12/18/2007 06:43:28

ahmom, the reason I posted the big picture is not because I am educated but because I haven't lost faith on my country just yet.  I painted the picture because I have a feeling that Khmer is just going to roll over and die and submit to the darkness.  People see the picture but choose to contribute to the demised of our country by turning a blind eye and live on deft ears this is where I have a problem, the mentality of accepting and joining.  Take as much as you can while we still can. 

"the only way evil will win is when good refuse to do anything." unknown.

12/18/2007 04:32:55

Hi Gnome and Ah Mom,

Cambodia is a column hosted by K15. Only he has written in that column to date. In the fullness of time, maybe guest columnists could be invited to write a column to offer a different and why not an opposing point of view.

The rude remark addressed to KSaron is made by Mr. Haing Sheng under  the Cambodia handle and Mr. Haing Sheng and he alone is responsible for his own thoughts and tone.

To the best of our knowledge, K15 is not only a straight-laced Sopheap Boros ( as far as vices are concerned)(seriously), he is also a tall, dark, handsome and irresistibly charming guy (just kidding!)

12/17/2007 21:52:25

Bong Saron, you may think that you are the only one smart and educated enough to see the “big picture”, but the reality is that what you are saying is something already well understood by your “poor country cousins” in Cambodia. Even impoverished, not highly educated, confined to Cambodia (or its neighboring countries!) we Khmers know that “There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch.” Folks who are blind or can’t read are aware of our long history with our neighbors Vietnam and Thailand through oral passing. One does not need to be out of Cambodia, get educated in the first world country to get that big picture. Smart, not-so-smart, young, old, rich, poor….our people know what is going to become of Srok Khmer. It is a matter of time really. Everyday Viet-Khmer border fences are moved, and that’s no longer news. The big picture is just too big; people are leaving it up to fate or the next generation or whatever survives. Our people may not know or have resource to blog; they may not have free speech to give a shout out to the rest of world; but do not underestimate them.

12/17/2007 20:46:15

he sure does.... a very different tone from lok bong sopheap boros k15.

12/17/2007 13:40:30

Cambodia, you sound scary. Here, you can have my plot of land.

 

12/16/2007 19:35:00

You don't know me, you fool?

Are you so white-washed that you don't know that Haing Sheng = Hang Seng Index or HS for short, the daily quotation for land, stocks, foreign exchange, all the things that matter more in life that your stupid Big Picture.

12/16/2007 18:54:01

Awesome.  I could never said it any better myself.  As I said, there are many that failed or chose not to see the big picture because it is beyond their capability.  I don't deny all the small wins such as peace and economic growth.  I don't deny the semi development of the big city and new houses built but those are just smoke screens for us to indulge in the fascination of how far we have come.  Our standard is the year zero and we have never been better since we were born.

btw, who is Haing Sheng?

12/16/2007 16:14:21

Mr. KSaron, this is Haing Sheng speaking. I am responding on behalf of all the people who believe that “Cambodia has changed for the better”, “Samdech Hun Sen is key to peace and stability”. And I am going to use my everyday language so that you get my message through that thick skull of yours, once and for all. I am asking you to get your facts straight. You certainly are one-narrow-minded, xenophobic, non-internationalist, anti-globalization verging on racist fellow.

You and your smart a.s.s friend K15 use big words as if you are so damn superior while, in fact, both of you are racist sissies who ran away because you both hate our Vietnamese saviors and because you could not cope with the initial hard times after Cambodia was liberated. Totally, definitely unlike me.

Me? I am a Khmer Mchas Srok. I may not have your fancy US college degrees. I may have had to get this reply edited by my tenant from England but I have two things that both of you don’t and will never have(at least, not as much as me): land and money. And, in case you don’t already know, money is power, especially in Cambodia. The power to do anything I want, including taking out a contract on either one of you for less than it costs me to fill my SUV every three days. Yes, that’s right, less than 50 bucks.

Both of you talk about Cambodia being like this and like that. You talk about the BIG PICTURE. I don’t care about the BIG PICTURE. I only care about the little details that your friend K15 and you have no clue about. So, let me enlighten the both of you.

First of all, “Twenty dollar can get you 2 or 3 Heineken’s girls”? Not in Phnom Penh, you once-every five years tourist. Maybe in your neck-of the-woods, you ignorant and lowly peasant. Anyway, who cares about 20 bucks when my land in Siem Reap and Phnom Penh has doubled in price in the last 2 years.

And who cares about the Big Picture when 20 bucks gets you a Lam Touy who will give you a BJ and a shag, any which way you want while the Kdam Sre just lies there like a log. And , being the hugely successful land speculator that I am, I want value for money.

And I know what you are going to say so I will pre-empt you to save you the trouble of saying it. Who gives a s.h.i.t about compassion, feeling sorry for similarly dark-skinned semi-prostitutes? If they want to survive, either they learn the same tricks as the Lam Touy or they drop their prices. That’s what’s it’s all about. You deliver the results or you starve.

As for that stupid map of yours, who gives a f.u.ck?

Besides the prostitutes, the Vietnamese mechanics, electricians, plumbers, workers are so much more hard-working and skilled than the Cambodians and, sometimes, they even charge less.

And so what if the Supplemental Border Treaty ratified all previous treaties and surrendered Koh Tral? That’s a small price to pay for our lives. Aren’t you rather ungrateful? You are only alive today, thanks to our Vietnamese saviors and Samdech Hun Sen.

What is most important is the fact that we are alive, at peace and thriving.
Yes, thriving, like Samdech Hun Sen, who ever thought that some places in Cambodia would cost as much as in New York? And, if both of you are now saying that the rich are getting richer and the poor poorer (after being evicted from their land or after spending the proceeds of their land sale), well, tough! Welcome to the real, dog-eat-dog world. Big and powerful countries eat small and weak countries. The rich eat the poor. The Big fish eat the small fish.

And, in case your friend K15 starts talking about Buddhist faith, I can assure him that he would not find a more devout Buddhist couple than my wife and me.
That holier than thou K15 is welcome to ask the villagers about how successful the most recent kathin in my village was. I am 100% sure that the villagers had never seen so many diamonds as big as the ones my wife was wearing ( although not quite as big as the ones I bought for my two young mistresses). Well, I told them that, if they wanted a diamond ring, all they needed to do was to sell me their rice fields and one hectare would be enough to buy one of my wife’s diamond rings. And these dumb f.ucks were stll hesitating. That’s why they will remain the poor dumb fu.cks they are and why I am where I am today.

12/16/2007 00:22:52

gnome...i must change it every so often or else I wouldn't be doing my job.  Dec is shirtless month and I have to uphold my image.  does gnome want to show us what you got underneath that gnome shell?

12/15/2007 23:55:51

ksaron, did you just change your avatar again?