Here a fish, there a fish; everywhere a fishy fish.
In 2000, the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGK) initiated a reform of the fisheries sector, which included the release of 56% of fishing lots for the development of community fisheries. The Community Fisheries Development Office (CFDO) within the Department of Fisheries (DoF), part of the Ministry of Agriculture, Farms and Fisheries (MAFF), is responsible for facilitating the development of community fisheries and management of community fisheries (CF) in the whole country.
The important changes are in the access of local villagers to concessions, to facilitate the development of community-based management of fisheries. A new fisheries law and sub-decree on Community Fisheries has been drafted and the government is encouraging a partnership approach towards this initiative.
Much of the development of community fisheries in Cambodia has been done by the Department of Fisheries in cooperation with provincial fisheries offices and various NGOs. However, it is important that the CFDO itself is able to play an active role in the development and management of community fisheries as this is its mandate.
The development of these community fisheries started in June 2003 and has been continuing since. It has now reached the stage where fully established community fisheries have management plans, charters, bylaws and elected members, the rest of the CF’s are at various points along that chain of implementation.
Unfortunately, government support for this initiative is mostly seen as political, building popular support in rural areas for the decision. However, the establishment of the new department to oversee this handover and the subsequent management of it, is woefully under resourced. The staff of CFDO is enthusiastic and even dynamic, but their government salaries (US$30/Month) are the only financial input from the RGK for the whole department.
So what about the rest of the work that needs doing; establishing community fisheries (CF), holding elections to nominate officers of the CF, training members of the CF in sustainable resource use and aquaculture, establishing/promoting aquaculture to provide a dry season resource, signposting/delimiting protected areas, capture and destruction of illegal fishing gears – e.g. mosquito netting, UXO, electro-shock gear, et cetera ?
The money for the rest of the work has to be sourced by the CFDO itself from NGO’s and IO’s and from bank loans.
Of course, this means that the various ‘projects’ that are being run by the CFDO/DoF are being steered by the donors, and not by the CFDO/DoF and certainly not by the villages, communes and committees that will actually be managing the resource.
Now normal operating procedure for these organisations is for them to initially release money in small amounts for ‘pilot projects’
- For Example:
Three villages, in three different provinces, receive a training course on ‘Strengthening Community Fisheries’ this is a two day workshop covering such critical fisheries management skills as; minute taking, report writing and meeting facilitation.
A notice board is commissioned, constructed and erected outside the CF Headquarters with the relevant law, sub decree and Prakas displayed. Along with the list of CF committee members and their local CF bylaws.
A couple of signposts are put up in prominent places saying – do not use mosquito nets/poison/acid/bombs to fish with, or the equivalent …
Smaller signposts were then put around the fish sanctuary, delimiting the area.
Prior to all this being done, several applications were submitted to the funding agency, along with a schedule and work plans and a budget.
During the running of the project, a workshop report and a technical report had to be submitted for each CF.
The construction and erection of all the signposts was done together as a separate component – another set of reports.
Three months after the training courses another field trip was undertaken by the project staff to monitor and evaluate [M&E] the effectiveness of the training that had been given – another report prior to the field trip, designing an M&E matrix framework for the trip as well as questionnaires to populate the M&E Matrix and of course a report of the methodology and progress of the M&E Fieldtrip.
All in all a lot of work to train less than a 100 people in how to take minutes of a meeting and to put up some signposts.
How much did the funding body donate?
A mere US$10,000
All that work, running around, sailing up and down rivers and taking minibuses, taxis, motodope’s, around the country, reviewing, writing reports, for a ‘pilot project’ for a lousy 10k split over administrative functions and three CF’s
It is estimated that Cambodia as a whole will need over 1,000 Community Fisheries to be established and trained to manage the 56% that they have had donated to communities.
Having the civil servants responsible for doing this running around chasing funds, driving from one province to the next [all by public transport I might add, not fancy white 4x4 Landcruisers ] filling report after report after report back to the funding body, cap in hand for the next few dollars, is no way to run a Country’s major resource.
Hell, it is no way to run the entire Country.
I mean, let us face it, fish is very important to Cambodia, it represents up to 75% of the annual animal protein intake in some areas [that is around 80Kg per person, per year]
Fish, fishing, fish products, fishery stakeholders and post harvest fishing activities employ nearly 4 million people in this Country, not too mention the amount of casual or subsistence level fishing that goes on at a family level.
The annual catch weight of freshwater fish in Cambodia is estimated at US$ 200 million, which increases in value as it passes down the supply chain to the point where it represents 15% of Cambodia’s GDP.
Surely we can do better than spending all our time chasing around after some NGO’s for a few thousand dollars…
Thursday, December 30, 2004
Guide to the toilets of Cambodia
Guide to the toilets of Cambodia
Let's face it, if you're travelling for more than a couple of hours you're going to need to use a toilet. Sure, some of the guidebooks give a bit of information on what kind of toilet facilities to expect in a given country, but there never seems to be quite enough information. Where are the cleanest? What's the best place to run to in an emergency? Do I have to use my hand? What's the deal with squat toilets?
Here's a quick guide to what I've observed as the state of toilet facilities in some of the countries I've travelled in as well as a discussion of that horror of horrors (or so you think!), the squat toilet!
Squat toilets:
If you spend any appreciable amount of time in Asia outside of your hotel room you will at some point probably find yourself faced with the intimidating task of using a squat toilet. However, once you've conquered the skill, and it's hardly a skill, and you've experienced the inside of a toilet in a Khmer restaurant in rural Cambodia, you'll probably become thankful that squat toilets are often the norm.
While intimidating to the uninitiated, ask yourself ... Did you ever do it in the woods? Surely you've been on a camping trip or something, whether as a kid or an adult, and had to take a dump behind a tree somewhere? Well, squat toilets are the same concept.
You can find two basic varieties. Squatters that are level with the floor, and what I call 'hi-rise', which sit maybe fifteen to twenty centimetres off the floor. The former are quite easy to use while the latter can be very uncomfortable if you are more than about 5'6" or are the least bit heavy…
Not only do the hi-risers require a performance of a balancing act, they can also stick you in a tight position.
As far as giving advice about using squat toilets, what I say is going to be geared more towards the boys than the girls, sorry ladies.
I think the most difficult thing people inexperienced with squat toilets contend with is how to drop their clothes and keep them out of the line of fire, from either end.
On a conventional western toilet you drop your pants to your ankles, take a seat, count the mould stains on the door or read your Lonely Planet and do your business.
Now, settle yourself over a squat toilet with your pants at your ankles and take a look at how things are positioned. You are going to pee on them is what's going to happen.
When using squat toilets you only drop your pants a few inches down which is just far enough to create some clearance. The seat of your pants will be well above your knees and well out of firing range. Also be careful of the contents of your pockets. As your pants are high, they are in a prime position for items such as keys, coins, et cetera, to slide out of your pockets and into the toilet, usually after you've done your duty.
Some squat toilets flush the same as a regular sit-down toilet, while others have no flushing mechanism. If you encounter the latter, you should see a tub of water and a scoop nearby. Scoop water from the tub and pour it into the toilet and watch as your mess gradually disappears with each scoop of water you pour. This water and scoop is also used for cleaning yourself.
Toilet paper:
More likely than not, with the possible exception of hotel rooms and a handful of fancy restaurants in Phnom Penh, you are not going to find any toilet paper anywhere. Carry some with you at all times and at the same time ask yourself if you want to shake anyone's left hand? Which is kind of silly because plenty of people still use their right hand but they just won’t admit to it?
If you're stuck without toilet paper there's still hope. Some facilities sell small packets of toilet paper. If you're really lucky there will be a sprayer, which is a small nozzle attached to a hose to the side of the toilet. Point the nozzle where you want to fire and push down the lever.
If you've never used one of these before you'll probably find the pressure is more than you expected and you'll make a real mess of yourself if you're not careful. So here's your warning: Test the pressure with a quick blast away from you and then when you're ready to clean, press the lever gently until you're confident you can control the water flow! After finishing with this exercise you'll probably ask yourself, "Now what! Am I supposed to sit here and drip dry!!??!!" Hence, toilet paper and a sprayer are the best combination.
If there's no sprayer your next hope is that there's a tub of water and a scoop.
The conventional advice is you're supposed to splash some water on the messy area. Really, I've never seen the use in that, sort of like spilling a plate of stir-fry on your shirt and trying to wash it off by dabbing a dry tissue on it. Really, if it's a bit nasty down there and all you have is water then you're just going to have to use your hand, get it dirty, and hope there's some soap nearby.
As an Englishman I grew up in an environment where there was no water by the toilet in any form, it was dry toilet paper and that's it.
If you did remember to carry toilet paper with you the next question you may be faced with is what are you supposed to do with it when you're finished? In theory, if there's a waste can near the toilet, that's your cue that it's to go in there. However I know a lot of people can't be bothered to do this and stick the paper in the toilet anyway and more often than not it's not a problem, or at least not a problem they'll ever see.
There's really not a lot of rhyme or reason as to which toilets can handle paper. Some septic tanks in even the most rural places in say, Kampot, can handle toilet paper without problem, while the plumbing in a midrange Phnom Penh hotel can not. So do as those before you, if there's a waste can, stick it in there, if not, flush it down. Let your conscience be your guide.
In general, public facilities in Cambodia lag behind the west in hygiene standards but this is by no means universal. There are plenty of filthy restrooms in the west and plenty of spotlessly clean ones in Cambodia.
Most hotels have western-style toilets with butt sprayers attached. Some cheap guesthouses may only have squat toilets. At even some low to midrange hotels they may neglect to place toilet paper in the room leaving you to chase down the staff for a roll. Public toilet facilities are for the most part nonexistent. A local restaurant will probably have a squat toilet in a shed somewhere but there's no guarantee of this. Squat toilets are usually of the flat variety. Out in the sticks everyone goes in the woods.
If you're in a mined area (and you probably won't be, but if you are, you will hopefully have been already versed in land mine sense), you'll just have to take John Lennon's advice and do it in the road, even if it's not quite what he had in mind. If you're on the highway between, say, Poi pet and Siem Reap, Siem Reap and Phnom Penh, Phnom Penh and Battambang, you're not going to be anywhere near a land mine, so don't worry about it. And don't be shy about ducking behind a bush regardless if you are male or female; it's what the locals all do.
I can only think of a few places in Cambodia with public facilities. One is Kralanh, a town between Siem Reap and the border at Poi pet, where some locals got the idea to build a block of toilets to service all the buses passing through town. The idea caught on and several more enterprising families built the same. These facilities, though offering only squat toilets, are clean and usually have toilet paper. They cost 5 baht or 500 riels to use. In downtown Phnom Penh there are a couple of public facilities near the National Museum.
I've not been inside any of these so I can't report on the condition, but apparently when they were first constructed a few years back, several homeless families promptly moved in. If you can find a real gasoline station, and certainly Caltex would qualify, you'll probably find they have restrooms of some condition.
At the Angkor temples, there are old toilet blocks by the pagoda next to Angkor Wat, at Preah Khan behind the souvenir stalls on the west side, at Ta Prohm behind the souvenir stalls on the west side, at the Bayon on the east side, and at Banteay Srei across the road. Expect to pay 500 riels for the privilege. In the past year, additional facilities have been built along the roads away from the temples on both the inner and outer circuits. It is no longer an issue to find toilet facilities when visiting the temples.
There is not one single bus in Cambodia that I have seen with a toilet. I'm not even sure what the dilapidated old trains offer, either (never been on one).
Most of the speedboats have toilets on board that are quite usable. The exception is the small speedboats that are designed to hold about a dozen people and run between Battambang and Siem Reap, they have no facilities. The next size up of speedboats, that seat about 40 people and are used sometimes between Siem Reap and Phnom Penh when the water levels are at their lowest, have a toilet, a hole really, stuck in a small closet which you'll have to crouch down to get inside and you won't enjoy this experience.
Clean, western style toilets can be found in the main airports.
Let's face it, if you're travelling for more than a couple of hours you're going to need to use a toilet. Sure, some of the guidebooks give a bit of information on what kind of toilet facilities to expect in a given country, but there never seems to be quite enough information. Where are the cleanest? What's the best place to run to in an emergency? Do I have to use my hand? What's the deal with squat toilets?
Here's a quick guide to what I've observed as the state of toilet facilities in some of the countries I've travelled in as well as a discussion of that horror of horrors (or so you think!), the squat toilet!
Squat toilets:
If you spend any appreciable amount of time in Asia outside of your hotel room you will at some point probably find yourself faced with the intimidating task of using a squat toilet. However, once you've conquered the skill, and it's hardly a skill, and you've experienced the inside of a toilet in a Khmer restaurant in rural Cambodia, you'll probably become thankful that squat toilets are often the norm.
While intimidating to the uninitiated, ask yourself ... Did you ever do it in the woods? Surely you've been on a camping trip or something, whether as a kid or an adult, and had to take a dump behind a tree somewhere? Well, squat toilets are the same concept.
You can find two basic varieties. Squatters that are level with the floor, and what I call 'hi-rise', which sit maybe fifteen to twenty centimetres off the floor. The former are quite easy to use while the latter can be very uncomfortable if you are more than about 5'6" or are the least bit heavy…
Not only do the hi-risers require a performance of a balancing act, they can also stick you in a tight position.
As far as giving advice about using squat toilets, what I say is going to be geared more towards the boys than the girls, sorry ladies.
I think the most difficult thing people inexperienced with squat toilets contend with is how to drop their clothes and keep them out of the line of fire, from either end.
On a conventional western toilet you drop your pants to your ankles, take a seat, count the mould stains on the door or read your Lonely Planet and do your business.
Now, settle yourself over a squat toilet with your pants at your ankles and take a look at how things are positioned. You are going to pee on them is what's going to happen.
When using squat toilets you only drop your pants a few inches down which is just far enough to create some clearance. The seat of your pants will be well above your knees and well out of firing range. Also be careful of the contents of your pockets. As your pants are high, they are in a prime position for items such as keys, coins, et cetera, to slide out of your pockets and into the toilet, usually after you've done your duty.
Some squat toilets flush the same as a regular sit-down toilet, while others have no flushing mechanism. If you encounter the latter, you should see a tub of water and a scoop nearby. Scoop water from the tub and pour it into the toilet and watch as your mess gradually disappears with each scoop of water you pour. This water and scoop is also used for cleaning yourself.
Toilet paper:
More likely than not, with the possible exception of hotel rooms and a handful of fancy restaurants in Phnom Penh, you are not going to find any toilet paper anywhere. Carry some with you at all times and at the same time ask yourself if you want to shake anyone's left hand? Which is kind of silly because plenty of people still use their right hand but they just won’t admit to it?
If you're stuck without toilet paper there's still hope. Some facilities sell small packets of toilet paper. If you're really lucky there will be a sprayer, which is a small nozzle attached to a hose to the side of the toilet. Point the nozzle where you want to fire and push down the lever.
If you've never used one of these before you'll probably find the pressure is more than you expected and you'll make a real mess of yourself if you're not careful. So here's your warning: Test the pressure with a quick blast away from you and then when you're ready to clean, press the lever gently until you're confident you can control the water flow! After finishing with this exercise you'll probably ask yourself, "Now what! Am I supposed to sit here and drip dry!!??!!" Hence, toilet paper and a sprayer are the best combination.
If there's no sprayer your next hope is that there's a tub of water and a scoop.
The conventional advice is you're supposed to splash some water on the messy area. Really, I've never seen the use in that, sort of like spilling a plate of stir-fry on your shirt and trying to wash it off by dabbing a dry tissue on it. Really, if it's a bit nasty down there and all you have is water then you're just going to have to use your hand, get it dirty, and hope there's some soap nearby.
As an Englishman I grew up in an environment where there was no water by the toilet in any form, it was dry toilet paper and that's it.
If you did remember to carry toilet paper with you the next question you may be faced with is what are you supposed to do with it when you're finished? In theory, if there's a waste can near the toilet, that's your cue that it's to go in there. However I know a lot of people can't be bothered to do this and stick the paper in the toilet anyway and more often than not it's not a problem, or at least not a problem they'll ever see.
There's really not a lot of rhyme or reason as to which toilets can handle paper. Some septic tanks in even the most rural places in say, Kampot, can handle toilet paper without problem, while the plumbing in a midrange Phnom Penh hotel can not. So do as those before you, if there's a waste can, stick it in there, if not, flush it down. Let your conscience be your guide.
In general, public facilities in Cambodia lag behind the west in hygiene standards but this is by no means universal. There are plenty of filthy restrooms in the west and plenty of spotlessly clean ones in Cambodia.
Most hotels have western-style toilets with butt sprayers attached. Some cheap guesthouses may only have squat toilets. At even some low to midrange hotels they may neglect to place toilet paper in the room leaving you to chase down the staff for a roll. Public toilet facilities are for the most part nonexistent. A local restaurant will probably have a squat toilet in a shed somewhere but there's no guarantee of this. Squat toilets are usually of the flat variety. Out in the sticks everyone goes in the woods.
