CommentaryPhnom Penh

Beer Promotion Saleswomen

Debate is currently raging on the 440 forum over the Bush funded NGO Care International”s self initiated and self proposed “cultural makeover” of Cambodia”s “beer girls.” Here’s a flavour of the debate.

Okay, okay. I tried to ignore it. I tried to say nothing and not get up on my soapbox and rant. But I failed, but hey, I managed to do that for a whole 2 days now, which is a record for me.

Wednesday, the US Based NGO Care International went public and started bleating on about beer girls, or to give them their freshly laundered politically correct name, ‘beer promotion women” like a change in name is all that is needed to change peoples thoughts. They feel that the issue of indirect sex workers is ‘about sensitising the stakeholders’ which roughly translated from the NGO-masturbation-ese means that they blame the companies that make the beer – remember folks, business is bad, profit is evil, it is always the fault of the company, never the individual employee.

For the time being we will leave aside the argument that all women are indirect sex workers, the only difference is the type of currency being used; dinner, flowers, chocolates and champagne ?

But you may all rest easy in your beds at night knowing that Care Int. is on the case, they are going to – wait for it – wait for it – they are going to redesign the dresses that they wear!

Yes, with longer skirts and higher necklines, drunken Khmer men will suddenly stop thinking about having sex with attractive women, especially when we stop calling them ‘beer girls’ and start calling them ’empowered, non-gender specific, sales representatives entitled to wear long and high clothing only.’ Well, actually, that phrase alone is enough to cool my ardour.

So as my ardour is cooled what do I do?

What I do, in true free market fashion, is take my arse down to another beer garden, which has not been emancipated by this nonsense.

Their aim is a ‘zero tolerance’ policy on girls being harassed. But what is harassment? Is it just flirting and attention from somebody whom you do not find attractive ?

Okay, forget Cambodia for a moment, I have worked in London, New York, Paris, Milan and many other cities around the world, I have holidayed in even more. A common underlying thread to all of these is that every so often I will go to a bar, I will drink beer and if I am given half a chance, I will flirt and laugh with a pretty waitress or two. Quick, you had better throw me in jail, I feel a bout of this coming upon me for this weekend.

The trouble with this blanket of nonsense is that it draws attention away from honest to goodness cases of assault, which by the way, there are already laws in place against, it defocuses the general public from real problems and issues. It also serves to reinforce the concept that NGO?s are useless and self-serving.

What is that noise in the background? Is it a gecko laughing ??

We wanted to get to the heart of the matter so we interviewed Srey Sanceur (pictured above), our local ‘Beer Promotion Saleswoman.’

To read the debate go the the Khmer 440 forum”s Speakeasy.

To read the exclusive interview with Srey Sanceur click below.

440: Soksobai Srey Sanceur

SS: Soksobai pro s’art.

440: Are you what the George Bush funded NGO ‘Care International’ would refer to as a ?beer girl??

SS: Let’s just have a bit of respect and leave out the sexist language for a start please. I’m a 25 year old woman and the beer company pay me to promote their beer. Do you want this jug of beer I’m holding or what?

440: Before you quench my thirst can you tell me whether ‘your stakeholder has been sensitized’ yet?

SS: Eh Cheeky! If you want a steak then speak to the waitress. I only sell the beer.

440: Louise Bury a ‘foreign expert’ from the NGO Care International would like to sensitise your stakeholder. Care International also said that you are ‘the most vulnerable woman in the country.’ Is that a fair assessment of your situation?

SS: I’d say that woman dressed in rags over there picking beer cans out of the trash and sleeping in the gutter every night was much more vulnerable than I am. Who said I’m vulnerable?

440: That was Sharon Wilkinson who is another ‘foreign expert’ at Care International. Care International were also quoted as saying that ‘almost all women, at some point, have exchanged sex for material goods.’

SS: Do you want this jug of beer over your head? I’m a married woman.

440: What about that saucy uniform you’re wearing. Care International think it would be a good idea for you to have a less revealing neckline.

SS: A less revealing neckline! Listen mister, if this neckline was any less revealing it would be a bloody balaclava. I’m sweating enough as it is.

440: What if you lowered the hem on your skirt. Would that affect how the public perceive you?

BSW: Of course it would affect how the public perceive me. They’d think I was from Saudi Arabia. What’s wrong with my hemline anyway? Four inches below the knees is hardly a miniskirt. This Care International lot, are they anything to do with the Taliban?

440: Have you got a message for the foreign experts over at Care International.

SS: Yes. Tell them to talk to the hand ‘cos the face, it don’t want to know.

440: Thank you very much, Srey Sanceur and yes, we’d love that delightfully chilled jug of freshly poured beer.

After extensive strategy meetings, numerous facilitated workshops, countless proposals, the input of highly-paid diversity co-ordinators and many detailed reports, the ‘foreign experts’ at Care International will soon be launching their official ‘Selling Beer Appropriately and Safely in a Politically Correct Way’ evening wear. For an exclusive preview of this year?s summer collection see below.

Fact 1: 40% ($2 billion) of all foreign aid flowing into Cambodia since 1992 has been spent on technical assistance. (1)

Fact 2: The average cost of a ‘foreign expert’ is $127,381 per year. (2)

Fact 3: About $162 million was spent on ‘foreign experts’ and ‘foreign advisers’ in 2001. (3)

Quote: ‘There is a lack of quality control amongst foreign technical advisors. There’s a problem if we’ve got people with a vested interest in designing projects that lead to further employment for themselves.’ Mike Bird, Oxfam GB country programme manager.

(1) Source – International Monetary Fund. October 2004

(2) Source – Action Aid report. June 2005.

(3) Source – Cambodia Daily. June 1st, 2005.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *