Gone to Siem Reap

There has been a couple of instances when I have been told that someone has gone to Siem Reap.

1. We bought a second-hand CD player from somebody who was about to leave the country.  Apparently, the seller had the CD player repaired before selling it to us, and told us that we can contact the repair job was inadequate.  When we tried to contact this repairman, we were told that he had gone to do a job at Siem Reap, and will not be available to help until he returns to Phnom Penh.
   
   
2. Some carpentry work that was done around our house needed some follow-up work, but these will have to wait until the carpenters return from an assignment they have in Siem Reap.

I understand, Siem Reap is far from Phnom Penh.  There is some construction and other work that is being done over there.  Workmen who go to Siem Reap will be stuck there for at least a few days or a few weeks before they return to Phnom Penh.  If they have a big job to do, then they could even be there for months!

However, I wonder if these guys have really gone to Siem Reap as they said.  Maybe this is just a gentle way of saying that they are not interested to do any more on the job that they wish to consider done.  Maybe they just don't want to get hassled, after no longer having any more inspiration to do the work that they had started.

I wonder what the truth of the situation is?

Cambodian Christmas

This will be our first Christmas in our new “home”.  Compared to our previous years ...

These are some differences:

• 25^th December is not a national public holiday.  Employers are not obliged to give their staff the day off, but some (like FEBC) do;
• We have yet to see Santa Claus.  Maybe he does not come here;
• No nativity scenes at the shops;
• Worship-shrines are decorated with Christmas lights.

Here are some similarities:

• Christians use the opportunity to tell the story of Jesus.  FEBC, other missions and local churches do this;
• Shops that have decorations usually set up Christmas trees;
• People use the occasion to give presents to each other.

Wrong sounds

I have been finding it hard to pick up the Khmer language lately.  There are many sounds.

When listening to the Cambodians speak, there will be times when one will pronounce a word differently from the CD and the teachers I have been listening to.  They will make a different vowel sound, but preserve the consonants and the same number of syllables.  This is acceptable, though.  Cambodians will just dismiss this as a different accent.

When I make a different vowel sound but preserve the consonants, I am not understood.  I would have said something that does not exist in the language, or else said a word that does not make sense in the context.  I am sure I will embarass myself like this many times before coming to have a good grasp of he language.

Even if I make the right sounds, some will understand me while others will not.  Those who don't understand will to switch off my Chinese accent when speaking their language.  Those who do understand wonder why their friends give me a hard time when I am speaking clearly.  I am left bewildered at the phenomenon.

I am finding the language difficult, but I am determined to press on.

Cambodian mindset

I heard two interesting comments this week.

1. "If you have land, wind and water, you are not poor".  Apparently, many Cambodians think that they are needy and ask for help.  However, the person/people who make this comment think that they are more self-sustainable than what they think of themselves.
   
   
2. "Cambodians are coming back to their country but Filipinos are not".  Apparently, many Cambodians left their homeland for "greener pastures".  So did Filipinos.  However, as the country developed, many Cambodians see a reason to go back to their country of origin.

It is interesting to hear these expressed.  Have you any other quips to share about the way the people think?

We know where you live

At the corner of many streets, motordops and tuk-tuk drivers await passengers who would use their services.

While they are not busy ferrying commuters around the city, they will sit by their vehicles, chat with each other, and watch.

They know where we live.  When we use their services, then they would also know where we go for work, shopping, etc.  What time we leave home.  What time we get back.  They also probably also know how many people live in our home and when our home is empty.

I think they can be good sources of information to potential thieves.  I think they also double as security guards, or witnesses after a crime.

Trustworthy scales

It seems that people here are suspicious of others, especially with regards to trading.

I don't blame them.  Prices are often to be haggled over. To negotiate before buying something is normal.

Supposedly, this happens more at the markets and on the streets and less in the malls and nicer stores; but this is not always the case.  Even prices at such establishments are subject to discussion; at least to some degree.

However, I was rather appalled to hear a friend advise me to bring my own scales to the markets.  Apparently, the scales there are rigged to not reflect the correct weight, but so that the vendors may cheat the customers.  I remembered Proverbs 20:23 when I heard this.


Another friend told me that the price of some things are cheaper here in Cambodia.  They have the same badges and design as those overseas, but they are not really manufactured by the same company.  They are of imitation parts.  It is possible to find a used model of an "original" one of these products cheaper than the imitation one.

I wonder how it sits with regards to trust and acceptance here, if people are so suspicious of each other and the products and services delivered?  My experience so far has not been too bad (thank God for that), but I tread cautiously having heard what people tell me.

Rubbish

We have since moved to Cambodia.  It seems that the way garbage collection works is that garbage is left out in plastic bags on the side-walk.  The garbage collectors pick up these bags on the designated days.

