Cambodian Beginnings

On Yer Bike: Down a Dirt Road

2012-02-12T11:29:00.002+07:00

Cambodia's so-called winter is by far the best time for cycling. And in just twenty minutes or so from home I can be over the Mekong and deep into the countryside.

Turning right off the main road to Vietnam and into a dirt road, briefly brings a silence not found in Phnom Penh. But soon the sounds of village life and the cheerful banter and smiles of Cambodian kids are stumbled upon.

Further down the track the kids get more plentiful. However, it strikes me that these aren't the usual village kids that one encounters. For the boys call 'hello' loudly but then follow up quickly with 'money, money,' and that's not something that I have heard before from other country-kids; it's a city thing.

One of the victims of the Cambodian
Land-grab?

Perhaps, I think, this is where some of the many Phnom Penh land evictees have ended up: thrown off there land without adequate recompense their choices of where to go are limited. The makeshift huts with three thatched walls and a tarpaulin roof adds to my suspicion. And while the kids are as smiley as ever, the elders seem tired, wary and beaten.

Turning back for home and the village kids come running from everywhere. And they look happy enough, don't they? But the reality is that it's unlikely that they will see the inside of a school for any meaningful period of time and they will be exposed to the dangers of dengue
fever and malaria and malnutrition.

Sunday- a day of rest?
Not for these hard-working villagers

Ice cream is never far away even
in the villages.

Have You No Shame?

2012-02-03T18:51:00.001+07:00

Cheam Pe A is a henchman for the ruling Cambodia People's Party. Last month he attempted to buy the vote of Sam Rainsy Party Commune Councillor, Mok Ra for the upcoming senate election.

Mok Ra made an audio-recording of the bribe attempt and went to the police to complain. Cheam Pe A-and even his connections couldn't overcome his red-handed capture- was quickly convicted and fined $1,230.

Outraged at being fingered as a small-time, corrupt sneak, Cheam is after revenge. So yesterday he filed an action seeking $2,475 in damages from Mok Ra.

Why? Because article 301 of the Cambodian Penal Code states that it is illegal to record people without their consent. Which may be so, but as Mok Ra's lawyer points out "If someone recorded a bad action and was punished, it is a destruction of justice."

Cheam Pe A who, if he ever had one, lost his moral compass a longtime ago, wouldn't know a 'bad action' if it slapped him in the face. For, if he did, he'd take his punishment and melt quietly away.

Kudos though to Mr. Mok Ra- attempting to take on a CPP member in such a way is a brave thing to do.

Salary: $62 a month

2012-01-29T15:40:00.002+07:00

Situations Vacant

Position: Unskilled Garment Workers

Number of Positions Available: 50,000 minimum

Start date: Immediately

Salary: The minimum wage as set by the Cambodian government is $61 per month. Overtime pay and bonuses can take a worker's total pay to $100 a month.

Hours: 6 days a week with overtime as required.

Toilet breaks: Often timed, with pay docked for 'excessive' time taken.

Working Hazards: Workers should be aware that almost two thousand garment employees fainted while on the job last year. Reasons for this include hazardous chemicals, long hours combined with poor nutrition, panic attacks and mass hysteria.

Travel Time: Phnom Penh accommodation costs are high. Therefore workers are advised that they should commute to and from work everyday and that they should factor in an average travelling time of one hour- to an hour and a half morning and night.

Union membership: It is legal, although discouraged, for employees to be members of a union. Should there be a dispute and/or a strike expect to be abused and beaten by the police.

Cambodia's garment exports continue to increase; despite poorly preforming western economies $4.24 billion of clothing and footwear was exported from the Kingdom last year compared to $2.88 billion in 2010.

But that figure could be much higher, with factory owners- who are predominantly Korean, Singaporean and Chinese- complaining that machinists and other workers are becoming increasingly difficult to find.

Once, these jobs were highly sort-after; despite the low wages and grinding lifestyle, the minimum wage earned keeps many a rural family in rice. But with other opportunities developing- especially overseas positions as maids- many young Cambodian woman are shunning the clothing industry.

Can't say I blame them.

No Money for Health

2012-01-23T15:25:00.003+07:00

A country by country comparison:

Cambodia does not fare well although it beats three of its Southeast counterparts; Indonesia, Laos and Myanmar.

Health Expenditure Per Capita (Purchasing Power Parity; International $)

2008

Rank	Country Name	Amount
	Global	$899
1	United States of America	$7,164
10	Germany	$3,922
18	Australia	$3,365
20	United Kingdom	$3,222
25	Japan	$2,817
26	New Zealand	$2,655
33	Singapore	$1,833
79	Malaysia	$621
105	Thailand	$328
113	China	$265
122	Viet Nam	$201
135	Philippines	$129
138	India	$122
140	Cambodia	$118
150	Indonesia	$91
153	Lao People's Democratic Rep.	$84
175	Myanmar	$27
177	Eritrea	$18

Cambodia Cuts Scumbags Loose (3)

2012-01-05T14:00:00.000+07:00

As predicted here- and you did not need to be a genius to do so- Alexander Trofimov, a serial rapist of children, has evaded supposed police surveillance and disappeared. In fact the police cannot even say if the scumbag Trofimov is still in Cambodia, or if he has left the country.

Worse, the police are confused as to whether they are actually looking for the Russian pedophile.
"We are afraid he will cross to Vietnam so we checked with police at two checkpoints..." said Sihanouk Police boss, Tak Vanntha.

"I don't know Trofimov's whereabouts. Trofimov is free to stay in Cambodia and he has no obligation to inform the police," said a nonchalant Kirth Chantharith, spokesman for the National Police.

Perhaps spokesman Kirth Chantharith has been asleep for the last few weeks and isn't aware of the exactly why there is such an outrage over scumbag Trofimov's case.

So here is a recap:

Alexander Trofimov: Sentenced in 14/3/2008 to 13 years prison time for debauchery offenses in Cambodia's capital.
Sentenced to 8 years prison time in 25/11/2008 for buying children for sex in Sihanouk.
Sentenced to 3 years prison time in 20/01/2009 for indecent acts against minors in Sihanouk.

Appeal Court hands down a consolidated sentence on 26/8/2010 and effectively reduced the serial pedophile's sentence from 24 years to just 8 years.

20/12/2011 the rapist of children, having been granted a Royal Pardon, is released after serving little more than four years.

December 2011, the Cambodian government refuses Russian requests for Trofimov to be extradited to face further child-sex charges in his home country.

Trofimov disappears on 26/12/2011.

Cambodia Cuts Scumbags Loose (2)

2011-12-28T15:55:00.001+07:00

Alexander Trofimov

Update on the two scumbag pedophiles who were set free early in the last round of Royal pardons.

Alexander Trofimov, who was convicted of abusing 17 under-age Sihanoukville girls- and likely abused many many more- has found himself a house next door to a local Sihanoukville primary school. And far from being impoverished, scumbag Trofimov moves around town in a white Lexus.

Police claim that they are keeping him under watch, but frankly it seems unlikely that they would be capable of competently doing such a job.

Victims and their families, and staff of various NGOs remain fearful of the creepy Trofimov seeking his revenge; many of them received death threats during the time of the Russian's many court appearances.

Desperate attempts by various NGOs to have Trofimov extradited to face more child-rape charges in Russia continue.

Meanwhile, the serial rapist of children, Alexander Watrin also continues to stay in Sihanoukville, the same town where he committed his multitude of sick offences.

Not all are stunned and sickened by the early release of these scum, however.

Showing just why lawyers everywhere are detested, Cambodian counsel Dun Vibol claimed that 'the pardons would be helpful because they would allow lawyers another option besides courts. The early release of pedophiles was “sometimes a good idea” because prison conditions were poor, he said, adding that whether or not they left Cambodia was “up to their conscience”. (Phnom Penh Post Dec 28, 2011)

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T08:30:00.001+07:00

Merry Christmas

Photo: http://tharum.com/blog/2008/03/22/598.html

Cambodia Cuts Scumbags Loose

2011-12-23T17:52:00.002+07:00

Scumbag 1

This is Alexander Trofimov and he's a scumbag.

Trofimov was convicted in Cambodia of sex crimes against 17 underage girls- the youngest who was just six- and sentenced to ten years imprisonment. It's believed that Trofimov abused numerous other youngsters before his conviction.

During his time in prison the Russian enjoyed his own cell (for money talks in Cambodia). And according to an investigator for human rights group Licadho, he was, despite his supposed confinement, often allowed out for nights on the town.

On Tuesday Trifimov was given a royal pardon. This was despite him failing to meet the requirement that a prisoner must first serve at least two-thirds of their sentence before being freed. One official claimed that Trifimov was pardoned because "he had corrected himself during the time he served in prison."

How exactly poorly-educated Cambodian prison officials with no expertise in sexual predators would know that this filthy Russian was 'corrected' was not explained. Of course, we are expected to believe that Trifimov's huge wealth and his connections had nothing to do with the pardon.

Scumbag 2

This is Alexander Watrin and he too is a scumbag.

Watrin preys on vulnerable and impoverished young boys. In 2006 he was convicted of numerous child-sex offences and sentenced to ten years.

In 2009 the Cambodian Court of Appeal reduced Watrin's sentence by three years. On Tuesday he too walked free; his Royal pardon shaved another year off the original sentence.

So where are these scumbags now? Deported back to their home countries- Russia and Germany, surely?

Disgracefully, no. They remain free in Cambodia, somewhere.

That's despite the obvious threat they hold for Cambodian children. And that's despite the fact that the Russian government has requested that Trifimov be extradited to face child-sex charges in Russia. That request has so far been refused by the Cambodia's rulers.