If you're in a mined area (and you probably won't be, but if you are, you will hopefully have been already versed in land mine sense), you'll just have to take John Lennon's advice and do it in the road, even if it's not quite what he had in mind. If you're on the highway between, say, Poi pet and Siem Reap, Siem Reap and Phnom Penh, Phnom Penh and Battambang, you're not going to be anywhere near a land mine, so don't worry about it. And don't be shy about ducking behind a bush regardless if you are male or female; it's what the locals all do.
I can only think of a few places in Cambodia with public facilities. One is Kralanh, a town between Siem Reap and the border at Poi pet, where some locals got the idea to build a block of toilets to service all the buses passing through town. The idea caught on and several more enterprising families built the same. These facilities, though offering only squat toilets, are clean and usually have toilet paper. They cost 5 baht or 500 riels to use. In downtown Phnom Penh there are a couple of public facilities near the National Museum.
I've not been inside any of these so I can't report on the condition, but apparently when they were first constructed a few years back, several homeless families promptly moved in. If you can find a real gasoline station, and certainly Caltex would qualify, you'll probably find they have restrooms of some condition.
At the Angkor temples, there are old toilet blocks by the pagoda next to Angkor Wat, at Preah Khan behind the souvenir stalls on the west side, at Ta Prohm behind the souvenir stalls on the west side, at the Bayon on the east side, and at Banteay Srei across the road. Expect to pay 500 riels for the privilege. In the past year, additional facilities have been built along the roads away from the temples on both the inner and outer circuits. It is no longer an issue to find toilet facilities when visiting the temples.
There is not one single bus in Cambodia that I have seen with a toilet. I'm not even sure what the dilapidated old trains offer, either (never been on one).
Most of the speedboats have toilets on board that are quite usable. The exception is the small speedboats that are designed to hold about a dozen people and run between Battambang and Siem Reap, they have no facilities. The next size up of speedboats, that seat about 40 people and are used sometimes between Siem Reap and Phnom Penh when the water levels are at their lowest, have a toilet, a hole really, stuck in a small closet which you'll have to crouch down to get inside and you won't enjoy this experience.
Clean, western style toilets can be found in the main airports.
Saturday, December 25, 2004
That damned ‘C’ word …
That damned ‘C’ word …
Bah Humbug.
Well, here we are.
My Khmer colleagues kept asking me if I am going home to England for it.
Barang friends keep asking what my plans are. When I tell them I have none they try and impose theirs upon me. If I say I have not decided yet, they talk at length about what they are planning. Newbie’s keep asking me where they can buy a Turkey, usually followed by them asking me what the Khmer is for turkey.
So once and for all let me get this off my chest… … I DO NOT CARE !!!
Back home in God’s Own Country [England] I usually have a quiet day of it, me sat by a roaring fire, sipping some Crystal – the 1982 is drinking well at the moment.
Prior to that I will have had the traditional Leicestershire breakfast for that particular day which consists of:
- Melton Mowbray Porkpie
- Hayward’s extra strong pickled onions
- Red Leicester Cheese
- Bread and butter
I kid you not, you could not make that up…
A late luncheon, usually consisting of some sort of pizza.
Afternoon in front of the television with some DVD’s specifically purchased for the day and guaranteed not to contain; snow, angels, fatmen in red suits, men with beards, talking snowmen, reindeer with discoloured appendages, et bloody cetera.
This is the point at which I am usually disturbed by ‘well meaning’ friends and family members phoning up or popping round to wish me jolly and festive things.
As night draws on, I manage to finally to return to the peace and solace.
More movies and a drawn out meal consisting of;
a selection of fine cheese’s and cold meats from around the world,
fresh breads,
Greek salad,
samosas,
satay chicken,
olives, stuffed jalapeño’s
more porkpie and pickled onions…
A veritable carpet picnic by the fire, nibbling at will over several hours.
Aided with a selection of fine wines drawn from around the world.
Rounding off the feast with cheesecake
Peace and tranquillity.
Is that too much to ask for one day a year ?
Bah Humbug
Ebenezer Conquest
Bah Humbug.
Well, here we are.
My Khmer colleagues kept asking me if I am going home to England for it.
Barang friends keep asking what my plans are. When I tell them I have none they try and impose theirs upon me. If I say I have not decided yet, they talk at length about what they are planning. Newbie’s keep asking me where they can buy a Turkey, usually followed by them asking me what the Khmer is for turkey.
So once and for all let me get this off my chest… … I DO NOT CARE !!!
Back home in God’s Own Country [England] I usually have a quiet day of it, me sat by a roaring fire, sipping some Crystal – the 1982 is drinking well at the moment.
Prior to that I will have had the traditional Leicestershire breakfast for that particular day which consists of:
- Melton Mowbray Porkpie
- Hayward’s extra strong pickled onions
- Red Leicester Cheese
- Bread and butter
I kid you not, you could not make that up…
A late luncheon, usually consisting of some sort of pizza.
Afternoon in front of the television with some DVD’s specifically purchased for the day and guaranteed not to contain; snow, angels, fatmen in red suits, men with beards, talking snowmen, reindeer with discoloured appendages, et bloody cetera.
This is the point at which I am usually disturbed by ‘well meaning’ friends and family members phoning up or popping round to wish me jolly and festive things.
As night draws on, I manage to finally to return to the peace and solace.
More movies and a drawn out meal consisting of;
a selection of fine cheese’s and cold meats from around the world,
fresh breads,
Greek salad,
samosas,
satay chicken,
olives, stuffed jalapeño’s
more porkpie and pickled onions…
A veritable carpet picnic by the fire, nibbling at will over several hours.
Aided with a selection of fine wines drawn from around the world.
Rounding off the feast with cheesecake
Peace and tranquillity.
Is that too much to ask for one day a year ?
Bah Humbug
Ebenezer Conquest
Tuesday, December 21, 2004
''A Cambodia Moment''
There is a phrase a colleague of mine uses out here. She is a 60 odd year old grandmother who decided that she was bored just thinking about retiring and so thought it would be fun to do 2 years overseas – enter VSO…
Every so often she just stops whatever she is doing looks around in awe and wonder of the fact she is living in Cambodia and says ‘I am having a Cambodia moment’
A Cambodia moment can cover many things;
- The first time you see 4 Buddhist monks crowded onto the same moped, orange silk robes flapping in the breeze;
- Looking up from a restaurant table to see that the woman standing next to you is not a waitress, but a street vendor who has randomly wandered in selling deep-fried tarantula, locusts or cockroaches;
- Or just sitting in a riverside bar watching the street theatre that is life in Phnom Penh unravel before you.
I am not sure if it can best be described as a moment of Hyper-reality or one of surrealism.
This morning, due to a mixture of reasons and a confluence of events, I found myself riding from the bottom of the city to the top of the city and back again before going to work. Not a major hassle really as the round trip is only about 10 kilometres. But it was on the way back that I decided to bypass the main road so full of traffic, even at 06:30 it was a sea of mopeds flowing in a chaotic, yet almost poetic motion. So returning downtown towards my office I cut down Street 51, by P’sar Thmay, round to the Independence Monument and down to my office.
As I am taking this route the pavements of the city are busy and bustling with people.
Every back-street-corner has a pavement café set up – blue plastic chairs, folding tin tables and a menu consisting of either noodle soup or rice and pork;
‘Corner shops’ here are people with a desk or trestle-table selling; sweets, bottled water, cigarettes, newspapers, et cetera;
Every other street corner has a man selling bread, a large wicker basket 3 feet in diameter a foot and a half high, full of short wide baguettes – 500 riel each (12.5 cents or 7 pence)
It is not just the sights that contribute to ‘a Cambodia moment’ it is also the sounds and smells.
Phnom Penh is not a quiet city, with 1.3 million people living here. That may not sound much when compared to capital cities back in the West, but Phnom Penh is a very, very, small capital city. 7 kilometres long by 4 wide.
The abundance of pavement restaurants and bread vendors add to the aroma – as do the piles of rubbish outside shanty town housing…
As I am sat here in the office now, all clean and shiny from last month’s refurbishment, the air-conditioning on, lap-top hooked up to the internet, I could be sat in any one of a number of Countries. Think I might go back outside now for a bit; one of those pavement cafés is calling to me – spicy Rice-Pork with an iced coffee or two, mmm.
Best wishes to all, take care
D
Every so often she just stops whatever she is doing looks around in awe and wonder of the fact she is living in Cambodia and says ‘I am having a Cambodia moment’
A Cambodia moment can cover many things;
- The first time you see 4 Buddhist monks crowded onto the same moped, orange silk robes flapping in the breeze;
- Looking up from a restaurant table to see that the woman standing next to you is not a waitress, but a street vendor who has randomly wandered in selling deep-fried tarantula, locusts or cockroaches;
- Or just sitting in a riverside bar watching the street theatre that is life in Phnom Penh unravel before you.
I am not sure if it can best be described as a moment of Hyper-reality or one of surrealism.
This morning, due to a mixture of reasons and a confluence of events, I found myself riding from the bottom of the city to the top of the city and back again before going to work. Not a major hassle really as the round trip is only about 10 kilometres. But it was on the way back that I decided to bypass the main road so full of traffic, even at 06:30 it was a sea of mopeds flowing in a chaotic, yet almost poetic motion. So returning downtown towards my office I cut down Street 51, by P’sar Thmay, round to the Independence Monument and down to my office.
As I am taking this route the pavements of the city are busy and bustling with people.
Every back-street-corner has a pavement café set up – blue plastic chairs, folding tin tables and a menu consisting of either noodle soup or rice and pork;
‘Corner shops’ here are people with a desk or trestle-table selling; sweets, bottled water, cigarettes, newspapers, et cetera;
Every other street corner has a man selling bread, a large wicker basket 3 feet in diameter a foot and a half high, full of short wide baguettes – 500 riel each (12.5 cents or 7 pence)
It is not just the sights that contribute to ‘a Cambodia moment’ it is also the sounds and smells.
Phnom Penh is not a quiet city, with 1.3 million people living here. That may not sound much when compared to capital cities back in the West, but Phnom Penh is a very, very, small capital city. 7 kilometres long by 4 wide.
The abundance of pavement restaurants and bread vendors add to the aroma – as do the piles of rubbish outside shanty town housing…
As I am sat here in the office now, all clean and shiny from last month’s refurbishment, the air-conditioning on, lap-top hooked up to the internet, I could be sat in any one of a number of Countries. Think I might go back outside now for a bit; one of those pavement cafés is calling to me – spicy Rice-Pork with an iced coffee or two, mmm.
Best wishes to all, take care
D
November in Cambodia 2004
November in Cambodia
(Slouching towards Bethlehem)
Coronation of the new King; King Sihamoni of Cambodia
The old King decided that he had had enough of it all and resigned, not the first time that he has done this, but this time a successor was named and crowned, which kind of makes it official!
The new king is Sihamoni, a 55 year old bachelor, former ballet dancer and ambassador to the UN in Paris, where he lived alone with 2 cats (yes, yes, we all think it sounds rather gay as well)
The partying seemed to last about a week, the coronation ceremony was over 3 days. A national holiday was declared so we had, another, 5 day weekend. Flags and banners were strung from every street lamp or pillar. Every billboard in town had the Official photo of the new King put on it. Every Khmer who owned a chicken and a box of matches set up a pavement barbeque. Thousands of extra people poured into Phnom Penh. The chaos was unbelievable, gridlock on every road in the city all day and night. A 10 minute journey up to the riverfront took me 45 minutes at the height of it
The smoke coming from the hundreds of pavement barbeques was obscuring the vision of all the motorists and pedestrians – how more people were not run over is a miracle.
Some of my colleagues from the Ministry had official invites to be inside the palace grounds for the ceremony – not inside the palace, as the throne room is not that big, but the grounds are enough to hold a thousand-plus people. I did drop some hints about me going with them, but when I found out that they had to be in their seats by 5AM I figured I would shut up and watch the highlights on television !
Each of the three official nights of the coronation ceremony saw fireworks displays across the skies above the city, plus people partying in the streets.
Your average Khmer did not fully understand what was going on ‘’how do we have new King, old one not dead?’’ - but give them an extra few days off work and some fireworks and they just did not care! They were happy. They now just refer to the 2 kings as ‘the old king’ and ‘the new king’ - basically as far as they are concerned they are the luckiest people alive, they have 2 kings….
The new king seems to be off to a good start, he is touring the provinces, meeting his subjects, saying nice things to the International aid agencies, et cetera.
His father for the last few years was not too dynamic, 80 odd years old, poor health, spent a lot of time out of the country – the highlight of irony was him complaining about the poor democratic process in Cambodia’s last set of elections from his holiday palace in North Korea…
Paul and Glens’ visit
2 weeks each, overlapping for a week in the middle, in short, about 3 weeks of partying and not enough sleep J
A lot of visits to bars and restaurants and more bars, some shopping and, of course, a few days up in Siem Reap to visit the Temple’s of Angkor.
Although this was my fourth visit to some of the temples, there are always new things to see, and new temples to explore.
Of course the most famous is Angkor Wat, but the stone heads on the Bayon temple are a familiar sight to anyone who has ever visited Cambodia – or film fans that paid close attention to ‘Tomb Raider’…
The jungle temple is impressive still, but I seem to remember it being bigger???
New to me this visit was a trip up BaKheng Pagoda to watch sunset. From the top of the hill, you can see the Tonle Sap great lake as well as the Western Baray. With the sun setting behind these 2 large expanses of water.
The climb up to the top was very steep, loose rocks and tree roots as well. We decided that we would start the climb back down before the sun had full finished setting; unfortunately several hundred other people had the same idea. Due to some unorthodox [and slightly life threatening] short cuts, we made it to the foot of the hill just as darkness was fully descending.
Was great to have some male visitors here for a change!
They both took to Cambodian life well, especially on a night out with my Khmer colleagues which involved much drinking, eating, drinking and singing of karaoke - Paul does a very good Brittney Spears ….
Sarik’s Wedding
November also saw my attendance at my first Khmer wedding. Sarik, one of the guys I work with was very eager that I attend, so eager that when I was 5 minutes late for the start of the reception [out in the middle of nowhere] he phoned me every ten minutes until I was there !
The only white people – barang – invited were myself and a Canadian VSO who works with me called Daniel.
As we entered the large marquee set up in the middle of the road – just block off all that traffic – we were being filmed. We were shown to a table near the entrance so that everyone who entered the party could see that Sarik was important enough to have 2 barang at his wedding – it is all about status here….
As you enter a Khmer wedding you shake hand all the relevant parties – bride, groom, parents, et cetera - then you are given a gift, a small token to thank you for attending, then you are escorted to the wedding accountant, where you hand over a small white envelope with some cash in it – the amount of cash you give is sort of up to you, it sort of depends on a combination of things; how well you know the person who invited you, how long you have known them, how important they are, how important you are and of course, whether or not you are a foreigner…
While we were sat there, we were joined by Sarik’s brother, the bride’s father and some local bigwig who spoke the most fluent and lilting French I have heard since being here.
Strangely enough, also seated at our table were the only 3 single Khmer girls at the party…
The food then started to come out course by course; half a dozen mixed starters, a whole suckling pig, whole catfish in ginger and soybean sauce, beef and peppers stir-fry, wonton’s, fried rice, boiled rice, et cetera
All served with lashings and lashings of Tiger Beer…
Well, we arrived there at 4 and it all closed down about 10, by which time we had consumed a Herculean amount of food and drink
The Water Festival, omm bon tuck
Over three days around 600 teams of 30 raced in pairs from the Japanese Friendship Bridge to the end of the city.
The teams wearing brightly coloured silk costumes and being cheered on by crowds of 100,000’s
The crowds in the city were amazing, it was even busier than the coronation, it took ten times as longer to walk anywhere than normal, roads were closed to traffic.
I wandered around the streets and the festivals accompanied by 7 Khmer friends eager to show me around, explain things to me and generally entertain me. As dusk approached we headed down to the park where a free concert of Khmer pop music was taking place, loud does not even begin to cover it.
After which it was time for yet more fireworks and of course, more beer…
December’s first few days
So here we are in the bleak midwinter of Cambodia. Temperatures have dropped to the 25C to 30C range, making it almost bearable most of the time.
The locals are complaining about how cold it is ?!?!
I am glad for the temporary respite from the heat, but then again I have always hated hot weather (My first choice of VSO assignment was Mongolia, minus 40 in the winter...)
Still, I seem to be adapting to it all, with the aid of only 4 or 5 cold showers and changes of clothes a day…
Upcoming Events
This coming weekend is another bank holiday weekend, but it is the only one in December. Very early on Friday morning I will be departing Phnom Penh for Kompong Cham province for the weekend. I will be travelling up with a few of my Khmer friends and staying with one of their families for a couple of nights right out in the sticks.
I have suggested that I could stay in a guest house near by so as not to be any trouble to the family, but I do not think that they will let me off that lightly …
The weekend following will see my attendance at another Khmer wedding, this time it is my boss from the Ministry who is tying on the ball and chain, it will be a much, much, more lavish affair, with the reception being held at one of the most upmarket hotels in Phnom Penh, with hundreds of guests in attendance, so the pressure on us barang should be less as there will be several dozen of us milling around.
