Colonialism, war and aid dependence in Cambodia

Cambodia is a great case for study topics such as technologies appropriation and social change. We have a country that was few decades ago the scenery of violent tensions and now is struggling to recover its lost time by joining globalization. Even we have several objections, it is true that its economy is growing and much has been done in the last ten years in Cambodia. Therefore, we need a constant flow of analysis that any policy maker shouldn’t refuse, not inscribing in any monolithic conception of development. When we talk about growth and social change, we must know the distinction behind these two terms, used as synonyms by certain sources. M. Gillis, D.H. Perkins, M. Roemer and D.R. Snodgrass (1983) give us a good definition of it: 

That clever poor young man (1)

Jean arrives in the last flight to the Siem Reap International Airport coming from Bangkok. At his 64 he is alone and free to travel everywhere in this planet thanks to his pension and globalization. ‘Cambodia is a place to see’, said that Australian lady in the bar of a Thai bar. He remembers how she described Cambodia, as a wonder that combines colorful views with cute people. Chloe, yes, it was her name, blond 70 years old grand mother of a seven distributed around the world. Jean asked her to come with him to Cambodia and to show such wonders. She laughed. Certainly no way. 

Long holidays, slow development

Living in a country with too many holidays like Cambodia can make us reflect in the culture of work we dream. I don’t believe Cambodians are the most lazy people on earth (Mark, 2010). I believe there are some elements in the culture we should challenge, for example, too many Cambodians like to have money, live in comfort and get it with the less effort as possible – let us blame in part the Cambodian aid dependency created by the international community throughout the last decades (see Sophal Ear, AID Dependency in Cambodia. How Foreign Assistance Undermines Democracy.) There is an authentic happiness when many of them notice holidays ahead in the calendar. A great activity to prepare themselves for feasts, carnivals and tours (ដើលើង Dae Lean), but boring to get back to work or to classes, a slow reaction to responsibilities and commitment in many. If we want a sustainable development, we need to change such holidays’ culture for an authentic culture of work.

My Asian conical hat

Wearing my Asian conical hat in a Bangkok street.

Walking a tropical country under a sun can be tiresome for any kind of persons, even those coming from other tropical countries. It can make you to reduce attention to a very interesting tour in a great site as the Angkorian temples in Siem Reap. Prepare, thus yourself to protect from the sun. I bought an inexpensive Asian conical hat in Bangkok last week – it is called in Cambodia ដួន do’un. As I came back to the hotel, the lady laughed very much as soon as she noticed my hat. She said I was resembling a Vietnamese farmer. ‘Actually I don’t mind to resemblance a Vietnamese farmer,’ I replied, ‘I find it very practical to walk under the sun and even if it is raining is like having a small umbrella attached to your head.’

Two overpopulation examples

To illustrate what I call the overpopulation informal fallacy, we can make a short comparison of two countries: Japan as one industrialized and Colombia as one in development. We have enough information about the Japanese profile as a global economic power. The Colombian profile is more confusing, leading very often to misconceptions and several speculations due to its fame of violence, drug cartels and guerrilla fighting for decades. I think these two very interesting countries are a good sample to demonstrate that overpopulation is a concept intended to manipulate the planet from an egocentric perspective from a privileged minority. 

The overpopulation distraction

2009 Shanghai International Auto Show. Photo by  Ridking in Commons Wikimedia.

The overpopulation concern is an informal fallacy to manipulate. By sure, several organizations and scholars could be genuinely concern about disastrous consequences for the survival of humanity in the case we overpopulate our planet. According to UN, it is likely possible to reach 9.3 billion of persons in 2050 and 10.1 billion in 2100, while some experts argue that the planet can hold 1 thousand billion persons, of course, with much objections. The certain is that the 7 billion humans we have this 2013 in Planet Earth, all could stand together in the Phnom Penh territory if we should gather all humanity for any type of global meeting.  

Environment is not a big restaurant

Many children and youth grow thinking that all animals and plants are food for humans. We should end such wrong conception. We should not be predators anymore, but protectors of our planet.

Definitely we should fight this idea that nature is a big restaurant and that we humans are the leading predators. It is just because we are in a high stage of technological development and in the exploration of the stars that our responsibility for the care of our planet should honor such advances. We should not be depredators any more if we can dominate the forces of production in a sustainable environment.

Google translate supports Khmer now

This is definitely a good news for the reduction of the digital gap in Cambodia: the Google Translate, has released the Khmer translation option that would make the Cambodian language accessible to  65 other global language. It is good to congratulate all persons and organizations working to make computers and Internet accessible to Cambodians in their own language, as well as Khmer language, the main modern branch of the Mon-Khmer linguistic family and a relative to Sanskrit and Pali accessible to the international community. It will be a benefit to students, teachers, journalists, economist, officials and everybody involved in the digital development of Cambodia. 

Let’s preserve historical remnants in Kep and everywhere

An old edification in Bokorville, another former French village at the top of the Bokor Mountain, today a place of reconstruction with big development plants. Photo Al Rodas 04.16.2010.

The upcoming Kep Expo Project is speaking very good about preservation of historical remnants in Kep Province and Cambodia. In this short documentary by Radio Australia we can see that there are people who worry about the protection of the national historical heritage. For me it would not be exaggerated to request the inclusion of Kep Town and Bokorville, as well as many other French colonial places around the country, as Unesco World Heritage Sites and there are many reasons why.   But in order to do so, it is needed an urgent plan of protection before some other groups of people without any historical conscience and the hurry for dollars, will end with the demolition of most colonial old villas of Kep. One thing we have to understand is that the Cambodian past does not end in the Angkorean period. Contrary to it, there are several remnants before and after the Angkor period that fit the complete historical picture of Cambodia.

An agricultural technical center to fight child labor in Battambang

Battambang. It is common to see several constructions sites in modern Cambodia. It is as the former war destruction is already over and everyone is building something to recover the lost time. Unfortunately, the building of schools, hospitals and community areas is much less than the fever for hotels, restaurants, casinos and resorts. Unemployed young people find easily jobs in construction this time, but in many occasions many of those workers are as young as 7 and 10 years old. In Battambang it can be also a norm to see children in construction sites and the brick factories.

Acleda Point Break

The Cambodian hot news this week was the 30 hours Hostage crisis in an Acleda Bank branch in Kampong Cham, 124 kilometers east of Phnom Penh. The event attracted all the national attention and it showed once more that cell phone companies are living a golden age since news on the spot in Cambodia are reaching a national public by SMS and we could say SMS is the Khmer Twitter so far. The news that two bank robbers took the Acleda branch office at the Stung Treng district in Kampong Cham last Tuesday (22nd January) was followed with interest and attracted security forces that surrounded the bank at the best way of a Hollywood movie. 

Cambodia, emergent market for investment, says Le Figaro

Cambodia is among the emergent world economics with positive perspectives for investment, says French newspaper Le Figaro today in its article ‘New emerging countries offer great opportunities.’ The paper follows the recommendations of US Mark Mobius, the chairman of Franklin Templeton Investments and guru of financial markets.

Cambodian young man looks for his Algerian father

Kol Said Dona holds the only two photos he has from his Algerian father, Chaffai Said, a former UNTAC policeman. Now he is looking for him after 18 years without news.

Kol Said Dona, 18, is a Cambodian student of journalism at Don Bosco Kep. His mother, Kol Syvong,  36, works as a farmer in Kompong Trach District, Kampot Province. He was born on 18 February 1994, one year after the United Nations Transition Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) finished its mandate. It was the first time that UN established a direct administration on an independent State. It came from the Paris Peace Accords of October 1991 where UNTAC became the government from 1992  to 1993 with the mission to prepare democratic elections. It included 15,900 military, 3,600 civilian policemen, 2,000 civilians and 450 UN volunteers from 33 nations.

The 5th Kep Trade Fair 2012

Kep Province is developing its own urban traditions and its Kep Trade Fair is a good one, where traders from different Cambodian provinces come to show their products and enjoy. This year we miss Prei Sovath and the other Cambodian stars of 2011. Photo by Sur Lim 12/30/2012

Buddhism and Ecology

Image of Buddha at the main on top of the Sosir Hill shrine in Kep Province. Photo Al Rodas 2012.

The report of an European Union Delegation to Cambodia, says that ‘environmental and natural resources in Cambodia are threatened by short-sighted over-exploitation on an increasing and threatening scale. This reduces the Country’s overall natural capital, yet whilst great benefits flow to the few; equally great burdens fall on the many.’

Actually, there are thousands of pages on issues like this about Cambodia, mostly produced in English and French with some Khmer translations that few read or analyses. Most of those reports are true, of course, but they remain in archives and, in many occasions, are overlooked or despised by Cambodian leaders as arrogant meddling of Westerns.

Cambodia on its way

In 2012 Cambodia reached 14 million 952 thousand 665 persons, following the statistics of Index Mundo, which prevents that this estimate takes into account ‘the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS.’  Most Cambodians are by now 22 years old, being males younger the women. 32.2 percent of Cambodians are under 15 years old and 3.8 percent are older than 65. Cambodia continues to be a country with a very young population that is growing, though the unemployment rate is low with 0,2 percent as January 2012. In 2012 there was an estimate of 20% of Cambodians living in cities, but it is probably that such percent grew very much during the last year if we see how Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, Battambang and Sihanoukville are growing so fast.

High season is coming, no money for children

Children going around Sihanoukville picking up recyclable material to sell.

This article of Mark McDonald at the New York Times, Don’t Give That Child a Dollar‘  referring to Cambodian children, is just practical and real preventive. Cambodia is preparing itself for the high season and an optimistic number of 3 million visitors this year, according to official estimates. By this moment hotels, restaurants, travel agencies, air companies, public transport individuals and many others are preparing to welcome all those tourists, who like to see the temples and go further Siem Reap in tours around the Kingdom of Wonders.