It would seem, then, that Trifimov and Watrin aren't the only scumbags to feature in these sorry episodes.

Kim Jong-il's death 'a great loss' says Cambodian Minister

2011-12-21T19:03:00.000+07:00

Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

This 1975 photo shows Norodom Sihanouk, Cambodia’s head of state in exile, meeting with then-North Korean President Kim Il Sung.

Cambodian information minister, Khieu Kanharith said that the death of the evil North Korean leader Kim Jong-il was a 'great loss.'

Never mind that the wacko one, or the supreme leader as he liked to be called, willfully starved the population whilst managing to stash away for himself a reported $4 billion dollars in overseas bank accounts.

Never mind that the 'Dear Leader' filled his jails with an estimated 200,000 political prisoners whilst entertaining himself with his collection of 20,000 DVD's and assorted mistresses.

And never mind that this sadistic, paranoid, antisocial, narcissistic, schizoid, presided over a country that allowed 'no freedom of the press or religion, political opposition or equal education and nevermind that "Virtually every aspect of political, social, and economic life is controlled by the government."

No, none of that seems to matter to Minister Khieu Khanarith, who appears to have, like most of the rest of his government, lost his moral compass. No, for him the death is 'a great loss.' That's sick.

Thank god Kim Jong-Il is dead. It's a cause for celebration, I say. It's a disgrace the Cambodian government doesn't see it the same way.

Confutative Cambodian Statistics (1)

2011-12-18T12:57:00.002+07:00

A recently released report has found that incidents of violence against Cambodian women has dropped by 16% over the last 5 years. The same report found that there was a 24% decrease in the number of Cambodian families who had experience violence within their domestic unit.

Bollocks! If such decreases were real there would be all sorts of international agencies and sundry officials from all over the world coming to see this how this great Cambodian miracle was coming about. And the report directly contradicts many NGO claims that violence against women has been steadily increasing.

Still the Cambodian government happily trumpets the 'good news.'
"Remarkable progress has been made in reducing rates of domestic violence in Cambodia," claimed Minister of Women's Affairs, Kantha Phavi...

Even the minister had to acknowledge the dodgy nature of the statistics, however.
"Especially when it comes to rape, our data collection systems still require advancement," she said.

Still require advancement? Now there's an understatement.

Grace. Dignity.

2011-12-17T16:03:00.017+07:00

In an earlier post- When Your Play Pen is a Pit -I wrote about the hardships of a little girl with a rubbish tip as her playground. Pictured is the girl's mother (or at least the babysitter for the day).

She was happy for me to take photos of the her two charges and they were more than happy, too.

I asked her if I could take her photo and she readily agreed, although her flashing Khmer smile disappeared for the camera.

You can see that she is literally knee-deep in muck. Yet, she had a grace and dignity that isn't often seen.

I offered her a small amount of money for her time. She accepted, thanked me, placed the note in her top pocket and went straight back to work.

Compare that, if you will, to the many in western countries that take state handouts yet still whine and moan about their 'poverty.'

Monkey Business

2011-12-12T18:05:00.003+07:00

Looks a little morose don't you think?

It's just flat out cruel, really. Chained to a tree and not able to go far, this fella lacks the stimulation it needs. It must be stressed and going slowly crazy...

Cambodian Conk Out

2011-12-11T15:54:00.002+07:00

We are on our way to Kirirom and the bus has broken down. Another bus is being sent from Phnom Penh, so we could be stranded for a while.

No matter. It's the cool(ish) season now and there is a gentle breeze. Even better we've found a patch of grass on a sloping bank next to a small lake.

There's not much to do, but soon the local kids come out to entertain and be entertained. The boys are braver; they come first.

First on the scene to check out the foreigners

The girls are less sure, at first. But lunch lady isn't worried, so soon the girls are giggling for the camera.

There's hardly a house to be seen, but they are coming from everywhere.

And the swimming is free

What a beautiful smile

It's rice harvest time, and this hardworking with a beaming smile lady paused in her work to yahoo and wave from a distance. This is backbreaking work but she couldn't have been happier.

And if all that hadn't been enough action, the passing traffic was always worth a look.

To the market

Daylight Robbery

2011-12-10T15:03:00.001+07:00

We saw nothing...

Criminals in a Cambodian provincial town recently made off with an ATM containing 'tens of thousands of dollars.'

The machine weighs 200 kilos. It was heavily bolted down. And the theft of the machine took place in a busy street during broad daylight. Yet, the bank manager and staff saw nothing. The passing public saw nothing. The police? Nothing.

So there aren't any suspects. 'Tens of thousands of dollars' does, I guess buy a whole lot of silence.

Cambodian Prison Labour Profits Likely

2011-12-05T15:47:00.002+07:00

'Cambodia's Senate has approved a new prison law that will legalise prison labour and looks likely to encourage more garment factories to be set up inside the country's notoriously corrupt prisons.

The Cambodian Government insists it will enforce a ban on prisoners making goods for commercial use, but rights group doubt that will happen. The news comes as Radio Australia has obtained photographs showing female inmates producing clothing branded with major US labels in prison, despite the American company - Kohl's Department Store - having specific policies outlawing prison labor.'

~ABC Radio Australia

This will be a nice little earner for some scumbag corrupt prison governor working in cahoots with some scumbag corrupt politician.

Free labour and some nudge-nudge, wink-wink, contracts means more sleazebags are going to get rich at the expense of legitimate garment manufacturers.

“Children Are Not Tourist Attractions”

2011-12-03T15:26:00.003+07:00

Tourists in Cambodia have increasingly taken to visiting orphanages in Cambodia. Usually, they go for a day, play with the kids, donate a few toys and some money and leave.

However a campaign underway asks that tourists stay away from orphanages.

Why?

Over the last six years the number of orphanages in Cambodia has nearly doubled
It's estimated that there are nearly 269 orphanages in the country.
During those six years the number of children living in orphanages has sky-rocketed from 5,700 to more than 12,000.
Almost three-quarters of those kids are not orphans- they have at least one surviving parent.
It's unquestionable that some kids are traumatized by the constant parade of sightseers; emotional attachments are made and lost within hours.
Sebastien Marot, Founder and Chief Executive of Friends International, spoke about the increasing number of scam establishments, set up with little or no interest in child welfare and dedicated to the simple task of soaking up tourist dollars.

Now, undoubtedly there are some fine orphanages in Cambodia. But many others are nothing but profit-making businesses where kids are bought, borrowed or taken to an 'orphanage' solely for the purpose of suckering tourists into feeling pity and parting with their cash.

So don't volunteer for a day- Children are not Tourist Attractions- and if you want to really help, think long-term and do some research.

Working Cambodia's Dumps

2011-12-01T07:27:00.000+07:00

'Cambodians work late into the night recycling garbage as fires burn at the local garbage dump November 30, 2011 in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Many children work part time in the dump to help support their families while attending school during the day. While Siem Reap's ancient temples boost massive tourism attracting millions of visitors still 28.3% of Cambodians live on less than $1.25 per day according to a 2011 UNDP Human Development Report. An estimated 36 per cent of Cambodia's 14.2 million people live below the poverty line and about 85 per cent of these live in rural areas.'

Photo by Paula Bronstein /Getty Images

http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/11/30/photos-of-the-day-nov-30-2011/

Cambodian Floods Sweep Away New School Term

2011-11-27T17:40:00.001+07:00

The Cambodian floods are receding but the effects for many will be felt for a long time, yet.

Flooding forced 323 Cambodian schools to close, and while some have since reopened, many have not.
77 schools are beyond repair.
At least 20,000 students still cannot attend flood-ravaged schools.
The floods have swept away school materials and thus the already woeful shortage of textbooks has worsened.
Thus, many schools opened their doors on a new term without being able to provide a single coursebook.

In Remembrance

2011-11-21T17:20:00.000+07:00

On 22 November 2010 347 people were killed in a human stampede during the Khmer Water Festival celebrations in Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh.

Rest in Peace.

Bangkok Flooding Blues

2011-11-19T18:17:00.005+07:00

It was extraordinary for me to sight this Bangkok post graphic of the water level you would have been standing in, in various Bangkok suburbs last Saturday. I was there then, and fortunately for me, I was the shopper at far right - on dry ground.

However, I photographed help at hand in PhayaThai - sidewalk gumboot sellers. Even tie-up thigh boots - in burgundy and khaki - quite the fashion in trying times.

This doesn't make it any easier though. The flood water still prevails in Bangkok and 18 provinces, and the death toll keeps rising - as of yesterday Fri Nov 18th - 594.

Pachyderm Prosthetic

2011-11-08T11:50:00.000+07:00

Meet Chhouk. When he was just one-year old he lost part of his leg in a trap set by poachers and he nearly died. He's five now and doing fine at the Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Center.

Part of the reason for his good health is that he is able to lumber about, and bathe in a lake because of the prosthetic he wears. Cambodia has thousands of people afflicted by limb loss and so the Cambodian School of Prosthetics and Orthotics, was called upon to see if they could also help this handsome pachyderm.

And they could. Of course there is a fair bit of wear-and-tear on the prosthetic and Chhouk is onto his fourth artificial leg.

Cambodian Cubs Rescued

2011-11-07T11:29:00.000+07:00

With the actions of those who rule over Cambodia gets all too depressing, an aw-shucks animal story or two can be just the ticket.

This little leopard cub and her sister were rescued by a fisherman, from the floods that engulfed the Kien Svay district of Kandal province.

The siblings are being fed milk through a syringe and doing well at the Phnom Tameo Wildlife Rescue Centre.

"You ask me right or wrong. I'm not in a position to tell."

