cambodia culture – Page 3

As the western target market has become more aware, with only the really, really stupid and old folk with Alzheimer’s responding to African princes, new markets and opportunities are emerging where uneducated folk are given access to the internet without a crash course on who roams cyberspace looking to make a fraudulent buck or three. Word is slowly getting out, thanks to community phone in programmes on ABC Radio, but when I get asked whether a 6 headed naga caught in Kampong Cham going viral on Facebook is real, or if the Zika virus had been really been sprayed over Phnom Penh by Vietnamese agents, then it’s pretty safe to bet that safe internet safety steps are still in their infancy in Cambodia.

Analysis cambodia culture Commentary factories Phnom Penh provinces

June 3, 2016June 30, 2016 wpadmin

Dying to get to work

The most lethal challenge to Cambodian workers comes not from poor ventilation or industrial machinery, but the challenge of getting to and from the sweatshops 6 days a week. It’s kinda a case of hard work never killed anyone, but the commute might just be deadly.

Analysis cambodia culture Commentary history Interviews Khmer Rouge

April 18, 2016April 18, 2016 wpadmin

The pastor and the monster

Christopher LaPel’s father was a Brahman priest serving Cambodia’s king in his role as the earthly incarnation of the god

Analysis cambodia culture conservation Food khmer superstition religion village life

February 24, 2016February 24, 2016 wpadmin

Cambodia’s national symbols

The flora and fauna of Cambodia has suffered a fair bit over the past few decades. After the fall of

Analysis cambodia culture Commentary history Siem Reap Uncategorized

January 18, 2016January 18, 2016 wpadmin

Charlie Chaplin’s Cambodia

Charlie and Paulette were big news, the reporters descended, and Charlie entertained them “with much courtesy and charm” in the hotel bar (presumably the Elephant Bar). Phnom Penh, he said, was charming, the palaces and pagodas delightful, the Cambodian houses picturesque. He felt he had to question whether French Colonial villas (the ones the Europeans lived in) were perhaps a little suburban and uncomfortable, but the wide boulevards, built over newly-reclaimed canals, were the equal of those in Paris. Asked if he might consider making a movie in Cambodia, he didn’t rule it out, but also didn’t see it happening in the immediate future. He would, however, undertake to publicise Indochina as a tourist destination on his return home.

Analysis cambodia culture Commentary Expat Life News Phnom Penh Reviews Uncategorized

December 30, 2015December 30, 2015 wpadmin

Plagiarism, phonyism and buffoonery at the Khmer Times: Part 2 – The fake letters to the editor

The Khmer Times fabricated these letters in an apparent campaign to manipulate public opinion, by deceiving its readers about what other members of the community were really saying about Cambodia’s most important political issues of the day. This scheme demonstrated a blatant disregard for journalistic ethics, which are based on telling readers the truth about what is happening around them, rather than trying to hoodwink them. The fact that Mr. Mohan actually thought his clumsy campaign of deceit would work is a profound insult to the intelligence of the Khmer Times’ readers.

Book review cambodia culture history Khmer Rouge khmer superstition Phnom Penh Reviews

December 10, 2015December 10, 2015 wpadmin

King Norodom’s Head – a book review

I want to make one thing perfectly clear: under no circumstances will I mention Cholon Duck. Never. I know why

cambodia culture Expat Life khmer superstition provinces village life

December 3, 2015December 3, 2015 wpadmin

The Mekong Mutilator, part deux

Me and Strange Dave got bored one day in Battambang, bought a telescopic rod and some tackle, a bag of mealworms as bait and got permission to fish in a small pond where huge fish could be seen basking on the surface. After hours of chain smoking and drinking warm cans we had nada, not even a nibble, when along came the Khmer crocodile lady and scooped up a respectably dinner sized specimen with her hands. With her fucking hands!

Analysis cambodia culture Commentary religion

November 16, 2015November 16, 2015 wpadmin

The Muslim Cham in Cambodia

Would the Cham become more assertive or even more extremist if their population were larger? It is perhaps a moot point when discussing a minority group representing just over 1% of the national population, a demographic reality not likely to change anytime soon. For the moment, Cambodia looks like a beacon of religious tolerance and freedom, the nation’s xenophobia and exophthalmic rage aimed more in the direction of the local Vietnamese community.

Analysis cambodia culture Commentary Khmer Rouge khmer superstition politics

November 5, 2015November 5, 2015 wpadmin

The Executioners

Here is the big question: how and why did a Buddhist nation produce one of the 20th century’s worst genocides,