Author: Charles Dittmeier

Green Stub 31

Back in 2008, a building named Gold Tower 42 was begun at a prime major intersection in Phnom Penh.  Unfortunately the global economic crisis followed immediately and construction stopped in 2009.   Building began again  but stopped again in 2012.  Then construction resumed in 2013 only to grind to a halt in March, 2017.  Covered with green construction safety netting, a more appropriate name at this point is Green Stub 31, the number of floors that have been completed.  Now the papers report that a company from Shenzhen, China has been hired to finish the building and the Chinese promise that will happen in 2019.  We’ll have to see if the building actually reaches 42 floors and if that actually happens in 2019.  The new company has just hung large red signs and banners on the empty shell so maybe there’s hope.

Good Example

It’s really great that mother and daughter are both wearing their helmets.  It’s a bit dangerous for mom to carry her purse on the handlebars, though.  Thieves wouldn’t give a second thought to knocking mother and daughter down to get the purse.

Beauty and the Beholder

Different cultures certainly have different standards when it comes to appreciating what is right and what is wrong; what is permitted and what is not; what is beautiful and what is not; what is music and what is noise; etc.  This man spray painting metal hose reels on a public sidewalk would be arrested in many countries.  In Cambodia it doesn’t rate a notice.  And if someone challenged the idea, the probable response would be “Floors/sidewalks are SUPPOSED to be dirty/messy/etc.” so what is the problem?

Muslims in Cambodia

The Muslim community is a significant part of Cambodia’s population.  Their numbers are not large, less than 10%, but they have figured greatly in the history of the region through the centuries.  The Cambodian Cham ethnic group is predominantly Muslim and there is even a province named Kampong Cham.  The Muslims are not so noticeable politically but they do have a good number of mosques in certain provinces, including this one in Phnom Penh.

Something to Remember…

There are about 125 killing fields in Cambodia, actual fields where the Khmer Rouge took people to execute and bury them in mass graves.  There is a large killing field near Phnom Penh and it is a place that the tour groups all go–and they should.

Many skulls of the victims are stacked in a large memorial stupa on the grounds of the killing fields.  Around the stupa are large, weathered pits were the bones were dug up.

Some of the clothing of the victims has also been collected and is displayed on a wooden platform on one level of the stupa.  It looks like it was probably washed but is otherwise just in a pile as part of the permanent display.  And along the paths among the burial pits, more bones and articles of clothing keep working their way up to the surface.

Only a small portion of the clothing from those executed is on display. Much more is kept in a warehouse and up to now has just remained there untended.  Now, though, through a program funded by the US Ambassador, Julia Brennan (R) from Textile Conservation Services, assisted by Jackie, a graduate student from the University of Delaware, will sort, analyze, and preserve the stored clothing for posterity as another  reminder of the Khmer Rouge era.

Today Julia and Jackie were part of the weekly Maryknoll Cambodia gathering in Phnom Penh.