2011-11-06T10:58:00.001+07:00

It was December 5th, 1999 and Khoun Sophal was enraged. Her husband-Council of Ministers Secretary of State, Svay Sitha- was having an affair with Tat Marina, an emerging karaoke star.

So she rounded up a few henchmen and sought out her husband's mistress. They found her at a Phnom Penh market in the company of a two-year old child.

There, they held Ms. Marina down and doused her with more than a litre of acid. The acid ate her face and neck. And it ate her ears and it ate her shoulders. The acid scarred more than 40 per cent of her body. Tat Marina's life was ruined. Tat Marina was just 15-years old.

Khuon Sophal disappeared. She hasn't been found, although with her connections it's unlikely anyone has tried to track her down. Ms. Marina has asylum in the U.S. and underwent countless skin grafts and reconstructions. She still lives with the pain.

And there, thought most, ends the story. Just another case of Cambodia's rich and powerful doing whatever the hell they like.

But the story has a sequel. The Cambodian Parliament is finally debating legislation aimed specifically at barbarians who throw acid, and advocacy groups have used Tat Marina's case to highlight how little the government has done to halt such attacks.

The government was enraged by this charge. And so, more than ten years after the attack, the Council of Ministers released a statement claiming that Khoun Sophal was tried and convicted in absentia and thus there had been some form of justice.

That's certainly news to most Cambodians. And it's certainly news to Tat Marina. "They gave me no justice at all, but they gave the perpetrators full protection," she said.

And the supposed sentence that this evil woman received? A one-year suspended jail term and five years probation. One year!

Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan, who if he ever had a moral compass, has since lost it, said of the sentence, "You ask me right or wrong. I'm not in a position to tell you wrong or right. Maybe some could say not fair, but some people they say fair. You get two camps."

Meanwhile Svay Sitha continues to claim that he too was a victim of sorts of the incident. A victim? Svay Sitha, who, if he ever had a moral compass, lost it many years ago, should ask himself what the hell he was doing having an affair with a 15-year-old girl in the first place.

Disliking, Unlike

2011-11-01T11:45:00.000+07:00

While teaching level 9B Cambodian students prefixes on Friday, they had a choice of word beginnings to add to the verb 'like' - 'dis' being the obvious and only correct answer.

But ALL students chose 'un'.

Why?

Because facebook allows you to 'unlike'.

Ahhh.... the difficulties of teaching English...

Bats and a Buddha

2011-10-31T08:58:00.001+07:00

The discovery of an Angkorian-era Buddha statue at the site of the magnificent Ta Prom temple three days ago has rightly gathered much attention. The near two-metre high figure, which, sadly, is missing its head, is the largest found since the late 1970's. A combination of heavy rain and an Indian government-bankrolled restoration project led to the discovery.

Garnering less attention is the discovery of three new species of 'Tube-nosed' bats deep with Cambodian and Vietnamese forests. Tube-nosed because if you look carefully you'll see their extraordinary nostrils which look much like a blooming flower.

These handsome creatures have evaded detection for so long primarily because they fly just centimeters above the forest floor, thus avoiding the nets traditionally used to trap bats.

Deforestation could see their rapid demise.

“It is a Buddha sitting on a Naga, and seems to be a very huge thing indeed,” said, UNESCO Culture Program specialist Philippe Delanghe.

“Such a big statue is quite a significant find – it looks at least as big as the famous Buddha at the Bayon temple.”

Phnom Penh Problems: What Problems?

2011-10-30T12:11:00.006+07:00

Media bias occurs in every country. But surely, in most, not to the degree witnessed in Cambodia.

In a sample one-month period it was found that television fawned over the ruling Cambodian Peoples Party to a staggering degree. Indeed, of all the political activities shown on Cambodian television, 71% showed CPP members cutting ribbons, kissing babies, opening schools, and leaping tall buildings in a single-bound. Meanwhile, the party itself was pictured continuing its diligent, without fear-or- favour battle, to heroically build the nation. Problems? What problems?

The truth is, of course, much different. Corruption? Cambodia is awash with it. The health, education, police and court systems? Hopelessly hopeless. Unless you are rich. Poverty? Grinding for most.

Yet, 71% of television coverage is positive.

How many dodgy backroom deals and bum-kissing and intimidation is required to ensure that? Think about it. And then take a shower.

Cambodia: Twenty Years On

2011-10-23T10:27:00.009+07:00

GENEVA – “Twenty years ago, the Paris Peace Agreements set down a clear vision of a new Cambodia built on the bedrock of human rights, democracy and the rule of law,” recalled the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia, Surya P. Subedi, on the twentieth anniversary of the pacts that started the process of bringing peace to Cambodia after two decades of conflict.

“Cambodia has undeniably progressed over the past twenty years, with peace and stability bringing enormous dividends in terms of wealth and development. Institutions have been established and laws written,” Mr. Subedi said. “However the challenge remains in the implementation of many of these laws and proper functioning of these institutions.”

'...a new Cambodia built on the bedrock of human rights, democracy and the rule of law,”

Hmmm, how's that looking?

Human rights?

Restrictions on free speech and a near-blanket ban on demonstrations. '... the Phnom Penh Municipal Court convicted Seng Kunnaka of the UN World Food Program in Phnom Penh and sentenced him to six months in prison. He was charged with incitement under article 495 of the new penal code for printing and sharing a Web article critical of senior government officials. At year's end, Seng was serving his sentence in prison.'

Human trafficking is largely ignored by some in the police and government in return for bribes. After international attention, even the hopelessly corrupt police were, last week, forced to raid the premises of an 'employment agency' that was alleged to be exporting young Cambodian women to Malaysia and a life of slavery. The long-running company is controlled by the wife of a high-ranking police officer.

Arbitrary arrest and detention: 'One in every 10 detainees in pretrial detention was held longer than the legal time limit, sometimes without legal representation or trial.' ''.. Phnom Penh municipal authorities arrested dozens of persons--usually the homeless, mentally ill, drug users, or commercial sex workers--during systematic street sweeps. Detainees typically lost all money and belongings in the course of a sweep. Lost or stolen by the police?

Democracy?

Observers confirm that Cambodian elections still do not meet international standards.

For all intents and purposes the armed forces are used by members of the government or business tycoons for their own purposes. '...police from Phnom Penh's Dangkor District prevented a group of more than 100 villagers from marching to the prime minister's residence in Takhmao to draw attention to their continuing land dispute with Ministry of Interior official In Samon.'

Many consider that kleptocracy better describes the Cambodian political system.

The Media is largely controlled by the ruling party. The rest are intimidated. 'There were nine domestic television stations and approximately 50 radio stations. All television stations and most radio stations were controlled or strongly influenced by the CPP...'

Rule of Law?

Ho, ho, ho...

Forced evictions without recourse. 'On May 25, a group of military police, provincial police, and soldiers burned the houses of more than 100 villagers in O'Ampil Village, Anlong Veng District, Oddar Meanchey Province. Authorities claimed that the land was part of the Kulen Prumtep Wildlife Sanctuary and that a court ordered the eviction. Military and police agents burned the homes after the villagers refused to leave. Villagers maintained that they purchased the land from the Ministry of Environment in 2000 and that the eviction order should not have been enforced because there were cases pending in the court.'

Forced confessions: '...accused person's statements sometimes were coerced through beatings or threats, and illiterate defendants often were not informed of the contents of written confessions that they were forced to sign.'

The rich and the connected just buy their way out of trouble. 'In many criminal cases, rich or powerful defendants, including members of the security forces, usually paid money to victims and authorities to drop criminal charges against them.' ''There were no developments in the 2008 case of Brigade 70 Major Meur Bora, who reportedly beat two men following a minor traffic accident, or in the 2008 case of an alleged government bodyguard who shot and killed a woman in a bar.'

Yet, there is no question that economically Cambodia has grown at a dizzying pace. That development has dragged many out of abject poverty. But it's come at a hell of a price. And what happens when that development slows or stops- as it surely will?

~Source http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2010/eap/154381.htm

All Blacks Batter Wallabies

2011-10-16T17:59:00.001+07:00

Nothing to do with Cambodia, obviously. But cannot resist crowing.

It's so sweet when you are so far away.

Go the Blacks!!

New Zealand's relentless pressure and masterly forwards overwhelmed Australia in a brutal 20-6 semi-final win at Eden Park tonight to put them in sight of a first World Cup triumph in 24 years.

The All Blacks will be overwhelming favourites when they return here next weekend to play in a rematch of the inaugural 1987 World Cup final against France, also at Eden Park, which New Zealand won 29-9.

Cambodia's Flooding - Death Toll Keeps Rising

2011-10-15T21:47:00.001+07:00

Continued flooding has seen Prime Minister Hun Sen declare on Friday that Phnom Penh's annual boat racing during the November Water Festival was to be cancelled due to Cambodia's worst flooding in a decade.

The Prime minister said that the money usually spent on the Water Festival would be better utilised dealing with the damage from the devastating floods. The main issue is food security, because of the 190,000 hectares of rice paddies that have been destroyed.

With the rainy season not yet over, the death toll for this small country has now risen to 247, nearing the 297 deaths in neighbouring Thailand.

Frantic Flooding - Cambodia and Thailand

2011-10-09T12:40:00.003+07:00

'At least 167 people have died in Cambodia amid what has been called the "worst floods in a decade."

Children among the dead numbered 68, according to a report by the Straits Times on Wednesday.'

'Thailand's prime minister says rising floodwaters that have caused havoc across the nation are now threatening the capital Bangkok.

The death toll from the worst monsoon rains in decades rose on Saturday to 253.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra says the flooding - which has severed rail links with the north, shut dozens of highways and swamped ancient Buddhist temples in the city of Ayutthaya - has reached a crisis level.'

