Category: Daily Life in Cambodia

Whom do you trust?

You don’t see many safe companies in most U.S. cities but they are not uncommon here. The main reason is that people don’t trust banks so they keep their money in a box under the bed if they are a family, or in a safe if they are a business. Banks are more stable now but many of them have failed in the years that I have been here.

Making do…

There are literally almost no lawns in Cambodia. They are not part of the culture. This rare expanse of grass is part of the on-going renovations of one of the two major government hospitals in Phnom Penh. It might seem these people are enjoying a picnic and have found a nice spot, but actually they are camping out while a family member undergoes treatment in the hospital. Hospitals in Cambodia do not necessarily provide nursing service, food, water, bedding, etc., so the family must come along to provide what is needed.
The nicer spots under the trees have been taken so these families are camped out behind one of the buildings. They came prepared with their fold-up beds, though.

Different Eras, Different Buildings

In the space of just a few blocks of Monivong Boulevard, a major north-south thoroughfare in Phnom Penh, you can see clear examples of different periods and different cultures in the city.

The corner building above is a very typical mid-twentieth century building with shops on the street on the ground floor and then residential units on the upper floors, with later (and probably illegal) additions as the top floor. Such buildings are the mainstay of Phnom Penh’s urban architecture.

A few blocks up the street is this French colonial building which was built by the French Catholic Church as their Indochina headquarters during the colonial period that ended in 1954. After the Khmer Rouge turmoil, it was taken over by the government and today is the city hall for Phnom Penh.

A few streets farther on Monivong is this very new, uniquely shaped office tower. You can’t see the unique shape in this photo which I framed to show the ground floor. In most cities, a large glassed-in front on a major street would be a terrific selling point and commercial advantage. In the culture here, most of the storefront on the street has been boarded over and painted with an advertisement.

The wheels are moving…

The Phnom Penh Post reported yesterday that bicycles are Cambodia’s third largest export to the European Union, after garments and footwear. In the first quarter this year, even with the disruptions caused by COVID-19, 490,000 bicycles worth $179 million were sent to the EU, an increase of $10 over last year. The article was upbeat about this particular export, noting that the lockdowns and restrictions caused by COVID-19 may bring about changes in lifestyles and transportation in western countries and that could be to the advantage of the bicycle market.

Back to work?

4 1/2 blocks away from the Maryknoll office is this building under construction on Street 360. For several months, every night I could see one fluorescent light (circled) burning in the building after the workers disappeared. I figured it was a light on an empty floor that had been left on and no one noticed it. I couldn’t see it during the day.

Then it disappeared. I figured it either burned out or, more likely, the construction had stopped because of the pandemic and the power to the whole building site had been shut off. No workers were visible either. But then two days ago the same light was back on when I’d look out at 5:00 AM or at 10:00 PM. I’m guessing, for whatever reason, work is resuming.

Set your sights high

Occasionally in traversing the narrow streets and byways of Phnom Penh, one can see bags of garbage hung on the wall. What would prompt this behavior? Is it a low-tech type of modern art, faster, cheaper, and easier than painting a mural? Is it a gift to the garbage crews, preventing them from bending over and scooping up the trash on the ground?

Probably, it’s just matter of trying to keep things a bit neater. Notice the narrow street runs within ten inches of the wall. Trash bags on the ground would get run over, kicked, and slashed by dogs. Keeping the trash on the wall prevents more of the mess seen here where one bag has been slit open, dumping its contents in the street.

7-11 in Cambodia

A 7-11 in Thailand

Thailand is just about the 7-11 capitol of the world. It has 12,000+ 7-11s in a country about equal in size to Oregon and Wyoming together. The whole United States doesn’t have that many although 7-11 is headquartered in Texas!

Now 7-11s are coming to Cambodia, brought in by the same company that operates the franchises in Thailand. Woohoo! Are we big-time or what? There are already articles in the paper asking that a good portion of the products be of Cambodia origin.

Make-It Technology

I mentioned a couple days ago (May 12) that the microphone for my desktop wasn’t working, so today, on the way back from examining St. Joseph Church to see how many people we can put in church with physical distancing, I stopped at an audio systems shop to have them check the mic. Determining that the mic is good, I asked them to make a cable with a better connector, and in true Cambodian fashion two guys sat on the floor and each attached a connector to a five-meter cable. ….Then I found out the mic will only work with a battery supply in the setup I wanted to utilize. Bummer.