March 26, 2013

Cambodia Countdown (76 and sadly finale…it’s been amazing and too short!)

Cambodia Countdown 76.

Today, more than ever, the developing world needs our support to educate, fight poverty, safeguard the health of the population, and build infrastructure. Spending 0.21% of its GDP on foreign aid (far below the OECD average of 0.49%), the U.S. is one of the stingiest of all developed nations. In contrast, donations from private sources in the U.S. (individuals, foundations, universities, corporations, religious congregations, and voluntary organizations) are among the world’s most generous.

Unfortunately, much of that generosity does not realize its intended benefit because certain simple and fundamental giving principles are not understood. Billions of dollars and gifts in kind (GIK) that are poured into the developing world have limited impact and sometimes even cause harm.

There are so many tragicomic examples of good giving intentions gone awry:
  • Money poured into “shell” orphanages;
  • State-of-the-art equipment sitting idle at hospitals;
  • Microwaveable TV dinners for communities without electricity;
  • Old computers that demand high import tariffs;
  • Containers of used-clothing that disadvantage local textile economies;
  • Expired or half used tubes and bottles of medicines;
  • High administrative costs eating development dollars;
  • Etc.

The best example of #SWEDOW (Stuff We Don’t Want) that I ran into in Cambodia was a library of English-language medical textbooks in a hospital with no English-speaking doctors or staff. Couldn’t those textbooks find a better home? Perhaps in an Anglophone country?

General consensus among the aid community is that donating money is best. There are also some great resources that provide guidance to move people from wasteful to informed giving. A few follow:

Donation of English-language textbooks to benefit French and Khmer speaking medical professionals

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November 21, 2012

Cambodia Countdown (71-75)

Cambodia Countdown 71.

I’ve seen people sleep in many strange places and positions across Southeast Asia. While cognizant that many snoozers may not have a home or may live too far away to catch some much needed zzzzzz’s, I couldn’t help amassing a collection of public sleeping photos. My favorites were of a Burmese man napping on a cool pagoda floor using a brick as a pillow, and a Vietnamese man snoozing curled up halfway inside / halfway outside an ATM booth. However, the chauffeurs of Cambodia win hands down for creativity. Daytime or nighttime, on a blaring busy street or in a quiet ally, come storm or calamity, you can find Cambodians peacefully napping on their motorbikes or in their cyclos and tuk-tuks.

Sleepy moto driver takes a quick nap, perhaps dreaming of the comfy bed in the photo behind him

 

Cambodia Countdown 72.

Public health centers and hospitals in Cambodia are dismal places, untouched by anyone who has money and options. Even Ministry of Health personnel travel to Thailand or Vietnam for their health care.

While Cambodia’s health indictors remain among the worst in the region, there have been important recent gains. Notably, maternal deaths have dropped by two-thirds since 1990, due in part to the country’s rapid economic growth and improvements in access to and quality of health care.

In recent years, maternal mortality reductions have been even more significant. From 2005 to 2010, the maternal mortality ratio fell from 472 deaths per 100,000 live births to 206. (To compare, the rate in the U.S. is 21, actually embarrassingly high for a rich country; the lowest rate globally is 2 in Estonia.)

These declines can be attributed to multiple interdependent factors. Some non-health changes include:

  • Peace and stability over the last 15 years;
  • Rapid economic growth and poverty reduction;
  • Road improvements to facilitate transport of laboring women;
  • New communication technologies that increase access to health information;
  • A declining fertility rate.

Some improvements within the health system include:

  • Higher attendance at births by a skilled provider (doctor/nurse/midwife) rather than traditional birth attendant, from 32% in 2000 to 71% in 2010;
  • Increased antenatal care coverage (at least one visit) from 38% of pregnant women in 2000 to 89% in 2010;
  • Government ban of traditional birth attendants and an incentive scheme that pays midwives for each delivery performed at a hospital or health center (and therefore not at home);
  • Training and deployment of midwives so that every health facility like the one in this photo is staffed by one midwife with at least one year of training.

The delivery beds were provided by the European Commission to this tiny rural health center

 

Cambodia Countdown 73.

Bokator Khmer is an ancient Cambodian martial art that was used in close quarter combat by armies before the Angkorian period (possibly dating back to 4th Century AD). Translated as “pounding a lion,” according to legend bokator originated when a villager killed a lion bare-handed with a single knee strike. Although lions never inhabited Southeast Asia, India was home to Asiatic lions, and ancient Indian philosophy, culture, and religion strongly influenced the Angkor people.

The unarmed version of bokator has almost 10,000 techniques, many of which are based on observations of nature. There are 10 animal styles (including the crab, eagle, and crocodile) with many techniques (such as the lion fang strike, dragon tail whip, and monkey king arrow release). Combatants use their entire body while fighting, striking with hands, elbows, feet, shins, knees, and head. The armed version typically uses bamboo staffs and short sticks.

In this video I uploaded to YouTube, the first 4 minutes show the contenders performing rituals before their face-off. The red contender performs a few Hanuman (monkey king) moves. The last 3 minutes show the first round of their fight. The red contender eventually won on points after three rounds.

Bokotor match between contenders weighing in at 80 kilos

 

Cambodia Countdown 74.

These signs are occasionally posted to guide restroom visitors who have not yet used a sit toilet. Cambodia has been classified as one of the countries with the lowest sanitation coverage in rural areas). Together with its development partners, the government of Cambodia set a goal to increase sanitation coverage to 30% among the rural population and 74% among the urban population by 2015. They have their work cut out for them. In 2008, access to toilets was just above 20% among the rural population, 75% of whom still practiced open defecation. Access was higher in urban areas at 82%, however toilet access alone does not ensure proper wastewater management, which is still limited in urban areas.

In addition to convenience, privacy, safety, cleanliness, and improved population health, better sanitation contributes to increasing school enrollment, gender equality, environmental stability, and nutritional status. While increasing in prominence, improved sanitation often ranks low in priority setting exercises with governments, donors, households, and the private sector due to it being a taboo subject. Nevertheless, the losses due to poor sanitation in Cambodia are estimated at $448M per year. For every dollar spent on sanitation improvements, there are nine dollars worth of benefits, certainly making the case for greater commitment of development dollars to sanitation projects.

This sign instructs people to sit, not squat, on the toilet seat

 

Cambodia Countdown 75.

It’s impossible to visit Cambodia without some exposure to the flourishing sex industry, in which an estimated 20,000 to 100,000 people work.  On a nighttime drive around the perimeter of the Buddhist temple Wat Phnom, you may see a glimpse of the streetwalkers waiting for customers. At dinner at a nice Khmer family restaurant across the river, you may encounter sex workers from the high-end brothels across the street that cater to a mostly Asian clientele. On a work trip in a sleepy provincial town, you may discover that your budget guesthouse “Monorom Hotel Massage & KTV” should add “& More” to its name. While bar hopping by the Phnom Penh riverside, you will most certainly notice the sirens lounging outside countless bars, beckoning to western sex tourists and expatriates (sexpats) to enter.

Though highly visible across the country in the numerous hostess bars, karaoke bars, and massage parlors that offer “second layer” oil massages, there is also a less visible underbelly, with disturbing tales of trafficked women and children that occur on the “Street of Little Flowers” and other evil places.

I don’t pretend to know much about this subject other than what I’ve read or learned from the occasional stumble into a western sexpat bar. The western-oriented sex industry was introduced to Cambodia during the UN peacekeeping mission in the early 1990s. In the years following the mission, the numerous western expats, NGO workers, and tourists that descended upon Cambodia further fueled the sex trade. At the close of that decade, Prime Minister Hun Sen declared that “AIDS” would be the legacy of the UN mission.

From what I understand of the western-oriented sex trade, there are three types of bars catering to sexpats: hostess bars, freelancer bars, and bars that operate brothels. These bars have creative names, such as Dream Bar, Pussy Cat, Horny Bar, Happy Man, and 69 Bar. In hostess bars, the employed women play games of pool and foosball with their male customers who are expected pay for their attention with a “lady drink.” The women receive a small commission on each drink from the bar. Some of these women choose to accompany their customers for a night of entertainment, with negotiated rates with the bar owner ranging from $5-25. In freelancer bars, by contrast, the women are not employed but rather frequent the bars because of the clientele interested in their services; payment is given directly to the women rather than to the bars. The last category is a bar that serves as a brothel, complete with short time rooms to facilitate on-the-spot propositions.

The typical sex worker’s base salary is $60 per month, reaching three times that with tips and commissions. The women that choose to have sex with customers can make even more. The labor pool for these bars typically includes young, poor women from the countryside with little education who send their earnings home to their families. A report by the UN Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking found that 20% of sex workers selected their job because of its good working conditions or relatively high pay. Difficult family circumstances led 55% to choose their job.

Pretty hostess bar girls hoping to attract passersby for a drink

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November 13, 2012

Cambodia Countdown (66-70)

Cambodia Countdown 66.

Jazzercise-esque workouts are all the craze in Cambodia, with hot young boys leading classes of women (and some men) in aerobics all over the country. For 2,000 riel (50 cents), you can jump and dance for an hour to speedy techno Khmer beats. Although the arm waving and body twisting is doubtfully an intense calorie-burning activity, aerobics devotees seem to be having a blast.

Ladies enjoy post-work aerobics

 

Cambodia Countdown 67.

The sounds of Cambodia will always be with me: chanting monks and chirping geckos, karaoke wails and ice cream cart jingles, rooster crows and barking dogs. And of course the rain: pouring, splish splashing, pitter pattering, thunder booming.

No sound, however, trumps the constant drone of motos – the primary mode of motorized transport for the majority of the population. You will not believe what Cambodians manage to carry on their motos. From baskets of piglets to blocks of ice, from panes of glass to bundles of grass, from dozens of geese to entire families of 6, and so on…

Phnom Penh in particular is a city on the move, and the combination of sparse traffic signs, unreliable law enforcement, and rarely obeyed rules of the road make it the perfect recipe for disaster. Traffic moves in all directions on both sides of the road, requiring drivers to play a guessing game at intersections. However illogical, the traffic does follow a rhythm and there is a certain coordination to the chaos. Words really don’t do it justice. Check out the videos on YouTube to see the madness yourself!

A family of four (no helmets!) plus a box of water make for a cozy moto ride

 

Cambodia Countdown 68.

In a recent speech to Harvard Law School, Ben Emmerson QC, a United Nations special rapporteur, announced that the UN would be launching an investigation into the legality of the US’s use of drone attacks. He also condemned the use of enhanced interrogation techniques – specifically waterboarding – calling it a crime under international law. He brought up these issues in relation to the current presidential race, clarifying that both candidates sanction the use of drones but disagree on the use of enhanced interrogation techniques. President Obama believes that waterboarding is torture; Governor Romney does not and has stated that he would rescind current restrictions on waterboarding.

So what does this have to do with Cambodia? Emmerson described the interrogation techniques employed by Pol Pot, the Cambodian dictator that led the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s. He stated: “Anyone who is in doubt about whether waterboarding is torture should visit Tuol Sleng, the infamous S-21 detention facility operated by the Khmer Rouge in Phnom Penh. Over a period of four years 14,000 people were systematically tortured and killed there. It is now a genocide museum. And right there, in the middle of the central torturing room, is the apparatus used by Pol Pot’s security officials for waterboarding.”

Tuol Sleng is chilling, disturbing, and bewildering. While I left with many unanswered questions, there was one thing I was certain about: waterboarding is torture.

Torture apparatus (not for waterboarding) in the courtyard of Tuol Sleng, the school turned prison

 

Cambodia Countdown 69.

The first time I wore a red skirt to work, my coworker said: “Did you wake up confused? It’s not Sunday!” She was teasing of course, but she shared with me that Cambodian garb was traditionally color coordinated by day of the week. Each day was associated with a planet with its own personality, and hence its own color. A roughly translated Khmer poem describes the days and their corresponding colors:

Red is for Sunday
Monday truly looks like a beautiful orange moon
Purple is reserved for Tuesday
Wednesday is the green of the lieb plant
Thursday is the yellowish green of the leaves of a banana palm
Happy Friday is blue and must be tidy
Saturday is the color of ripe pring (a plum) according to the ages

Although it’s not a common practice to follow the color tradition today, some Cambodians believe that correct color selection for a special occasion will bring luck and happiness.

Daily color coordination for luck and happiness

 

Cambodia Countdown 70.

A drinking problem back home is merely social drinking here…or so the running joke goes about expatriate lushes. As for our Cambodian counterparts, Cambrew Ltd. (50% Carlsberg owned) claims that the Khmer people began drinking ages ago, evidenced by drawings discovered in jungle caves of men passed out next to coconuts full of rice beer.

Fast-forward to present day, drinking is definitely on the rise. A recent study found a 13% year-over-year growth in alcohol consumption among the population. Alcohol preference among Cambodians is for beer (often served over ice), local wines made from sugar palm sap or rice, and whiskey.

Cambodia is home to three main breweries, all who source their ingredients from Europe. Cambrew produces Angkor, Bayon, Black Panther, Klang, and others. Cambodia Brewery (owned by Heineken International) produces Anchor, ABC Stout, Gold Crown, Tiger, and others. Khmer Brewery produces Cambodia Beer.

Cambodia even boasts a microbrewery, Kingdom Breweries. In spite of all the selection, it’s near impossible to find an interesting non-lager brew in the country. The Kingdom brewmaster chalked it up to a phenomenon of the tropics. He’s brewed all over Africa, Asia, and South America, but anytime he tried to introduce a non “American lager,” it was a major flop. People just don’t crave a highly hoppy or bitter ale on a blistering hot day. After almost two years of suffering pale watery lagers, I’m going to seriously appreciate the American culture of craft brewing.

Refreshing Angkor draught for a sweltering tropical day

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October 21, 2012

Cambodia Countdown (61-65)

Cambodia Countdown 61.

Imagine what Koh Samui and Phuket must have looked like 40 years ago before all the developers turned those paradises into resorts, spas, and souvenir shops. Koh Rong – a gorgeous island off Cambodia’s western coast – is what Thailand’s beaches once were: pristine. With its deserted lagoons, dense jungles, and crystal clear waters, Koh Rong is magical. I’ll take its rustic bungalows and rickety seaside shacks over a five-star resort any day. I had one of my more memorable meals on the island too. Sitting on a picnic table with waves crashing around me, I dined on freshly caught tuna and enjoyed Angkor beers, while a pack of puppies frolicked nearby in the sand and the occasional water buffalo sauntered by. Unbelievable.

As can be expected, I’m not the only one who was so taken with Koh Rong. A testament to the island’s beauty, the French version of Survivor (La Revanche des Héros) was filmed on Koh Rong earlier this year. And sadly, the island was just purchased by the Royal Group. According to the company’s master plan, the island will be divided into 33 lots and developed into a luxury resort destination over the next 20 years. Koh Rong is sure to follow in the wake of Thailand’s popular beaches. Bye bye, water buffalo! I feel fortunate to be one of the lucky adventurers to truly enjoy the island unspoiled.

Walking the buffalo home after a long day's work

 

Cambodia Countdown 62.

Evident in its state motto – “Nation, Religion, King” – Cambodia is an extremely pious country. Although its Constitution now assures freedom of religion, this right was not always extended to devotees. During their rule in the 1970s, the Khmer Rouge banned all practice of religion. As such, the Minister of Cult and Religion has said that “all the religions in Cambodia share the same birthdays on the year 1979″ after the regime’s collapse.

Cambodia’s state religion is Buddhism, with 95% of the population identifying as Buddhist (Mahanikaya and Dhammayutti sects). The remaining 5% of the population identifies as Muslim (3%), Christian (1%), or Other (1%). There are over 4,300 pagodas in the country operated by more than 56,000 monks. Conspicuous with their shaved heads and saffron robes, there seem to be many more monks than the actual number of 4 per 1,000 population. Many young men choose to enter monastic life because of the educational opportunities it provides. As can be expected, some of the recruits leave the monastery to have families after reaping the educational benefits.

This man was very confused by my interest in this photo-op

 

Cambodia Countdown 63.

Kosal Khiev, a Cambodian-American spoken word artist, represented Cambodia this summer as a Cultural Olympiad at Poetry Parnassus – the largest ever gathering of international poets, rappers, spoken word artists, and storytellers. Khiev’s family fled Cambodia during the brutality of the Khmer Rouge regime. Soon after the regime’s collapse, he was born in a Thai refugee camp. He then moved with his family to California and lived in the US for the next 30 years.

At 16, Khiev was arrested in a gang fight, tried as an adult for attempted murder, and imprisoned in a state penitentiary. While he served his time, a fellow inmate (and Vietnam War veteran) exposed him to spoken word poetry. Khiev has stated that spoken word “became his creative channel to tell his own story and transform his anger, regrets, and experiences into a poetic art form.” After serving 14 years, he was released and deported to Cambodia, a country that he had never set foot in. An exiled American, he now lives in Phnom Penh teaching poetry and performing at open mics, universities, and public stages.

Khiev is a truly amazing artist. One of his poems is below, but check out more of his works on his website or youtube.

Marks of a Man

My scars are hidden
underneath the surface
lies a broken boy
feelin like he’s worthless
for years he thought
maybe he deserves this
caged like an animal
how can he know what love is
so nothing moved him
almost let the beast consumed him
but then spoken word came
and it changed his movements
he grew into a man
who became more than stupid
truth is
he grew into a man
and became his own movement
planted his feet but they came to uproot him
almost accepted defeat
but he became a fusion
the prodigal son of Cambodia
those were his roots then
so he dug into the soil and swore with his love
opened up his heart and swore it with his blood
then he captured his tears and soaked it in the mud
what grew after that became a child of love

Kosal Khiev performing at TEDxPhnomPenh

 

Cambodia Countdown 64.

Tricycle rickshaws called “cyclos” are one of the few modes of public transportation in Phnom Penh (tuk-tuks, moto taxis called “motodups”, and car taxis being the others). Positioned on a raised seat behind a passenger compartment up front, cyclo drivers cart around families, produce, furniture, animals, and other sundries for sometimes as little as 1,000 riel ($0.25) a ride. The drivers tend to be scrawny, weathered old men with impressively strong leg muscles.

Around since the French colonial days, cyclo numbers are now declining, being displaced by motorized transport. According to a 2006 survey, drivers in Phnom Penh earned on average $1.80 per day, of which $0.50 was spent on a daily cyclo rental fee. With such low wages, it is not surprising that 38% of the drivers lived and slept on the street. A sign of the demise of cyclo transport, drivers are seen more often than not with an empty passenger compartment. They casually pedal their cyclo through the streets in hope of a fare, or relax or nap by the roadside in their cyclo’s unused seat.

Cyclo driver takes a break from searching for a fare

 

Cambodia Countdown 65.

The King Father of Cambodia, Norodom Sihanouk, died from heart failure last week in Beijing at the age of 89. As a motorcade transported his body from the Phnom Penh airport to the Royal Palace, an estimated 1 million people congregated on the roadsides to welcome him home. The late King is highly revered by the populace because of his role in peacefully gaining the country’s independence from France in 1953.

Since his body arrived at the Royal Palace, the complex has been packed with mourners. Clad in white mourning garb and wearing black ribbons, they have been paying respect to the late King by lighting incense sticks and candles, offering lotus flowers, and whispering prayers. The area is a zoo; thick incense clouds billow through the air, sellers hawk t-shirts and photos of the late King, and volunteers circle through the crowds distributing complimentary baguettes and bottles of water. The late King’s body will remain at the palace for three months, after which it will be ceremoniously cremated and the ashes will be scattered where the Mekong and Tonle Sap rivers meet.

Describing Norodom Sihanouk as “alternatively charming and ruthless,” The New York Times published an interesting piece on his complex 60-plus years of political power.

Mourners pay their respect in front of the Royal Palace

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October 3, 2012

Cambodia Countdown (56-60)

Cambodia Countdown 56.

Although perhaps not as thrilling now that Dear Leader has passed, visiting Pyonyang is still a super weird experience. Offering up delicacies like barbecued cuttlefish, stringy dog meat soup, numerous kimchi dishes, and ginseng wine, this establishment is one of many North Korean restaurants in Cambodia that cater to a primarily South Korean clientele. Although owned by the North Korean government, local middlemen operate the dozen chains throughout Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysai, and Thailand, annually remitting from $10,000-30,000 of their earnings to the North Korean capital.

The waitresses are all beautiful, courteous, and ridiculously talented young North Korean women that put on an elaborate nightly musical and dance performance. Strangely reminiscent of Fembots, these ladies really pull out all the stops, rocking out with accordions, violins, electric and bass guitars, drums, and synthesizers. They belt out Korean karaoke songs and the occasional random western song too (on the three nights I went, they selected Top of the World by The Carpenters). Although there is a strict no-camera policy, the occasional western tourist can’t help but snap a few prohibited photos of the spectacle!

While a huge honor for these women to be given the opportunity to represent their country abroad, there are strict expectations regarding their political loyalty. Several security agents live onsite at each restaurant to ensure there are no defectors. Although there have been no (publicized) problems in regulating the waitresses, the Phnom Penh restaurant had to close for half a year after a Cambodian patron attempted to take a waitress out for “drinks” after dinner. Interestingly, the first western chain opened 7 months ago in Amsterdam, but mysteriously closed last month. Perhaps the Great Successor has a different vision for the restaurants than his father?

North Korean ladies rocking out

 

Cambodia Countdown 57.

Spit-roasted cow, along with its crudités and salt/pepper/lime sauce accompaniments, is hands down the most delicious meal in Cambodia. When I moved to the country almost 2 years ago, these mouthwatering cows slowly roasted over hot coals everywhere, beckoning to hungry customers and passers-by from both fancy riverside restaurants and plastic chair-and-table roadside joints. By 8pm, usually just the carcass remained.

In a bizarre development earlier this year, the Council of Ministers deemed spit-roasting too cruel and banned the roasting of cows in front of restaurants. Council member Chhoeng Bunchhea told reporters, “Grilling cows in front of the restaurants is a show of support for violence in a country that believes in the Buddhist religion. It can instill the ideas of a massacre to a child and push them to commit violence in society.” The ban was initiated after monks complained that the practice encourages violence and is against Buddha’s teachings about the sacredness of life. Although restaurants are still allowed to roast and serve the cows, they must be cooked out of sight. Publicly roasting chickens and ducks, however, is copasetic as they are “small size.”

Mmmmmm, delicious roasting veal (pre ban)

 

Cambodia Countdown 58.

Most men in Cambodia are super skinny. A minority have big Laughing Buddha-esque bellies which they seem to enjoy exposing to the world. It’s not only shirtless men flaunting the naked belly look; shirt-clad men expressly roll up half their tops to proudly bare their round bellies. I just don’t get it. Are they seeking a breeze? Or do they think they look hot?

Big Laughing Buddha-esque belly

 

Cambodia Countdown 59.

Cambodia invests heavily in R&D – Research & Duplication. Don’t expect to find decent quality NYC Chinatown knockoffs here. You’ll have to settle for close enough, as in the case of these Celvin Klain or Calven Klain boxers on sale at the local market. Want a $7 North Face backpack? A $15 pair of Ray-Bans? A $4 bottle of Giorgio Armani cologne? No problem! Just don’t be upset after it tears/breaks/disintegrates in a week or two. I warned you!

Calvin Klein research and duplication

 

Cambodia Countdown 60.

Constructed in the late 12th century, Bayon was the last temple built within the Angkor complex. Located in the center of the walled city Angkor Thom, Bayon represents the intersection of heaven and earth. While the other Angkor temples were originally Hindu, Bayon was built to be a Mahayana Buddhist shrine. Carved onto the towers of the temple are 216 immense and identical smiling, peaceful faces. Some historians believe that the faces are depictions of the Bodhisattva of Compassion; others believe they are representations of the king who commissioned the temple, Jayavarman VII, who considered himself a god-king.

Including its reflection, Bayon has 432 smiling stone faces carved into its towers

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September 28, 2012

Cambodia Countdown (51-55)

Cambodia Countdown 51.

Cambodians are cell phone crazy! An incoming call trumps absolutely everything; all action immediately stops and the call takes precedence. People answer their phones during important meetings, while giving speeches, in mid-traffic, during wedding and funeral ceremonies, etc. It blows the mind. One explanation is that a phone call is a status symbol, as it is elsewhere but magnified to an absurdity. In addition, answering machines are nonexistent, perhaps a reason why a call, wherever and whenever, will be answered.

Mobile phone companies appeal to customers by setting up booths on the street, blasting insanely loud techno music interrupted frequently by DJs shouting about the benefits of their mobile service. They set up stands at the night markets too, providing long lists of numbers that people pore over to select their favorite. Lucky numbers are very important here, so scouring the lists for a desirable phone number is a popular pasttime.

Night market patrons searching lists for lucky phone numbers

 

Cambodia Countdown 52.

Over 400,000 Cambodian garment workers manufacture the t-shirts, jeans, and sneakers sold by giant global brands such as Gap, H&M, Levi’s, Nike, Puma, and Wal-Mart. These workers, 90% of whom are women, earn base wages of $61 a month working in conditions fraught with health and safety issues. Last year alone, there were 2,000 reported mass faintings in garment factories. In the most (locally) publicized incident last year, 300 workers fainted on two occasions at H&M supplier, M&V International Manufacturing Ltd. The auditor hired by H&M to investigate concluded that the faintings were caused by “mass psychogenic illness” (MPI), commonly called mass hysteria. Absolving M&V (and thus H&M) from any blame, the auditor (not a psychiatric professional) claimed that only a few workers actually fainted, the remainder had collapsed from shock.

Conditions have not improved. At M&V, there were 30 faintings last month, which were again blamed on mass hysteria. Earlier in the year, 200 workers fainted at Nike supplier, Sabrina Garment Manufacturing Corp. In a single day last month, 30 workers fainted at Conpress Holding Industrial and 100 fainted at Hi-Fashion Co. And on and on…

Dave Welsh of the American Centre for International Labor Solidarity attributes the faintings to “Forced overtime, terrible ventilation, being overpowered by fumes, and nutrition issues. All things that are easily fixable.”

So why aren’t they fixed? As the most lucrative export of the country, there is much to lose if the factories that annually churn out $4 billion of garments have to change business operations to improve workers’ conditions. Today, for example with the opening up of Myanmar, ever cheaper and unregulated pools of labor are available to companies looking to maximize profits. And why change if workers, under illegal but widespread 2-month contracts, stay quiet for fear of losing their jobs? Limited government regulation, weak “independent” monitoring bodies, and lax brand oversight permit these exploitative conditions. While most brands have a code of conduct that they require factory owners to sign, they often do little to ensure it is enforced. In fact, the brands recently began funding the monitoring agency that writes the factory audit reports. Once public, the reports are now only accessible to the same brands that fund the agency.

Standing up for workers’ rights in Cambodia is a risky undertaking. Prominent union leader Chea Vichea was killed in 2004, and two more unionists murdered later in 2004 and 2007. Just 2 months ago, a union leader who spoke out for better working conditions was badly beaten in broad daylight before being arrested. Welsh stated, “There is a reason why this industry operates in all the worst countries for workers’ rights.”

(Note: The interesting facts that frame this story were reported by investigative journalist Heather Stilwell.)

Shift change at the garment factories

 

Cambodia Countdown 53.

It’s interesting how people around the world kneel, sit, and squat differently to avoid touching the ground. Across East Asia, including Cambodia, people often lower themselves, flat-footed with knees rotated out, in a squatting position. They sit so low they practically graze the ground.

People squat while eating, shopping, chatting, waiting, working, seeking shade, etc. Asian-style squatting is a practical way (absent nearby chairs) to relax while avoiding the dusty earth. Squatting this way since childhood, I imagine Cambodians quickly develop flexible hips and knees to accommodate the posture, learning to control their balance along the way. I have attempted the Asian squat and utterly failed. It’s very difficult to find one’s center of gravity and is an extremely uncomfortable posture for the uninitiated. I’ve never seen Cambodians squat Western style, which requires balancing precariously on one’s toes with knees pressed together and bent forward. I imagine they would find it equally awkward.

These three Cambodians have perfected the "seeking shade squat"

 

Cambodia Countdown 54.

Ahhhh, DreamLand. This fabulous amusement park is absolutely packed on the weekends and is super fun for people-watching. The park has a 45-meter ferris wheel, a maze with dinosaur statues, roller skating, “bumping” cars, some mini roller coasters, lots of games, and snack food and stores. Per the website, “All rides are imported from Europe and technically tested to ensure that safety is not compromised in any way.” Phew.

In the background is NagaWorld, “the largest and luckiest hotel gaming facility in Cambodia.” NagaWord offers 180 different gaming tables, 700 slot machines, karaoke lounges, live bands, etc. There are more than 25 casinos in Cambodia, but unlike luxurious NagaWorld (which raked in $90M in profits last year), most are scary, ramshackle border town joints that are frequented by die hard gamblers from China, Thailand, and Vietnam. Revenue from gambling in Asia puts Las Vegas to shame. With Singapore competing neck and neck with the Strip, the Philippines looking to surpass Vegas, and Macau earning five times the revenue of Vegas, Cambodia can only hope to join the club. Although the country’s casinos generated only $20M in tax revenue in 2011, this was up 25% from the previous year, and is only expected to rise. Watch out Vegas, you have some competition!

DreamLand Ferris Wheel

 

Cambodia Countdown 55.

Hydrating on the go is quite handy with the help of disposable plastic drink bags. Cambodians enjoy Coke, Fanta, sugarcane juice, coconut water, and many other delicious drinks while carrying on with their daily activities. The bags look flimsy, but they are actually quite practical. They conveniently fit over your motorbike handle, facilitating drinking and driving. And they are in Mayor Bloomberg-approved sizes!

Throughout the developing world, plastic bags are the preferred (sometimes sole) drink medium for consumers as they are more economical than returnable glass bottles, hard plastic cups, or plastic bottles. Sadly, however, these disposable little baggies litter the streets everywhere. Coca-Cola just introduced eco-friendly biodegradable plastic bags in Central America. Well branded, the “Coca-Cola Bag” targets the poor consumer, ensuring that people from all socioeconomic backgrounds can enjoy the benefits of the beverage giant’s product. While the Coca-Cola Bag has not yet hit the streets of Cambodia, I’m sure its introduction to this market is not far off, to the sure enjoyment of sugary drink lovers across the country.

Boy enjoying surgarcane juice in a plastic drink bag

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September 20, 2012

Cambodia Countdown (46-50)

Cambodia Countdown 46.

Grilled mini bananas are my absolute favorite street food in Cambodia. The skewers of hot bananas (called chek ang) are grilled over coals and served hot for 500 riel ($0.13). The secret to preventing them from drying out is salty water. The salty sweet taste is out of this world. Mmmmm….

Piping hot and absolutely delicious salty/sweet mini bananas

 

Cambodia Countdown 47.

From Brazil to Cambodia to Kenya to Pakistan, glue kids are a tragic symptom of failing social safety nets. Glue kids are often children and teenagers without family ties, who live on the streets or in slums. The glue kids I’ve seen around Phnom Penh are always solitary, noses buried in a bag of glue, oblivious to the world around them. Apparently, the high from huffing can be compared to an acute alcohol-like intoxication.

Mith Samlanh is a fantastic NGO working with Cambodia’s street children, their families, and their community. Their programs include providing counseling, basic health care, food and shelter, life skills education, social reintegration, drug addiction recovery services, and much more. The organization targets high-risk street youth to both prevent solvent abuse and rehabilitate those battling addiction.

To learn more about glue kids, check out these excellent documentaries and photoessays:

Kids of Brazil Photoessay by Tyrone Turner

Ross Kemp Meets the Glue Kids of Kenya Documentary Series

Cambodia Kids Sniffing Glue Photoessay by Zann Huang

Ghost in a Can Video by M’lop Tapang Organization

Glue kid huffing away for a high

 

Cambodia Countdown 48.

Bokor Hill Station, perched on an eagle’s nest on the southern tip of the Cardamom Mountains, was a vacation resort town built by French Colonial settlers looking for respite from the heat and humidity of Phnom Penh. The station included the Bokor Palace Hotel and Casino, shops, a post office, a Catholic church, and apartments. Now abandoned, the hill station is a haunted place, the hilltop shrouded in heavy mist and many of the buildings crumbling, burned out, and lichen-covered. The final scene in City of Ghosts was filmed there in 2002.

The resort was first abandoned by the French when the Free Khmer forces rose up to fight for their independence in the First Indochina War, and later abandoned for good when the Khmer Rouge asserted control over the area. Bokor Hill was one of the last Khmer Rouge bastions, even into the 1990s, with troops positioned within the church fighting against the Vietnamese based in the hotel and casino. Both buildings were pockmarked with heavy arms fire.