`NZ Herald

Anyone with an interest in Southeast Asia will be well aware of the havoc that flooding is causing in Thailand and Cambodia.

So there isn't much to add except this photograph taken from the air as we began our descent to Phnom Penh airport. Says it all...

On Holiday...

2011-09-21T16:31:00.000+07:00

We are on holiday. Probably somewhere in Southern Thailand eating massaman curry , floods permitting.

Obviously, Vanna T. Cat has been left behind in Cambodia.He won't be happy or as relaxed as he is in these photos.

He's rooming in a French-run cattery just out in the countryside which sounds nice.

But it's not home and he won't be dragging lizards, mice and snakes inside whilst he is out there.

What's all this got to do with Cambodia?

Nothing, really. But ain't he a handsome, fellow?

Watch Your Toes

2011-09-19T11:32:00.000+07:00

No boots!

No safety glasses!

Such is the life for almost all Cambodian construction workers.

For many of the small companies and contract workers there probably isn't the money to buy such necessities.

Many of the larger firms just couldn't get a damn; the workers are grateful just to have a job and the Cambodian and Chinese elite who grease the palm to get the big contracts mostly couldn't give a damn.

Cambodian Funeral Process - Part 1

2011-09-16T10:55:00.001+07:00

It's a long process.

We were invited to a 'Song-a-Tien' (Cambodian party for a very sick family member) for next door's great-granddad. The 'Song-a-Tien' is generally one or two weeks before the death.

This party was an outside table spread with Cambodian delicacies, Angkor beer and supplemented with passing food vendors' snacks.

I noticed great-granddad was in a four-poster bed positioned just inside the front door - close to the party, but not well enough to be sitting with us.

This party went long into the night as the family reminisced, in preparation for the upcoming funeral.

That's a Bit Rubbish

2011-09-14T10:57:00.000+07:00

Chuck it in a plastic bag and pile it up in the street. That's what most Cambodians do with their rubbish. What is not scavenged is taken away, eventually, by council workers.

With the heat comes the flies, though and it is unsightly. Buying a plastic bin and placing it on the road for the neigbours and us to use seemed the simple solution.

So we did. And it was gone in less than two hours. Two hours!

Stolen? Maybe.

Considered fair game and not wanted because it was out on the street? Probably; the bin cost just $7 but if who ever took it gets a fiver for it, that's two days wages.

Liquored-up Legal Man Staggers Free

2011-09-10T10:24:00.002+07:00

A judge from a Cambodian province arrived in Phnom Penh and went for a night out recently. After more than a few drinks he drove through the capital's busy Daun Penh district on the wrong side of the road and smashed into at least 5 motorbikes and a car.

Stopped by police, he attempted to do a runner but was caught and taken to a police station. There, the juiced-up judge smashed a chair over the head of an officer who attempted to question him.

Not much later the blotto beak pays an unspecified amount in damages- money gets you out of almost any problem in Cambodia-and is quietly released after his family claims he suffers from health problems.

And what serious health problems allowed such gentle treatment of this legless, legal referee? High blood pressure.

Well, excess drinking and rage can do that to you, Judge.

When Your Play Pen is a Pit

2011-09-05T14:27:00.001+07:00

She looks engrossed, doesn't she?

Which is just as well as there isn't a lot else around to keep this little girl entertained.

She's on a bridge that spans a fetid canal. Rubbish blows around her little, black-stained feet.

And the road she's on is a typical chaotic scene; should she stray a few feet, likely she'll be bowled over by one of the many motorbikes, tuk-tuks, trucks, food-carts or SUV's.

Mum's around. Problem is though, she's almost buried as she shovels filth from her cart into a larger bin.

And that's how she attempts to make her living; just one of the thousands of city-dwellers who attempt to earn a crust from collecting the city's trash.

And what are the chances the little one keeps up her reading habit?

Almost nil, I guess.

It's unlikely she'll see much of the inside of a school- the cost of uniforms, travel and books and bribes for the teacher will price that out of her reach.

Mat Musings

2011-09-04T07:49:00.000+07:00

Seemingly unique to Cambodia are these brightly coloured hand woven mats made from soft fabric off-cuts. I never saw them in Thailand.

Bicycle street vendors sell them alongside their brushes, brooms and other home-wares. They are perfect for Cambodian houses that are tiled throughout.

Costing US 50 cents two years ago, the urge to extract more from a foreigner sets the current rate at US $1.

My landlord, noticing me negotiate US 75 cents, (in my newly learned Cambodian) suggested to the vendor that 75 cents was still way too expensive and he had to sell for US 60 cents apiece. He protested and repeatedly pointed saying 'Anglais, Anglais!' This is French, but also the Cambodian word for 'English'.

Deal done! However, on turning to leave I noticed his despondent face and I felt a little mean. Next time I know the price will be one dollar.

Cambodian Cooking Competency

2011-09-03T13:22:00.000+07:00

This was a great spread!

Served for lunch during the' chicken-coop construction day', the cook did a mighty job.

It was with great pleasure that we tucked in- not just because it tasted great- but also because we have known the young woman who whipped all this up, for a long time.

She lives in the centre and has done so for years. So, she comes with a difficult past. But we've watched as first she began to take an interest in cooking and then developed the skills required to produce this banquet.

These culinary skills will serve her well; in a country where tens-of-thousands think they must go to university to get ahead, creative, confident, and competent chefs are in woefully short supply.

Rest in Peace

2011-08-28T08:56:00.004+07:00

Great-Granddad from next door died nearly a week ago.

Funeral rites- Buddhist chanting, music and gatherings- have been continual during that time. I blogged earlier about him, here

We'll miss seeing his cheery face as we arrive home from work.

Rest in Peace.
*Ann will blog about the funeral process shortly.

Crazy Cambodia 'Copter Consent

2011-08-27T13:41:00.002+07:00

'Cambodia is set to buy a small fleet of Chinese helicopters that will cost the country nearly $200 million, senior officials say.

The Z-9 series helicopters will be used for disaster management and “to fight terrorism,” Finance Minister Keat Chhon told reporters Tuesday. He did not say how many helicopters are planned.'

$200 million! Paid by a country that receives half- yes, half- its income from foreign donors. Paid by a country that suffers little in the way of natural disasters or terrorism. And paid by a country where most can't access clean water, basic healthcare, housing and education.

The helicopters should come in handy in other ways, though.

Look for tycoons, who are invariably in thick with the armed forces, to summons the helicopters when they want a quick response and a good kicking given to poor villagers who have the gall to protest yet another land grab.

Look too, for 'all gong, but no dinner,' type generals borrowing them so that they can get to tee-off in time. Watch also for a startling increase in the construction of helipads on the top of the ugly mansions of said 'all gong but no dinner,' generals.

Say Cheese!

2011-08-21T09:09:00.000+07:00

There's always some sort of micro-enterprise going on in Cambodia. These folk on our suburban street are drying and bundling grass for use in thatching, I suppose.

The woman was delighted and confused all at the same time while I was taking her photo. She has a beautiful smile doesn't she? I showed her the image and she laughed, then whacked me, and laughed again.

She followed with another swift whack and then she summoned her husband. He chortled at the sight of his rough, roll-your-own, grass green, cigar when I showed him his picture.

I hope all the work was worth it.

Cambodian Chicken Coop

2011-08-20T11:59:00.004+07:00

Chicken coop construction underway.

It's not going to look like what I expected, but then I've never seen a Cambodian chicken house before.

Luckily, it wasn't a blazing hot day for those who were working; I wasn't one of those, I would be worse than useless.

Work stopped at around 11.30 and lunch was followed by naps and chess playing so the midday heat was avoided.

Now for the chickens...

When Your Cot is a Cambodian Cart

2011-08-15T17:13:00.004+07:00

It's Phnom Penh. So, it's hot. Blazing hot.

This lady makes her living collecting glass and cans and paper and cardboard to sell for recycling. She's just one of many making a living in this way. It's hot, dirty and tiring work. She traipses the city streets and goes through the trash looking to fill her cart. Sometimes residents will call her over. But they don't give her their glass and cans and paper and cardboard- they sell it too her. Every bit counts for most Cambodians. And for all that hard work she makes about $2.50 per day.

Walking towards her cart I caught a glimpse of a pair of chubby little brown legs. A closer look showed me that there was a wee baby sleeping under all that cardboard.

And it's Phnom Penh. So it's hot. Blazing hot. What chance do you have in life when your cot is a Cambodian cart?

Cambodia: Where Lightning Strikes More than Twice - Part 2

2011-08-14T12:14:00.005+07:00

Another lightning strike casualty on 11th August - a boy in Pursat Province tending his buffalo - takes my previously blogged figure of 59 deaths in May 2011 to 125 deaths for August so far.

A dramatic number for a country with a population estimated at 15 million when compared to
Vietnam's 87 million people and 100 deaths annually.

The incredibly high figure is due to the fact that Cambodia is situated - unfortunately - where most of the world's thunderstorms come to pass. (Southeast Asia Globe - August 2011)
Those, like the young boy working his buffalo, are the most vulnerable on Cambodia's open flooded plains during the rainy season.

125 deaths already surpasses last years total of 114 and, is rapidly heading towards the 2009 total of 140.

It's 4.30pm - the screams outside continue. Everyone runs for cover as the dull hum of distant rain approaches carrying the fearful crackle of lightning!

'Teacher, Book No Have'

2011-08-08T11:36:00.004+07:00

This post is a reprise from more than 2 years ago.