Then, of course, in less than 3 weeks we have Christmas, I have still not decided what to do exactly, but top of the list today is my laying on Serendipity beach at Sihanoukvile with a cold Tiger Beer in one hand and a barbequed squid in the other – ah, living in a winter wonderland …
(Slouching towards Bethlehem)
Coronation of the new King; King Sihamoni of Cambodia
The old King decided that he had had enough of it all and resigned, not the first time that he has done this, but this time a successor was named and crowned, which kind of makes it official!
The new king is Sihamoni, a 55 year old bachelor, former ballet dancer and ambassador to the UN in Paris, where he lived alone with 2 cats (yes, yes, we all think it sounds rather gay as well)
The partying seemed to last about a week, the coronation ceremony was over 3 days. A national holiday was declared so we had, another, 5 day weekend. Flags and banners were strung from every street lamp or pillar. Every billboard in town had the Official photo of the new King put on it. Every Khmer who owned a chicken and a box of matches set up a pavement barbeque. Thousands of extra people poured into Phnom Penh. The chaos was unbelievable, gridlock on every road in the city all day and night. A 10 minute journey up to the riverfront took me 45 minutes at the height of it
The smoke coming from the hundreds of pavement barbeques was obscuring the vision of all the motorists and pedestrians – how more people were not run over is a miracle.
Some of my colleagues from the Ministry had official invites to be inside the palace grounds for the ceremony – not inside the palace, as the throne room is not that big, but the grounds are enough to hold a thousand-plus people. I did drop some hints about me going with them, but when I found out that they had to be in their seats by 5AM I figured I would shut up and watch the highlights on television !
Each of the three official nights of the coronation ceremony saw fireworks displays across the skies above the city, plus people partying in the streets.
Your average Khmer did not fully understand what was going on ‘’how do we have new King, old one not dead?’’ - but give them an extra few days off work and some fireworks and they just did not care! They were happy. They now just refer to the 2 kings as ‘the old king’ and ‘the new king’ - basically as far as they are concerned they are the luckiest people alive, they have 2 kings….
The new king seems to be off to a good start, he is touring the provinces, meeting his subjects, saying nice things to the International aid agencies, et cetera.
His father for the last few years was not too dynamic, 80 odd years old, poor health, spent a lot of time out of the country – the highlight of irony was him complaining about the poor democratic process in Cambodia’s last set of elections from his holiday palace in North Korea…
Paul and Glens’ visit
2 weeks each, overlapping for a week in the middle, in short, about 3 weeks of partying and not enough sleep J
A lot of visits to bars and restaurants and more bars, some shopping and, of course, a few days up in Siem Reap to visit the Temple’s of Angkor.
Although this was my fourth visit to some of the temples, there are always new things to see, and new temples to explore.
Of course the most famous is Angkor Wat, but the stone heads on the Bayon temple are a familiar sight to anyone who has ever visited Cambodia – or film fans that paid close attention to ‘Tomb Raider’…
The jungle temple is impressive still, but I seem to remember it being bigger???
New to me this visit was a trip up BaKheng Pagoda to watch sunset. From the top of the hill, you can see the Tonle Sap great lake as well as the Western Baray. With the sun setting behind these 2 large expanses of water.
The climb up to the top was very steep, loose rocks and tree roots as well. We decided that we would start the climb back down before the sun had full finished setting; unfortunately several hundred other people had the same idea. Due to some unorthodox [and slightly life threatening] short cuts, we made it to the foot of the hill just as darkness was fully descending.
Was great to have some male visitors here for a change!
They both took to Cambodian life well, especially on a night out with my Khmer colleagues which involved much drinking, eating, drinking and singing of karaoke - Paul does a very good Brittney Spears ….
Sarik’s Wedding
November also saw my attendance at my first Khmer wedding. Sarik, one of the guys I work with was very eager that I attend, so eager that when I was 5 minutes late for the start of the reception [out in the middle of nowhere] he phoned me every ten minutes until I was there !
The only white people – barang – invited were myself and a Canadian VSO who works with me called Daniel.
As we entered the large marquee set up in the middle of the road – just block off all that traffic – we were being filmed. We were shown to a table near the entrance so that everyone who entered the party could see that Sarik was important enough to have 2 barang at his wedding – it is all about status here….
As you enter a Khmer wedding you shake hand all the relevant parties – bride, groom, parents, et cetera - then you are given a gift, a small token to thank you for attending, then you are escorted to the wedding accountant, where you hand over a small white envelope with some cash in it – the amount of cash you give is sort of up to you, it sort of depends on a combination of things; how well you know the person who invited you, how long you have known them, how important they are, how important you are and of course, whether or not you are a foreigner…
While we were sat there, we were joined by Sarik’s brother, the bride’s father and some local bigwig who spoke the most fluent and lilting French I have heard since being here.
Strangely enough, also seated at our table were the only 3 single Khmer girls at the party…
The food then started to come out course by course; half a dozen mixed starters, a whole suckling pig, whole catfish in ginger and soybean sauce, beef and peppers stir-fry, wonton’s, fried rice, boiled rice, et cetera
All served with lashings and lashings of Tiger Beer…
Well, we arrived there at 4 and it all closed down about 10, by which time we had consumed a Herculean amount of food and drink
The Water Festival, omm bon tuck
Over three days around 600 teams of 30 raced in pairs from the Japanese Friendship Bridge to the end of the city.
The teams wearing brightly coloured silk costumes and being cheered on by crowds of 100,000’s
The crowds in the city were amazing, it was even busier than the coronation, it took ten times as longer to walk anywhere than normal, roads were closed to traffic.
I wandered around the streets and the festivals accompanied by 7 Khmer friends eager to show me around, explain things to me and generally entertain me. As dusk approached we headed down to the park where a free concert of Khmer pop music was taking place, loud does not even begin to cover it.
After which it was time for yet more fireworks and of course, more beer…
December’s first few days
So here we are in the bleak midwinter of Cambodia. Temperatures have dropped to the 25C to 30C range, making it almost bearable most of the time.
The locals are complaining about how cold it is ?!?!
I am glad for the temporary respite from the heat, but then again I have always hated hot weather (My first choice of VSO assignment was Mongolia, minus 40 in the winter...)
Still, I seem to be adapting to it all, with the aid of only 4 or 5 cold showers and changes of clothes a day…
Upcoming Events
This coming weekend is another bank holiday weekend, but it is the only one in December. Very early on Friday morning I will be departing Phnom Penh for Kompong Cham province for the weekend. I will be travelling up with a few of my Khmer friends and staying with one of their families for a couple of nights right out in the sticks.
I have suggested that I could stay in a guest house near by so as not to be any trouble to the family, but I do not think that they will let me off that lightly …
The weekend following will see my attendance at another Khmer wedding, this time it is my boss from the Ministry who is tying on the ball and chain, it will be a much, much, more lavish affair, with the reception being held at one of the most upmarket hotels in Phnom Penh, with hundreds of guests in attendance, so the pressure on us barang should be less as there will be several dozen of us milling around.
Then, of course, in less than 3 weeks we have Christmas, I have still not decided what to do exactly, but top of the list today is my laying on Serendipity beach at Sihanoukvile with a cold Tiger Beer in one hand and a barbequed squid in the other – ah, living in a winter wonderland …
Tuesday, December 07, 2004
Consultative Group Meeting on Cambodia, 2004
Consultative Group Meeting on Cambodia, 2004
GOVERNMENT OF CAMBODIA, DONORS RESOLVE TO TACKLE CORRUPTION AND GOVERNANCE REFORM AS THE CENTRAL IMPEDIMENT TO GROWTH AND POVERTY REDUCTION
December 7, 2004 -- The 7th Consultative Group (CG) Meeting on Cambodia ended today in Phnom Penh with Government and Donors agreeing that Cambodia is indeed, as Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen stated, at a "crossroads in its difficult journey towards sustainable development and poverty reduction." The time has come, all agreed, to move beyond action plans and strategies to decisive implementation of a comprehensive reform program.
The CG Meeting, held December 6-7 in Phnom Penh, was attended by members of the donor community, including 18 partner countries and 5 international development organizations, and the Government of Cambodia. Civil society and private sector representatives attended as well. Delegates noted that all - government, donors, civil society, private sector - were united behind the message that it is time to transform the promises and commitments into actions with concrete outcomes.
The Prime Minister noted that Cambodia's last decade had seen signs of progress, including restoring peace and macroeconomic stability; consolidating government institutions and an emerging democracy, civil society, and media; and a resumption of growth and foreign investment.
"However, we are living in a tough and challenging time," Prime Minister Hun Sen continued, citing the changing regional and world dynamics and economic landscape, increasing uncertainty, and increasing competition for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI ) and ODA (Official Development Assistance) resources, leading him to conclude, "the prosperity of our country depends on our ability to implement reforms at all levels. In this context, the biggest challenge for us is to strengthen government institutions and improve governance."
Senior Minister Mr. Keat Chhon, Minister of Economy and Finance and Co-Chair of the meeting, updated the group on actions taken since the last meeting of the Consultative Group in June 2002, noting progress in, "implementing pro-poor development policies, achieving macro economic stability, public finance management reforms, strengthening democracy and rule of law, mobilizing technical and financial resources, and improving the delivery of public services to meet the needs and expectations of the poor people." He cautioned however, "there are many challenges facing us, the most formidable one is the reduction of poverty and improving the livelihoods and quality of life of a rapidly growing population."
Delegates congratulated the Government for their achievements of the past decade and more recent reforms - including WTO accession, progress in the fight against the spread of HIV/AIDs, improved literacy rates and increased school enrolments, particularly among girls. The Rectangular Strategy - whose core is governance - and recent initiatives on public financial management, decentralization, and private sector development are all positive developments. However, donors stressed that some of these reforms are in preliminary stages and that much more remained to be done to break the hold of poverty that grips the bulk of the population - with reports showing that income poverty remains stagnant, at around 40 percent, and that Cambodia is unlikely to meet most of its Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
More specifically, Government progress in meeting the set of performance indicators established at the last CG Meeting in June 2002 was mixed. While there have been improvements in procurement, implementation has raised new issues. Progress in natural resources management - suspension of forest concession and improvements in public disclosure - was offset by continuation of illegal logging and visible governance failures associated with the misuse of state resources. Progress in the social sectors was mixed, with specific budgetary goals unmet but some progress towards those goals and on HIV/AIDs. And progress on legal and judicial reform and public administration and fiscal management was weak, donors agreed.
Donors underscored the urgency of governance reform in all areas and sectors as essential for Cambodia to move ahead, increase growth, and reduce poverty. Government confirmed their commitment to implementing their reform agenda through the Rectangular Strategy and to improving the effectiveness of development aid in order to reduce poverty and maximize the benefits of aid, but stressed that reforms would take time. As Prime Minister Hun Sen commented in his speech, "Doing is much harder than saying. We more than anyone else are acutely aware there is a long march ahead? Nevertheless, we have the horizon firmly in our sights and we will spare no measures to take Cambodia forward for the betterment of its people."
The governance theme ran through each of the discussion sessions, with the first session focusing solely on issues related to governance and corruption. The sessions included discussions on: ž Promoting Good Governance including fighting corruption and increasing accountability; legal and judicial reform and protection of human rights; public administration reform; decentralization and deconcentration; and public financial management. Accelerating Growth and Improving Rural Livelihoods, including enhancing the agricultural sector; promoting private sector development; and further rehabilitation and construction of infrastructure. Supporting Human Development including improving education, health, HIV/AIDs, and mainstreaming gender equity in social and economic development. Increasing Aid Effectiveness including harmonization and donor alignment and external financing requirements.
In each session, a series of common indicators were agreed upon, to help Government and development partners alike monitor performance in the coming year. A sample of these actions include: passing a draft anti-corruption law in compliance with international best practice; trials on the key reported corruption cases; adoption of a fundamental legal framework that establishes rule of law for all; civil service reform founded on merit-based pay and employment reform; passing of key laws and sub-decrees on natural resources management and increased access to information in particular concerning land, forests, and other forms of concessions; establishing a single entry point, or Single Window, for import-export activities; and passing domestic violence and anti-trafficking laws. Actions were identified in each of the key areas of good governance; rural development; human development and health and education; and increasing aid effectiveness.
On aid effectiveness, donors were urged to change the way they provided aid. In particular, they were urged to provide technical assistance in a manner that builds Cambodia's capacity and to rely less on foreign technical assistance (TA); to phase out and replace the ad hoc salary supplements they provide to civil servants to work on their projects with support for merit-based pay initiatives; and to work in sector wide approaches (SWAPs) wherever appropriate. While supportive of these general directions, donors stressed the need for better and more transparent systems in the country to underpin effective aid harmonization efforts.
The NGO civil society representatives expressed an interest in participating in joint monitoring of progress and reforms through the Technical Working Groups
(TWGs) and are committed to abide by the principles of the TWGs. They stressed the importance of community involvement in order to bring the people's voice to influence the government's decision-making process.
The actions identified in each of the key areas are summarized in the Chairman's Concluding Remarks. The newly-established Government Donor Coordinating Committee (GDCC), chaired by Senior Minister Keat Chhon, would play an important role in monitoring progress on a quarterly basis, delegates agreed.
"These performance indicators represent an ambitious undertaking," said Mr. Ian Porter, World Bank Country Director for Cambodia and Co-Chair of the Meeting. "What is being attempted here is to strengthen and in some cases build from scratch the systems of accountability of government to the people of Cambodia. To move forward on this agenda, we would need to see momentum, commitment, political will - and most importantly, to see words decisively translated into actions. This will take time, but we need to start now." He continued, "Cambodia faces some difficult choices in the weeks and months ahead. It needs to demonstrate that it has chosen this road to improved governance and poverty reduction - and members of the Consultative Group stand ready to support, both financially and technically, this reform agenda."
Donors pledged US$504 million in support for Cambodia's development efforts, as part of the country's budget and financial plan for 2005. In 2002, the pledge amount was US$635 million. However, because of changes in the methodology and coverage, effected recently in order to comply with the official DAC/OECD definition of ODA, the comparable figure for 2002 was recalculated at US$514 million. Both the amount and composition of future pledges will be a function of Cambodia's performance on its reform agenda.
The Royal Government of Cambodia and its development partners agreed to meet in Phnom Penh for the next CG Meeting one year from now.
__________________________________________________________
The Consultative Group meeting, hosted by the Government of Cambodia in Phnom Penh on December 6-7, 2004, was attended by delegations from 18 countries and 5 international organizations. It was co-chaired by Senior Minister Mr. Keat Chhon, Minister of Economy and Finance, who led the Cambodian delegation, and Mr. Ian Porter, World Bank Country Director for Cambodia. Countries and international organizations present were: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, the Russian Federation, Singapore, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States; Asian Development Bank (ADB), the European Commission (EC); International Monetary Fund (IMF), the United Nations Development System (UNDS), and the World Bank. NGOs from MEDiCAM, Cambodian Defenders Project, and Oxfam Great Britain attended the meeting, as did private sector representatives from the Phnom Penh Chamber of Commerce.
GOVERNMENT OF CAMBODIA, DONORS RESOLVE TO TACKLE CORRUPTION AND GOVERNANCE REFORM AS THE CENTRAL IMPEDIMENT TO GROWTH AND POVERTY REDUCTION
December 7, 2004 -- The 7th Consultative Group (CG) Meeting on Cambodia ended today in Phnom Penh with Government and Donors agreeing that Cambodia is indeed, as Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen stated, at a "crossroads in its difficult journey towards sustainable development and poverty reduction." The time has come, all agreed, to move beyond action plans and strategies to decisive implementation of a comprehensive reform program.
The CG Meeting, held December 6-7 in Phnom Penh, was attended by members of the donor community, including 18 partner countries and 5 international development organizations, and the Government of Cambodia. Civil society and private sector representatives attended as well. Delegates noted that all - government, donors, civil society, private sector - were united behind the message that it is time to transform the promises and commitments into actions with concrete outcomes.
The Prime Minister noted that Cambodia's last decade had seen signs of progress, including restoring peace and macroeconomic stability; consolidating government institutions and an emerging democracy, civil society, and media; and a resumption of growth and foreign investment.
"However, we are living in a tough and challenging time," Prime Minister Hun Sen continued, citing the changing regional and world dynamics and economic landscape, increasing uncertainty, and increasing competition for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI ) and ODA (Official Development Assistance) resources, leading him to conclude, "the prosperity of our country depends on our ability to implement reforms at all levels. In this context, the biggest challenge for us is to strengthen government institutions and improve governance."
Senior Minister Mr. Keat Chhon, Minister of Economy and Finance and Co-Chair of the meeting, updated the group on actions taken since the last meeting of the Consultative Group in June 2002, noting progress in, "implementing pro-poor development policies, achieving macro economic stability, public finance management reforms, strengthening democracy and rule of law, mobilizing technical and financial resources, and improving the delivery of public services to meet the needs and expectations of the poor people." He cautioned however, "there are many challenges facing us, the most formidable one is the reduction of poverty and improving the livelihoods and quality of life of a rapidly growing population."