Residents would put the garbage out when they think the designated days have arrived.  If the garbage is not picked up on these days, then the garbage will stay out for an extra day or two.

Stray dogs will sometimes tear the plastic bags when looking for scraps.  Insects and other pests may get to the rubbish before the rubbish collectors also.

Nevertheless, the rubbish collectors do a good job in cleaning up when they come around.

Eating dogs

An article in the Cambodia Daily on Sunday said that some Cambodians think that eating dogs bring good luck - especially if the dogs are black in colour.  Wow!

Cambodian proverbs

I have been impressed by some of the Cambodian proverbs I have heard. Here is one. I shall list more when others come back to memory.

Please feel welcome to add to my list.

"If a tiger lies down, don't believe the tiger is showing respect."

Visa, income tax, etc.

I understand from other reading that foreigners can get two kinds of visas:

• Tourist visas cost $20 each. They allow a foreigner to have a social visit for up to a month. These either cannot be renewed, or can be renewed only once. Children like my daughter will be allowed the same kind of entry for $5, although they do not get a receipt for this unlike the adults.
  
  
• Business visas cost $25 each. They can be renewed many times. Experience renewing is described on http://www.bayonpearnik.com/Cambodia/TravelInformation.html. I wonder how my daughter will fit into this category since she will be too young to do business?

Nationals of some countries as the Philippines may have a 21-day permit to visit the country without a visa.

I wonder how the business visa will tie into income tax? Ie. I will not draw a salary in Cambodia. The support for my living there will come from home. Will this money be considered as income taxable in Cambodia? Will my visa condition look for this income? Will a Cambodian company or national be regarded as my employer for the sake of this visa?

Do you know?

Other blogs

A couple of other Australians with experience in Cambodia has shared some things in their blogs.

http://www.pdw212.blogspot.com/

http://brownsincambodia.blogspot.com/

I learnt some things from what they wrote.

Managing Phnom Penh traffic

Apparently, there are four kinds of public transport that travel around the roads of Phnom Penh:

• Taxis: Regular cars that take passengers for a fare. I haven't tried these, so I don't know if they are metered, flat-fee, etc. I imagine they work the same way taxis work in most other countries.
  
  
• Moto (or motordop): Similar to taxis, but a motorcycle instead of a car. I haven't tried these either. I don't know if they carry one passenger, two or more. These are pretty common and pretty popular among Cambodians.
  
  
• Tuk-tuk: A cart drawn by a motorcycle. It is a slow means of travelling and more expensive than just a moto, but more people travel with you for the same price. This is popular among tourists and Cambodians travelling in a group.
  
  
• Siklo: A pedal-powered means of transport, very similar to the trishaws of Penang, Malaysia.
  

It appears that one has to hire the whole vehicle, instead of just having a ticket in order to use a seat. The transport will take you anywhere you want to within the city for the right price. I wonder how one communicates with the drivers before one has acquired the language?

There are buses in Phnom Penh, but these are for inter-city travel; not for going around the city.

Another way of getting around is by driving or hiring a bike. I don't know how one passes the oral driving test before acquiring language either.

I found this page useful though, while trying to understand the traffic system.

Have you any experience to share?

Broadband internet

My family and I arrived in Phnom Penh yesterday for initial contact with our office and to look for accomodation, etc.

A question that comes to mind is where to find Internet access. Of course, we can use it from the office, but how about from home? From an internet cafe? What other possibilities are there?

I googled and found:

• PPCTV was well placed among the Google findings, but some back-door trojans reside on their website. Besides, their website is out of date. I am not sure if I want to subscribe to them.
  
  
• Cambodian Broadband Technologies seems to have good offering, but they seem to cater more to business customers compared to home users. Their website also does not seem current.

• Go Online seems to have a good range of products that suit both the home user as well as the business corporations.
  
  
• Angkor Net seems to be a well grounded ISP with the right range of products.
  
  
• Yellowpages-cambodia seems to be a good directory to use to find things like these.
  

What do you think? Please recommend, if you have any ideas in this area. Thank you.

"Birdhouse"

My daughter has seen many of these around Cambodia.

Apparently, they are shrines that people would burn incense at while worshipping certain idols. I guess they are the home equivalent of the temples and wats that are abundant in this country.

They are more elaborate compared to the ones I saw in Malaysia and Singapore when I was a child. They are also yellow instead of red. (I saw a red one in the home of a German guy I met, and a blue one or two, but most of what I saw were yellow).

My daughter has yet to get the concept. She calls them "birdhouses", based on a picture she saw in one of her activity books, as she sees the similarity.