My Cambodian students are much more studious that the ones I taught in Thailand. They don't have the same sense of fun as the Thai-and I miss that- but I've never had the experience below, or anything like it, at my Cambodian school. And I don't miss that.

Bang Na, Bangkok, Thailand, 2009

"Please open your books to page 16," I ask my class.

No one stirs.

"Open your books, please," I say slowly.

46 students and yet not one reaches for a book.

"Where is your book?" I ask one student.

"Teacher, book no have."

"Why?" I ask.

A blank face stares back at me

"Where is your book?" I try again.

"No have, teacher."

"Is it at home?"

"Yes, teacher, book at my home," she answers, unfazed.

"How many of you have your books, raise your hands, please?" I ask, already dreading the answer.

Not one hand is raised.

"How many of you have left your books at home?" I question.

Forty-five hands enthusiastically reach skyward.

"And you?" I ask the lone girl who hasn't put her hand up. "Did you bring your book?

"Yes, teacher, book have," she replies unsure of whether she should be pleased or disappointed with herself.

"How can you study without your books," I ask.

No answer.

"How can you study?" I try again.

"Teacher, book have next week," one sixteen year-old answers brightly.

"Yes, next week," the rest of the class chorus.

"Are you sure?" I question, doubtfully.

"Sure, sure, teacher. Next week, book have," they call pleased that they have surely solved my problem.

"OK, " I answer while my mind races to think of something to teach for the next fifty minutes.

"Next week, sure."

It's been a while...

2011-08-07T11:10:00.000+07:00

Pitou's father, Sambo is a guard at the girl's shelter. We first met him when he was about 8 or 9 years-old and living on-site.

Like many boys, he wasn't much interested in learning English, but while we were teaching there he usually turned up to class, if for no other reason than to be entertained.

Then he disappeared- sent back to his home in the countryside- too old to be staying with a gaggle-of-girls I suppose.

Last week we were back at the shelter. There a tall, strapping young man kept smiling at us. It took a while to click. It was Pitou!

It's a cliche- but time really does fly. He must be 17 or 18 years-old now. Made our day to see him.

Beer Girls Strike

2011-08-06T14:27:00.000+07:00

"My Country, My Beer" claims Cambrew Ltd, the makers of Angkor beer.

Cambrew employs hordes of girls to promote its grog at restaurants and nightclubs up-and-down the country.

Often they have to drink with customers to ensure they keep on buying. So, sometimes you'll see the unedifying site of young, vulnerable, beer girls, from conservative Cambodian homes, knocking back way too much liquor for the enjoyment of relatively wealthy, chauvinistic, packs of Cambodian men. It's not a pretty sight.

In early July, the Cambodian Arbitration Council ruled than these girls should be paid overtime and back pay, for working on Sundays. The company refuses to pay.

So, some of the girls have gone on a noisy strike.

The amount in question? $2 for every Sunday worked.

The Carlsberg Group, owns 50% of Cambrew.

I feel a Leo, coming on.

A Depraved Cambodian Doctor

2011-07-31T17:23:00.000+07:00

Leang was doused in petrol and set alight by his corrupt yet influential boss.

Seriously ill, his wife Ting, set about trying to find treatment. Trudging from hospital to hospital, in incredible pain, he was offered nothing more than an intravenous drip and balm for his wounds.

Desperate, they made their way to Phnom Penh and the wards of one of the capital’s larger hospitals. Here, they hoped, Leang would find the treatment he needed. And, because the hospital that Leang was slumped in was a state one, that treatment should be free.

So tells Joel Brinkley in his new book ‘Cambodia’s Curse’ The story continues:

“Several hours later a doctor came in and told us the burn was very serious and he needed to clean the wounds. But we would have to pay him $100. He told this to my grandmother. She is old, and had just lost a leg to a landmine. Through the evening, the price increased to $150. I was crying. I told the doctor I didn’t have $150.

The doctor said, “Well I guess we don’t need to clean the wounds’ “He took off his gloves and walked away.”

With no chance of coercing any money from the victims the monster-doctor never returned.

Leang died the next day. His ex-boss still has both his freedom and influence.

· Cambodia’s Curse by Joel Brinkley, Public Affairs, New York, 2011

Because it's Sunday

2011-07-24T16:37:00.003+07:00

Foreigners on motorcycles are lucrative business for any Cambodian policeman looking for a way to extort a few dollars. (And that would be most of them)

Flag 'em down, pick an alleged offence- any should do- and negotiate a price. Next, please!

One foreigner, recently pulled over, asked the fat-bellied, vacant-eyed, officer what he had done wrong. The copper, strangely, seemed stumped for an answer.

But after a pause, he snickered, 'because it's Sunday!'

Why do the students hate him?

2011-07-23T16:33:00.001+07:00

Here's a young student blogging about their 'Worst Teacher'*

Why do the students hate him?

The problem with him is that he always takes the student’s money. He always took 3,000 riel a month... and for the month’s test he took 500 riel more. When we had an examination he took 1,000 riel for one paper.

2 students can’t afford the bribe, the writer continued. And although the teacher allows them to remain in class ‘he is always angry at them.’

So some of the classmates chip in to help their poor friends: “When they gave the money he looks so happy and took it very fast,’ the blogger wrote.

The students asked him "Why you still take money from them?" They are the people who don't have someone to take care of because they didn't have parents and no house to live. They just live in a pagoda with the monks and help the monks to do anything in the pagoda or go out to take the food from the citizens from one house to another house.

An imaginative story by a young Cambodian? Could be. Much more likely though, is that the story is true.

Happens all the time, in the cities, towns and villages of Cambodia and it's an ugly, early introduction to the cesspit that is Cambodian corruption.

*I've cleaned up some of the grammar for the sake of clarity.

What do young Cambodians think?

2011-07-17T17:08:00.001+07:00

What do young Cambodians think?

You can get some idea here.
New term, new bloggers.

Comments on their blog are most welcome!

A Whole Lot of Honorifics

2011-07-16T20:16:00.002+07:00

Hun Sen: P.M.

Or more correctly:

Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Prime Minister Hun Sen.

That translates as: The Noble, Supreme, Great and All-Powerful, Commander-in-Chief, Prime Minister Hun Sen.

Just thought you might want to know...

First the Chicken then the Egg

2011-07-13T17:12:00.001+07:00

The chicken-raising project is a go! Land has been cleared, building is about to start and we will hand over the $1,000 plus dollars in the next few days. We'll be out at the centre this weekend to watch (and help!?) with construction.

It's going to be interesting, and of course we hope that it is a success. There are several girls who have put their hands up to be involved and so they, like us, are going to learn plenty about chicken-raising and egg-gathering, and the economic realities of running this small enterprise.

More later...

Cambodian Stock Exchange Opened but No Stocks to Exchange

2011-07-12T07:36:00.001+07:00

With great fanfare, Cambodian Finance Minister Keat Chhon, opened the Cambodian Stock Exchange, yesterday. The exchange has been a source of some embarrassment for the Cambodian government with the due date for beginning of business having been delayed time and again.

So, not wanting to suffer more embarrassment, Keat Chhon finally cut the ribbon. The problem is though, there won't be any stock-trading going on; there isn't a single Cambodian company that has it's business in order enough to trade publicly.

So like a pub without beer, we have a stock market without a single stock.

Cambodian Post Traumatic Stress

2011-07-09T10:31:00.000+07:00

A clinical study of Cambodians who suffered through the Pol Pot regime and the refugee camps near the Thai-Cambodian border, and then migrated to the U.S.A showed that 62% of them were still coping with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder 25 years after their ordeal.

It's reasonable to believe that this figure would hold for Cambodians living in their homeland. And a manifestation of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is outbreaks of violence. That will most often play out in the home and children subjected to abuse often become violent themselves.

Therefore, despite nearly two-thirds of the population being born after the fall of the Khmer Rouge, Pol Pot and his cohorts continue to plague Cambodia long after their demise.

Trying to Go Straight

2011-07-04T18:08:00.002+07:00

"Go straight. Turn left. Go straight again."

Simple instructions from me on the back of a motorcycle to the moto-driver. He gets it and so straight we go for a few kilometres.

But suddenly he takes a right. I don't know why- he has no idea of my final destination- he's just decided all by himself that we need to turn right.

Weird. And not the first time by any stretch that it has happened to me. What was he thinking? No idea.

Girls Passed Exams with Flying Colours

2011-06-30T18:26:00.000+07:00

Another Australian Centre for Education (ACE) term has passed.

Also - the three girls that we sponsor from the Healthcare Center for Children - have passed their English exams, and well.

Here's to the chicken project beginning in just such a successful way.

Well done Girls!!!!

Trafficking in forced labour on the rise

2011-06-25T17:09:00.007+07:00

Radio Australia: Asia Pacific

June 22, 2011

'This week, the Phnom Penh Post newspaper ran the story of seven Cambodian men who were trafficked to Malaysia and worked on a fishing boat in slave-like conditions.

Their passports were taken and they worked long hours in dangerous conditions.

One of the men later told a lawyer the boat owner would get drunk, make the men lie on the deck of the boat and would shoot at them for fun. If someone was shot, they'd be thrown in the water to drown.

While trafficking is often associated with women and forced prostitution it's estimated that for every person trafficked into prostitution, another nine are trafficked into forced labour.

http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/asiapac/stories/201106/s3250977.htm

Slaughterhouse Mouse!

2011-06-18T11:50:00.003+07:00

HELP! HELP! screams the mouse, a tear drop falling from his eye.

It's caught by stepping onto a special mouse trap glue sheet. Stuck here the mouse can only wait for a slow, stressful death. Or worse their faces stick to the mat and suffocate. Or, in a panic they gnaw their limbs off in a desperate attempt to be free.

But these are the only traps we can find in Phnom Penh. So despite there being a mouse in the house which is eating the food of our daft cat Vanna, we are going to wait until he does his damn job!

It's been a while...

.

Shacks, Mansions, Boats and Sewerage

2011-06-12T17:22:00.008+07:00

This baby's home is a boat. No room to play. Hot, dangerous and depressing.

The residents of these shacks live near the sewerage pumping station. Frankly, it usually stinks around here. You can see that the foreground is used as a makeshift dump. Highly unpleasant.

Phnom Penh has thousands of homes just like these. I couldn't live in one for a night.

These homes are plentiful in the Cambodian capital, too. They are lower-middle or middle class homes, I guess, with less well-off folk inhabiting the top floors. All levels will usually house large extended families.

And then there is this monstrosity. And while it's an extreme example - although it's becoming less so- it represents well the disparity of income here. Cambodia's kleptocrats* often live in such places.

* I've got no idea who lives here- it could be a fine and upstanding Cambodian businessmen who has never given into corruption, land-stealing or thuggery.

What Cambodian Kids Don't Mind Saying

2011-06-11T10:04:00.003+07:00

Not these Young Cambodian students

Maybe, I've lost touch, but I'm sure most western kids would think that they are way-too-cool to write some of the things young Cambodians do. Here's some samples of blog-writing from 11-15 year-old English students.

A 13 year-old Cambodian giving her classmates some life-advice:

'...I want to tell everyone of you that you should try your best at everything even if you can't do it well but at least it is the best you've got!!'

Rather than be sneered at, as she surely would be back home, this suggestion is well received by her fellow students.

Here's a student talking about a blanket she was given at birth:

'What I like the most about is the warmth that it gives to me is as warm as my mum hands, that reminds me of how warm I was when mum held me in her arms….

I sometimes argue with my mum when she gets it washed without telling me. The reason is……because I don’t want to lose the smell of that. Strange and funny, isn’t it? That’s true I love the smell although that’s not a nice smell but that smell remind me of myself as a small kid.

Thanks Mum for making me this lovely blanket, Love it !'

Cue more sneering, teasing and bullying if this was revealed in a school back home.

Or, try this heartfelt story from a young learner:

'Why I want to have a good family because my mother and my father separated while I was a baby....

I want to have a big family with warm care. I know that I really hate my father, but it's so difficult for me without father.... .

I tried to ask my mother that where was father, but, she tried to lie me too. She always told me that my father was busy about his job in Phnom Penh, it was so easy to lie because i was young...

But when I was 10 years old and it time for me to know about my parents ... My mother was told me about the truth thing that she was separate with my father. I remember that i was cry maybe a few days. Also I was angry because shouldn't lied me for long time about it. They should told me when they separated.'

Or this, from one teenage blogging about her stuffed toy:

'Well, don't laugh, but I hug it when I sleep and pretend to talk to it sometimes as if it was alive. I sometimes talk to it like a friend and share my emotions with it. I think of it not only just a stuffed animal, but a friend.'

Well her classmates might laugh, but with, not at her.

Machetes or Movies: Madness

2011-06-02T20:31:00.002+07:00

It's 10.00 o'clock in the morning and between 20 and 30 young men are brawling on Phnom Penh's busy Sothearos Boulevard. One unfortunate bloke is attacked by a machete-wielding youth. He 'underwent medical treatment at the medical clinic where medical staff stitched two wounds that had 'cut him to the bone,' reports The Phnom Penh Post.

The Post continues: 'Following the fight , three officers returned to the Tonle Bassac commune's police station to watch a Hollywood movie starring Chuck Norris, an American martial artist.'

An all-in brawl and a machete attack, yet 3 Cambodian Mr. Plods can think of nothing better to do than return to base and watch a Chuck movie?

When You Are the Last to Know

2011-05-29T17:10:00.000+07:00

At our Thai schools boys often came in with their heads shaved. The shaving was so that they could become a monk, an important rite of passage for teenage Thai boys.

So when one of my young Cambodian learners came into class with a shaved-head, I thought little of it and asked him where he had been.

'Father dead, teacher.'

I didn't, but should have known, that shaving one's head is a sign of mourning in Cambodian culture. And of course with my non-existent Khmer language skills and the students' improving but far from fluent English skills no one gave me the heads-up.

Some research showed me that the boy's father was a famous journalist; intrepid, honest, highly skilled and a fine teacher of journalism, too. He was the press boss for the Khmer Rouge Trials Tribunal as well- a big, big deal in this country.

Sadly my student and his family won't have all the support they need; both the man's parents were killed by the Pol Pot regime.

Cambodian Lightning Strikes Again! - Part 1

2011-05-27T18:47:00.004+07:00

Thunder, lightning, very very frightening, and...screams?

Last night our neighbours ran to cower under their porch. Dining alfresco, the onset of rain ended their merriment...but the screams?

The screams are justified; to date this year 56 people have been killed by lightning strikes, twice as many as the same time last year. An incredible 114 people were killed by lightning strikes in 2010 and more incredibly, 140 in 2009.
Source: National Committee for Disaster Management (NCDM, Cambodia) - May 2011

Sadly, today's Phnom Penh Post brings the year's lightning strike total to 59. Three people were killed in separate incidents on Tuesday in the provinces, marking an early start to the 2011 Cambodian rainy season.

Cambodian Black Magic

2011-05-21T10:22:00.003+07:00

Get out, or you’re dead.

That’s the advice the villagers of Somkul have given to a 52-year-old man and his extended-family whom they are convinced are masters of black magic.

Townsfolk have been regularly falling ill with a fever, and the only way they get better, they say, is by buying a pigs-head and wine and offering them to the sorcerer’s favoured spirit.

This isn’t the first time the poor man has been accused of black magic; back in 1982 he also had to prove he knew nothing of the craft.

Bizarrely and illogically, that proof constituted the pouring of molten lead onto his palm- the fact that his palm wasn't burned by the lead proved, his family claim, that he wasn't a sorcerer.

The family has every reason to be worried; with the help of top-village officials a suspected magician and his family were burned alive in Ratanakkiri province in 2002.

Playing Chicken

2011-05-18T14:12:00.001+07:00

We have been involved for years with a shelter for trafficked, impoverished, abused and at-risk girls.

For them money is tight. Very tight.

One idea to raise both cash and food is to keep free-range chickens and sell the eggs at the local market. They had a budget and they brought it to us. It was wildly expensive with a proposal for top-grade everything and a payment to outside labour to build the coop. We rejected it.

They’ve come back with something that is much cheaper and incorporates the use of second-hand, but satisfactory, building materials. They have agreed that everyone can pitch-in and erect the coop and thus there won’t be any labour costs. (Let me say here that there will be no chance of me getting on the end of a hammer; without a solitary DIY bone in my body and an allergy to time spent outside in 40 degree heat, it isn’t going to happen)

So it would now be half the cost- at $1,000- of the original budget. Sounds good and the business plan, if somewhat optimistic, makes sense.

Yet, there remains a nagging doubt. The folk at the same centre spent days preparing land to cultivate vegetables and they grew one crop and stopped. Stopped. Dead. The land is overgrown again and we don’t know why. And it’s the same with a small mushroom growing enterprise there, too. Producing one week and finished the next.

Will that happen with the chickens? We don’t know. Is it worth the risk? Yes, or how else can they develop the skills that they need, is the easy and obvious answer. Easy and obvious that is, if it’s not your $1,000.

Whether to raise chickens, that is the question.

Pooh Put Out to Pasture - Meet The Neighbours Street 510

2011-05-17T12:14:00.002+07:00

Pooh Bear - of human sizing - appeared on the balcony of our neighbour's house a few days ago.

Since then, there has been severe sun, relentless rain and wild winds.

What would Pooh say?

Drop in on anyone at any time, if you feel like it.
If they say "bother" , you can drop out again.
Winnie the Pooh

Will keep you posted on when he is allowed back in.

Sourced from: Pooh's Little Instruction Book
Inspired by A.A.Milne

Monk Business

2011-05-15T11:04:00.004+07:00

Until this term I have never taught a monk before. It takes some getting used to.

He sits aloof from the rest of the class which is never good for classroom cohesion.

Many of the students have no idea how to relate to him. Some of the females are afraid to engage him in conversation whilst a few of the boys are more comfortable. That's not surprising because there is a more strict protocol in a woman-meets-monk situation.

There isn't any great respect shown- which has surprised me- more the relationship is one where everyone bumbles around not knowing quite what to say.

No different than if you threw a vicar into a classroom of young adults, I suppose.

The Royal Oxen

2011-05-14T17:42:00.001+07:00

Getting off a moto at the right moment can lead to great photo opportunities. The beautiful National Museum was my jump off spot yesterday.

It was King Sihamoni's Birthday and I got to pat this gorgeous creature, resplendent in its bright red headgear- he's one of the Royal Oxen.

His proud keeper beckoned me over and he was delighted I was interested in being close to them.
"How old is he?" I managed to get across by counting in Khmer.
'Six,' he answered, giggling at my use of the language.

They were soft to touch; just like velvet.

Oh, and Happy Birthday to the King.

Cambodian Classroom Corruption

2011-05-10T18:22:00.000+07:00

What sort of low-life would steal from schools and thus greatly reduce the level of education that young Cambodians receive?

Answer- a great number of school directors.

A recent survey of teachers across the land has shown that many are greatly worried by corruption in the classroom. The concerns are summed up here:

" The teachers said...some school directors use government funds for their own benefit, keep the money of vendors who rent school space, keep some teacher's salaries and overtime pay, and sell examination papers to students," said Rong Chhun, the President of the Cambodian Independent Teachers Association.