Delegates congratulated the Government for their achievements of the past decade and more recent reforms - including WTO accession, progress in the fight against the spread of HIV/AIDs, improved literacy rates and increased school enrolments, particularly among girls. The Rectangular Strategy - whose core is governance - and recent initiatives on public financial management, decentralization, and private sector development are all positive developments. However, donors stressed that some of these reforms are in preliminary stages and that much more remained to be done to break the hold of poverty that grips the bulk of the population - with reports showing that income poverty remains stagnant, at around 40 percent, and that Cambodia is unlikely to meet most of its Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
More specifically, Government progress in meeting the set of performance indicators established at the last CG Meeting in June 2002 was mixed. While there have been improvements in procurement, implementation has raised new issues. Progress in natural resources management - suspension of forest concession and improvements in public disclosure - was offset by continuation of illegal logging and visible governance failures associated with the misuse of state resources. Progress in the social sectors was mixed, with specific budgetary goals unmet but some progress towards those goals and on HIV/AIDs. And progress on legal and judicial reform and public administration and fiscal management was weak, donors agreed.
Donors underscored the urgency of governance reform in all areas and sectors as essential for Cambodia to move ahead, increase growth, and reduce poverty. Government confirmed their commitment to implementing their reform agenda through the Rectangular Strategy and to improving the effectiveness of development aid in order to reduce poverty and maximize the benefits of aid, but stressed that reforms would take time. As Prime Minister Hun Sen commented in his speech, "Doing is much harder than saying. We more than anyone else are acutely aware there is a long march ahead? Nevertheless, we have the horizon firmly in our sights and we will spare no measures to take Cambodia forward for the betterment of its people."
The governance theme ran through each of the discussion sessions, with the first session focusing solely on issues related to governance and corruption. The sessions included discussions on: ž Promoting Good Governance including fighting corruption and increasing accountability; legal and judicial reform and protection of human rights; public administration reform; decentralization and deconcentration; and public financial management. Accelerating Growth and Improving Rural Livelihoods, including enhancing the agricultural sector; promoting private sector development; and further rehabilitation and construction of infrastructure. Supporting Human Development including improving education, health, HIV/AIDs, and mainstreaming gender equity in social and economic development. Increasing Aid Effectiveness including harmonization and donor alignment and external financing requirements.
In each session, a series of common indicators were agreed upon, to help Government and development partners alike monitor performance in the coming year. A sample of these actions include: passing a draft anti-corruption law in compliance with international best practice; trials on the key reported corruption cases; adoption of a fundamental legal framework that establishes rule of law for all; civil service reform founded on merit-based pay and employment reform; passing of key laws and sub-decrees on natural resources management and increased access to information in particular concerning land, forests, and other forms of concessions; establishing a single entry point, or Single Window, for import-export activities; and passing domestic violence and anti-trafficking laws. Actions were identified in each of the key areas of good governance; rural development; human development and health and education; and increasing aid effectiveness.
On aid effectiveness, donors were urged to change the way they provided aid. In particular, they were urged to provide technical assistance in a manner that builds Cambodia's capacity and to rely less on foreign technical assistance (TA); to phase out and replace the ad hoc salary supplements they provide to civil servants to work on their projects with support for merit-based pay initiatives; and to work in sector wide approaches (SWAPs) wherever appropriate. While supportive of these general directions, donors stressed the need for better and more transparent systems in the country to underpin effective aid harmonization efforts.
The NGO civil society representatives expressed an interest in participating in joint monitoring of progress and reforms through the Technical Working Groups
(TWGs) and are committed to abide by the principles of the TWGs. They stressed the importance of community involvement in order to bring the people's voice to influence the government's decision-making process.
The actions identified in each of the key areas are summarized in the Chairman's Concluding Remarks. The newly-established Government Donor Coordinating Committee (GDCC), chaired by Senior Minister Keat Chhon, would play an important role in monitoring progress on a quarterly basis, delegates agreed.
"These performance indicators represent an ambitious undertaking," said Mr. Ian Porter, World Bank Country Director for Cambodia and Co-Chair of the Meeting. "What is being attempted here is to strengthen and in some cases build from scratch the systems of accountability of government to the people of Cambodia. To move forward on this agenda, we would need to see momentum, commitment, political will - and most importantly, to see words decisively translated into actions. This will take time, but we need to start now." He continued, "Cambodia faces some difficult choices in the weeks and months ahead. It needs to demonstrate that it has chosen this road to improved governance and poverty reduction - and members of the Consultative Group stand ready to support, both financially and technically, this reform agenda."
Donors pledged US$504 million in support for Cambodia's development efforts, as part of the country's budget and financial plan for 2005. In 2002, the pledge amount was US$635 million. However, because of changes in the methodology and coverage, effected recently in order to comply with the official DAC/OECD definition of ODA, the comparable figure for 2002 was recalculated at US$514 million. Both the amount and composition of future pledges will be a function of Cambodia's performance on its reform agenda.
The Royal Government of Cambodia and its development partners agreed to meet in Phnom Penh for the next CG Meeting one year from now.
__________________________________________________________
The Consultative Group meeting, hosted by the Government of Cambodia in Phnom Penh on December 6-7, 2004, was attended by delegations from 18 countries and 5 international organizations. It was co-chaired by Senior Minister Mr. Keat Chhon, Minister of Economy and Finance, who led the Cambodian delegation, and Mr. Ian Porter, World Bank Country Director for Cambodia. Countries and international organizations present were: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, the Russian Federation, Singapore, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States; Asian Development Bank (ADB), the European Commission (EC); International Monetary Fund (IMF), the United Nations Development System (UNDS), and the World Bank. NGOs from MEDiCAM, Cambodian Defenders Project, and Oxfam Great Britain attended the meeting, as did private sector representatives from the Phnom Penh Chamber of Commerce.
Saturday, December 04, 2004
Small Crabs at restaurants on the coast.
Small Crabs at restaurants on the coast.
The www.khmer440.com roving reporter – Keeping it Riel – is down at the coast at the moment.
Yesterday in a moment of dire culinary concern he contacted yours truly.
‘Why are the crabs so small this year?’ - I will gloss over the initial set of jokes I made to KiR coming back from the coast with crabs….
The issues surrounding the question stretch further than just crabs, or the coast.
They relate to overfishing in general, due to an increased population that derives up to 70% of its animal protein intake from fish and other aquatic animals.
They relate to some illegal fishing gears damaging the natural habitat [electro-fishing, explosive fishing, et cetera]
They relate to small gauge nets catching fingerlings, as well as dam and trap fishing.
Of course poverty plays a factor, subsistence fishing helps to feed the very poorest families in this country.
But coming back to the question about crabs, strangely enough, part of the answer is to do with salt farming and the mangroves. Salt production has an impact on both the environment and land use in the coastal region as well as the local crabs and shrimps.
Until recently, there has been serious destruction of the mangroves, some for the expansion of salt farms. It should be noted that, once land is converted into salt farms it can only produce salt, and cannot be used for any agricultural purpose because of high salt concentration in soil.
The conflict between the owners of salt farms and shrimp/crab farmers is over water use, the salt producers want to drain or pump sea water to fill the salt farms while, the shrimp/crab farm owners do not want to because it disturbs the shrimp and crab breeding grounds.
Further conflict can be found between salt farms and rice fields, as salt water can seep into the rice fields [Khmer plumbing…] and affected the quality of rice growing because the land develops a high salt concentration.
So what can be done about this ?
Well, a report is being written …
The www.khmer440.com roving reporter – Keeping it Riel – is down at the coast at the moment.
Yesterday in a moment of dire culinary concern he contacted yours truly.
‘Why are the crabs so small this year?’ - I will gloss over the initial set of jokes I made to KiR coming back from the coast with crabs….
The issues surrounding the question stretch further than just crabs, or the coast.
They relate to overfishing in general, due to an increased population that derives up to 70% of its animal protein intake from fish and other aquatic animals.
They relate to some illegal fishing gears damaging the natural habitat [electro-fishing, explosive fishing, et cetera]
They relate to small gauge nets catching fingerlings, as well as dam and trap fishing.
Of course poverty plays a factor, subsistence fishing helps to feed the very poorest families in this country.
But coming back to the question about crabs, strangely enough, part of the answer is to do with salt farming and the mangroves. Salt production has an impact on both the environment and land use in the coastal region as well as the local crabs and shrimps.
Until recently, there has been serious destruction of the mangroves, some for the expansion of salt farms. It should be noted that, once land is converted into salt farms it can only produce salt, and cannot be used for any agricultural purpose because of high salt concentration in soil.
The conflict between the owners of salt farms and shrimp/crab farmers is over water use, the salt producers want to drain or pump sea water to fill the salt farms while, the shrimp/crab farm owners do not want to because it disturbs the shrimp and crab breeding grounds.
Further conflict can be found between salt farms and rice fields, as salt water can seep into the rice fields [Khmer plumbing…] and affected the quality of rice growing because the land develops a high salt concentration.
So what can be done about this ?
Well, a report is being written …
Thursday, November 04, 2004
Perceptions reveal more about ourselves than others
Now I am a reasonable man, quiet, calm, even tempered, people have even gone as far in the past as to describe me as tranquil.
Yet an incident occurred the other day that really pissed me off.
In fact, it annoyed me so much I was close to slapping a woman. I was enjoying an early spot of luncheon with two friends. Now these two particular friends are Khmer and they are also female. They are family of a very good Khmer friend of mine.
They do not work in bars; they are in town staying with my friend’s family while they look at different schools/universities here for them to study at.
That is to say, they are normal teenage Khmer good girls. My friend had to go and meet someone about a business they are thinking about buying, so I said that I would take the girls for lunch, they wanted to try ‘Western Food’ so I took them to a well know ex-pat restaurant here.
Well despite the girls having watched a million hours of HBO, AXN and STAR Movies, they were not sure what they wanted to try at the restaurant; which resulted in much hilarity ensuing from my pigeon Khmer, their pigeon English and my somewhat limited miming skills.
But we eventually got an order placed after about 10 or 15 minutes of such joviality. After the waitress had gone, we were still giggling a fair bit when the 20 stone, po-faced, battle ax, war dragon, pig ugly, militant skank, mound of the hound of the Baskerville’s, bitch sat at the table opposite us remarked, rather loudly, to her dining companion.
‘It is bad enough men like him are here, but do they have to show off those sort of girls in public’
Well, to be honest, it took me a second or two to work out who and what she was talking about.
‘EXCUSE ME, did you just call my friends whores???’
I should have bitch slapped the stupid fat cowup and down the river front
Grrrr
Yet an incident occurred the other day that really pissed me off.
In fact, it annoyed me so much I was close to slapping a woman. I was enjoying an early spot of luncheon with two friends. Now these two particular friends are Khmer and they are also female. They are family of a very good Khmer friend of mine.
They do not work in bars; they are in town staying with my friend’s family while they look at different schools/universities here for them to study at.
That is to say, they are normal teenage Khmer good girls. My friend had to go and meet someone about a business they are thinking about buying, so I said that I would take the girls for lunch, they wanted to try ‘Western Food’ so I took them to a well know ex-pat restaurant here.
Well despite the girls having watched a million hours of HBO, AXN and STAR Movies, they were not sure what they wanted to try at the restaurant; which resulted in much hilarity ensuing from my pigeon Khmer, their pigeon English and my somewhat limited miming skills.
But we eventually got an order placed after about 10 or 15 minutes of such joviality. After the waitress had gone, we were still giggling a fair bit when the 20 stone, po-faced, battle ax, war dragon, pig ugly, militant skank, mound of the hound of the Baskerville’s, bitch sat at the table opposite us remarked, rather loudly, to her dining companion.
‘It is bad enough men like him are here, but do they have to show off those sort of girls in public’
Well, to be honest, it took me a second or two to work out who and what she was talking about.
‘EXCUSE ME, did you just call my friends whores???’
I should have bitch slapped the stupid fat cowup and down the river front
Grrrr
Tuesday, November 02, 2004
Top business gripe in Cambodia - Bribes
Top business gripe in Cambodia - Bribes
"unofficial payments" in polite-speak -forced on business ranked as the top complaint by industry leaders in a World Bank report on Cambodia's investment climate released on Thursday, August 12.The report, Cambodia Seizing the Global Opportunity, found "unofficial payments" as a share of total business revenue were twice as high as in Bangladesh and by far the highest among countries benchmarked in the report.Bangladesh is ranked as the most corrupt of all the countries assessed annually by Transparency International - which does not yet assess Cambodia.
Other gripes included minimum capital requirements and the costs of incorporating a business, which are among the highest in the world in terms of relative income levels.It noted that Thailand, Nepal, Uganda and Vietnam have no minimal capital requirements for establishing a business.
Adding to the burden were red tape and a lack of institutions capable of absorbing risk, which has resulted in rural Cambodian firms holding the world's highest inventory stocks when measured against sales.Clearing an import shipment could require the completion of 45 separate documents."As a consequence of these impediments, labour productivity of Cambodian firms surveyed is 62 percent below China and 10 percent below Bangladesh. "Today's report notes that as a consequence of these perceptions, foreign direct investment has fallen consistently since 1999."
Commerce minister Cham Prasidh said the report had exposed the problems, constraints and challenges of business operating in Cambodia.
"Now that we know the symptoms and the disease, we know what is needed is the political will to take the necessary actions and implement the reform program to help business survive, increase competitiveness, and prosper," he said.
Economic and Finance Minister Keat Chhon vowed to implement reforms aimed at improving Cambodia's investment climate and delivering a public and financial management system of international standards by 2015. He said this would be achieved through a raft of policies designed to bolster public and financial management announced by Prime Minister Hun Sen at his first cabinet meeting for the new government on July 16.
"The government agrees that we must do more to improve the investment climate by tackling the high cost of business, bureaucratic red tape and corruption," he said. "With respect to unofficial costs we need to work on both fronts, to reduce the costs of business and to increase tax revenue."
Yeah, Right. We believe that.
"unofficial payments" in polite-speak -forced on business ranked as the top complaint by industry leaders in a World Bank report on Cambodia's investment climate released on Thursday, August 12.The report, Cambodia Seizing the Global Opportunity, found "unofficial payments" as a share of total business revenue were twice as high as in Bangladesh and by far the highest among countries benchmarked in the report.Bangladesh is ranked as the most corrupt of all the countries assessed annually by Transparency International - which does not yet assess Cambodia.
Other gripes included minimum capital requirements and the costs of incorporating a business, which are among the highest in the world in terms of relative income levels.It noted that Thailand, Nepal, Uganda and Vietnam have no minimal capital requirements for establishing a business.
Adding to the burden were red tape and a lack of institutions capable of absorbing risk, which has resulted in rural Cambodian firms holding the world's highest inventory stocks when measured against sales.Clearing an import shipment could require the completion of 45 separate documents."As a consequence of these impediments, labour productivity of Cambodian firms surveyed is 62 percent below China and 10 percent below Bangladesh. "Today's report notes that as a consequence of these perceptions, foreign direct investment has fallen consistently since 1999."
Commerce minister Cham Prasidh said the report had exposed the problems, constraints and challenges of business operating in Cambodia.
"Now that we know the symptoms and the disease, we know what is needed is the political will to take the necessary actions and implement the reform program to help business survive, increase competitiveness, and prosper," he said.
Economic and Finance Minister Keat Chhon vowed to implement reforms aimed at improving Cambodia's investment climate and delivering a public and financial management system of international standards by 2015. He said this would be achieved through a raft of policies designed to bolster public and financial management announced by Prime Minister Hun Sen at his first cabinet meeting for the new government on July 16.
"The government agrees that we must do more to improve the investment climate by tackling the high cost of business, bureaucratic red tape and corruption," he said. "With respect to unofficial costs we need to work on both fronts, to reduce the costs of business and to increase tax revenue."
Yeah, Right. We believe that.
Monday, November 01, 2004
The Tonle Sap great lake
Cambodia's great lake, the Tonle Sap lake, expands and shrinks with the seasons. As it moves, so do its floating villages.
I meet some of the waterborne nomads
A signpost on the road leading to Kompong Luong advises that the village is "maximum 7km, minimum 2km" away. Kompong Luong, a collection of bamboo huts bobbing on Tonle Sap Lake in central Cambodia, moves around as the water level rises and falls. Residents tow behind them the necessities of life: shops, a schoolhouse, clinic and pagoda.
The village is one of several settlements around Tonle Sap whose inhabitants lead an entirely aquatic existence. In a lifestyle that has barely changed for decades, the men fish and sell their catch while the women dry the fish and mend nets. Children paddle to class in canoes and the whole community floats, including the hairdresser's, grocery store, petrol pumps and karaoke bar.
Tonle Sap, the largest inland waterway in South-east Asia, is Cambodia's heart and lungs. Three million people - more than a quarter of the population - live on and around the Great Lake, as it is called. Much of the economy depends upon it; many families rely on it for their livelihood and its 850 species of fish - including giant catfish weighing up to 135kg - are a key source of protein for the nation. Rice is grown on surrounding plains that are flooded annually when the waters rise.
The lake - upstream of Tonle Sap river, which meets the Mekong river in Phnom Penh - is also notable for a unique phenomenon. During the monsoon season, the lower Mekong becomes so bloated that it forces the Tonle Sap to reverse direction and flow away from the sea, flooding the lake with vast quantities of fresh water. When the dry season arrives, Tonle Sap reverts to its usual course, draining the lake basin into the Mekong.
This singular event is celebrated in a water festival, Bon Om Touk, an exuberant spectacle in which longboats compete for three days, finishing in front of the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh. A few years back, the race was staged on the moats that encircle the temple complex of Angkor Wat.
Bon Om Touk, an important part of Khmer culture, takes place in late October or early November, but the wonders of Tonle Sap can be experienced at any time of year. Ferries ply the length of the lake, connecting the capital with Siem Reap, the sleepy colonial town that services Angkor Wat. The six-hour boat trip is preferable to travelling by road, as the nation's highways are atrocious. Besides, to fly means missing out on magnificent scenery.
It was a bedraggled collection of passengers that boarded the cigar-shaped ferry in Phnom Penh following a pre-dawn tropical downpour one autumn morning. Families arrived at the jetty shrouded in plastic raincoats, three or four people to one motorbike, with just the driver's head peeking out. By the time we chugged out of port, the rain had subsided to a gentle drizzle and, as the river widened into the brown expanse of lake, the sun appeared, sending soft rays slanting across the water.
As the ferry navigated between tufts of drowned vegetation, the first of the many communities that cling to the rim of the lake came into view. The water level was so high that it lapped at the front doors of wooden stilt houses clustered on the shore. The dome of a pagoda, built a little inland, was visible behind waterlogged trees. Boys glided past in longboats, fishing for carp, while women punted down little muddy tributaries that snaked off in all directions.
The lake, which covers 2,500 sq km during the November-to-June dry season, can swell to up to 12,500sq km during the monsoon, gaining 70km in length. When it shrinks, the villages move too, seeking deeper waters further out into the lake. Submerged tree-tops reappear and fish are found stranded in the reeds - a sight that prompted an early 20th-century French author, Pierre Loti, to describe Cambodia as the land where fish grow on trees.
Tonle Sap's role over the centuries as a major food source for the Khmer people is depicted in bas-relief carvings at the wonderful Bayon temple at Angkor Wat. The lake, part of which is a World Heritage site, is also a birdwatcher's paradise. Three endangered species - the spot-billed pelican, greater adjutant stork and white-winged duck - can be seen at Prek Toal, a bird sanctuary easily reached from Siem Reap.
From Siem Reap, you can get a taste of life on Tonle Sap by visiting Phnom Krom, a nearby floating community. During the rains, Phnom Krom is situated near the mouth of the Siem Reap river; when the water level rises, it moves a couple of miles into the lake. Rowing boats moored by the narrow road that winds cross rice paddies to the ferry port take tourists out to the village. Phnom Krom is predominantly Vietnamese, although it is also home to substantial numbers of Khmers; locals joke that it is one of the few places where the two races - long-time sworn enemies - live in harmony side by side.
Some residents operate fish farms; you can see thrashing catfish being removed from massive tanks and small silvery fish shovelled into bamboo baskets for processing into prahok, a fermented fish condiment central to Khmer cuisine. A forest of aerials disfigures the skyline; television is one of the few entertainments for waterborne communities.
Friends had warned that the ferry trip can be rough, and they were right. Midway into the lake, the sky turned dark grey and high winds picked up, bringing a slather of rain. The passengers - a mixture of Phnom Penh teenagers sitting cross-legged on the deck and peasant families overloaded with produce and children - huddled beneath blankets and tried to prevent their belongings from blowing away. We reached Siem Reap in the same drenched state in which we had boarded the boat that morning.
I meet some of the waterborne nomads
A signpost on the road leading to Kompong Luong advises that the village is "maximum 7km, minimum 2km" away. Kompong Luong, a collection of bamboo huts bobbing on Tonle Sap Lake in central Cambodia, moves around as the water level rises and falls. Residents tow behind them the necessities of life: shops, a schoolhouse, clinic and pagoda.
The village is one of several settlements around Tonle Sap whose inhabitants lead an entirely aquatic existence. In a lifestyle that has barely changed for decades, the men fish and sell their catch while the women dry the fish and mend nets. Children paddle to class in canoes and the whole community floats, including the hairdresser's, grocery store, petrol pumps and karaoke bar.
Tonle Sap, the largest inland waterway in South-east Asia, is Cambodia's heart and lungs. Three million people - more than a quarter of the population - live on and around the Great Lake, as it is called. Much of the economy depends upon it; many families rely on it for their livelihood and its 850 species of fish - including giant catfish weighing up to 135kg - are a key source of protein for the nation. Rice is grown on surrounding plains that are flooded annually when the waters rise.
The lake - upstream of Tonle Sap river, which meets the Mekong river in Phnom Penh - is also notable for a unique phenomenon. During the monsoon season, the lower Mekong becomes so bloated that it forces the Tonle Sap to reverse direction and flow away from the sea, flooding the lake with vast quantities of fresh water. When the dry season arrives, Tonle Sap reverts to its usual course, draining the lake basin into the Mekong.
This singular event is celebrated in a water festival, Bon Om Touk, an exuberant spectacle in which longboats compete for three days, finishing in front of the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh. A few years back, the race was staged on the moats that encircle the temple complex of Angkor Wat.
Bon Om Touk, an important part of Khmer culture, takes place in late October or early November, but the wonders of Tonle Sap can be experienced at any time of year. Ferries ply the length of the lake, connecting the capital with Siem Reap, the sleepy colonial town that services Angkor Wat. The six-hour boat trip is preferable to travelling by road, as the nation's highways are atrocious. Besides, to fly means missing out on magnificent scenery.
It was a bedraggled collection of passengers that boarded the cigar-shaped ferry in Phnom Penh following a pre-dawn tropical downpour one autumn morning. Families arrived at the jetty shrouded in plastic raincoats, three or four people to one motorbike, with just the driver's head peeking out. By the time we chugged out of port, the rain had subsided to a gentle drizzle and, as the river widened into the brown expanse of lake, the sun appeared, sending soft rays slanting across the water.
As the ferry navigated between tufts of drowned vegetation, the first of the many communities that cling to the rim of the lake came into view. The water level was so high that it lapped at the front doors of wooden stilt houses clustered on the shore. The dome of a pagoda, built a little inland, was visible behind waterlogged trees. Boys glided past in longboats, fishing for carp, while women punted down little muddy tributaries that snaked off in all directions.
The lake, which covers 2,500 sq km during the November-to-June dry season, can swell to up to 12,500sq km during the monsoon, gaining 70km in length. When it shrinks, the villages move too, seeking deeper waters further out into the lake. Submerged tree-tops reappear and fish are found stranded in the reeds - a sight that prompted an early 20th-century French author, Pierre Loti, to describe Cambodia as the land where fish grow on trees.
Tonle Sap's role over the centuries as a major food source for the Khmer people is depicted in bas-relief carvings at the wonderful Bayon temple at Angkor Wat. The lake, part of which is a World Heritage site, is also a birdwatcher's paradise. Three endangered species - the spot-billed pelican, greater adjutant stork and white-winged duck - can be seen at Prek Toal, a bird sanctuary easily reached from Siem Reap.
From Siem Reap, you can get a taste of life on Tonle Sap by visiting Phnom Krom, a nearby floating community. During the rains, Phnom Krom is situated near the mouth of the Siem Reap river; when the water level rises, it moves a couple of miles into the lake. Rowing boats moored by the narrow road that winds cross rice paddies to the ferry port take tourists out to the village. Phnom Krom is predominantly Vietnamese, although it is also home to substantial numbers of Khmers; locals joke that it is one of the few places where the two races - long-time sworn enemies - live in harmony side by side.
Some residents operate fish farms; you can see thrashing catfish being removed from massive tanks and small silvery fish shovelled into bamboo baskets for processing into prahok, a fermented fish condiment central to Khmer cuisine. A forest of aerials disfigures the skyline; television is one of the few entertainments for waterborne communities.
Friends had warned that the ferry trip can be rough, and they were right. Midway into the lake, the sky turned dark grey and high winds picked up, bringing a slather of rain. The passengers - a mixture of Phnom Penh teenagers sitting cross-legged on the deck and peasant families overloaded with produce and children - huddled beneath blankets and tried to prevent their belongings from blowing away. We reached Siem Reap in the same drenched state in which we had boarded the boat that morning.
Community Fisheries - CFDO
Abstraction
Fishery resources are under heavy pressure from an increasing population that uses natural resources for their livelihoods; as well as increased conflict spreading amongst the areas, the conflicts come from benefices and the person who use fisheries resources.
Unsuccessful in using a single method of law reform in caring for fisheries resources, with problems and conflicts in using fisheries resources. The results show that the poor fishers are incapable of making a living for their livelihoods, without recourse to using illegal fishing and thus the fishery resources become decreased.
In October 2000 the Royal Government of Cambodia started a reform to release around 56% of fishing lots in Cambodia to fishers who set up Community Fisheries to manage these fishing lots that are release and cut from lots. Fisheries reform has the objective to make realistic use of fishery resources in a sustainable manner and to increase the standard of living of fishers.
Up until now 360 Community Fisheries have been established and are undergoing a transitional period across the Country, with no policy regulating guidelines for implementation, or measures taken to set up and manage methods by Community Fisheries with a vision for Cambodia which has low human resources knowledge, experience and limited management capacity.
According to study, the vision and definition deferent for Community Fisheries as Co Fisheries Community management Fisheries Resources management depends on the community and Community Fisheries.
Community Fisheries amount to 6 types and undergo about 13 steps for management, but no one Community Fishery has implemented all of those steps.
Establishment and declaration guidelines have a slow course to establishment, and Community Fisheries management are not yet good enough because they do not know their duties, responsibilities or rights for using natural resources and managing them.
By promoting and supporting the fisheries authorities, relevant institutions, non-government organisations and international organisations, some Community Fisheries are well implemented, although some Community Fisheries have been implemented better than others.
Community Fisheries need a solid implementation and development to achieve their goal, which need time and enough of a budget to develop a full policy and to define their duties, responsibilities and rights. These can be achieved by promoting and supporting all areas as well as motivating in integrating the implementation smoothly from top to bottom.
Fishery resources are under heavy pressure from an increasing population that uses natural resources for their livelihoods; as well as increased conflict spreading amongst the areas, the conflicts come from benefices and the person who use fisheries resources.
Unsuccessful in using a single method of law reform in caring for fisheries resources, with problems and conflicts in using fisheries resources. The results show that the poor fishers are incapable of making a living for their livelihoods, without recourse to using illegal fishing and thus the fishery resources become decreased.
In October 2000 the Royal Government of Cambodia started a reform to release around 56% of fishing lots in Cambodia to fishers who set up Community Fisheries to manage these fishing lots that are release and cut from lots. Fisheries reform has the objective to make realistic use of fishery resources in a sustainable manner and to increase the standard of living of fishers.
Up until now 360 Community Fisheries have been established and are undergoing a transitional period across the Country, with no policy regulating guidelines for implementation, or measures taken to set up and manage methods by Community Fisheries with a vision for Cambodia which has low human resources knowledge, experience and limited management capacity.
According to study, the vision and definition deferent for Community Fisheries as Co Fisheries Community management Fisheries Resources management depends on the community and Community Fisheries.
Community Fisheries amount to 6 types and undergo about 13 steps for management, but no one Community Fishery has implemented all of those steps.
Establishment and declaration guidelines have a slow course to establishment, and Community Fisheries management are not yet good enough because they do not know their duties, responsibilities or rights for using natural resources and managing them.
By promoting and supporting the fisheries authorities, relevant institutions, non-government organisations and international organisations, some Community Fisheries are well implemented, although some Community Fisheries have been implemented better than others.
Community Fisheries need a solid implementation and development to achieve their goal, which need time and enough of a budget to develop a full policy and to define their duties, responsibilities and rights. These can be achieved by promoting and supporting all areas as well as motivating in integrating the implementation smoothly from top to bottom.
Fish Exports from Cambodia
Summary
Fisheries play a vital role in supporting rural livelihoods throughout Cambodia, but especially around the Tonle Sap (Great Lake) area where more than one million people depend on the fisheries sector for employment, income, and food security. With large surpluses of fish caught during peak fishing periods, fish trade and export is critical to income growth in the sector. Presently, fresh and processed fish are traded widely within Cambodia, exported in significant quantities to neighbouring countries, and in some instances exported to more distant markets. However, beyond this general picture, much remains unclear about fish marketing and export.
With an inland fisheries catch of more than 400,000 tonnes per year, Cambodia’s fisheries sector has been targeted as an important sector for export promotion. This promotion is occurring within the context of broader regional and international trade agreements, namely the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement and World Trade Organisation accession. While regional and international market integration is intended to spur “pro-poor” trade, to be effective, market integration and trade efficiencies will also need to be improved domestically, especially within and from rural areas.
Constraints on fish trade and export can negatively affect the livelihoods of the many small- and medium-scale fishers supplying exporters, as well as others working in the sector. When costs, fees, and risks associated with fish export make it difficult for exporters to earn a profit, they must reduce prices offered to fish suppliers in order to stay in business, which in turn can reduce incomes throughout the sector. Conversely, where policy changes can increase efficiencies and lower costs for trade and export, much of the benefit would be passed on to fishers (through higher prices for their fish) because exporters are intensely competing for fish supply.
To assess the current conditions under which fish are exported from Cambodia, the Natural Resources and Environment Programme of the Cambodia Development Resource Institute carried out a fish exports study from November 2002 to June 2003, with much of the fieldwork conducted during an intensive period in January 2003. The study focused on fish exports from the Great Lake to Thailand (via Poipet). Information and data were collected through more than 70 semi-structured interviews with exporters, wholesalers, traders, fishers, and government officials. In addition, researchers made three “follow the fish” trips with export shipments to directly observe trade conditions and crosscheck information gathered in interviews. Key objectives included identifying the typical market structure, describing credit and financing arrangements, assessing trade and export constraints, quantifying transaction costs (including fees), describing the official regulatory framework and actual practices, and identifying policy recommendations.
Market Structure
The market structure for fish exports from the Great Lake to Thailand involves thousands of fishers, traders, wholesalers, exporters, and Thai market distributors. Credit plays a critical role in this market structure with nearly all fishers and traders interviewed dependent on credit to support their businesses and activities. Vertical relationships based on credit ensure that fishers only sell to their trader/creditor, and traders only sell to their exporter/creditor, providing stability in the supply of fish for export.
In contrast to the stability created through credit and financing dependencies, a number of dynamic changes have been taking place within the market structure, as reflected in the collapse of KAMFIMEX’s monopoly, rise of CDCO, and consolidation of unlicensed exporters. These changes are occurring in the context of intensified competition for fish due to a declining supply and pervasive fee charges that reduce profit margins.
Profit margins are also under pressure due to the weak price negotiation position of Cambodian exporters within the current market structure. With no other export options except to sell at Long Koeur market in Thailand, and the combined threats of repaying border fees, additional labour costs, and high spoilage levels if they do not sell on the day they cross the border to Long Koeur market, exporters often find themselves accepting lower prices than expected for their fish. Exporters suggest that the presence of fish distribution facilities in Poipet would allow them to store fish for several days if necessary, making it possible to negotiate better prices with Thai distributors.
Export Costs and Fees
Data collected on fish exports from the five landing sites studied indicate, with little variation, that exporters face significant fee charges that absorb a large proportion of their potential earnings. At $83 per tonne, fees add more than 50 percent to the costs of exporting fish. Indeed, fees represent the highest component of export costs, followed by spoilage/weight loss ($51 per tonne) and transportation ($26 per tonne). Average profit margins are estimated to be about $38 per tonne. The fact that fees levels are more than twice as much as the profit margin earned on fish exports is a strong indication of the widespread “rent-seeking” activity of government institutions and officials. Fee extraction is maximised to the point where exporters report their foremost goal is business survival; investment and business growth are not viewed as possible.
Closer examination of fish export fees (through a case analysis of a shipment from Chhnok Tru in Kompong Chhnang province to Long Koeur market in Thailand) reveals several striking findings. First, exporting fish along this route involves 27 different fee payments to 15 institutions in 16 different places. The most significant fees are paid for issuing and “checking” transport permits, followed by payments to customs, a road investment company, and a range of institutions with no legal basis for collecting fees. Second, of the institutions collecting fees, fisheries institutions collect the greatest amount but this represents only 20 percent of total fees. Institutions with no direct role in fisheries management collect 80 percent of fees. Third, more than half of all fees are collected at the border. In contrast, the provincial fisheries office of Kompong Chhnang, which is responsible for fisheries management in the area, collects only about three percent of all fees (one percent is recorded as an official fee and two percent is collected informally). Finally, when comparing actual payments to official fees (if enforced), it is starkly clear that prior to any efforts to improve official compliance, the fee system itself needs to be overhauled. Enforcement of current regulations and fees would triple the current payments made by exporters, which would surely cause a collapse in fish exports.
