No faith in banks

I hear that many Cambodians do not trust banks.

Apparently, there was a time in the past when banks closed, and people were not able to withdraw their money before it happened.  Many people lost their savings as a consequence.

Maybe the lack of faith also has roots during the Khmer Rouge era.  When the red army took over the country, people did not have the chance to avail of their money or buy their way out before the persecution and hardship began.

However, many banks in the country today are foreign investments, and Cambodians need to use these banks as to facilitate business and trade among themselves and people in foreign lands.  Banks are also a way to protect one's savings from robbers.

A pretty delicate balance in faith, I think, since foreign banks may feel the need to close suddenly if they are not profitable enough in this country.  And with so many banks in business here, the competition for profit is pretty stiff.  Or so I think, anyway.

Shipping to Cambodia

I came to realise that I did not post what I learnt about shipping personal belongings to Cambodia when somebody asked me some questions about my experience.  Here is a snippet from our email conversation, sharing in case anybody else may also benefit from our experience:

 

Inquirer wrote:

Thank you so much for the information. Paying just a bit extra is ok as long as the shipments are safe an clear customs.  I just received and email from them and will wait again for their response.

Thank you again for being a blessing!


I wrote:

 

I remember that one needs to have at least 3 cubic meters worth of personal effects to make shipping through Mission Movers or an equivalent group worthwhile.  If what you have is less than this, then shipping through other methods could be safer than cheaper.

We got quotes from two such shippers before eventually settling on Mission Movers.  We chose MM because of their good reputation and their previous experience helping Christian missionaries.  I forgot if they were the cheaper of the two quotes or not.

After getting to Phnom Penh, we waited for a short time for the expected arrival date of our shipment.  It makes sense to get to Cambodia before your goods for the customs clearance purposes.  The Cambodian shipping agent that Mission Movers told us about met up with us to complete the paperwork on this end.  The customs broker needs a couple of declarations signed and stamped by ourselves and our "employer".  (The way it works over here is that official company documentation will have the company seal on a rubber stamp over the signer's signature.)  He also needed photocopies of my passport and entry stamp.

Our goods cleared about a week or so after the expected date.  The Cambodian agent organised the trucking and they brought everything to our doorstep.  Almost everything was intact - we had a casserole broken, but that was it.  We later learnt that the port is slow to clear goods because of the high volume that it needs to handle, but it concerned us a little initially, as we wondered why our stuff took a while to get to us, beyond the expected arrival time.



Inquirer wrote:

> Thank you for your help. I will look them up on the internet.
>
> Were there any issues with customs or any surprise expenses?
>
> Blessings,
>

I wrote:

>
> I was in service at last year before I came to be reassigned to .  My family and I had our personal belongings shipped using Mission Movers.  They also helped to store our personal belongings for a time, since we were also concerned about home-assignment in the midst of our transition.  Their email contact is in this message.
>
> Please feel welcome to ask me for more details about this experience or other things that I found in the process.  God bless.
>
>
>
 

 

Introducer wrote:

> >
> >
> > I am sending a copy of this message to a friend who just moved to Cambodia and who may be able to share some insights into moving personal belongings.
> >
 

 

Inquirer wrote:

> >>
> >> Does anyone know of an inexpensive, safe, and reliable shipper in Manila or close by?  I need to ship my personal belongings to Cambodia. (Books, clothes, and a few small electronics) Thank you for your help.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
>
>

Synagogue

Through the help of the internet, we found a synagogue in Phnom Penh and visited it.  We learnt that:

• The rabbi was surprised to find a family of Gentiles looking for matzoh, so apparently, not many Gentiles use matzoh here;
• Matzoh is imported from Thailand;
• They will celebrate the Pesach here.  They say that it is open to all, but what they really mean is that all Jews in Cambodia are welcome.  If any of these Jews have foreign wives, then these wives are welcome also;
• The synagogue looks like a regular house on the outside.  Ie. besides the identification from business cards and the Internet, one would not know that it is a synagogue.

How interesting to experience this meeting with the Rabbi!