The government awarded a 99-year lease of Bokor Hill to the Sokimex Group (the oil and gas, pharmaceutical, garment, and property development company also leasing Angkor Wat) to develop the area. When we visited, grim shantytowns lined the road up to the top, where families of workers lived during the construction. Some were squatting in the church, seeking refuge in the damp and dark interior. Sokimex constructed a 4-lane highway through old-growth rainforest, repaired some buildings, and is developing an “integrated entertainment resort” with new 4-star hotels, casinos, restaurants, bars, helicopter landing pads, discos, golf courses, and more. This billion-dollar playground will be quite different from the old hill station, catering to monied Asians and their penchants for gambling and karaoke, and will certainly spell the end of the beautiful rainforest and its inhabitants.

Mist shrouded Catholic church inhabited by squatters

 

Cambodia Countdown 49.

Countless food hawkers walk the streets of Phnom Penh balancing dishes, cutlery, cooking pots, lotus leaves, and soup ingredients on either end of a pole across their shoulders. These roving vendors are typically serving up nom banh chok, the classic Khmer dish that consists of fermented rice noodles, served with green fish curry stewed in lemongrass, turmeric, and kaffir lime leaves, and topped with piles of fresh greens, bean sprouts, cucumbers, banana flowers, and chilies.

While the people that carry these portable kitchens to hungry customers are beautiful, the kitchens of plastics and styrofoam that they transport are not. In Vietnam, vendors also walk the streets selling food in the same fashion, but often their attractive implements are constructed from natural bamboo or palms.

A colleague who recently visited an impoverished rural area in Cambodia mentioned that he was impressed with the community gardens established with the help of an NGO. I naively asked if the gardens were beautiful. Informed by over 30 years of development aid work in Africa and Asia, he replied knowingly, “It’s too poor to be beautiful.” That comment hit home as I thought about so many things I’ve observed in Cambodia over the last couple years, including these vendors of nom banh chok and their better off counterparts in Vietnam. Food writer Alex Watts puts it perfectly: “Street food around the world often captures the essence of the country – its aspirations, its roots, and its everyday fuel for life.” Cambodia’s street food hawkers, barely eking out an existence, don’t have the means to finesse their food presentation, however delicious the final product.

Street food hawker waiting for breakfast customers

 

Cambodia Countdown 50.

There are more than 100 living members of the two Cambodian royal houses, Norodom and Sisowath. Many family members hold positions attached to the palace (often in addition to a regular job) that confer salaries between $200-$1,000 a month, varying based on the royal’s age and title. In addressing royals in formal situations, one must use Royal Khmer, a distinct dialect that most Cambodians don’t know. Many words are entirely different in Royal Khmer than basic Khmer. For example, the word for a glass of water in Royal Khmer is osatruss, compared with tuk in basic Khmer.

Hanging on the walls at practically every school, public building, bar, restaurant, shop, casino, you name it, are the portraits of the trinity. On the left is the King Father of Cambodia, Norodom Sihanouk. On the right is the Queen Mother, Norodom Monineath. In the middle is their son and the reigning King of Cambodia, Norodom Sihamoni.

The King Father wins the Guinness World Record for the politician who has held the greatest number of political offices in the world (king twice, sovereign prince twice, prime minister twice, president once, and many others as a leader of assorted governments-in-exile). The 90-year-old currently enjoys the official title of “Preah Karuna Preah Bat Sâmdech Preah Norodom Sihanouk Preahmâhaviraksat,” roughly translated to Sacred Compassionate, Sacred Foot, Excellency Sacred, Sacred Great Eminent Ruler.

The Queen Mother, his seventh wife, is of Italian and Khmer descent and a former beauty pageant queen. It was in a national contest that she caught the King Father’s eye and became his consort (one of many). They married when she was 15, and again more formally when she turned 18.

Merely a figurehead, the present king has reigned for 8 years. He has lived outside of the country longer than within, completing his studies in Czechoslovakia, dabbling in filmmaking in North Korea, and teaching ballet in France. At almost 60-years-old, the king remains a bachelor with no heirs; the King Father has clarified that his son “loves women as his sisters.” No one is particularly concerned about his transfer of power as Cambodian kings are selected by the throne council rather than automatically conferred to a successor.

The omnipresent trinity

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September 16, 2012

Cambodia Countdown (41-45)

Cambodia Countdown 41.

South Korea boy band street style is all the rage here. Cambodia’s fashion and entertainment industries borrow extensively from other countries, with South Korea especially influential on its creative identity. I love seeing the fashionable teenage boys and 20-something men with their funky hairstyles, hip clothes, and smug attitudes. Rock on, gents!

What a fine looking boy band!

 

Cambodia Countdown 42.

Marred by frequent protests over land grabs and poor factory conditions, accompanied by violent crackdowns on protesters, it’s been a depressing year for social justice in Cambodia. Yesterday, Han Serei Odom, a journalist who reported on forest crimes (illegal logging and timber trafficking), was discovered murdered in his car. His final published story uncovered smuggling activities of several powerful and politically connected military police engaged in illegal logging for luxury wood. Even more shocking, in April Chut Vutty, a well known environmental activist who frequently spoke out against deforestation, was murdered in front of his friends by military police.

Deforestation is a major problem in Cambodia, and many other murders of villagers, junior officials, and NGO workers can be tied to their work to combat forest crimes. The international environmental and human rights group, Global Witness, published a controversial report in 2007 on the looting of public assets by Cambodia’s elite, soon after which they were kicked out of the country.

Below are the some of the main findings of the report, with names named and fingers pointed in their report Cambodia’s Family Trees:

“Cambodia is run by a kleptocratic elite that generates much of its wealth via the seizure of public assets, particularly natural resources. The forest sector provides a particularly vivid illustration of this asset-stripping process at work. Cambodia’s army, military police, police and Forest Administration (FA) are all heavily involved in illegal logging. Cambodia’s most powerful logging syndicate is led by relatives of Prime Minister Hun Sen and other senior officials.”

Han Serei Odom and Chut Vutty will forever be remembered for their bravery in fighting for the preservation of their beautiful country.

Lone stump in a cleared field

 

Cambodia Countdown 43.

Cambodia is a hammock culture. Wandering through the cities and countryside you can find hammocks strung in the most unexpected places: swinging from street signs, fences, tuk-tuks, doorways, medians, carts…really suspended between any two points you can imagine. Although most hammocks are standard and no-frills, occasionally I see a funky army patterned hammock, or a high-tech hammock with attachable mosquito netting for protection against malaria and dengue.

Although in the tropics, beautiful beaches are not always the backdrop and I have to wonder if those catching a nap would not prefer to do so in the comfort of a sheltered home, rather than on a street with garbage strewn everywhere and chaotic traffic passing by. Regardless, the Cambodians snoozing in their hammocks always look so snug, so peaceful. The babes especially! They are so teeny that you don’t realize there is a person inside until you get close!

Swing away Cambodians! Sweet dreams!

Sweet hammock dreams for momma and babe

 

Cambodia Countdown 44.

The co-founder of The Pirate Bay, Gottfrid Svarholm, was taken into custody by Cambodian police a couple weeks ago. On top of his 1-year sentence for violating copyright law with his torrent file-sharing site, Sweden issued an international warrant for his arrest in April, accusing him of illegally accessing personal information from the country’s tax agency. As Cambodia has been Svarholm’s home for the last few years, Sweden worked out a deal with Cambodia to have him deported. Although there is no extradition treaty between the countries, Cambodia happily obliged. Interestingly, soon after the Cambodian police arrested him, Cambodia received a pledge of $59M in development aid from Sweden for projects focused on democracy and education.

I have to imagine that Svarholm enjoyed his time in Cambodia. Anti-piracy measures are weak and as a result the bootleg market is huge. There are pirated DVD and software stores aplenty. With little threat of IP enforcement, shops can confidently sell copies of Photoshop and Microsoft software packages for under $2. The stores also carry the widest selection of TV shows and movies you’ve ever seen, ranging from new releases (some with shaky camera action as they’ve been filmed in the theater) to the most bizarre B movies ever.

I, for the record, did not purchase any of these ridiculous flicks

 

Cambodia Countdown 45.

The Central Market (Phsar Thmei) was built in 1937 in the art deco style. At its construction, it was the largest market in Asia. The market is still active, carrying a huge assortment of items, from precious stones and gold jewelry, to apparel and shoes, to flowers and groceries, to electronics and household goods. There are even hair salons and food stalls in the market.

Phsar Thmei (translated “new market”) is an interesting name choice, especially considering how old it is. To the immediate right of the market in this photo is the 32-floor Canadia Tower, completed in 2009. To the far right is the tallest tower (of two) of Vattanac Capital. The 38-floor skyscraper is currently under construction. These two buildings represent Phnom Penh’s burgeoning business center, with offices, retail stores, banking facilities, trading floors, and residences.

New market, next to the even newer Canadia and Vattanac Capital towers

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September 11, 2012

Cambodia Countdown (36-40)

Cambodia Countdown 36.

The Bou Sra Waterfall in Mondulkiri province is a popular tourist attraction for Cambodians and for foreigners who like off-the-beaten-path adventure travel. The three-stage waterfall is an especially hot picnic spot. Located near Phnong tribal minority villages, visitors can pay a small fee to wear their traditional ethnic clothes for photos. On a work retreat, my male physician colleagues (like Dr. Putharath pictured here) got a huge kick out of dressing up.

Dr. Putharath posing for photos in front of Bou Sra Waterfall

 

Cambodia Countdown 37.

What could be more appealing after a long day of Angkor temple tourism than pampering yourself with a doctor fish massage? Dozens of tanks are scattered around downtown Siem Reap, filled with little Garra rufa fish that like to dine on dead skin cells. For the small sum of $3, you can enjoy an Angkor beer and a half hour fish pedicure. Very soon after dunking your feet into the tank of hungry fish, the ticklish sensation of the nibbles subsides and starts to feel surprisingly good. The only real disturbing part of the experience is dipping your feet in water that many dirty backpackers have enjoyed before you. The many advertisements that allure tourists are hilarious:

“No Piranha!”

“Dr. Fish could release your exhaustion and feel confused matter of you”

“If our fish can not make you happy we’ll not charge.”

“What’s the worst that can happen…!!!”

“Please feed our hungry fish your dead skin”

“A new experience for your life!”

“Never try? Never know!”

And now I know!

Nibble nibble nibble nibble nibble nibble nibble nibble nibble nibble

 

Cambodia Countdown 38.

An estimated 39% of children aged 5 to 14 years are involved in child labor activities. Many work in factories, assist at construction sites, toil in salt fields, scavenge for recyclable items, sell fruits and flowers on the streets, or hawk books and bracelets to tourists. Others even less fortunate – over 313,000 children – are involved in sex work or drug trafficking.

These lovely sisters operate their family palm sugar processing business. They work in a hot bamboo hut, vigorously stirring a boiling vat of palm sap which generates $45 in daily income for their family of six. School attendance not an option, the sisters spend day after endless day contributing to their family’s livelihood, rather than learning algebra or kicking a soccer ball.