Regulatory Framework and Actual Practice
Actual practices undertaken to export fish bear little resemblance to what is required under the official regulatory system. Most fish shipped through Poipet are exported without a license, and exported throughout the year regardless of closed season regulations. This informal process involves numerous fee payments to a variety of institutions at the landing site, along the road, and at the border. Fees are either charged with no legal basis, or, where a legal basis exists, negotiated to support informal payments. Surprisingly, licensed exporters report that they make the same series of informal payments as unlicensed exporters, despite holding a license from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and Customs Department in Phnom Penh.
Based on interviews with exporters and observations of fish shipments, there are no instances in which official fees are paid in accordance with the official rate. All fees are negotiated. Since most official fees are based on fish quantity and/or value of the fish shipment, the most common method used by officials to collect informal payments is to vastly underreport fish quantities in licenses and permits. For example, fisheries officials record only one-fourth to one-tenth of the actual shipment amount in transport permits. Such underreporting allows officials to negotiate an informal payment on top of the much-reduced official fee.
Since many payments have no clear legal basis and may differ from trip to trip, exporters complain that the arbitrariness of payments makes operating a business very difficult because of uncertainty about costs. In an interesting market response to this problem, brokers have begun providing the service of taking responsibility for checkpoint and border fee payments in return for a set price. Through their positions as current/past government officials, military, or military police, brokers have established relations with fee collecting institutions, making it possible for them to pay lower fees and have greater certainty about fee charges than exporters who pay directly.
Recommendations
In the promotion of fish exports, much of the focus has been on spurring investment in value-added processing, improving quality standards and control, and identifying high-value export markets. Given the lack of processing, problems with quality, and scant exports to countries other than Thailand and Vietnam, these efforts are clearly important. But investment and quality improvements are unlikely to come without first having significant changes in the climate for business and trade within the fisheries sector, including a substantial and credible reduction in current fees and transparency and certainty about the regulatory environment.
Based on the findings of this study, twelve recommendations are summarised below. They are grouped under three themes:
· Improve governance and transparency; this must include a significant overhaul of the current license, permit, and fee system.
1. Remove the transport permit requirement for fish trade.
2. Eliminate fees collected by checkpoints and institutions that have no clear legal basis for collecting fees.
3. Make a public statement that “Sending Goods” letters from KAMFIMEX are no longer required for fish export.
4. End the contract with Ban Sambath House.
5. Eliminate the 4 percent fish distribution centre fees in Battambang province.
6. Revise downward the 10 percent export tax charged by the Cambodian Customs Department.
· Increase linkages and accountability between fee payments and fisheries management.
7. Concentrate fee collection at fishing grounds to support fisheries management and enforcement; eliminate or sharply reduce fee collection elsewhere.
8. Establish ‘one-stop’ fee payment service with transparent procedures and clearly defined fee levels.
9. Consider re-imposing a fishing license fee on middle-scale fishers (if transparent fee collection is possible).
· Facilitate the development of a more efficient fish trade, distribution, and export system.
10. Encourage investment in the establishment of fish distribution centres at Poipet.
11. Remove barriers to export via Sihanoukville; support identification of new export markets.
12. Support further study of the credit system in the fisheries sector.
Fisheries play a vital role in supporting rural livelihoods throughout Cambodia, but especially around the Tonle Sap (Great Lake) area where more than one million people depend on the fisheries sector for employment, income, and food security. With large surpluses of fish caught during peak fishing periods, fish trade and export is critical to income growth in the sector. Presently, fresh and processed fish are traded widely within Cambodia, exported in significant quantities to neighbouring countries, and in some instances exported to more distant markets. However, beyond this general picture, much remains unclear about fish marketing and export.
With an inland fisheries catch of more than 400,000 tonnes per year, Cambodia’s fisheries sector has been targeted as an important sector for export promotion. This promotion is occurring within the context of broader regional and international trade agreements, namely the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement and World Trade Organisation accession. While regional and international market integration is intended to spur “pro-poor” trade, to be effective, market integration and trade efficiencies will also need to be improved domestically, especially within and from rural areas.
Constraints on fish trade and export can negatively affect the livelihoods of the many small- and medium-scale fishers supplying exporters, as well as others working in the sector. When costs, fees, and risks associated with fish export make it difficult for exporters to earn a profit, they must reduce prices offered to fish suppliers in order to stay in business, which in turn can reduce incomes throughout the sector. Conversely, where policy changes can increase efficiencies and lower costs for trade and export, much of the benefit would be passed on to fishers (through higher prices for their fish) because exporters are intensely competing for fish supply.
To assess the current conditions under which fish are exported from Cambodia, the Natural Resources and Environment Programme of the Cambodia Development Resource Institute carried out a fish exports study from November 2002 to June 2003, with much of the fieldwork conducted during an intensive period in January 2003. The study focused on fish exports from the Great Lake to Thailand (via Poipet). Information and data were collected through more than 70 semi-structured interviews with exporters, wholesalers, traders, fishers, and government officials. In addition, researchers made three “follow the fish” trips with export shipments to directly observe trade conditions and crosscheck information gathered in interviews. Key objectives included identifying the typical market structure, describing credit and financing arrangements, assessing trade and export constraints, quantifying transaction costs (including fees), describing the official regulatory framework and actual practices, and identifying policy recommendations.
Market Structure
The market structure for fish exports from the Great Lake to Thailand involves thousands of fishers, traders, wholesalers, exporters, and Thai market distributors. Credit plays a critical role in this market structure with nearly all fishers and traders interviewed dependent on credit to support their businesses and activities. Vertical relationships based on credit ensure that fishers only sell to their trader/creditor, and traders only sell to their exporter/creditor, providing stability in the supply of fish for export.
In contrast to the stability created through credit and financing dependencies, a number of dynamic changes have been taking place within the market structure, as reflected in the collapse of KAMFIMEX’s monopoly, rise of CDCO, and consolidation of unlicensed exporters. These changes are occurring in the context of intensified competition for fish due to a declining supply and pervasive fee charges that reduce profit margins.
Profit margins are also under pressure due to the weak price negotiation position of Cambodian exporters within the current market structure. With no other export options except to sell at Long Koeur market in Thailand, and the combined threats of repaying border fees, additional labour costs, and high spoilage levels if they do not sell on the day they cross the border to Long Koeur market, exporters often find themselves accepting lower prices than expected for their fish. Exporters suggest that the presence of fish distribution facilities in Poipet would allow them to store fish for several days if necessary, making it possible to negotiate better prices with Thai distributors.
Export Costs and Fees
Data collected on fish exports from the five landing sites studied indicate, with little variation, that exporters face significant fee charges that absorb a large proportion of their potential earnings. At $83 per tonne, fees add more than 50 percent to the costs of exporting fish. Indeed, fees represent the highest component of export costs, followed by spoilage/weight loss ($51 per tonne) and transportation ($26 per tonne). Average profit margins are estimated to be about $38 per tonne. The fact that fees levels are more than twice as much as the profit margin earned on fish exports is a strong indication of the widespread “rent-seeking” activity of government institutions and officials. Fee extraction is maximised to the point where exporters report their foremost goal is business survival; investment and business growth are not viewed as possible.
Closer examination of fish export fees (through a case analysis of a shipment from Chhnok Tru in Kompong Chhnang province to Long Koeur market in Thailand) reveals several striking findings. First, exporting fish along this route involves 27 different fee payments to 15 institutions in 16 different places. The most significant fees are paid for issuing and “checking” transport permits, followed by payments to customs, a road investment company, and a range of institutions with no legal basis for collecting fees. Second, of the institutions collecting fees, fisheries institutions collect the greatest amount but this represents only 20 percent of total fees. Institutions with no direct role in fisheries management collect 80 percent of fees. Third, more than half of all fees are collected at the border. In contrast, the provincial fisheries office of Kompong Chhnang, which is responsible for fisheries management in the area, collects only about three percent of all fees (one percent is recorded as an official fee and two percent is collected informally). Finally, when comparing actual payments to official fees (if enforced), it is starkly clear that prior to any efforts to improve official compliance, the fee system itself needs to be overhauled. Enforcement of current regulations and fees would triple the current payments made by exporters, which would surely cause a collapse in fish exports.
Regulatory Framework and Actual Practice
Actual practices undertaken to export fish bear little resemblance to what is required under the official regulatory system. Most fish shipped through Poipet are exported without a license, and exported throughout the year regardless of closed season regulations. This informal process involves numerous fee payments to a variety of institutions at the landing site, along the road, and at the border. Fees are either charged with no legal basis, or, where a legal basis exists, negotiated to support informal payments. Surprisingly, licensed exporters report that they make the same series of informal payments as unlicensed exporters, despite holding a license from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and Customs Department in Phnom Penh.
Based on interviews with exporters and observations of fish shipments, there are no instances in which official fees are paid in accordance with the official rate. All fees are negotiated. Since most official fees are based on fish quantity and/or value of the fish shipment, the most common method used by officials to collect informal payments is to vastly underreport fish quantities in licenses and permits. For example, fisheries officials record only one-fourth to one-tenth of the actual shipment amount in transport permits. Such underreporting allows officials to negotiate an informal payment on top of the much-reduced official fee.
Since many payments have no clear legal basis and may differ from trip to trip, exporters complain that the arbitrariness of payments makes operating a business very difficult because of uncertainty about costs. In an interesting market response to this problem, brokers have begun providing the service of taking responsibility for checkpoint and border fee payments in return for a set price. Through their positions as current/past government officials, military, or military police, brokers have established relations with fee collecting institutions, making it possible for them to pay lower fees and have greater certainty about fee charges than exporters who pay directly.
Recommendations
In the promotion of fish exports, much of the focus has been on spurring investment in value-added processing, improving quality standards and control, and identifying high-value export markets. Given the lack of processing, problems with quality, and scant exports to countries other than Thailand and Vietnam, these efforts are clearly important. But investment and quality improvements are unlikely to come without first having significant changes in the climate for business and trade within the fisheries sector, including a substantial and credible reduction in current fees and transparency and certainty about the regulatory environment.
Based on the findings of this study, twelve recommendations are summarised below. They are grouped under three themes:
· Improve governance and transparency; this must include a significant overhaul of the current license, permit, and fee system.
1. Remove the transport permit requirement for fish trade.
2. Eliminate fees collected by checkpoints and institutions that have no clear legal basis for collecting fees.
3. Make a public statement that “Sending Goods” letters from KAMFIMEX are no longer required for fish export.
4. End the contract with Ban Sambath House.
5. Eliminate the 4 percent fish distribution centre fees in Battambang province.
6. Revise downward the 10 percent export tax charged by the Cambodian Customs Department.
· Increase linkages and accountability between fee payments and fisheries management.
7. Concentrate fee collection at fishing grounds to support fisheries management and enforcement; eliminate or sharply reduce fee collection elsewhere.
8. Establish ‘one-stop’ fee payment service with transparent procedures and clearly defined fee levels.
9. Consider re-imposing a fishing license fee on middle-scale fishers (if transparent fee collection is possible).
· Facilitate the development of a more efficient fish trade, distribution, and export system.
10. Encourage investment in the establishment of fish distribution centres at Poipet.
11. Remove barriers to export via Sihanoukville; support identification of new export markets.
12. Support further study of the credit system in the fisheries sector.
Fish Marketing in Cambodia
Summary
With an inland catch of more than 400,000 tonnes per year and high domestic rates of fish consumption, freshwater fish are one of Cambodia’s most important traded commodities. Fresh and processed fish are traded widely within Cambodia, with the majority of trade originating at the Tonle Sap (Great Lake). Fish marketing involves a number of steps and challenges including storage, handling, aggregating enough for a shipment, transportation, negotiating sales, and maintaining quality. Marketing inefficiencies raise costs, which can negatively affect the income of fish marketers as well as fishers and others working in the sector.
To assess current conditions under which freshwater fish are marketed, this study examines fish trade from two major landing sites at the Great Lake to retail markets in Phnom Penh – the largest domestic fish trade route. Findings are based on nearly 60 semi-structured interviews conducted with fishers, traders, distributors, a distribution centre owner, retailers, and government officials. In addition, two “follow the fish” trips were made with shipments from the landing site to the distribution centre in order to directly observe trade conditions and crosscheck information gathered in interviews.
Marketing fish from the Great Lake to Phnom Penh involves three main transactions – sales from fishers to traders, from traders to retailers via distributors, and from retailers to customers. Distributors play a dominant role in the market structure as the financiers of fish trade. They lend capital to traders to support fish purchases and trading activities, and traders re-lend some of this capital to fishers for gear purchases and other expenses. Under the terms of these loans, fishers must sell all fish to their trader (creditor), and traders must sell all fish through their distributor (creditor) and pay associated “commission fees” – usually about 6-8 percent of total sales revenue. These tied relations are common for trade from the Great Lake to Phnom Penh, with most fishers in debt to a trader, and most traders in debt to a distributor.
The current market structure supports a stable fish supply for trade, but the problem of credit dependency places fishers and (to a lesser extent) traders at a disadvantage. Fishers are clearly in a weak position for negotiating the sale of their catch. They must sell to the trader to whom they are in debt. Another problem is the lack of transparent financing costs. Because any interest charged on loans is either embedded in the (discounted) price offered to fishers for fish, or part of the “commission fee” that traders pay to distributors on all sales, the true cost of financing remains unclear. It is likely that lenders (distributors and traders) take advantage of this lack of transparency to increase returns on their loans.
Fish trade is affected by a number of other constraints as well. Traders and distributors criticise distribution centre fees as too high given the lack of services. But with only one centre serving Phnom Penh for each major trade route, they have no (legal) alternative place at which to conduct transactions. Some traders also complain about the fees they must pay along the trade route. Spoilage and weight loss represent a substantial cost at 10-15 percent of shipment weight (or about $55 per tonne). These value losses are compounded by the retail marketing practice of displaying fish for sale without ice. Retailers remove ice because it is the common perception of customers that the presence of ice indicates a lack of fish freshness. In total, these constraints result in marketing costs that average about $308 per tonne from the Great Lake to retail markets in Phnom Penh. As a result, marketing margins account for roughly 65-75 percent of fish retail prices; fishers receive 25-35 percent.
To improve the livelihoods of fishers through increased returns on their catch, steps need to be taken to reduce marketing costs and inefficiencies. To this end, the following policy recommendations are offered for consideration.
1) Inject competition into fish distribution services by granting additional licenses for distribution centres.
2) Campaign to change consumer perceptions about ice use and the freshness of freshwater fish at retail markets.
3) Conduct further technical research on spoilage problems in the marketing of fish from fishing grounds to distribution centres.
4) Determine the legality of current fee charges along domestic fish trade routes and eliminate fees that have no clear legal basis.
5) Carry out additional research on the role of the informal financing/credit system in the fisheries sector
With an inland catch of more than 400,000 tonnes per year and high domestic rates of fish consumption, freshwater fish are one of Cambodia’s most important traded commodities. Fresh and processed fish are traded widely within Cambodia, with the majority of trade originating at the Tonle Sap (Great Lake). Fish marketing involves a number of steps and challenges including storage, handling, aggregating enough for a shipment, transportation, negotiating sales, and maintaining quality. Marketing inefficiencies raise costs, which can negatively affect the income of fish marketers as well as fishers and others working in the sector.
To assess current conditions under which freshwater fish are marketed, this study examines fish trade from two major landing sites at the Great Lake to retail markets in Phnom Penh – the largest domestic fish trade route. Findings are based on nearly 60 semi-structured interviews conducted with fishers, traders, distributors, a distribution centre owner, retailers, and government officials. In addition, two “follow the fish” trips were made with shipments from the landing site to the distribution centre in order to directly observe trade conditions and crosscheck information gathered in interviews.
Marketing fish from the Great Lake to Phnom Penh involves three main transactions – sales from fishers to traders, from traders to retailers via distributors, and from retailers to customers. Distributors play a dominant role in the market structure as the financiers of fish trade. They lend capital to traders to support fish purchases and trading activities, and traders re-lend some of this capital to fishers for gear purchases and other expenses. Under the terms of these loans, fishers must sell all fish to their trader (creditor), and traders must sell all fish through their distributor (creditor) and pay associated “commission fees” – usually about 6-8 percent of total sales revenue. These tied relations are common for trade from the Great Lake to Phnom Penh, with most fishers in debt to a trader, and most traders in debt to a distributor.
The current market structure supports a stable fish supply for trade, but the problem of credit dependency places fishers and (to a lesser extent) traders at a disadvantage. Fishers are clearly in a weak position for negotiating the sale of their catch. They must sell to the trader to whom they are in debt. Another problem is the lack of transparent financing costs. Because any interest charged on loans is either embedded in the (discounted) price offered to fishers for fish, or part of the “commission fee” that traders pay to distributors on all sales, the true cost of financing remains unclear. It is likely that lenders (distributors and traders) take advantage of this lack of transparency to increase returns on their loans.
