as early as 200-300 and in Claudius Ptolemy's Geography from about the same time. Malaysia has long been a major exporter of tin, rubber and palm oil.
The first Malay kingdoms came together around 1100 and were probably ruled by Hindu or Buddhist kings. For some time Malaysia was heavily influenced and occasionally invaded by Indian forces. Indians even used it as a base to attack Sri Lanka in the 1200s.
In the 1400s, the Sultanate of Malacca established itself and spread Islam through most of the Malay archipelago. To this day, most Malays are Muslim.
In 1511, the Portuguese became the first Europeans to set up a colony in Malaysia. The Dutch followed them, and the British came third. The British had firmly established control or influence in most of modern-day Malaysia by 1826. Britain granted Malaysia independence in August 1957 under pressure from guerrilla attacks.
馬來西亞東西散佈著平原、蓊鬱的坡丘與山脈。西馬來西亞與泰國和新加坡為鄰,共分為九個由世襲蘇丹管轄的州、兩個由州長管轄的州與兩個聯邦直轄區。跨越南海,位於婆羅州島上的東馬來西亞與印尼及汶萊為鄰,只包括兩個州與一個聯邦直轄區。
馬來西亞數世紀以來一直都是重要的貿易樞鈕與港口中心,早在西元兩百到三百年間,馬來西亞就出現在中國文獻中,約在同時,希臘天文學家托勒密也在《地理學》一書中提過。馬來西亞一向是錫、橡膠與棕櫚油的重要出口國。
第一個馬來王國建立於西元一一○ ○年左右,受印度教或佛教國王統治。馬來西亞一度深受印度影響,也不時遭印度人入侵。印度人甚至在十三世紀把馬來西亞當做攻打斯里蘭卡的基地。
十五世紀時,麻六甲蘇丹國建國,將伊斯蘭教遍傳到馬來群島。直到今日,大多數的馬來人仍是伊斯蘭教徒。
西元一五一一年,葡萄牙成為歐洲第一個在馬來西亞建立殖民地的國家,其次為荷蘭與英國。到了一八二六年,英國強力掌控並影響了大部分的現代馬來西亞。英國在一九五七年八月屈服於游擊隊攻擊的壓力,承認馬來西亞獨立。 (翻譯:賴美君)
The strongest earthquake to hit Taiwan in 25 years killed at least 16 people and damaged dozens of buildings, but the destruction was largely contained thanks to decades of preparedness work. Taiwan sits on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of intense seismic activity along the Pacific Rim, and — much like neighboring Japan — has a long history of catastrophic quakes. How does April 3 compare with other recent quakes? The April 3 earthquake, which measured 7.4 on the moment magnitude scale, was felt across Taiwan. It was the most severe since a 7.6 magnitude quake in 1999 killed
Around the time of the Dragon Boat Festival in June, the streets of Taiwan are filled with the delightful aroma of zongzi, a traditional snack made of sticky rice wrapped in leaves. The leaves are folded into a cone and then filled with sticky rice and other ingredients such as braised pork belly, peanuts and salted duck egg yolks. The filled leaves are then tightly tied with kitchen twine and ready for cooking. 每到六月端午時節,街頭巷尾就會飄出粽子的香氣。粽子是將糯米包進粽葉的傳統美食,先將粽葉折成圓錐狀塞入糯米,以及紅燒肉、花生、鹹鴨蛋黃等配料,用棉線綁緊後即可烹煮。 Dragon Boat Festival (n. phr.) 端午節 aroma
Everyone has seen a piece of fruit turn brown after being cut. Have you ever wondered why that happens? It is a common phenomenon that occurs due to a chemical reaction called enzymatic browning. The appearance, flavor and nutritional value of the fruit are all affected by this reaction. Some fruits, such as apples, pears, bananas, avocados and peaches, are more prone to enzymatic browning than others. These fruits contain high levels of an enzyme called polyphenol oxidase, or PPO for short. __1__ This causes a chain of chemical reactions that ultimately transforms the phenolic compounds into
A: Artificial intelligence technology has been causing controversy lately: a student was caught cheating with AI to win the grand prize in an art contest. B: That’s so absurd. Does this mean that AI paints better than humans? A: Maybe. Luckily, the student was later disqualified. B: And more absurdly, it’s becoming more and more popular to use AI technology to “resurrect” people. A: Yeah, some netizens even posted videos featuring the late singer CoCo Lee, who was “resurrected” by them with AI software. A: 人工智慧的爭議不斷,有學生違規使用AI參加美術展,甚至贏得首獎。 B: 真誇張,這是不是代表AI比人類還強大? A: 或許吧,幸好得獎資格被取消。 B: 還有更誇張的︰讓死者重現的「AI復活」技術越來越熱門。 A: 對啊,還有網友製作已故歌后李玟「復活」的影片呢! (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)