Sisters taking a breather from stirring

 

Cambodia Countdown 39.

While modern gas stations are common in cities, their prices are too high for many. Government officials receive fuel vouchers (subsidizing their luxury, gas guzzling SUVs) and so remain unmotivated to do anything about gas prices. At 5,450 riel ($1.34) per liter for regular petrol, it costs $5 to fill up my moped and $9 for Emre’s dirt bike. For the tuk-tuk drivers and motodups that take home about $8 per day and make a living transporting people, a more appealing alternative is to fuel up at the many roadside petrol stalls around the cities and rural areas. Stored in Pepsi or Johnny Walker bottles and funneled into your gas tank, this petrol is diluted with alcohols and even paint thinners or paraffin oils. It gets the job done…but just barely. Twice forced to purchase from these stalls because I ran out of fuel while driving, my moped was sluggish as a result without its typical zip zoom.

Gas station attendant

 

Cambodia Countdown 40.

Cambodian skies are unreal. On any given day, one is treated to gentle pink and orange sunrises, cloudless robin egg blue skies, carefree cirrus cloud filled skies, ominous coal-colored cumulonimbus skies, inky black skies lighted by the occasional dramatic lightning bolt, gray gray gray and grayer rainy skies, calm deep blue skies dotted by puffy white cumulus clouds, and heavy, deep red and gold sunsets. And the night skies! In the countryside where there is no light pollution, the starry night is vast and magical. There are manifold words for “sky” in the Khmer language, many filled with beautifully poetic imagery. Here are some of my favorites (translated):

“Baby chicken sky” describes a sky filled with little stars clustered around a bigger, brighter star (momma chicken).
“Broken sky” describes a torrential downpour. 
“Robber sky” describes a luminous moon that steals away the beauty of all the stars. 
“Dragon sky” describes a sky with huge fluffy white clouds.

The calm before the storm

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September 5, 2012

Cambodia Countdown (31-35)

Cambodia Countdown 31.

A country with no monetary system when the Khmer Rouge was in power, it’s ironic that Cambodia now accepts four different currencies. Cambodian riels (KHR) were introduced following the defeat of the Khmer Rouge. US dollars (USD) were then injected into the local economy by the UN peacekeeping operation. And finally Thai baht (THB) and Vietnamese dong (VND) were accepted in towns near the border. The exchange rate is roughly 1 USD = 4,065 KHR = 31 THB = 20,790 VND. It’s common to pay in one currency and receive change in another. The back and forth conversions keep your math skills sharp!

Wallet organization can be a challenge with four different currencies

 

Cambodia Countdown 32.

This breathtaking view is from the top of Phnom Chisor, a mountain temple reached after a 412-step climb. At the time of the temple’s construction in the 11th century, the name of the mountain was Suryaparvata – the Mountain of the Sun God. While plains cover 75% of the country, there are also forested mountain ranges – the Cardamom, the Dangrek, and the Elephant Range – with the highest peak reaching 1,771 meters. Cambodia is only the size of Oklahoma, but boasts a diversity of habitats including lakes, rivers, waterfalls, coastline, and mountains.

The gorgeous view from atop Phnom Chisor is worth the hot and humid climb up

 

Cambodia Countdown 33.

Like many places in the world, lighter colored skin is considered more desirable in Cambodia. Even Hun Sen, the prime minister, wished delegates at a recent conference “fair skin,” along with the more traditional Buddhist blessings of longevity and wealth. People avoid the sun if they can, going to the extreme of donning winter jackets, mittens, and scarves (in tropical weather!) for sun protection. It follows that there is a huge industry around skin whitening. Well known international brands – Dove, Nivea, Oil of Olay, Pond’s, and many others – are capitalizing on and perpetuating this beauty obsession. Shops rake in profits from the sale of lightening beauty products and spas have a steady customer base seeking bleaching treatments. While I recognize that cultural preferences around beauty have many roots, I find the obsession with whiteness troubling, especially as many of the methods to achieve it are so unhealthy.

We care your whitening, freckles, pimples, wrinkles.

 

Cambodia Countdown 34.

There are scads of dogs roaming the streets in Cambodia. Most are far mangier and scrawnier than this obese pooch who feasts on scraps of squid, fish, and crab tossed away by the Kep Crab Market. Most strays are mutts, but there are three breeds native to this area: the Cambodian Razorback, Phu Quoc Ridgeback, and Thai Ridgeback. Like the Ridgebacks, the Razorback has a ridge of fur growing in the opposite direction of the rest of its coat, but the Razorback’s ridge fur is much longer. All three breeds are strong-willed, primitive (pariah) dogs, not recommended for the novice dog owner!

Cambodians traditionally were not dog meat eaters, but some have picked up this predilection from other countries, and canines are now served in a few Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, and even Khmer restaurants across the country. The Thai Veterinary Medical Association estimates that half a million dogs are sold annually across the Mekong region. However, the lion’s share of them bypass Cambodia and are bound for Vietnam, where traders fetch $16-32 per dog.

This fattie pooch can barely move after a big seafood meal courtesey of the Kep Crab Market

 

Cambodia Countdown 35.

Extra Joss recently entered the Cambodia market, supplying a powerful energy boost to the weary, bored, and lethargic. Meaning “potent” or “effective,” the devotees of Joss (myself included) assert that the energy drink powder more than lives up to its name. According to the Joss website, “The ‘Active’ ingredients work in synergy to assist metabolism, stimulate confidence, increase physical endurance, overcome fatigue, sharpen the senses, enhance reaction speed…and for some, it helps lift hangover haze.” 

Initially, partakers could only find Joss stocked in grocery stores and sold alongside cigarettes at bars. Now vendors cycle through the city conveniently selling sachets to passersby for 1,000 riel (25 cents). Manufactured by a pharmaceutical company in Indonesia and sold within Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam (I suppose it comes to Cambodia via Vietnam), there is little information about Joss online and most of the product’s English websites are mysteriously “down for maintenance.”

For a better understanding of the Joss effect, check out these messages that enthusiastic fans posted on the Joss Facebook page:

“Just bought 600 sachets of Extra Joss Energy Drink. July will be an interesting month.”

“extra joss…!!! extra joss…!!! extra joss…!!!”

“Does anyone know where I can get Extra Joss in/delivered to the UK, need some Extra Joss bigtime!”

“Joss where have you been all my life??”

“Extra Joss is blowing my mind right now!”

“Who is ready to start Jossing??”

“Joss = Trouble (and so much fun)”

“Definitely Jossing at work today”

“It’s Monday…we all need a little Joss right now!”

“Running on a pitcher of Extra Joss Energy Drink.”

“The store that I get my Joss is no longer online!! HELP!!! I NEED JOSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

“They Just banned this in Taiwan where i live. said it has too much energy lol. god i’ll miss vodka joss. If anyone reads this and wants to send me a box, i wouldnt say no”

Joss vendor selling some mid-day energy to construction workers (and me)

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August 31, 2012

Cambodia Countdown (26-30)

Cambodia Countdown 26.

Cambodia’s beautiful children have a much brighter future today than they did a decade ago. Rapid economic growth, expansion of trade, shift from agriculture to manufacturing jobs, and a demographic transition have contributed to a substantial reduction in poverty. Along with the tireless efforts of development aid projects, these outcomes have led to significant improvements in health and education. Child deaths more than halved since 2000 (from 124 to 54 deaths per 1,000 births – for comparison, the rate in the US is 8). Access to education has also improved with primary school attendance reaching 85%, having climbed 8 percentage points since 2005.

Kiddies fighting for the spotlight in front of the camera

 

Cambodia Countdown 27.

There are lots of tasty new critters awaiting discovery by the adventurous palate. Sautéed red ants? Check! Crispy tarantula? Check! Fried crickets? Check! The ants and tarantula were super delicious. The salt, garlic, and chilis served with the crickets made them tolerable, but only after removing their sharp wings and legs. I’m ashamed to admit that I just can’t bring myself to try the enormous cockroaches.

Crickets pre dismemberment and digestion

 

Cambodia Countdown 28.

The Festival of the Ancestors (Pchum Ben) is the most important Buddhist holiday in Cambodia. In the weeks that lead up to Pchum Ben, pagodas sponsor musicians and performers like the ones in this photo to attract donations. Kicking off the 15-day festival, the gates of hell are opened releasing spirits to wonder the earth. (The gates of hell are opened on us too as, living next to two pagodas, we are subjected to loudspeaker-projected around-the-clock chanting for the duration). Believers visit pagodas many times during Pchum Ben to pray and make offerings of food and money for the monks to convey to their ancestors. These offerings are intended to appease their suffering ancestors so they don’t haunt them.

Musicians and performers dancing in front of a neighborhood pagoda

 

Cambodia Countdown 29.

The main tourist cities in Cambodia boast 5-star resorts, boutique hotels, floating eco-lodges, and the like. I’ve been lucky enough to enjoy a couple during my adventures around the country. More often though, my work has taken me to remote locations where accommodation is limited to basic guesthouses. Nightly rates run $5-7 for a room with a fan and $10-15 for a room with A/C (I paid $12 for the room in this photo).

Guesthouses are typically comfortable and clean with friendly staff. But, while rare, a few horrible experiences stand out: 1) an inadvertent stay at a brothel; 2) a rude awakening to the squeal of pigs being slaughtered nearby; and 3) a torturous night’s sleep in a mildewy, bug-infested room.

I have always felt safe while traveling (often alone) throughout the country. The lawless days of Cambodia are over. Cracking down on the bad behavior of former guests, now most guesthouses post some variation on the following standard regulation: “Gamble, prostitution, drug, poison, explosive devices and all kind of radioactive articles are strictly prohibited in all guest rooms and on hotel premises. Strong odor foods and fruits, particularly, durians are not allowed in guest rooms and on hotel premises.”

Elegant guesthouse in Kampong Cham city

 

Cambodia Countdown 30.

A highly collectivist culture, community and family are of utmost importance to Cambodians. As a very independent person, Khmer expectations of family duty (particularly for women) are too extreme for my liking. However, I do appreciate the value placed on and respect shown to elders within Cambodian society. One example is a tradition passed down through the generations called “Paying Gratitude to Parents and Ancestors.” Children host a forgiveness ceremony to honor their parents, express appreciation for the care they received, and ask forgiveness for any pain and suffering they caused. During the ceremony, the children pour perfumed water – blessed by monks – over their parents to cleanse them, washing away past grievances and starting their relationship anew.

Sons pouring water scented with jasmine and lotus petals over their mother

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August 26, 2012

Cambodia Countdown (21-25)

Cambodia Countdown 21.

The word “etjai” means “recycling” in Vietnamese and is the name given to Cambodian waste pickers. It’s often one of the first words babies learn because they love the squeaky plastic horns the etjai use to alert people that they are collecting recyclable materials. Pulling two-wheel carts, the etjai make rounds through the streets either buying recyclables from stores and restaurants or collecting them directly from household garbage. They then sell the recovered materials to recycling trading stations for a small profit. This line of work provides income to more than 15 million people worldwide! A physically demanding and hazardous job, it’s no wonder this etjai needed a noontime nap.