Fish trade is affected by a number of other constraints as well. Traders and distributors criticise distribution centre fees as too high given the lack of services. But with only one centre serving Phnom Penh for each major trade route, they have no (legal) alternative place at which to conduct transactions. Some traders also complain about the fees they must pay along the trade route. Spoilage and weight loss represent a substantial cost at 10-15 percent of shipment weight (or about $55 per tonne). These value losses are compounded by the retail marketing practice of displaying fish for sale without ice. Retailers remove ice because it is the common perception of customers that the presence of ice indicates a lack of fish freshness. In total, these constraints result in marketing costs that average about $308 per tonne from the Great Lake to retail markets in Phnom Penh. As a result, marketing margins account for roughly 65-75 percent of fish retail prices; fishers receive 25-35 percent.
To improve the livelihoods of fishers through increased returns on their catch, steps need to be taken to reduce marketing costs and inefficiencies. To this end, the following policy recommendations are offered for consideration.
1) Inject competition into fish distribution services by granting additional licenses for distribution centres.
2) Campaign to change consumer perceptions about ice use and the freshness of freshwater fish at retail markets.
3) Conduct further technical research on spoilage problems in the marketing of fish from fishing grounds to distribution centres.
4) Determine the legality of current fee charges along domestic fish trade routes and eliminate fees that have no clear legal basis.
5) Carry out additional research on the role of the informal financing/credit system in the fisheries sector
Ding Dong the bells are going to chime...
Just received a dark purple smelly envelope from one of my Khmer colleagues.
Yes folks, that is right, my first Khmer wedding invitation !
A couple of weekends from now I will be drinking warm beer at 08:00, having monks throw water and lotus petals over me while eating chicken gizzard porridge.
So what the hell is the form ? I know that I am supposed to slip some cash into an envelope at some point and slip it to somebody, but who? When?? How much??? aggghhhh
Yes folks, that is right, my first Khmer wedding invitation !
A couple of weekends from now I will be drinking warm beer at 08:00, having monks throw water and lotus petals over me while eating chicken gizzard porridge.
So what the hell is the form ? I know that I am supposed to slip some cash into an envelope at some point and slip it to somebody, but who? When?? How much??? aggghhhh
Saturday, October 30, 2004
The Khmer Kitchen
The Khmer Kitchen
“Many of the people own their houses, but possess no tables, benches, basins, or buckets.
An earthenware pot serves to cook the rice, and sometimes earthenware stove for making sauce. Three stones are buried to form a hearth; ladles are made from coconuts. For serving rice, they make use of pottery dishes from China or copperware. To hold sauce, they fashion leaves into little cups which, even when filled with liquid, let nothing escape. "Chiao" leaves are also used to make little spoons for carrying liquid to the mouth; these they throw away when the meal is finished. They also keep beside them a tin or earthenware bowl filled with water for rinsing the hands, since only their fingers are used in eating rice, which is sticky. Wine is drunk from metal goblets, but poor people content themselves with earthenware cups. Every person dining in the houses of the nobility is given silver plates, and sometimes even gold ones.
At royal banquets a great number of food utensils are used, fashioned in a very special manner. Mats from Ming-chou are laid on the ground, and in some houses skins of tigers, panthers, deer and so forth, are laid down, as well as rattan mats.
Food is protected by cloth, and in the King’s palace use is made of double-woven silk spangled with gold, all of which are gifts of foreign merchants.
To hull the rice the Cambodians do not employ grindstones, contenting themselves with bruising it with a mortar and pestle.”
Chou Ta-kuan
Chinese envoy writing back to the Emperor in the 13th Century
These paragraphs from the celebrated account of Chou Ta-kuan on the customs of the Khmer Empire are the only available written description of the home and kitchen of ordinary Khmers at the height of their king’s power in the late 13th century. Chou Ta-kuan was part of a Chinese mission and spent a year between 1296 and 1927 at Angkor, the centre of power of what the Chinese knew as Chenla.
He returned to China to write Notes of the Customs of Cambodia in which he tells of the lives of the Khmer king and his people, from what many scholars say is his Middle Kingdom perspective. His keen observations are most valuable nonetheless.
The only other description of ordinary life in the Khmer Empire can be seen on the south wall of the Bayon temple, built in the 12th and 13th centuries during the reigns of Kings Jayavarman VII to Jayavarman VIII. All the monuments of the Angkor Empire serve religious purposes or honour rulers and their ancestors. The carvings on the south wall give us a glimpse of how food was prepared, what utensils were used, and how the cuisine was enjoyed. Many of the utensils and cooking techniques seen carved into the stone can still be found in homes throughout Cambodia today.
On the south wall the bas-reliefs even show a busy restaurant and a few steps away a scene shows people dressed in Chinese attire cooking a deer. An Angkorean kitchen is believed by some to be located at Wat Athvea, four kilometres south of Siem Reap city.
The structure was built during the reign of Suryavarman II (1113-1150), one of the greatest Khmer kings who initiated the construction of Angkor Wat. Villagers from nearby communities believe the temple, located by the Siem Reap River, once housed a kitchen which catered to the Khmer kings.
The villagers point to loose stones from the temple, which have fallen over time, and describe them as the kraya cham-en meaning "the preparation of the royal meal".
The villagers talk about brick stoves and a wall where meat, baskets of ingredients, and utensils were hung. There was never a roof over the structure so as to allow the smoke to escape quickly. Local people say this is what they were told by their parents, who in turn were told by their parents.
Professor Claude Jacques argues that there is no archaeological evidence a kitchen has survived the centuries since the Angkor Empire. The reason for this, he says, is simply that anything that was not to honour the gods was built of perishable material – even the kings’ palace. He says that was because men are mortal and will cease to exist one day and so too are the materials relating to his life. The gods, however, are immortal and thus stone was used to honour them forever.
The professor believes that the only glimpses of the ancient cuisine are those in the writings of Chou Ta-kuan and those on the south wall of Bayon. The Khmer kitchen today, as it is found in the countryside, is usually detached from the main house. It is close enough to be of easy access, but far enough away and airy to ensure smoke from firewood and undesirable odours do not disturb the main household.
The most important utensils found in the kitchen are:
“Many of the people own their houses, but possess no tables, benches, basins, or buckets.
An earthenware pot serves to cook the rice, and sometimes earthenware stove for making sauce. Three stones are buried to form a hearth; ladles are made from coconuts. For serving rice, they make use of pottery dishes from China or copperware. To hold sauce, they fashion leaves into little cups which, even when filled with liquid, let nothing escape. "Chiao" leaves are also used to make little spoons for carrying liquid to the mouth; these they throw away when the meal is finished. They also keep beside them a tin or earthenware bowl filled with water for rinsing the hands, since only their fingers are used in eating rice, which is sticky. Wine is drunk from metal goblets, but poor people content themselves with earthenware cups. Every person dining in the houses of the nobility is given silver plates, and sometimes even gold ones.
At royal banquets a great number of food utensils are used, fashioned in a very special manner. Mats from Ming-chou are laid on the ground, and in some houses skins of tigers, panthers, deer and so forth, are laid down, as well as rattan mats.
Food is protected by cloth, and in the King’s palace use is made of double-woven silk spangled with gold, all of which are gifts of foreign merchants.
To hull the rice the Cambodians do not employ grindstones, contenting themselves with bruising it with a mortar and pestle.”
Chou Ta-kuan
Chinese envoy writing back to the Emperor in the 13th Century
These paragraphs from the celebrated account of Chou Ta-kuan on the customs of the Khmer Empire are the only available written description of the home and kitchen of ordinary Khmers at the height of their king’s power in the late 13th century. Chou Ta-kuan was part of a Chinese mission and spent a year between 1296 and 1927 at Angkor, the centre of power of what the Chinese knew as Chenla.
He returned to China to write Notes of the Customs of Cambodia in which he tells of the lives of the Khmer king and his people, from what many scholars say is his Middle Kingdom perspective. His keen observations are most valuable nonetheless.
The only other description of ordinary life in the Khmer Empire can be seen on the south wall of the Bayon temple, built in the 12th and 13th centuries during the reigns of Kings Jayavarman VII to Jayavarman VIII. All the monuments of the Angkor Empire serve religious purposes or honour rulers and their ancestors. The carvings on the south wall give us a glimpse of how food was prepared, what utensils were used, and how the cuisine was enjoyed. Many of the utensils and cooking techniques seen carved into the stone can still be found in homes throughout Cambodia today.
On the south wall the bas-reliefs even show a busy restaurant and a few steps away a scene shows people dressed in Chinese attire cooking a deer. An Angkorean kitchen is believed by some to be located at Wat Athvea, four kilometres south of Siem Reap city.
The structure was built during the reign of Suryavarman II (1113-1150), one of the greatest Khmer kings who initiated the construction of Angkor Wat. Villagers from nearby communities believe the temple, located by the Siem Reap River, once housed a kitchen which catered to the Khmer kings.
The villagers point to loose stones from the temple, which have fallen over time, and describe them as the kraya cham-en meaning "the preparation of the royal meal".
The villagers talk about brick stoves and a wall where meat, baskets of ingredients, and utensils were hung. There was never a roof over the structure so as to allow the smoke to escape quickly. Local people say this is what they were told by their parents, who in turn were told by their parents.
Professor Claude Jacques argues that there is no archaeological evidence a kitchen has survived the centuries since the Angkor Empire. The reason for this, he says, is simply that anything that was not to honour the gods was built of perishable material – even the kings’ palace. He says that was because men are mortal and will cease to exist one day and so too are the materials relating to his life. The gods, however, are immortal and thus stone was used to honour them forever.
The professor believes that the only glimpses of the ancient cuisine are those in the writings of Chou Ta-kuan and those on the south wall of Bayon. The Khmer kitchen today, as it is found in the countryside, is usually detached from the main house. It is close enough to be of easy access, but far enough away and airy to ensure smoke from firewood and undesirable odours do not disturb the main household.
The most important utensils found in the kitchen are:
- The mortar and pestle to make the kroeung
- A bamboo sieve for filtering the prahok stock and ripe tamarind juice
- Various earthen stoves providing the different intensities of heat required to cook different dishes
- A coconut grater
- Earthen pots for cooking rice and soup, and for storing water
- Jars for storing prahok and kapi, and other ingredients, and
- Loose bamboo baskets for storing vegetables.
In many kitchens aluminium pots have replaced earthenware. Utensils are usually hung on the walls of the kitchen so they are in easy reach. The frying pan is also commonly found these days since the Khmers adopted frying from Chinese cookery. Traditional Khmer cooking is centred on boiling, grilling and roasting.
In some houses, there is also a bigger mortar for grinding rice, and flat round bamboo trays for separating the husk from the grain. There are not parts of the kitchen, however, but considered part of the household possessions.
Thursday, October 21, 2004
Khmer Builders
Khmer Builders: Part I – The Morning
So here we are, Monday the 4th of October. I roll into the office at 07:00 as normal, swing round to park my bike only to be confronted by a huge mountain of sand – 9 or 10 foot high, odd I thought, that is not normally there, so I ride round the next corner to be greeted by an equally large pile of bricks. All very odd, I think. Maybe they are branching out from fish into build supplies – after 8 months, I am being surprised by less and less. Plus it is early on a Monday morning, I have not had a coffee [or any rice] yet so I am probably not firing on all brain cells yet…After parking my bike I stroll over to the office, fishing the keys out of my pocket and thinking about the many things I had to do this week.As I reached the secret side door into my office I noticed that something was wrong, but did not immediately register what it was.Ah yes, now I could see.The entire office is a building site.Internal walls were missing, so were the tiles of the floor.All of the desks had been piled into one corner, in an opposite corner 3 square feet of new tiles had been laid.Rubble and dust were everywhere, staff standing around looking blank, workmen sleeping in the corner.As I was standing there feeling, and probably looking, slightly baffled, the office vice-chief wandered in, his eyes go wide as he looks around, turning to me with and with his mastery of the English language, says ‘oh, mess’And I thought that I had a knack for understatement…He has a hurried, and what seems slightly heated, exchange with one of the builders [who have now woken up] it seems that they will be here for about, maybe, around, half a month.So as more staff start to drift in we manage to commandeer a few desks in the adjoining office, although none of those are connected to the office network or the internet…About half the staff just shrugs and says that they will ‘work at home’ which is a Khmer euphemism for ‘ we are going to have an extra couple of week’s holiday now’The office chief is out of the Country this week, attending some seminar or another, and next week is a bank holiday. Well, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are Bank holidays, which translates as – nobody will be in the office all week.Every time that I think that I understand Cambodia, that there will be no more surprises.
Khmer Builders: Part II – The Afternoon
So having spent the morning fighting over desks and climbing over piles of desks and rubble and sleeping builders to get from one side of the building to the other, I award myself a long lunch break and head off to a restaurant for some quality peace and quiet.
Wonderful.
Upon my return to the office I actually manage to do an hour’s work, then the rain starts, pounding down on the tin roof of the extended part of the building that we are now in, deafening as I am sure that many of you are aware of.
After an hour of this dull semi rhythmic pounding, and the start of some throbbing behind the eyes, there is a god almighty crash, followed by much shrieking and wailing in K’mai.
The next thing that I am aware of is being very, very, wet and slightly confused – oops no, make that dazed.
The roof had fallen in.
Several hundred gallons of built up water that had leaked into the false ceiling had proved too much for it. Those of us crammed, squatting, into this office were drenched and covered in plaster, rubble, and bits of polystyrene roofing tiles.
There was about 2 inches of water on the floor and more was pouring in.
Dashing around like a lunatic I started unplugging the dozens of extension cables and adapters that were strewn across, after a moment my colleagues finally realised why I was doing it and joined in.
After I had made sure that none of us were about to be electrocuted, I looked around at my Khmer colleagues who were all now giggling and laughing.
Cultural differences not withstanding, sometimes I do think that they are all CRAZY
Field Trip - Part Two
Friday afternoon in Kratie
So we are in Kratie for a couple of days, having arrived by boat from K. Cham.
We have our meeting with the Provincial Office early afternoon and then my Khmer colleagues insist that I go and see the dolphin. an excellent idea after a few days of fairly solid travelling. The vice chief of the local office says that he will go with us, so he gets his moto. As there are 3 of us, he calls two of his friends to drive me and my other colleague – luxury 3 motos between 6 people !
His friends turn up and they turn out to be the vice-chief of Kratie tourist police and the chief of Kratie Military police!?!
As motodope drivers go, you can not get much better !
I go with the Chief of Military Police. A stocky Khmer who it seems speaks no English, as we approach his bike I am a little surprised, instead of the requisite Honda Dream, he has some customised 250 low-rider, complete with oversize forks, ape-hanger bars and a king~queen seat.
As I see the bike he looks at me and utters 4 of the 6 words in English he knows,
“I love Peter Fonda”
He then smiles and pull out his [fake?] Rayban’s…
mmm???
Being somewhat larger than the average Khmer I feel quite exposed perched high on the back of his seat, which in reality was designed for some petite girl to be sat side-saddle on. But we head off down the road.
Now, as anyone of you who has been to Kratie will testify, the 15Km of road from the town to the dolphin place are not the best bits of road in the country, even the bits that have tarmac are full of holes, strewn with gravel or just general full of high pitch and yaw undulations due the large trees and their roots by the roadside, so after a few Kilometres my arse is beginning to feel a bit numb – due also in part to the fact half of it is perched on the chrome plated rear light rather than the actual seat.
All the way along he is humming something to himself. After a few K’s I realise that he is humming ‘Born to be wild’
Then as a Daelim careens past us on the wrong side of the road, he lets out an almighty roar, shouting and screaming at the rider and he then opens the throttle up full giving chase - I should point out at this point that we are on the dirt road starch and the road has more holes than surface at this point – as we bounce along as fast as the bike is capable of going the guy on the Daelim puts his head down and desperately tries to get away, now this chase only lasted about 5 minutes – until the guy on the Daelim hits a pothole the that was actually bigger than his bike – but it was enough to scare the shit out of me. I am caked in mud, my spine feels as though it has fused and my arse is almost completely off the back of the bike.
Reaching the pothole we skid to a halt and for a second I think that we are going to drop the 2 feet down the hole to join him, but we swerve just enough to stop on the side of it instead.
In a flash the MP Chief is off his bike and dragging the guy out off the floor and out of the hole, giving him a few slaps around the head for good measure , just in case the fact that the guys bleeding scalp wound was not enough, at this point the others catch up with us. There is lots of fast talking in Khmer, the upshot of which is that my 2 Khmer colleagues get on the back of one bike and I get on the back of the tourist police bike, leaving the MP Chief on the scene with his perp [victim?]
We carry on riding in silence the 10 minutes out to the dock where you get a boat to go out to look for dolphins.
As we all pull up there and stop I can contain myself no longer.
“fuck fuck fuck what the fuck was that fuck fucking fuck about?”
I ask in a less than erudite manner.
After a little discussion / translation I get the full story. It seems that a couple of weeks ago the Kratie Military Police arrested 4 guys coming over the border from Laos with 400,000 tablets of some kind of amphetamine – yes, that is right, I said 400,000 !
They were all arrested and flung into jail. It seems that our guy on the Daelim was one of them, the Chief had no idea why or how he had got out and was now riding around, but it seemed that he took great exception to him being a freeman rather than languishing in a prison cell awaiting trial
“So He escaped from prison” I [naively?] ask, feeling a little better about the whole incident.
