The art of conversion

A letter was circulated by the Ministry of Communication at the beginning of the month.  It warned broadcasters to watch what is said on air.  Apparently, some people among the Buddhist community were offended when somebody spoke about Christians being blessed during last year's floods, such that they were able to bless others.  Such things need to be said in a way that does not offend others.

I also hear that people should not be seen to have been coerced to change or give up on their religion.  Media people should not openly tell people to become Christians, etc.  It is okay for churches to do this, though, since people go to church willingly to hear such messages.  It is just not okay to do it on the street.

Meanwhile, the number of Buddhist monks is decreasing.

I wonder where people are putting their religious faith these days.  How does one share the love of Jesus in this society?  The way Jesus loves is not religious, in m opinion.  I see Jesus to be against religious practices.  However, many people around the world do not seem to understand this.

Kromar

We had some Danish visitors today.  A couple of our office staff explained the kromar to them.

The kromar is a rectangular-shaped piece of cloth.  It is especially useful to Cambodian villagers, but can be used by anyone.  That piece of cloth serves as:

• a head-band, especially for male farmers;
• a hat, especially for female farmers;
• a scarf, when it becomes cold;
• a towel;
• a sarong for clothing;
• a shawl;
• a blanket;
• padding if wanting to carry things on the head (like how Indians sometimes carry things),
• a way to carry a baby (wrap the kromar as a sling);
• as covering when one needs to hide toilet behind a coconut tree (a Dane offered this suggestion).

Some Cambodian children are exploited for the purpose of making these kromar, but NGOs who look after the children would not do this to them.

Bills

The system of getting billed for our utilitis is interesting.

Garbage collection and electricity are lumped into the one bill.  The rate is calculated depending on whether the resident of the home is a Cambodian or a foreigner.  The bills come monthly.  Foreigners pay more.  Electricity bills need to be paid straight away.  Electricity supply is cut off very quickly if the bill is not paid by the due date.  However, it is also restored quite quickly once the bill is paid.  The bills are dropped into our letterboxes at our street addresses.

Water bills come every other month.  At our house, the water is metered separately for our neighbours upstairs than what it is for us.  At some other houses, it is just one bill.  Our neighbour is pays every odd month while we pay every even month.  Our meters are read at different times to fit into this cycle, even though they are side by side.  We should pay water bills on time, but apparently, the water company is not as strict on this point compared to electricity.  Bills are also dropped into our letterboxes.

My internet bill is to be paid monthly.  As I understand it, the bills get sent to me by SMS to my mobile phone.  If I miss one month's payment, then I will get an overdue notice in my letterbox.

Cable TV - I don't have a bill for this yet, but as I understand it, my neighbour and I will split this bill.  After all, the cable is split after entering our premises.  I think the bills come twice a year.

FAQ & movies

I found this FAQ on Travelfish this afternoon.  I wish I had read it before coming to Cambodia.  It would have been helpful.  My recent experience here confirms that its contents are either completely or mostly true.

My neighbour and I talked about movies this morning.  His reading and mine said that there are no cinemas in this country, other than those showing Khmer movies.  A few of this kind have sprung up to a slowly growing market.  I read of a little movie house a few weeks ago in a paper.  It could be an emerging phenomenon to see these.  I googled it to help my neighbour.  Either "the flicks" is the place I read about, or there is now more than one of these.

I thought to take my daughter ice-skating, but have yet to find a rink.  It is possible to go roller-skating, but no ice-skating yet, it seems.

2001 blog

The blog http://www.parish-without-borders.net/cditt/cambodia/dailylifekh01.htm is rather old.  Nevertheless, I think it describes the culture of present day Cambodia quite well.

Dying languages

It was interesting to hear a story about dying languages in Cambodia.  Apparently, many find it more necessary to know language of the Khmer majority rather than the language of their forefathers.  I understand that languages change over time anyway.

Apparently, a part of this is because of the school system.  The Khmer tongue is the medium of instruction for Cambodian children.  They are taught to read and write the script from Year 5.  English has some appeal because it is the most used language among the foreigners.  However, there is not as much necessity to speak one's own language when one belongs to a minority people group, especially if one does not live among one's own people and ones own people group has few people in it.

People in Cambodia

The Khmer people are 92% of Cambodia’s population.  Some of the other people living in Cambodia are:

• Vietnamese, approximately 1,000,000 people
  
• Han Chinese, approximately 523,000 people
  
• Western Cham, approximately 503,000 people
  
• Lao, approximately 29,000 people
  
• Jarai, approximately 20,000 people
  
• Malay, approximately 17,000 people
  
• Thai, approximately 11,000 people
  
• Tamil, approximately 1,400 people
  
• Saoch, Suoy, Samre, approximately 250 of each people
  

There are also about 74,000 deaf Cambodians here.  Radio may not be the best means for speaking out to these.

Citizens of other nations also reside in this country.  Many do so because of business or their work with NGO mission and charity organisations.

All people need the Lord Jesus.