Etjai taking a mid-day snooze after a tiring morning of work

 

Cambodia Countdown 22.

The cost of electricity in Cambodia is among the highest in the world. With over half the country living on less than $2 a day, it isn’t surprising that only 31% of households have electricity. TV penetration into households is much higher, however, at 62%. So how are all these households powering their TVs without electricity? Modified car batteries of course, recharged every few days at diesel-powered charging stations.

I love discovering satellite dishes in the most unexpected places!

 

Cambodia Countdown 23.

Massages in Cambodia are hands down (haha!) the best we’ve ever experienced. During the traditional Khmer massage, the therapists balance your energy flow by twisting your body into passive stretching positions and applying pressure to different points to increase blood circulation. A mere $6 will guarantee you a fantastic 90-minute massage in a somewhat dingy spa. Springing an additional $10 will get you an equally long and blissful massage in a gorgeous, tranquil oasis. You’d be shocked at how good it feels to have your bones cracked, your body pretzel wrapped, and the tops of your feet massaged. Ahhhhhh-mazing!

Super relaxed after a wonderful Khmer massage

 

Cambodia Countdown 24.

Plumeria plants (common name Frangipani) flourish in Cambodia’s hot, tropical climate. The flowering plant was given its name by an Italian marquess from the Frangipani family who created a perfume using the fragrant flowers. The flowers smell sweetest at night to lure sphinx moths to pollinate them.

The beautiful Frangipani flowers make Cambodia smell so sweet

 

Cambodia Countdown 25.

The Khmer Rouge regime was in power from 1975-1979, during which approximately 2 million people (1/4 of the country’s population) died from starvation, forced labor, torture, or execution. Inspired by Maoism and Marxism-Leninism, the Khmer Rouge’s radical vision was to eliminate Western influences and establish an agrarian utopia. The regime abolished currency, destroyed religion, seized private property, and emptied cities – starting the country from “Year Zero.” Their social engineering experiment included the killing of intellectuals, professionals, city-dwellers, and anyone associated with the former government. Even people who spoke a foreign language or wore glasses or watches were targeted for execution. The Killing Fields, a mass gravesite (one of many) outside of Phnom Penh, displays skulls exhumed from the graves in a Buddhist stupa.

Skulls displayed at The Killing Fields in Choeung Ek

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August 24, 2012

Cheeky Contrast

Guest Musings by Friend Diana

First, let me thank my lovely hostess Annette with whom I traveled in Cambodia. Big thank you!

Cambodia kicked my ass – with spider bites, leeches, and gastro issues I just barely survived – but I would definitely go back! It’s a beautiful country that was easy to travel in. There is a Khmer proverb: “You do not fear the thorny plant, yet you fear the tiger.”

Phnom Penh is much, much more developed than the Tanzanian capital Dar es Salaam, my home of 5 years. Phnom Penh is a vibrant city that offers great food, safe transport, infrastructure, sanitation, cultural activities, and the best massage I have ever had in my life. A superficial, if slightly cheeky, comparison of Cambodia and Tanzania follows.

Food: Cambodia has yummy, delicious, wonderfully tasty food. No comment on Tanzanian food.

Yummy, delicious, wonderfully tasty Cambodian food

Exercise: Women (any age and often over 60 years old) exercise in Cambodia, in public and in large groups to funky Asian disco wearing Minnie Mouse sweatpants! It is very rare to ever see a Tanzanian woman doing exercise.

Wildlife: Cambodia has very little wildlife (seemingly none at all). A sad, stark contrast to Tanzania, which has it in abundance. I hope that Tanzania can recognize this special, unique and important world heritage and genuinely protect its wildlife.

"WARNING: These forests and their wildlife are not for sale."

Clothing: Both Cambodians and Tanzanians sport winter clothes (hats, jacket, etc.) in sweltering heat and humidity. Cambodians especially wear backwards winter jackets when riding motorbikes. Wind protection I suppose? Cambodian women  also wear matching PJ sets with bright colors and patterns (butterflies, teddy bears, flowers, anything goes) anywhere/anytime. Very classy.

Transport: In Cambodia and Tanzania, all types of transport (bike, motorbike, car, truck) are overloaded with as much cargo as possible – often reaching 9 feet with passengers sitting precariously on top.

Locals: Both Cambodians and Tanzanians are proud people. Cambodians also have a certain visible humility.

Tourists: Both countries are hosts to Westerners behaving badly or doing things they otherwise would not do at home. Go to certain bars in Tanzania and you see the visiting fat, ugly 60-year-old (wedding ring on) with his local rendezvous. It seemed as though this type of behavior is even more institutionalized in Cambodia, where the country hosts not only sex-pats but also young drug-pats; gross either way. There is a saying here in Tanzania: “Tanzania – A sunny place for shady people.”

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August 21, 2012

Cambodia Countdown (16-20)

Cambodia Countdown 16.

In many ways, being an expat in Cambodia is living the easy life. Compared to the U.S. and Europe, work days are shorter, the cost of living is lower, and untouched beaches and jungles are a quick trip away. Although Phnom Penh is certainly not paradise, the Cambodian seaside town Kep comes pretty close. There’s nothing like lingering over a delicious G&T watching the sun set at the Kep Sailing Club.

Sunset cocktails at The Sailing Club in Kep

 

Cambodia Countdown 17. 

Contemporary Khmer music is a bit too whiney for my liking. The country has struggled to find a musical identity since the 1970’s when almost all musicians were killed during the Khmer Rouge regime. Luckily a few survived, including Kong Nai, a master of the chapei dong veng – a Cambodian two-stringed guitar. Often used for storytelling, the chapei sound is described as the delta blues of Southeast Asia. Kong Nai is teaching the chapei to young musicians to ensure traditional Khmer music passes to the next generation.

Kong Nai (Ray Charles' twin) rocking out on the chapei

 

Cambodia Countdown 18. 

These teeny shrimp are drying in the sun in preparation for fermentation and salting. Fermented fish or shrimp are mashed into a paste and used in many Cambodian dishes – especially soups – to add volume and body. “Prahok,” the fish paste, is so horribly stinky that its nickname is “Cambodian cheese.” Prahok is a delicious additive, although I have to hold my breath when I cook with it.

Children inspecting the shrimp on the way home from school

 

Cambodia Countdown 19. 

After a storied 30 year career entertaining tourists at the Wat Phnom temple, Sambo the 52-year-old elephant recently entered retirement. A demanding daily commute and ride schedule had taken their toll; she is now relaxing and receiving medical treatment for her limb lesions. We’re happy Sambo’s working days are behind her, but miss bringing her watermelons and other treats.

Sambo eagerly reaches for a bunch of baby bananas

 

Cambodia Countdown 20. 

Enforcement of traffic laws is a joke. Cops park on certain streets and attempt to pull over scooters and jalopies while SUVs speed by into oncoming traffic and through red lights. Police units ‘bid’ monthly on the most lucrative intersections, judged by their potential for raking in fines (aka bribes). The first few times that cops pulled us over, we naively stopped and negotiated $2 to $8 payoffs. Now we just ignore them and speed by while they try to hit us with their plastic batons.

Clueless about his traffic violation, Emre prepares to pay his fine

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August 16, 2012

Cambodia Countdown (11-15)

Cambodia Countdown 11.

“Love me pls. 69 i am alone” I’ve picked up several “Khmer-lish” t-shirts like the one in this photo, but this is my absolute favorite. In funky fonts and colors and available in every market and mall, the shirts convey a mix of words and numbers in broken (and often really inappropriate) English. I have to wonder how appalled the wearers would be if they knew the true meaning of their shirts. And who is the English consultant doing the translations? Other fantastic t-shirts I’ve seen lately:

  • OMG WTF SEX LOL
  • Free Style Written Boy Hip Hop
  • EASY
  • I would rather snort cocaine off a hooker’s arse
  • Always dead or alive real clothes from log.
  • Save a virgin, do me instead
  • Love is a blind whore with a mental disease and no sense of humour
  • Don’t make me cry. I don’t like apple.
  • Work me as hard as you blow me baby

"Love me pls. 69 i am alone"

 

Cambodia Countdown 12.

An estimated 24,000 children live and work on the streetsin Cambodia. It’s heartbreaking to see them and not know how to help beyond giving a healthy snack. While there are some NGOs that are doing great work and there are government social protection and outreach programs, change is slow and there are still way too many children on the streets. The little boy captured in this photo, dirty, shoeless and sun-darkened, watches on the outskirts as the privileged boy is supported and loved by his family.

Street kid watches as the privileged son on the elliptical trainer is encouraged by his family

 

Cambodia Countdown 13.

“This is a country that traps people with troubled minds,” my diplomat neighbor warned me. As illustration, let me recount the conversation I overheard today while waiting for my passport at the U.S. Embassy.

Embassy Employee:  “Sir, how long have you been in Cambodia?”

Sleazy Man:  “Uh, I don’t know. 4 years? It’s all a little hazy.”

Embassy Employee:  “Hazy? What have you been up to?”

Sleazy Man:  “My first year I was working. Nothing good after that. I’m just trying to get home now.”

Well, the Embassy was indeed going to fulfill his wish, along with a 2-year jail sentence upon his return to the motherland. Because of its relative lawlessness, sexpats, meth heads, money launderers, and other sleaze trying to escape problems back home enjoy their anonymity within Cambodia’s borders. I see old white men with young little Cambodian girls all the time. The sexpat in this photo, however, wins the sleaze award. Wearing a banana print speedo that said “New Diet,” the European sexpat enjoyed head and back massages and eyebrow, nostril, and ear threading from a crew of girls certainly under 18. His true intentions were revealed when he told one of them to go home and shower and he would meet her that evening for some fun. Ugh, so wrong!

Sexpat post hair removal enjoying a halfhearted underage massage

 

Cambodia Countdown 14.

I love tokay geckos! They are so huge and their croaks so loud. The ones I’ve seen in Cambodia always have a bluish body with red spots. They freaked me out so much at first that I wouldn’t sleep in the same room as them. They really are that big! Now I love them because they keep my home mosquito free.

Tokay gecko on the hunt for a delicious mosquito snack

 

Cambodia Countdown 15.

Paved roads now connect most provincial towns in the country – a shared outcome of major infrastructure development projects and the capitalist cunning of logging and mining companies seeking easier travel to remote places. While building costs for this road under construction near the Thai border are $350,000 per kilometer, financing has been the least of Cambodia’s concerns. China, South Korea, Japan, the U.S., and many private companies are happily footing the bill. Road expansion projects are also helping with paved road travel in many areas where meager 2-lane highways bump up against villages and farmland, requiring drivers to deftly avoid cows, oxcarts, and bicycling schoolchildren along the way. Regardless of road quality, travel by night in the countryside is unbelievably frightening. Poorly (or unlit) roads combined with parked trucks, motorists traveling with their lights off, and sleeping stray dogs require hyperalert and snail-pace driving. Tons of progress has been made though, as the risk of crime on the roads is no longer a real threat.

Struggling to get the tractor out of a rut after a rainstorm left the dirt road muddy

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August 11, 2012

Cambodia Countdown (6-10)

Cambodia Countdown 6.

For 4 months after we arrived, Emre was ecstatic because he could try a new fruit every day. The sweet lychees, tasteless dragon fruit, slimy mangosteens, stinky durians, and nameless other fruits aren’t my thing. But I do love jackfruit! It grows everywhere here and single fruits can be anywhere from 5 to 100 lbs!

Jackfruit and sad looking pooch

 

Cambodia Countdown 7.

The rice shoots in these bundles await replanting following ploughing of the paddies. In Khmer, the words for breakfast, lunch and dinner mean “rice in the morning,” “rice in the afternoon” and “rice in the evening.” The average Cambodian household spends 16% of their total income on rice! My coworkers express concern almost daily because of my lack of conspicuous rice consumption.

Rice shoots bundled and awaiting planting

 

Cambodia Countdown 8.

“Share taxis” like this one are the cheapest way to get around the country. On my first (and only) trip, I shared a seat designed for one person with a lovely (but plump) woman and her many bags of rambutan fruit. A typically 2 hour drive took 4 hours due to the taxi’s frequent side-of-the-road bathroom breaks, long pauses to buy goodies like dried shrimp rice snacks, and incessant passenger hop-on hop-off pit stops. Crammed in a confined space with no A/C, ample amounts of pungent smelling food, and way too many people, I don’t know if I’ve ever been sweatier or stinkier. Taxis are always overflowing with people and their belongings. I often see taxis with people “riding” motorbikes fastened to the back, and every so often I see one with people catching a snooze on a mattress strapped to the roof. I now exclusively travel by bus.

Catching a ride from a share taxi

 

Cambodia Countdown 9.

Over 2 million tourists visit Cambodia every year and probably 90% of them have this exact same photo of the sunrise over Angkor Wat. The temple is the second largest Hindu temple complex in the world. Built in the 12th century and dedicated to Vishnu, Angkor Wat was once the capital of the Khmer Empire. In the 13th century, the temple changed from Hindu to Theravada Buddhist use and has remained Buddhist since. At its peak, the temple complex supported over 1 million people and sprawled over an area the size of Los Angeles.

Sunrise over Angkor Wat

 

Cambodia Countdown 10.

Deep superstition permeates the country, especially in rural areas. Sorcery, witchcraft, spirits and exorcisms abound. “Ting mongs” – scarecrows to keep ghosts at bay – are placed outside the home for protection. The wooden clothed scarecrows are often armed with toy rifles or machetes to frighten the spirits away. For public health professionals, presence of many ting mongs in an area can signify an outbreak, as the local residents mistake cholera or avian influenza for sorcery.

Ting mong standing guard against spirits

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August 7, 2012

Cambodia Countdown (1-5)

Musings by Annette Martin

It’s bittersweet to be leaving Cambodia after just 2 short years. It’s such a strange, beautiful, and sometimes sad place. A former US ambassador to the country said “Cambodia is one of the most dangerous countries in the world. First you fall in love with it. Then it breaks your heart.” I’m using Facebook to post photos of Cambodia daily — a countdown (well, countup) until our yet to be determined departure date. I’ll collate the photos and post them in installments for this blog. I hope this album piques interest in this place I’ve called home and inspires some to visit.

 

Cambodia Countdown 1. 

This photo seems appropriate to kick off the series as I’m currently being subjected to Khmer and Sanskrit prayers from the local pagoda, transmitted by loudspeaker to my living room. It’s 8pm. Chanting will resume at 4am.

Monk taking a breather from tourism at the Royal Palace

 

Cambodia Countdown 2.

This musician is a permanent fixture at the Riverfront. While street musicians fascinate me everywhere, there are two from the Boston T and one from the NYC subway that I’ll never forget. I love this photo because it illustrates generations and change so nicely. The modernly dressed (certainly middle class) boy inquisitively watches the ancient musician and woman, both wrapped in traditional kramas (scarves).

Riverfront musician entertaining the Sunday afternoon throngs

 

Cambodia Countdown 3. 

Tourists flock to Cambodia during the dry season (November-February) when temperatures are coolest (mid 20s celsius / mid 70s fahrenheit) and rainfall is nonexistent. Many Cambodians actually rock mittens, scarves, hats, and jackets during these months! My favorite season, however, is the rainy season (June-October). The rice paddies are flooded, the vegetation a bright green, the countryside less polluted, and the skies just brilliant. And there’s nothing like lying in bed with a good book listening to the monsoon rainfall overhead.

Bull grazing under ominous rainy season skies

 

Cambodia Countdown 4.

I have the pleasure of waking up every so often to the rustling of trees in my garden, caused by a tribe of macaques foraging for delicious fruit and seeds. At last count, there were 5 mommas and 3 babes in the tribe. They were forced to seek refuge in the city after getting evicted from their temple home earlier this year. We’re happy to aid and abet the fugitives whenever we can.

Monkeys on the loose in our garden!

 

Cambodia Countdown 5.

Cambodians are mad about karaoke. While there are super elite clubs where you can rent private karaoke rooms with entertainment girls for $1000 a night, the neighborhood beer gardens like this one are much more fun. Employees and customers take turns belting out Khmer music hits (typically romantic love songs) while “beer girls” continually refill glasses with Angkor beer served over ice, drunk men proceed to get drunker and drunker, and bored “bar girls” either wait patiently for a job or provide company to their paying customers. The people watching is just priceless.

Belting out a karaoke hit at the Meng Heng Beer Garden

 

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June 7, 2012

Democrazy

Musings by Annette Martin

Democracy?  More like Democrazy. This quote from Cambodia’s fearless leader is just brilliant:

“I not only weaken the opposition, I’m going to make them dead … and if anyone is strong enough to try to hold a demonstration, I will beat all those dogs and put them in a cage.”

Check out the full op-ed by Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

The country just held elections for the Commune Council, and to no one’s surprise, the CPP triumphed again. What did disappoint me was the general malaise towards the elections that I observed from Cambodians I know and respect. Some of them opted not to vote because it was administratively challenging, others because they felt uninspired by the candidates.

I’ve been a hopeless blogger over the last few months. The outcome of the recent elections motivated this quick post. After soon finishing two huge deliverables, I can come up for air and reclaim my spare time for non-work fun. In the meantime, check out these photos of villagers protesting an “economic land concession,” described in Adams’ article. Rock on, villagers!

United villagers protesting a 823 hectare land grab

 

Standing up for his rights (and looking like a badass)

 

In Mead's words, "A small group of thoughtful people..."

 

Blocking the Siem Reap/Phnom Penh road was pure genius

 

Huddle time

 

One logged tree, one tractor, and a buncha slighted villagers

 

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May 5, 2012

There and Back Again

Musings by Fatos Baudouin

This blog was a long time in the making. It was interrupted several times, most importantly by a trip to Boston to witness Emre’s successful PhD defense. We were the proudest parents.

Finally here is my part and Marc’s will follow.

Mid-January we left cold and snowy Ottawa to visit with Emre and Annette. My heart was warm with anticipation to see my son a year after we helped him pack his life in two suitcases and a backpack to leave New York for an unknown land called Cambodia. The only comfort we had was knowing that Annette would be there with him.

After a long flight it was such a happy moment to be united with Emre and to be able to sleep on a flat surface.

It was my first time in this part of the world and I knew from the very moment of our arrival, when that breeze of humid and warm air brushed us, that I was going to love every moment of our stay. From day one we immersed ourselves in the city with the help of Emre’s tuk-tuk driver Sambuon. He was efficient, honest, spoke English and most importantly, was always on time.

Before our departure we tried to read and educate ourselves about the history and geography of the country, but nothing could have prepared us for what we experienced once we visited the important sites. Our first visit was to the Killing Fields. The site is well organized; there is a small museum and a monument commemorating the millions killed during the Pol Pot regime. Visitors take an audio guided tour which is done very professionally. It is a “must see” site to understand what Cambodians have achieved in 20 years since the end of their civil war in 1992. It is also a place to feel shame and regret. One is hard pressed to make any sense of human conscience and nature. At the same time it is a burning example of how countries that claim to have a “Human Rights” agenda can close their eyes to atrocities when it suits their needs.

As if we did not have enough on our conscience, the next day we went to the famous school-turned-jail (Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum) and saw the torture chambers and looked at the photographs of those who perished.

Phnom Penh is a bustling city where the very poor and the very rich live together. The number of Lexus cars on the streets is mind-boggling. Cambodians are friendly and pleasant, always smiling and ready to help. Food is great and of course the delicious exotic fruits! If they would let me I could live only on fruits.

Stocking up on lychees, rambutans, and jackfruit

We then travelled for a week in Vietnam, Marc’s very first posting as a young Canadian diplomat in 1955. I will let him to tell you of his return experience.

Another highlight was the celebration of our birthdays in Siem Reap where we were invited by Emre and Annette to a wonderful restaurant and treated to a bouquet of lotus flowers as well as a wonderful dinner. Marc will also talk about that part of our sojourn.

Dual birthday celebration at Hôtel de la Paix's Meric

Dining on the swinging day beds at Meric

 

Musings by Marc Baudouin

It was the first time that Fatos visited Cambodia or Viet Nam. For my part, I had been to Angkor Wat while I was posted to Viet Nam in 1955-56, but not to Phnom Penh or elsewhere in Cambodia.

Phnom Penh is a pleasant city, particularly the part along the Tonle Sap River lined with restaurants. But the first impression one has while driving through the streets is one of poverty. Everywhere, we saw poor children; very young, miserably dressed, abandoned it seems in an overcrowded city. But there are culturally interesting Buddhist temples (pagodas) here and there, the most prestigious of which is the Silver Pagoda within the Royal Palace. Wat Phnom is a temple on a hill next to its art museum, a museum more about political matters than artistic ones. For the big question here in Cambodia is the political one: that of the oppression and suffering of the people under the Khmer Rouge led by Pol Pot from 1975-79. The regime ended following the invasion of the Vietnamese army, but the civil war lasted until 1992. It is evident that Cambodians have now left their past behind them and are concentrating on the future.

Our next important visit was to Angkor Wat (the residence of the gods). In Siem Reap we settled in a comfortable hotel and had a knowledgeable guide who took us to our first site at 5am to see the sunrise. Unfortunately for us, it was a cloudy morning. We could nevertheless admire the beautiful temple as well as other temples we visited later: Angkor Thom, Ta Prohm, the jewel Banteay Srei, and Preah Khan for the sunset.

When I visited Angkor Wat in 1956-57, it was a ruin overtaken by jungle. Now it is a UNESCO heritage site and is well kept and restored with the help of many countries; what a relief to see it protected.

11 temples in 2 days is quite the accomplishment

Another highlight was the sightseeing cruise to see the floating villages. Our boat travelled along the Mekong and we saw the fishermen and villages along the river, visited the mangroves and witnessed the poverty at the floating village. We visited a school on long pillars. It was the dry season and the water levels were low; during the rainy season children row to school. We then stopped at a floating restaurant where the owners kept crocodiles and snakes. To please his mother, Emre made sure to wrap one around his neck. She screamed so loud, people around thought that she had fallen into the crocodile pit.

Emre the conniving son; Marc the innocent bystander

Our visit to Viet Nam was eventful. Not knowing that Canadians require a visa for entry, we were turned back from the airport on our first attempt. Emre quickly handled the visas and arranged another flight for the next morning, and we arrived to cold and rainy Hanoi. It was quite a change from warm and sunny Phnom Penh and we were ill prepared for the climate. We left for Halong Bay early next morning, miserable weather continuing. Fortunately, the crew of our boat was very nice and lent us two warm jackets which made our journey more pleasant.

The Baie d’Halong (Halong Bay) is a marvel, one of the most beautiful sites we have ever seen. The first day, the boat sailed between innumerable little islands – not really islands but large bare rocks springing out of the water. The fog prevailing that day gave it a mystic dimension. According to a Vietnamese legend, those rocks were jades dropped from the heavens by the gods to protect Vietnamese people from their enemies.

The second day, we left our boat for a smaller one and visited a floating village; it was very different from the one we saw in Cambodia, more developed and prosperous. Then we stopped at an island and locals took us to their village on motorcycles to celebrate the Chinese New Year together.

The third day was my birthday and a sporty one. We visited a grotto, an incredible site with enormous stalactites and stalagmites of different colors. At the summit we could see the bay with all its rock islands – an incredible sight. This was a birthday present that will stay with me forever. What a wonder it was!

Jades from the sky

That evening we were back to cold and miserable Hanoi and Fatos treated me to a nice dinner at the Hotel Metropole. It was the same hotel where I lived in 1955-56, when I was a member of the Canadian delegation to the International Supervisory Commission. I didn’t recognize it, or anything else in Hanoi. It was a different world; it has changed so much.

The following day, we flew south to beautiful Saigon and its warmth. When I was posted in Viet Nam, our offices were in Hanoi but once a month a member of the delegation went to Saigon where we had a sub office. It was a party to go down south. Saigon was a holiday city full of restaurants, shops and fun. A land of freedom and a welcome change from Hanoi where there was nothing.

I felt the same way this time around. The city was lively with many things to see. We ate well and walked everywhere, fully enjoying the two days we stayed there.

Emre and Annette were wonderful hosts and thanks to them we enjoyed a memorable holiday that made our return to Ottawa difficult. We are now looking forward to seeing them in Turkey in July.

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April 3, 2012

Crime and Punishment

Musings by Annette Martin

“You Americans love violence,” my Cambodian friend recently told me. A review of the action flicks, horror films, and TV crime dramas produced by U.S. studios would indeed suggest that Americans love violence. I always found my partner-in-crime’s top Netflix genre recommendation hysterical: Critically-acclaimed Violent Cerebral Foreign Thrillers. (He’s adamantly not American, but the Turks weren’t exactly known for their pacifism, were they?)

Compared with the Cambodian preference for sappy love stories (mostly dubbed Korean and Chinese films), I suppose Americans do prefer their entertainment programming with a side of violence. Perhaps we can trace this fascination to our country’s revolutionary beginnings and shoot ‘em up wild west roots.

My British colleague and my French tutor, both very educated and well-traveled guys mind you, have this vision of the U.S. as a dodgy, dangerous place. They have no desire to visit the country, anticipating experiences straight from The Wire. I can’t say I blame them; the U.S. has the highest incarceration rate and largest prison population in the world!

You can tell a lot about a country by its crime. According to the U.S. Department of State, “Cambodia has a high crime rate, including street crime. Military weapons and explosives are readily available to criminals despite authorities’ efforts to collect and destroy such weapons. Armed robberies occur frequently, and foreign residents and visitors are among the victims. Armed burglaries are also a concern.”

Dejected victims post snatch-and-grab assault

Printing the latest crime statistics last week, The Cambodia Daily reported on the “enormous increase in the prison population recently,” with prisons at 171% capacity. Of the 15,404 inmates at 2011 end, robbers (23%), murderers (9%), and rapists (8%) were the most common of the lot. Check out the living conditions they enjoy:

Photo courtesy of Simon Oliver

States in the U.S. spend on average $29,000 per year incarcerating one inmate. Can you imagine what just $29,000 would do for this facility?

I would argue that Cambodians are also fascinated by violence (even though it’s less prominent in their film and TV dramas). Coverage of petty crime is a media favorite. According to a Cambodge Soir journalist, “The violent culture in Cambodia is still there, a result of the Khmer regime. Papers publish [crime reports] because there are still many people who want to see these things.” An Indochina Research media consumption survey found that Cambodians prefer news articles on homicides and crimes to political news articles (74% vs 21% consumption).

The criminal justice system, and its media coverage, are significantly slanted. While low life smugglers, murderers, traffickers, and the like are prominently punished and humiliated, the powerful and political elite are untouchable. The Jack Abramoffs, Gary Jacksons, Bernie Madoffs, and Eliot Spitzers of Cambodia enjoy an unlimited supply of Get Out of Jail Free cards.

A case in point is the Police Blotter (aka Potty Blotter), which translates and reprints news from Khmer-language (state controlled) papers. The petty thefts, drunken brawls (with swords and stones!), cheatings, and murders are an interesting read for sure. See below my blog post for an assortment of entries from the last month. It’s clear, though, that criminal activity covered by the Khmer press is skewed.

While the Khmer newspapers avoid politically sensitive topics, the two independent English language newspapers – The Cambodia Daily (tagline: “All the News Without Fear or Favor”) and The Phnom Penh Post (tagline: “Successful People Read The Post”) – are bolder in their coverage.

Both papers recently ran the following story highlighting such scandalous abuse of power that its absence from the Khmer press is telling. During a recent garment factory protest, the local city governor fired his gun, wounding three female protestors. According to the prosecutor assigned to the case, the governor claimed that he “came to the demonstration to negotiate and he shot into the air.” Following a private consultation, the prosecutor stripped the brazen shooter of his governorship title but charged him with no crime. Despite calls for judicial action by human rights organizations, the women he injured will likely see no justice served for his crime. Political interference trumps again and the governor is roaming free as can be. And the majority of Cambodians who read the news are none the wiser.

Although this next story did hit Khmer newspapers, it’s another great example of the defunct political justice system. Originally sentenced to 17 years in jail, a Russian businessman convicted with buying sex from and abusing 17 girls between ages 6 and 13 was recently given a royal pardon and set free. At the government’s request, King Norodom Sihamoni granted the pedophile amnesty. I’m curious to know the price of that payoff.

With the press biased and law so obviously dirty, it follows that order would be too. For example, the Phnom Penh police force places monthly bids on different beats, judged by their potential for raking in fines (aka bribes). The more money advanced, the better beat assigned. What boils my blood is not that the police force is corrupt. How can you blame low-level police officers when their paltry government salary barely supports survival?

Rather, their practices are reprehensible because of who they victimize: the poor. The police are quick to harass moto drivers or impoverished travelers crammed into share taxis. They turn a blind eye to the drivers of the shiny Hummers and Lexus and Range Rover SUVs that obey no rule of law but their own. Admittedly, it’s more efficient to wield power against those with no rights and no voice.

In a recent meeting with a Ministry official, I was posed a hypothetical question about crime and corruption in Cambodia: “Who is at fault when a cleaner steals from her boss?” The answer: The boss of course. She shouldn’t have tempted the once pure-at-heart cleaner by leaving valuable items unlocked and easy for the taking. The official then hit his point home: “Who is at fault when the government skims from donor aid packages?” The answer: The donors, because they enable corruption.

Although the U.S. criminal justice system is not beyond reproach, at least the constitutional amendments on which the country was founded – freedom of speech, assembly, and press – will not as easily allow injustice to run rampant. Determining how to give voice to the powerless here is key to preventing future abuse of power. Anyone interested in collaborating on a Kony 2012-esque campaign?

 

Police Blotter, Translated and Reprinted by The Phnom Penh Post

Wedding scuffle leads to arrest of guest

A 29-year-old man was arrested for allegedly attacking another man at a wedding party in Kampot province’s Chumkiri district on Tuesday. Police said the suspect had been angered when the victim, 28, accused him of taking his water bottle. The two argued, and the suspect assaulted the victim with a chair from the wedding, causing him to bleed heavily. The suspect escaped but police later arrested him at his house.

Water buffalo thieves captured by authorities
Two men in their mid-40s were jailed on Saturday after they were found in possession of four stolen buffalo in Kratie province’s Prek Prasop district. A villager in the area filed a complaint on Thursday, in which he told police four of his buffalo had gone missing. Police found the suspects concealing the buffalo in the forest. Police said both suspects, who have allegedly stolen buffalo in the past, had confessed to the theft. The buffalo were returned to their rightful owner.

Surveillance video nabs security guard thieves
Two factory security guards, both 32 years old, were caught on surveillance camera stealing about 120 litres of diesel from their work place on Wednesday night in Phnom Penh’s Sen Sok district. Police arrested the suspects, who admitted the allegations and said that they resold the diesel for more than US$100.

Wife stoned, injured by husband’s friend
A woman, 30, was seriously injured after her husband’s drinking partner threw rocks at her at a party in Kampong Chhnang town on Sunday. Police said the woman had gone to call her husband home from a party. His drinking companion became angry, as he wanted the woman’s husband to stay. He then threw rocks at her. The victim said her husband neglected his family and drank almost every day with his friend.

Man hacked after scuffle at a party 
A 21-year-old man was arrested on Tuesday night after he was accused of hacking a teenager at a dance party in Kampong Thom’s Santuk district. Police said two groups of men participated in a Buddhist ceremony and danced together at the end of the party. They argued after a member of one group accidentally stepped on the foot of a man from another group. The suspect allegedly hacked and injured the victim in the back and was attempting to flee, but police arrested him while his friends escaped. The victim has been hospitalised.

Rival gangs fight with swords, rocks on motos
Police arrested four students from two high schools in the capital for allegedly fighting with swords and rocks on Saturday. Police said the students were members of two large rival groups, which had faced off on motorcycles and attacked each other. Police said they did not know the reason for the clash and have detained the four for questioning.

Mother-to-be allegedly steals to pay for care
A pregnant woman, 27, was charged by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court with burglary on Friday and placed under provisional detention. Police said the woman lifted US$45 off another woman at Boeung Keng Kang market in the capital’s Chamkarmon district. When the victim discovered the theft and shouted for help, a security guard arrested the suspect. Police added that the suspect admitted to the accusation, explaining she did not have enough money to give birth at a hospital.

Two arrested after sword and stick fight
Phnom Penh Municipal Court charged two men with causing violence intentionally, and placed them under provisional detention on Friday for fighting. Police said one of the men, a street noodle-vendor, 23, had argued with a 27-year-old construction worker on March 4. The construction worker then bashed the noodle vendor on his head with a wooden stick. The noodle vendor ran to his relative’s home, where he got hold of a sword and continued fighting the construction worker.

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