Nice ain't it?

Little Sharkodiles Born out of Wedlock

2011-05-07T20:03:00.003+07:00

"Homework.'"

Groan.

"Cross two animals to create a new one."

Hmmm....sounds interesting. Here's one result from a young learner, a 13 year-old Cambodian girl.

I crossed a crocodile and a shark and the animal is called a sharkodile! A sharkodile is an animal with a crododile’s face arms and tail, but it has got a shark’s body fins and a horn. Sharkodiles are very strange, idiot and violent animals and they can swim very fast like a shark. They like eatings small fishes also they can eat people and whales because their body is very enormous!!! Oh sharkodiles can walk on the land to find the food too. Sharkodiles usually lives alone and they can have babies without married have husbands or wives. They can live wherever they want and eat whatever they want.

We are running a poll on the best story about a crossed animal, click here to read and vote...

Comparatives and Superlatives - Big-Bigger-Biggest Buggers

2011-05-04T11:37:00.000+07:00

While helping my Mum and Dad shift house after the Christchurch earthquake, I visited the Little Big Tree Company with my brother who was looking for big trees for his garden.

I came upon this sign - and thought it would be perfect for my upcoming Level 5 comparatives and superlatives lesson.

Do you think the New Zealand/Cambodian translation will go down well?

New Year Shelter

2011-05-03T17:42:00.004+07:00

Before and after Khmer New Year the neighbour's spirit house sits without shade.

But during the New Year celebrations it's sheltered by an umbrella- and a most un-Buddhist, Fosters umbrella at that.

I have no idea why.

Home Wreckers

2011-05-02T12:38:00.000+07:00

It's International Labour Day weekend, a chance to relax for three days instead of two.

Relax...hmmm...not so easy sometimes in Phnom Penh.

The building across the road from our house is being demolished - a common sight in this rapidly developing city.

However, the house is being taken apart by a handful of men with sledgehammers and bare feet- western health and safety bureaucrats would have a fit- and there is not a piece of machinery in sight.

The slow dull thud is painstaking, and there's a while to go yet.

Snoop Dog?

2011-05-01T11:13:00.008+07:00

Cambodian Arm Arrested 4 Thais and a Dog spy Cambodian Arm yesterday arrested 4 Thai and a dog spy, Cambodian Express News report. There are 2 Cambodian men who transformed themselves as a beggar and went to Cambodian military bases along the dispute sides and the other 2 Thai ladies who transform themselves as a crazy but they wear ring with automatic cameras and a dog with camera as well.

~News Report (Mistakes and all)

Recently Bloomed

2011-04-30T16:24:00.000+07:00

“Most of Cambodian people love orchid, but they can not afford, because it so expensive. I never see people get out the motocycle to buy my orchid. I just see they get off car”, she said with a smile.
http://sophirom.wordpress.com/

And expensive they are- costing at least two dollars a pop they are out-of-reach for most Cambodians. Part of the reason for that is almost all orchids are imported from Thailand.That's bound to change as the middle-class here expands and it becomes profitable to grow them here.

In the meantime we are lucky; the price isn't prohibitive for us and so we get to look at this recently-bloomed beauty.

Cambodian king snubs royal wedding

2011-04-23T13:30:00.000+07:00

'THE King of Cambodia is the only royal to not reply to Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding invitation.

King Norodom Sihamoni has not replied to the invitation from Prince William and his fiancee Kate Middleton, The Sun reported Saturday.

Sihamoni, 57, a shaven-headed former ballet dancer and instructor, would not be the first Cambodian king to snub a British royal wedding.

In 1963, his dad, Sihanouk, refused to attend Princess Alexandra's wedding after being told he would not get a guard of honor and could not stay at Windsor Castle.

Sihamoni, who took the throne in 2004, lived under house arrest with his dad in the 1970s while the Khmer Rouge regime murdered 1.5 million Cambodians'

~Herald Sun

That seems odd. Can't go or won't go?

Young Cambodian Bloggers

2011-04-22T12:13:00.000+07:00

Another intake of students. So another new blog.

Check out the ideas and interests of young Cambodians (this group is, on average younger than other groups and range from 10-14 years-old) on their new blog at:

www.10yl.blogspot.com

Comments are of course very welcome- they are usually read with amazement first and then with great appreciation.

Meet the Neighbours (1)

2011-04-17T10:23:00.000+07:00

Ain't that a beautiful face?

He's the grandfather of our landlady and he lives next door. Doesn't speak a word of English. I don't speak a word of Khmer.

Yet everyday when we say him he greets us with a smile and chats away about the weather, our plants or our moto-driver. I don't understand a word and he doesn't mind.

I don't know how old he is, but he will have seen a lot of history; much of it ugly. He's got a good family and I wonder what he makes of the breathtaking development of modern-day Cambodia.

A Funny Looking Teacher

2011-04-16T12:31:00.005+07:00

The Funny looking teacher

Note: This is not the
blog-writing student

Here's the last blog post from one of my Young Learners of the last term. Let me be indulgent- it made me smile. Sometimes teaching is worthwhile.

'Hi everybody! Today is my last day that study in this class.This term is i am very happy to study with the funny teacher but he is serious when we do an exam or quiz. But my felling with him I think he is a good teacher good work good teaching and also good explaining.

In this term I have know a lot of classmate that study with me. Oh!my classmate is very friendly polite and all the student is all well done.They also conversation with the teacher so funny and happy.This term I think that I am good at writing enough because now I always writing on the blog so it can make me good writing enough. And the teacher always give us to do the work in the group so it can make our speaking well and also do the different homework that I never seen before. Everybody always smile the most is Peng she always like smile when she smile is very attractive and look beautiful.

So I think study with teacher Philip is very good and funny.He is look funny. All the classmate like his hair style because it easy.So now bye see you this term.........bye...bye..!'

I checked with her to see if she really thought I looked funny. She assured me I did.

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor...

2011-04-15T09:24:00.002+07:00

It's a new term and my young Cambodian students tell me what they want to do in the future. The boys and the girls have mostly the same aspirations; doctor, lawyer, businessman, businesswoman, pilot and architect are the most popular. Most of them- without prompting- tie their career choices back to helping their country and the poor.

Compare that to the all-boys boarding school that I worked at in Thailand for two years. There, almost without exception they wanted to be either policemen or soldiers.
Sad that they think (but who can blame them) that the forces are where the power and the glory lies in Thailand.

Cambodian Cheating

2011-04-14T09:04:00.000+07:00

Cheating in Cambodian schools is rife and students often don't see anything wrong with it.

Here's what one student of mine-apparently happy to see his cheating revealed on the internet- wrote in a recent blog entry:

'I'm a student who was bad at chemistry subject the most and that's why I didn't do anything for chemistry exam but when there was 15 minutes before the end of the exam, I was cheating to my classmates and at the end, the exam was done by my cheating.( lol)

And many times it's condoned by the teachers, too.

''...the literature teacher didn't let us cheating like another teacher had done....'

2011-02-27T09:40:00.002+07:00

Christchurch Quake

2011-02-26T16:18:00.000+07:00

The terrible Christchurch quake is taking a lot of digesting; especially for Ann whose parents have lost their home.

So Cambodian-related blogging will stop for a while.

But we'll be back.

Home Town Destruction

2011-02-22T20:03:00.000+07:00

Christchurch: Ann's hometown. We both have family and friends there.

It's grim news and there is not much one can say from so far away; the pictures and television reports of devastation can only reflect a small part of the tragedy.

All the best and hang-on-in there Cantabrians.

Water Festival Stampede Conveniently Forgotten

2011-02-15T14:14:00.001+07:00

347 were killed in a stampede during Phnom Penh's Water Festival at Ko Pich on 22 November 2010. Many more were injured.

What was the real cause of the disaster. Electrocution? Over-zealous use of water cannons by the police? Poor planning by the organizers? Poor planning by the municipal authorities? A simple case of overcrowding?

The real cause may never be known. Despite the depth of the tragedy, the initial, insultingly short inquiry, which told us almost nothing believable and achieved zilch in terms of justice, would appear to be the end of the matter.

At least that is how it seems- for those who have suffered the memories must be raw- but reports of the disaster aren't to be found in the newspapers. And they haven't been for some time.

Happy Cambodian Valentine's!

2011-02-14T21:34:00.000+07:00

The enthusiasm for this event is gradually building.

This year, small sidewalk flower and balloon venders have popped up across Phnom Penh. From car boots outside universities and schools, offerings of cheap and cheerful floral arrangements declare they love you.

Very cute - and it meant - today this teacher was given a beautiful pale pink rose by one of her students.

Stupid Warfare Superstitions Continue

2011-02-12T17:17:00.000+07:00

Cambodia 1970

'Magic' tattoos have long been considered by Thai and Cambodians
to offer battleground protection

'...he issued a decree calling for an 'organization for cultural warfare employing traditional Mon-KhmerVethamon" (occult practices) within the army's mobilization bureau. Chief among its activities was to publish a list of practices recommended for soldiers:
"Cutting of the skin in order to allow the Buddha to enter the body and bring strength...fabrication of clothing with inscriptions giving strength to the person wearing it...

The soldiers wore magic scarves. They sucked holy amulets before going into battle. They hung images of Buddha, horoscopes wrapped in metal, and other talismans around their necks...'

So wrote Elizabeth Becker, in her fine book, When the War Was Over, about Cambodian Prime Minister Lon Nol's attempt to save his troops from death in the battlefield.

