~ 01/20/2001

Reply:

FYI: At LCW, we've received a few letters from Hmong individuals but it is rare.  Of course we do enjoy hearing from anyone and everyone regardless of background.

To answer your question:  'Hmong' also known as 'Meo'.

I've noticed as well, the hostilities of words between Hmong and others on the net, whether those other individuals be Lao people or whomever.  I read some negative comments about the Hmong, people have written on other websites and newsgroups.  But I personally don't see where this is coming from.  I can only assume it's people's prejudice and ignorace at play.

Their people are among the many diverse groups in Laos.  In addition, they are a peaceful and optimistic people.  Tribe and clan based, the Hmong have been around for over 4 thousand years.  The first mentionings of their people were in ancient Chinese texts, 2500 years ago.

Their casualties during the guerrila wars of pre-, post-, and during the Vietnam War itself were staggering considering their small population at the time.  Within a 14 yr. period over 30,000 Hmong died in Laos because of war.  There were factions that sided with the Pathet Lao but many more sided with the pro-Western Royal Lao.

In translation their names often had negative connotations.  However, 'Hmong' in their purely spoken (not written) language, is said to mean 'free men'.  Their people are fiercely independent and are mostly involved in agricultural and textile economic activities.  They do commute into the main cities to sell their goods. And many are integrating into everyday Lao society. Many, though not all, do speak Lao in addition to their native tongue which is closely akin to Chinese.

The Hmong people have communities scattered throughout southeast Asia that span into Laos, China, Vietnam and Thailand.  Recent estimates put there combined numbers at around 5 million within the region.  In Laos, they primarily reside in the high rural and mountainous areas thus earning the description of "Lao Terng".  They are characterized by a slightly more Sino appearance, their different language and the artistic clothing they wear (which is often black, red and white).  In addition, they also wear silver accessories.

Tips for current and future photographers:  Some basic tips for photography, as in your case, was that many of your photos had low lighting.  To remedy low light photography you have to increase the time in which your shutter speed remains open.  You do this by adjusting the shutter or slowing it down so it remains open longer.  By doing so you give the film more time to absorb the light to create an image.  There are some wonderful shots you can take in Laos that are low lighting environments, ie. sun rise (or sun down) over Vientiane or celebrations that are taking place in the late evenings and other certain areas/scenery that are beautifully lit.

Additionally it is important to protect your equipment while out in the elements and weather such as those experienced in Laos.  There are times of the year when it gets very rainy or very dusty and hot.  Bring appropriate accessories to protect your equipment in these cases.  Always have a lens protector on the camera.

Also note that in high humidy circumstances that condensation may occur in the plastic case/bag you are using to protect your camera and equipment. Therefore try to use carrying/storage cases that allow the items to breath. Make sure your items are well sheltered but are 'free to breath' when it's humid.  For the most part, cameras these days are built to really withstand quite a bit of use and a wide range of temperatures so don't be too worriesome about the equipment - remember to enjoy the trip.

Another note is to bring a unipod.  A unipod is just a tripod but with one leg.  This is especially useful if you know your hand is a bit shaky or tends to move the whole camera when you press the bottom to shoot.  Also, unipod's are much more easy to set up and transport than regular tripods when you're on the go.

About film:  In my experience I haven't noticed any damage to my film when it goes through customs x-ray scans.  Although if you are concerned about this you can buy x-ray protected film carrying cases/bags. Then again this might not be necessary as many baggage x-ray machines are film friendly.

I'm glad you like our new look here at Laoconnection.com.  It took quite a bit of work in determining what would be the final look. 

In terms of the primary color we use, orange or light orange, it is to represent the strong Buddhist beliefs and traits inherent in our people.  As you know Buddhist monks wear the basic garments, robes, that are yellow/orange/saffron type colors.  Thus, mostly these new colors are used on LCW. 

Lao Buddhists account for 2/3rds of religious followers in Laos.

When we first started LCW with our old main font color being yellow (though it was later changed) on black background. There was a huge copycat trend. Many other Lao websites copied that from us. Hopefully they won't copy us this time around. Let's have some originality and expansion to represent Lao websites on the net, people! :-)