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!

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.