Thailand 2011

Si Sa Ket : The Thai army believes it needs the help of talismans to protect itself from Cambodian soldiers.
The chief of the 2nd Army Friday distributed talismans to his troops to help protect them from evil curses which he believes Cambodians are likely to call upon in their fight over disputed border areas.
As a result, soldiers guarding the border with Cambodia are now equipped with arms, life-saving kits - and talismans.

Second Army chief Thawatchai Samutsakhon issued assorted talismans to soldiers stationed at the disputed border area near the Preah Vihear temple in Si Sa Ket's Kantharalak district to ward off Khmer curses.

"I believe in this and I have to take care of my subordinates in every possible way," Lt Gen Thawatchai said.

~Bangkok Post

Many Thai soldiers believe that amulets such as the one
above will protect them from bombs and bullets.

Stupid superstitions which cause people to be killed just will not go away.

Such advice from the top is, unfortunately, all too often lapped up by the lower-ranks on both sides of the conflict. It is not a magic medal that will save these men and boys- but negotiations might.

New Students, New Blog

2011-02-08T17:28:00.001+07:00

New Term. New Students. New Blog.

Last term's students loved the feedback they got from abroad! If anyone feels like dropping by and making a comment, here is the link.

http://www.younglearnersx.blogspot.com/

Happy Chinese New Year

2011-02-04T19:01:00.003+07:00

Phnom Penh has emptied out. Many city-dwellers have left the capital to celebrate the with their families in the provinces.

Our neigbours' kids have been letting off crackers- the busybodies in the West who abhor such unsupervised fun would be outraged- and they are having the time of their lives.

It's Chinese New Year and everyone here with any Chinese heritage- and plenty who have none- are welcoming in the New Year.

It's the year of the Rabbit so it is supposed to be a good one.

Happy New Year!

Eat Cat or Rescue It?

2011-01-30T15:00:00.001+07:00

A crowd has gathered. The neighbours and their children have emptied from their houses. Even someone from the ‘big’ house has come for a look.

“Vanna, Vanna,” the adults whisper.

“Vanna, Vanna,” cry the kids pointing to the roof.

And there he is, our cat, Vanna, stuck and crying on the roof of a nearby house.

He’s been up there countless times before but tonight he can’t get down. And all the attention isn’t helping.

A lot of animated chatter begins; and not much of it is about the rescue of the cat.

One of the local youngsters, a rotund boy of ten reckons, licking his lips, that Vanna would make a tasty meal. He’s serious. His friend, a smiley girl of about eight considers this.

“Not eat cat,” she finally says. “But maybe dog.”

The adults, as always, find the whole pet cat thing weird- all this attention and money spent on a four-legged orange blob is just too much for some of them to understand. Fair enough; when finding enough money just to feed the family is a daily grind, I guess spending cash on a cat would seem odd.

Finally a ladder is summoned and Vanna is brought down.

“Cat crazy,” we say. This is amusing to our Cambodian neighbours. “Foreigners crazy, too,” you can almost hear them thinking.

Quickly we whisk Vanna inside. The fat boy, still licking his lips, looks vaguely disappointed.

Cambodian Confiscation

2011-01-29T17:44:00.000+07:00

A recent poll shows that 7% of Cambodians have had someone try to steal some or part of their land during the last three years.

No, not the stealing of televisions, motorbikes and mobile phones: land

That's a whopping 500,000 Cambodians who believe someone has either attempted to, or has been successful at, flogging their land.

Sure, some of this number may have never really owned the land in the first place; they believe they do because they have been squatting there for years.

But many thousands of others have had to fight off corrupt officials and businessmen backed by equally corrupt coppers to retain what is theirs.

That's a lot of Cambodians holding grudges. Their numbers are ever-increasing.

Cambodian Calling

2011-01-25T15:55:00.000+07:00

Blogspot blocked, then unblocked and then blocked again. Blocked this time for more than 3 days but, it seems, only by my ISP.

So its time to call Metfone's helpline to see what the problem is.

The call is answered in just a few seconds though and the operator says 'of course!' when I ask if he speaks English.

I explain the problem and it takes some time; he's never heard of blogspot. Nevermind that the issue of blogspot being blocked by internet companies such as the one he is manning the help-phones for has been front page news. And nevermind that it has been reported that many bloggers have rung to complain- he has no idea about blogspot.

He promises to look in to the problem and report back. Of course he never does.

So I call again a day later. The help-line fellow has never heard of blogspot.com. I spell it out slowly for him. He notes down the details and spells the address back to me: 'B L O G S P O R T. C O M.'

"NO, no," "B L O G S P OT. C O M, " I spell slowly.

This time he's got it he says,' "B L O G S P O R T. C O M"

We do the BLOGSPOT- BLOGSPORT spelling bee for a while and finally he really does get it. Having done so he promises to look into the problem and call me back.

Of course he never does.

On the third call the operator is aware of the problem and he promises to look into the problem and call me back.

Of course he never does. But today, miraculously, ~~blogsport.com~~ blogspot is up and running again.

To be fair though this experience probably isn't far different from the 'help' one receives from helplines in developed countries, and I didn't have to wait minutes for the call to be answered, nor was I met by an automated answering machine.

Banned! Blogspot Blocked

2011-01-21T16:37:00.003+07:00

Cambodian censorship is on the rise. Free speech is under attack. The Cambodian government is becoming ever more draconian as it sues, imprisons and harrasses those opposed to it.

Several days ago the government, it seems, sent out the word to Internet service providers that any sites ending with blogspot.com should be blocked. Some providers, including ours, duly obliged and this blog, like any other blogspot site could not be viewed in Cambodia.

The reason? The government wished to stop a blog that was publishing articles critical of it, from being accessible to Cambodians. That's right, all blogspot sites were blocked so as to stop one blog from expressing opinions contrary to the governments. So much for free speech.

The government denies ever giving such an order- while explicitly claiming that the site in question should be closed- but the providers claim that they did. And why would the providers have a reason to lie?

All blogspot sites are accessible again, although the process has been haphazard with some, like ours, taking an extra day to finally unblock blogger's accounts.

But how long that lasts is anyone's guess. I suspect it's all downhill at an ever-accelerating rate for free speech, from here on.

Traffic Cops Frequently Drunk On-Duty

2011-01-15T09:51:00.000+07:00

Traffic police checkpoints to detect drunk drivers began in Phnom Penh in October. It seems that the first people that the police should check for sobriety are their fellow officers; despite frequent warnings by their chiefs not to drink on the job, drunk, on-duty traffic cops continue to be a major problem.

Even Prime Minister Hun Sen has appealed to traffic and military police: "On duty, please don't drink alcohol." His concern springs from one of his children being hit by a drunk driver speeding down the wrong side of the road. Traffic police- note the plural- sent to investigate, were too drunk to investigate properly.

Doesn't give one a lot of confidence does it? Although it does go along way to explaining why the dozy coppers on point duty do such a poor job of keeping peak-hour traffic flowing.

Phnom Penh Street Brawl Kills One: Police Rule Out Prosecution

2011-01-13T18:42:00.000+07:00

'A 20 year-old student died in hospital after a fight between two gangs in the streets of Phnom Penh's Toul Kork district,' reported today's The Phnom Penh Post.

He died from head wounds probably suffered as a result of being pelted with rocks. The victim's mother asked that police prosecute the case.

They have refused because they say, like his assailants, the dead man himself was a 'gangster.' So instead of a court appointment and a lengthy spell in prison, the offenders- once found- will be given "an education."

YOU!

2011-01-10T14:48:00.000+07:00

“You!” shouts the tuk-tuk driver in the hope of a fare.

“You!” calls the lady who wants an outrageous 5 baht for using the toilets.

“You!” cries the street beggar, hands outstretched.

“You!” yahoo the boys on motorcycles as they zip past.

Infuriating, amusing and often annoying depending on the mood I had forgotten about the Thais use of ‘You’ to gain the attention of foreigners.

“You!” shouted the woman with a small child in tow, at Thailand’s Phimai Historical Park. “You!” she calls again, pointing.

Oops, I was about to stand on a four foot, green snake. Saved by a “You!” What a wonderful word is You!

Merry Christmas

2010-12-24T10:30:00.007+07:00

Merry Christmas!

I'm on holiday and so are the folk that feed me.

We will be back very early in the new year. See you then!

Welcome to Malaysia

2010-12-21T16:39:00.007+07:00

"Taxi, taxi!" said the taxi-men as we stepped off the bus at Kuala Lumpur's Sentral station.

Haggling is prohibited and taxis are metered. That didn't matter though as the drivers furiously tried to negotiate prices to our hotel.

But instead we found a booth, bought a ticket and were pointed to a taxi. Simple!

Except the driver kept demanding extra ringit: passengers were included in the price of the ticket he reckoned, but bags were extra!

We ignored him, he was angry and he blew the chance of a tip.

Welcome to Malaysia!

Malaysian Food at Last

2010-12-20T16:23:00.001+07:00

Last time we were in Malaysia we had difficulty finding Malaysian food; a religious holiday meant that most of the Muslim restaurants were closed. So we could get Chinese and Taiwanese food but not a Nasi Lemak; Japanese and Korean was available but we couldn't get a Mee Goreng and; Italian, Spanish and Thai food was everywhere but a Roti Canai was nowhere to be seen.

Thankfully it has been different this time and we've made the most of it.

Roti Canai? Grabbed at a small hole-in-the-wall kind of place along with a sweet, stretched tea and it was delicious. As was the chicken curry and yellow rice, and the Mee Goreng and prawn Sambal. The Nasi Lemaks have been delicious as has been the Nasi Paru (Cow lung, apparently) and the Mee Jawa. A rough looking canteen turned out a superb Gado Gado and a decent Mee Goreng.

And a glutton's sampling plate of Malaysian desserts was a real success.