Great comments and perception. I've come to agree with your analysis on a "handout mentality". My personal values have always been to "give unconditionally" without strings attached. Surely people who've survived a genocide and who've witnessed so much violence and evil don't need a westerner (Canadian who lives like a king) telling them how to live their lives and manage the money given to them because they know how to survive. Maybe imposing conditions is an act of tough love. It pains me to say this but the truth is the similarities between rual Cambodians and First Nations (Canadian Indians) living on the reserves in generally northern remote regions of Canada are amazingly similiar. Dysfunction, substance abuse and family violence is rampant. A once proud hunter/gatherer people now can't clean up the garbage in their own yards. Some have actually ripped down the nice kitchen cabinets in their government built homes to use as firewood because they were too lazy to chop firewood !!! Yes the white man stole their lands and have hampered their hunting and fishing grounds but they still haven't managed to move on. I wonder why the Thai's ,Cambodians, Vietnamese.Laos and others who've emigrated to Canada have seemed to intergrate and move on with their lives. Sure many of their kids are involved with gangs etc and stick with in thie own communities but that's no different than the Italiians and the Irish when they came over Regards, Lenny G
Date: Fri, 22 May 2009 09:33:08 -0700 From: [email protected] Subject: If you are going to Cambodia... To: [email protected] Bang and all, I think our bros. and sis. in Cambodia today are spoiled ( by a silent killing intend by the Viet? ), this is what the KR called Bong Voak Koal Chumhor...that's why some people who had been sponsored to this country had returned back to Cambodia, they said they did not know how to live here, people here worked lke slaves, did not have time with family, very little time to have fun...I'm so worry about the new generation and the future of the country if they feel that way... KC Khoar Chev ( Made in Cambodia ) --- On Fri, 5/22/09, [email protected] <[email protected]> wrote: From: [email protected] <[email protected]> Subject: Re: TO KC: If you are going to Cambodia... To: [email protected] Date: Friday, May 22, 2009, 9:10 AM Hi Rick, Thanks for your reply. There are so many things that Khmer Overseas and Khmer inside Cambodia can learn from each other. We can learn about the good, the bad and the ugly. During my stays in Cambodia in the past two years and many times prior to that, I have learned so many things that every so often they boggled my mind. I have learned Cambodian politics and about political leaders and how they operated their organizations; I have learned how Cambodians operated their businesses and I have also studied the behaviors or attitudes of new Cambodians versus the old-timers. I am concerned about the slow-moving (I don't want to say lazy for some people might object) and backward attitude of most Cambodians, especially those who live in the rural areas. They waste so much time and energy that could be very productive for their life and the country. I have seen many people spending most of the day doing nothing. Not even working around their home cleaning or planting vegetation on their fertilized ground. Collectively, millions hours of productive time are wasted throughout the country. If time is money then Cambodians waste so much money every hour when other nations in the world are making millions. Yes, when I told my relatives that I spent 12 hours a day running my business, they thought that I was teasing them. They got the impression that most Cambodians in the U.S. worked like slave… indeed they may be right--we work like slaves so that we can send some money to feed them who don't work or don't want to work. Regards, In a message dated 5/21/2009 8:09:38 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, [email protected] writes: Yes I agree, almost all Cambodians in Cambodia are beggars and/or cheater in some way. Beggars range from the lowest to the highest, from the poorest to the richest. Some beg due to poverty but many especially the high ranking beg due to greed. I went to Cambodia, One decent Cambodian man bragged about how smart the Cambodian leader is because he knows how to ask the International Community money; Most money go into their hands; they receive money, so they are a welfare recipients, but they receive in style. but they should receive the same stigma as regular welfare recipients. In Cambodia , the mentality is asking for, and not producing. They ask for money (privately, politically) from many countries, and also from the US. Ironically , some Cambodians in Cambodia degrade and/or depreciate that Cambodians in the US are slave " Khnhom Ke". What is seen in the US is working, working, they said. This notion is seen or heard in the public, in private conversation, and even in the Cambodian DVD song , as sung by 106 and Sos March. Like you said all you have to do just be careful. Keep fighting and challenging especially at the airport. They always have ways to manipulate, such as saying we did not fill out the form correctly and so on. Anyway, corruption does not start from the bottom to the top but the opposite. Rick On May 20, 8:34 am, TSC <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi P'aun KC, > > Good for you to stop giving money to sick indivuals like that...You > may want to visit them and tell them off. > > But if you are going to Cambodia, here are some tips... > > This is what most Cambodians inside Cambodia expect from the overseas > Cambodians, this includes Cambodian officials, politicians and common > people. You have to pay for their meals, room and board, gasoline and > other expenses. Everything will be mostly on you. If you bring a > group of family and relatives touring with you, as expected, you will > have to pay for their expenses as well. You don’t need to invite them; > they will invite themselves to go with you. > > If you need to visit your relatives and friends in rural areas, you > are expected to hand out some contributions. Cash is preferable. Just > make sure that you don’t “Kapp Ko Kandal Phsar.” Expect also that > everyone will ask you for some kinds of medicine. Everyone will tell > you that they are somehow sick. If you give a couple of tablets of > headache medicine, for example, to one person; expect more people will > come to you for the same illness. > > If you happen to invite an official or a politician to go to lunch or > dinner with you (I hope not), you will also be expected to pay for his > spouse, friends and colleague. That is not all; you will also need to > pay for his chauffeur and bodyguards. Usually, these people eat and > drink more than you and your guests. Expect two or more bills at the > end of your meal. Don’t get caught in an embarrassing moment when you > have to dig deep into your pocket for nickels and dimes. Tipping is > also on you. It is suggested that you give tips directly to your > waiters or waitresses when the owners are not present, if you give it > to the owner, the tip will be kept by him/her. > > The best part is that if any officials or politicians come to the > U.S., You are expected to do the same things. > > Go figure! > > Regards, _________________________________________________________________ Windows Live helps you keep up with all your friends, in one place. http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9660826 --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Cambodia Discussion (CAMDISC) - www.cambodia.org" group. This is an unmoderated forum. Please refrain from using foul language. Thank you for your understanding. Peace among us and in Cambodia. 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