My daughter is cute, but I don't think she means any offense.

Health & polution

Does anybody know what the polution index is in Phnom Penh, the capital city of Cambodia? How does this index compare with that of other cities like Singapore, Kuala Lumpur or Manila?

I hear that there is a shortage of medical professionals in the country. Is this true? Who then do people turn to when they need medical help?

Walking in the rain

A friend told me today that umbrellas are not common in Cambodia.

She said that people use raincoats, and do not mind getting wet.

People do not use umbrellas to protect themselves from the sun either.

Hmm. This is a potential culture-shock for us, since we try to stay dry even when it rains.

What is your experience about this?

Khmer Rouge

I watched a programme called "Cambodia: fields of hope" on television a few weeks ago.

I don't know how old this programme is. I was surprised to hear the narrator say that the film-makers were accompanied by the police; especially when they travelled out of Phnom Penh, because the police felt the need to protect them in case the Khmer Rouge rebels attacked them.

The documentary said that the Khmer Rouge era is over, but the risk was still around.

Is this still true? Or is the documentary simply dated?

Killing animals

I remember reading that more than 90% of Cambodians believe in Theravada Buddhism. Is this number correct?

If so, then comes the question about killing. If I remember correctly, Buddists do not believe in killing, since that prematurely ends the life of another, who is hoping to find the peace of Nirvana through reincarnation.

Ie. will we be able to buy and eat meat in Cambodia? If there are no butchers, perhaps there would be no meat?

What will people think of us, if we were to kill a rat, or swat a mosquito, or spray inseciticide around the house?

Cheap bus ride

My wife read a warning about some cross-country bus rides.

Apparently, some cheap ones do not take you the whole distance as they advertise. They will take you part of the way, and then ask you to pay more in order to continue the journey.

Otherwise, they will take you to some overnight accomodation, where you have to pay for the accomodation.

The alternative is to be left in some place you are unfamiliar with.

Is this true?

ATMs in Cambodia

I read somewhere that there are few ATMs in Cambodia.

However, the ANZ Royal Bank has a few, and one can find out where they are through their webpage.

Even so, having an ANZ bank account from Australia or New Zealand does not help. ANZ will treat transactions as having occurred at a foreign ATM, so there are no exemption from fees. This is because the banks are separate entities, as they are governed differently.

Oh well. Does anybody have any experiences using ATMs in Cambodia that they may wish to share?

Religious tolerance

It was interesting to read that:

"Cambodia was an experience in religious tolerance. Hinduism and Buddhism have fought each other ceaselessly over hundreds of years, with Buddhism finally triumphing. Yet, in each war, where one faith attempted to supplant another, there was tolerance of one another."

... on http://khmerization.blogspot.com/2009/06/vietnam-and-cambodia-impressions-of.html.

I wonder what this means in terms of the faith of the Cambodian people? Is their belief a mixed hybrid of the things said in various sacred texts? Have they replaced the sacred words with their own interpretations? Or are some people more faithful to certain texts compared to others?

I would be interested to understand further what people believe.

Cost of living in Cambodia

A friend shared this URL with me. http://darrenconquest.blogspot.com/2005/05/cost-of-living-in-cambodia.html

I wonder how much the price of things has changed since May 2005?

I read somewhere that the inflation rate is about 15% pa. Could somebody please enlighten me as to whether this is applies to the price of food, of housing, of something else - or if this is applies across the board?

Blessings.

Reading Khmer

A "Lonely Planet" Phrasebook arrived in the post for me today. From this, and a discussion with a friend last week, I learnt that:

• The Khmer script looks a lot like Burmese or Thai. This is apparently quite common in this region.
  
• The Khmer script is not read sequentially. Most languages read as left-to-right (as English or Greek), or right-to-left (as Arabic or Hebrew), top to bottom (as Chinese). I hear that in Khmer, the script can be read as "3rd syllable, then 2nd, then 4th then 1st" or something apparently non-systematic like that.
• It has over 60 letters in its alphabet.
• It is not tonal (like Chinese)
  
• Its grammar is quite simple (languages which carry a larger range of sounds tend to have simpler grammar, languages which have a small range of sounds tend to have a more complex grammar).

Wow! What a challenge. Add pronunciation and accent to appreciate the difficulty a little further.

Corruption

http://www.talesofasia.com/cambodia-corruption.htm told me something about Cambodian culture that is not so comfortable to deal with. Not sure how true all these stories are, but I imagine that they are reflective of a culture. Will need to learn how to tread in this arena over time.

Basic facts about Cambodia

http://geography.about.com/library/cia/blccambodia.htm gives a good summary about Cambodia's geographical background. This is a good basis to start from. The map I post below is copied from this web-page.