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Posted December 12, 2007 by Cambodia
Robbing the poor to become richer and richer and the underlying mentality
Jomreang wrote in
Heavy traffic of tourism in Siem Riep have boosted the local economy enormously of course, but the ones who benifit from this economy are not the poor khmer people in the area. They have been chased off their home and their lands by the rich. Their cannot place food stands to make sales for daily living where they used to. Their food stands have been replaced by fancy restaurants owned by the rich and the powerful. While a few top national leaders benefit from renting Angkorwat to foreigners, a few top local leaders benefit from the development of new hotels, restaurants, and resorts surrounding Angkorwat sites after chasing away the poor from their lands.
The Cambodian government and its supporters boast about the country’s economic growth but, unlike Jomreang, make no mention of the underside of this growth.
Looting the country’s resources
On the 16th anniversary of the 1991 Paris Peace Accords, Simon Taylor wrote
On paper, Cambodia's natural resources and state assets - the land, forests, minerals and heritage sites - were the basis for kickstarting the post-conflict economy. The revenue generated should have gone towards poverty alleviation and rebuilding infrastructure. Instead, systematic and institutionalised corruption has deprived the entire population of the revenue that could have come from these public goods.
(a) the forests
A cursory glance at today's Cambodian business sector reveals the country's forests, land, mining, ports, national buildings and casinos to be predominantly controlled by a handful of government-affiliated tycoons or family members of senior political figures. Information about deals is not made available to the Cambodian people to whom the state's resources belong. Similarly, consultation with local populations dependent upon forests or land is often non-existent. For many Cambodians, the first they know is the sound of a chainsaw revving or a bulldozer arriving to flatten their crops.
Cambodia's forests are a case in point. In the 1990s they were described by the World Bank as the country's "most developmentally important resource". Today they are largely degraded, having been sold off over the years by the political elite to private companies or individuals intent on logging as much as possible to turn a quick buck. Most of the vast wealth generated has not reached the national coffers: instead it appears to have been siphoned off into the private bank accounts of the loggers and their political patrons.
For evidence of all of the above, please click
(b) the heritage sites and other natural resources
Since 2003, Sokha Beach in Kompong Som has been a private beach and off-limits to outsiders. It was ceded as a concession to Sokimex owned by Sok Kong, a personal friend of Hun Sen’s. Without any tendering process, Sokimex has also been awarded the ticket concession to Angkor. Likewise, the Bokor mountain site and the Olympic Stadium in Phnom Penh, all without any tendering process.
The Hun Sen-Sok Kong dealings are the most well-known and “in your face” non-transparent examples of the process I labeled as “Robbing the poor to become richer and richer”. Most are not so well-known.
© the land grabs
Hun Sen pretends to complain about these but the fact is that his own relatives and cronies are the worst offenders.
Since land prices are skyrocketing, the pace of land grabbing has accelerated.
The way the rich and powerful people in Cambodia conduct their political and business affairs is consistent with the way they behave toward common people.
Sure, politicians will touch flesh and speak the voters’ language (ref. Hun Sen), especially at election time but, their minds, poor people are sub-humans, dumb and dirty.
The thinking is “Their virginal daughters are good for deflowering, the prettiest ones make excellent trophy mistresses, the famous entertainers are notches on one's belt like the latest model SUVs but any son of ours is better dead than marrying one of these Kdam Sre. What a thought! Can you imagine anything so ridiculous”. Never mind the fact that most of these Angkareaks have exactly the same background as the poor people they despise.
Class consciousness has been pervasive throughout Cambodian society for a long time but, nowadays, the level of meanness, stinginess and disdain toward the poor has reached heights that made the noblesse oblige mentality of pre-1975 Cambodia look enlightened.
The condescending attitude toward waiters, waitresses, people who don’t dress well, people who arrive on motorbikes
or off motor taxis is only the tip of the iceberg.
Given the mentality I described in the previous paragraphs, is it any wonder that there is no hesitation or shame in grabbing everything for oneself and who cares about everybody else and especially people who are subhuman anyway?
blackcoffee wrote at January 27, 2008
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Batman has lost it, where are you Robin?
Cambodia wrote at December 16, 2007
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AhMom, My main point is that, over the past two years, many Khmers have become more and more obsessed with land prices and money and, as a result, Cambodia has changed for the worse. My first few columns are about the mentality. In response to your question, I would like to see rice farmers keep their rice fields and continue farming OR if they sell their rice fields, to use the proceeds to start a business. I did not look at things in black-and-white terms like your Options A and B.
KSaron wrote at December 15, 2007
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I'm still trying to paint the big picture. give me a little more time. I want my painting to be clear of what I see.
ahmom wrote at December 15, 2007
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As an example of how Cambodia in the past few years have changed for the worse you note land prices have gone up and some people are benefiting from that phenomenon. Some newly rich and have-been rich-for-a-long-time people show their true characters by looking down on those who are poorer than them. Let us say that these things are true. So Bong, we have two options here: Option A: all people are still poor. Option B: some people are richer, some people are still poor. Tell me which is better? Is this really an example of Cambodia really changing for the worse?
khemara15 wrote at December 15, 2007
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Hello Ahmom,
Seng Theary (and maybe you) was looking at today's Cambodia cf. pre-UNTAC Cambodia.
Ref. my hello column, I was looking at cambodia for the past few years, hence Navy's comment that my view about Cambodia seems to have changed since 2002 and she is right, if anything, I am now more pessimistic because I am even starting to be skeptical about the inherent goodness of many of the Khmers.
I stand by my assertion that, IMO, in the past few years, Cambodian society has changed for the worse.
ahmom wrote at December 15, 2007
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Bong, I would be very interested in hearing your response regarding "Saying that not all changes have been positive is a very different thing than saying Cambodia has changed for the worse." And I can hardly wait to read Bong Saron's big picture response.
khemara15 wrote at December 15, 2007
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Hello AhMom,
Thank you for your feedback.
I will be debating possible solutions or lack of in future columns.
As for the comparison with tabloids, I guess that my readers for the last five years must know how to mix their reading of my posts with comic relief in the Chatterbox and fun things in their lives.
. LOL
To be honest, I don't know what's in the tabloids because, all my life, I have never read any.
In the past five years, I have applauded the contribution of certain individuals and organizations to the Cambodian people and will continue to do so in myP1t.
On the issue of peace, like many others, I am still waiting for Ksaron's input on the big picture. LOL