“Maybe” my colleagues say, “or maybe he pays some money to be let out”
Well, judging by the Chief’s reaction, I pity the poor sod who was bribed to let him out when the Chief gets hold of him…
Oh a good note, we then saw lots and lots of dolphins, including some very brave and curious baby dolphins who came right up to the boat :-)
Saturday night in Kratie.
Ate at the Mlob Dong restaurant. About 5 minutes moto away from the river – don’t ask me for more specific directions !
While we were waiting for a menu a waitress brought a dish of pickled ginger and garlic cloves, as well as a small plate of wind dried shredded beef – the beef was actually very tasty, although it was a little on the chewy side it was full of flavour and a refreshing change from the freshwater fish and rice we had been eating 3 times a day.
The owner came over and chatted for a while to the Chief of Fish, he obviously knew him well. Having run through what food we wanted the owner disappeared back behind the scenes, presumably to talk to the chef.
While we were waiting, more beef turned up and so did large amounts of Tiger beer and ice.
The first of the food arrived, venison steaks with onions and French fries !?!
Now I know that venison is illegal in Cambodia, but hey what can you do?
They were so tender it was like cutting through pate, soft, moist, so full of flavour – I was in gastronomic heaven. Even the oddness of eating chips with chop sticks could not detract from it.
Next, the whole deep fried cat fish arrived, not a giant Mekong cat fish [Pangasianodon gigas] but just a regular 18 incher !
It was covered in shredded ginger and soya beans – lovely!
Next the rabbit and lemongrass soup, again excellent, very rich, suspect the base for it was venison stock.
All the while we were eating my colleagues kept asking me if I liked this food – between shovelling great mouthfuls down, grinning like an idiot and swilling Tiger by the gallon I managed to say yes a lot !
Have to say, some of the best food that I have had in a long time.
So we are in Kratie for a couple of days, having arrived by boat from K. Cham.
We have our meeting with the Provincial Office early afternoon and then my Khmer colleagues insist that I go and see the dolphin. an excellent idea after a few days of fairly solid travelling. The vice chief of the local office says that he will go with us, so he gets his moto. As there are 3 of us, he calls two of his friends to drive me and my other colleague – luxury 3 motos between 6 people !
His friends turn up and they turn out to be the vice-chief of Kratie tourist police and the chief of Kratie Military police!?!
As motodope drivers go, you can not get much better !
I go with the Chief of Military Police. A stocky Khmer who it seems speaks no English, as we approach his bike I am a little surprised, instead of the requisite Honda Dream, he has some customised 250 low-rider, complete with oversize forks, ape-hanger bars and a king~queen seat.
As I see the bike he looks at me and utters 4 of the 6 words in English he knows,
“I love Peter Fonda”
He then smiles and pull out his [fake?] Rayban’s…
mmm???
Being somewhat larger than the average Khmer I feel quite exposed perched high on the back of his seat, which in reality was designed for some petite girl to be sat side-saddle on. But we head off down the road.
Now, as anyone of you who has been to Kratie will testify, the 15Km of road from the town to the dolphin place are not the best bits of road in the country, even the bits that have tarmac are full of holes, strewn with gravel or just general full of high pitch and yaw undulations due the large trees and their roots by the roadside, so after a few Kilometres my arse is beginning to feel a bit numb – due also in part to the fact half of it is perched on the chrome plated rear light rather than the actual seat.
All the way along he is humming something to himself. After a few K’s I realise that he is humming ‘Born to be wild’
Then as a Daelim careens past us on the wrong side of the road, he lets out an almighty roar, shouting and screaming at the rider and he then opens the throttle up full giving chase - I should point out at this point that we are on the dirt road starch and the road has more holes than surface at this point – as we bounce along as fast as the bike is capable of going the guy on the Daelim puts his head down and desperately tries to get away, now this chase only lasted about 5 minutes – until the guy on the Daelim hits a pothole the that was actually bigger than his bike – but it was enough to scare the shit out of me. I am caked in mud, my spine feels as though it has fused and my arse is almost completely off the back of the bike.
Reaching the pothole we skid to a halt and for a second I think that we are going to drop the 2 feet down the hole to join him, but we swerve just enough to stop on the side of it instead.
In a flash the MP Chief is off his bike and dragging the guy out off the floor and out of the hole, giving him a few slaps around the head for good measure , just in case the fact that the guys bleeding scalp wound was not enough, at this point the others catch up with us. There is lots of fast talking in Khmer, the upshot of which is that my 2 Khmer colleagues get on the back of one bike and I get on the back of the tourist police bike, leaving the MP Chief on the scene with his perp [victim?]
We carry on riding in silence the 10 minutes out to the dock where you get a boat to go out to look for dolphins.
As we all pull up there and stop I can contain myself no longer.
“fuck fuck fuck what the fuck was that fuck fucking fuck about?”
I ask in a less than erudite manner.
After a little discussion / translation I get the full story. It seems that a couple of weeks ago the Kratie Military Police arrested 4 guys coming over the border from Laos with 400,000 tablets of some kind of amphetamine – yes, that is right, I said 400,000 !
They were all arrested and flung into jail. It seems that our guy on the Daelim was one of them, the Chief had no idea why or how he had got out and was now riding around, but it seemed that he took great exception to him being a freeman rather than languishing in a prison cell awaiting trial
“So He escaped from prison” I [naively?] ask, feeling a little better about the whole incident.
“Maybe” my colleagues say, “or maybe he pays some money to be let out”
Well, judging by the Chief’s reaction, I pity the poor sod who was bribed to let him out when the Chief gets hold of him…
Oh a good note, we then saw lots and lots of dolphins, including some very brave and curious baby dolphins who came right up to the boat :-)
Saturday night in Kratie.
Ate at the Mlob Dong restaurant. About 5 minutes moto away from the river – don’t ask me for more specific directions !
While we were waiting for a menu a waitress brought a dish of pickled ginger and garlic cloves, as well as a small plate of wind dried shredded beef – the beef was actually very tasty, although it was a little on the chewy side it was full of flavour and a refreshing change from the freshwater fish and rice we had been eating 3 times a day.
The owner came over and chatted for a while to the Chief of Fish, he obviously knew him well. Having run through what food we wanted the owner disappeared back behind the scenes, presumably to talk to the chef.
While we were waiting, more beef turned up and so did large amounts of Tiger beer and ice.
The first of the food arrived, venison steaks with onions and French fries !?!
Now I know that venison is illegal in Cambodia, but hey what can you do?
They were so tender it was like cutting through pate, soft, moist, so full of flavour – I was in gastronomic heaven. Even the oddness of eating chips with chop sticks could not detract from it.
Next, the whole deep fried cat fish arrived, not a giant Mekong cat fish [Pangasianodon gigas] but just a regular 18 incher !
It was covered in shredded ginger and soya beans – lovely!
Next the rabbit and lemongrass soup, again excellent, very rich, suspect the base for it was venison stock.
All the while we were eating my colleagues kept asking me if I liked this food – between shovelling great mouthfuls down, grinning like an idiot and swilling Tiger by the gallon I managed to say yes a lot !
Have to say, some of the best food that I have had in a long time.
Nov Field Trip - Part one
Thursday in Kompong Cham
So it is our 2nd night of the field trip, and the moment I had been dreading arrives.
We had just finished our dinner - Fish and lemongrass soup, fried fish in ginger and spring onions and fried assorted vegetables – as we are wondering out of the restaurant, my colleagues turn right and start wandering down the road. Strange, I had thought that the hotel was to the left…
Knowing the answer from long suffering field trips with my Khmer colleagues I ask the question anyway.
“Where are we going?”
The answer that I knew was coming was indeed the one I was dreading.
“We go karaoke, maybe one hour? Maybe two. Very good here”
Yes, we were heading towards the dubious pleasures of a Khmer Karaoke Club.
As we enter the dark unlit stairwell, I feel a wave of resignation wash over me. My colleagues are warm, friendly, well meaning, but they have no idea what a trail they are about to put me through – again!
Reaching the second floor at least two of the lights in the corridor are working. Upon seeing us a gaggle of girls leap up from there plastic stools, the bored looks instantly replace with Formica smiles and lots of ‘hello’ ‘hello’ ‘how are you’ ‘what is your name’ et cetera.
We are led down the corridor to one of the converted hotel rooms, upon entering it looks pretty much the same as all the other private karaoke rooms I have been dragged kicking and screaming to over the last seven months.
Three of the four walls are taken up with sofa style seating, a large low coffee table in the middle of them. The fourth wall is covered with a large television set and enough speakers to produce a Led Zeppelin concert.
The three of us take a wall each and the girls start shouting, screaming, to try and outdo each other:
“Anchor” “Lao” “Tiger” “Heineken” “San Miguel”
My colleagues look at me expectantly, the girls suddenly concentrate their yelling at me and move closer, pressing themselves around me, mobbing me as if I was John Lennon and this was the sixties, all the while screaming beer brand names at me, feeling claustrophobic and more than a little heady due the amount of cheap perfume in close proximity I yell at random ‘San Miguel!’
Silence.
Five of the girls walk out in silence looking forlorn, the sixth girl – Ms San Miguel – smile at me, walks over to the table and picks up the phone. A few moments later, more girls appear bearing litre bottles of San Miguel, glasses and a large bucket of ice.
Three of the girls sit down, one next to each of us, fill our glasses and theirs with ice, and Ms San Miguel goes around topping up each of the six glasses.
She then perches on the end of my sofa and pours herself a glass – then the ritual chinking of glasses and toasting begins – they start out with the K’mai – soka peap la’or – excuse spelling! – Good Health. Then the girl next to me raises her glass, looks me in the eye and says ‘Cheer!’ I smile and say cheers, clink glasses and down my glass in one, this of course initiates everyone else having to do likewise.
I may have to sing later, so I need a few drinks inside me, plus if these guys are going to make me sing [something I do not do well] then I am going to make them drink [something that they do not do well!]
So as Ms San Miguel is topping everyone’s glasses up, in comes another girl, this one carrying the karaoke menu, my colleagues pour over this as if it is the Priory of Sion keystone describing the resting place of the Holy Grail.
Choices are made, songs picked, orders barked.
The girl picks up the phone and a minute later the music starts.
Yes, it is some sort of Khmer love song.
You know the sort, a lone woman walking through a field looking for her one true love, whom she then runs into, which means that they have to go and sit on a rock by the river.
So I endure several of these, drinking as much as I can, waiting for the next step in this little dance.
So it came, ‘Darren you sing one song!’
‘No, no, maybe later’
So on they go with the karaoke, the field is replaced by a forest and off they go to sit by a rock next to a river…
Several songs later, several beers later, some discussion in K’mai later, my colleague starts singing in English ‘I don’t like, to sleep alone’
Yes, that is the next step in this particular dance. With me having declined the direct request to sing, they are working around it by singing a song in English themselves.
I could almost count backwards from 10 for the next step in our little dance…
‘Darren you sing one song with me, we sing together’
This is invariably the point at which I have to sing my first song of the evening.
This was the point at which ‘Hotel California’ was murdered like it has never been murdered before – well, since I was last forced to sing it - me, tone deaf and half drunk, my colleague, half drunk and pigeon English – Don Henley will haunt me like Banquo’s ghost for the rest of my years.
As we finish, the polite applause follows cries of ‘very good, very good’
I am temporarily let off the hook.
All the while that I had been singing the girl sat next to me had been massaging my shoulders and neck. As my colleagues carried on singing in K’mai she started giggling and talking to Ms San Miguel, putting her thumb and index finger around my wrist, giggling some more and pointing at my wrist to Ms San Miguel, who reaches over and encircles my other wrist?!? Now they are both giggling and holding a wrist apiece. A third girl nearest us shuffles away from one of my colleagues, near to us and also has a grope of my wrist – what the hell is going on!?!
The three of them are highly entertained.
Opposite, the fourth remaining girl with my other colleague is far to busy trying to fend off his octopus-like arms and hands from her breasts and butt to notice the great mirth and hilarity that my wrists are causing among her friends.
One of the girls starts to massage my legs, which again, results in some ‘ooo-ing’ so all of a sudden I have a girl massaging a leg each and the third one stroking my arms, plucking at the hairs on them muttering ‘sa’aat nah’ you are very handsome…
Damn, I need more beer, reaching for my glass I raise it in a toast, chink some glass and down it – the girls suddenly remember that it is there jobs to get us to drink [thus spend] as much as possible so they chink glasses and drink as well, do a quick tour of the table topping up everyone’s glasses and then return to the business of poking and prodding me while giggling and talking amongst themselves.
After an hour or so of this my friends call for the bill – thank god.
We settle up for the beers and I end up having to tip three girls instead of one as them had all descended on me for the majority of the time there.
As we leave the room Mr Octopus hands is seen scurrying ahead of us with his girl swiftly in tow, no prizes for guessing what is going on there…
The other girls take their places back on the seats looking bored; my other colleague is off down the stairs as I bring up the rear.
Then I feel a hand on my waist, I half turn and there is Ms San Miguel grinning at me saying ‘me massage you?’
‘No thank you, I reply’
‘Me massage you?’ she repeats, rubbing her groin against my hip and tightening her arm around my waist so that the stupid barang gets the message.
‘Oh, sorry’ I say, ‘I have to be up very very early tomorrow’
She pouts – Khmer girls do that so well, do they get special training in pouting and looking hurt? ‘You no like me!’ she accuses me.
‘No, no, you are lovely, but I have to go now, I have to be up very early tomorrow’
Pout, pout. More groin gyration, more hugging.
‘Sorry’ I say one more time and walk towards the stairs.
But suddenly I am unable to walk, my left ankle is in a vice like grip, I look down and Ms San Miguel has thrown herself on the floor and is clutching my ankle with both hands!?!
‘Me go with you, me go with you’ she cries
Not knowing quite what the hell to do I look around, my colleagues have vanished, the other girls sat on their little plastic stools are watching this exchange intently, pointing and a few are giggling.
I crouch down, and say to the girl, ‘sorry, not tonight. I come back tomorrow, I see you tomorrow’ as I say this I slip a couple of bucks out of my pocket and hold them out towards her.
This puts here in quite a dilemma, in order for her to take the money, she has to let go of her vicelike grip on my ankle.
She says, ‘ I see you tomorrow?’ ‘Yes, yes’ I promise.
She takes the money, leaps to her feet, kisses me on the cheek and runs off down the corridor – thank god!
I walk swiftly down the stairs before she can change her mind, hop onto a nearby moto and thank god that we are leaving for Kratie at the crack of dawn tomorrow.
So it is our 2nd night of the field trip, and the moment I had been dreading arrives.
We had just finished our dinner - Fish and lemongrass soup, fried fish in ginger and spring onions and fried assorted vegetables – as we are wondering out of the restaurant, my colleagues turn right and start wandering down the road. Strange, I had thought that the hotel was to the left…
Knowing the answer from long suffering field trips with my Khmer colleagues I ask the question anyway.
“Where are we going?”
The answer that I knew was coming was indeed the one I was dreading.
“We go karaoke, maybe one hour? Maybe two. Very good here”
Yes, we were heading towards the dubious pleasures of a Khmer Karaoke Club.
As we enter the dark unlit stairwell, I feel a wave of resignation wash over me. My colleagues are warm, friendly, well meaning, but they have no idea what a trail they are about to put me through – again!
Reaching the second floor at least two of the lights in the corridor are working. Upon seeing us a gaggle of girls leap up from there plastic stools, the bored looks instantly replace with Formica smiles and lots of ‘hello’ ‘hello’ ‘how are you’ ‘what is your name’ et cetera.
We are led down the corridor to one of the converted hotel rooms, upon entering it looks pretty much the same as all the other private karaoke rooms I have been dragged kicking and screaming to over the last seven months.
Three of the four walls are taken up with sofa style seating, a large low coffee table in the middle of them. The fourth wall is covered with a large television set and enough speakers to produce a Led Zeppelin concert.
The three of us take a wall each and the girls start shouting, screaming, to try and outdo each other:
“Anchor” “Lao” “Tiger” “Heineken” “San Miguel”
My colleagues look at me expectantly, the girls suddenly concentrate their yelling at me and move closer, pressing themselves around me, mobbing me as if I was John Lennon and this was the sixties, all the while screaming beer brand names at me, feeling claustrophobic and more than a little heady due the amount of cheap perfume in close proximity I yell at random ‘San Miguel!’
Silence.
Five of the girls walk out in silence looking forlorn, the sixth girl – Ms San Miguel – smile at me, walks over to the table and picks up the phone. A few moments later, more girls appear bearing litre bottles of San Miguel, glasses and a large bucket of ice.
Three of the girls sit down, one next to each of us, fill our glasses and theirs with ice, and Ms San Miguel goes around topping up each of the six glasses.
She then perches on the end of my sofa and pours herself a glass – then the ritual chinking of glasses and toasting begins – they start out with the K’mai – soka peap la’or – excuse spelling! – Good Health. Then the girl next to me raises her glass, looks me in the eye and says ‘Cheer!’ I smile and say cheers, clink glasses and down my glass in one, this of course initiates everyone else having to do likewise.
I may have to sing later, so I need a few drinks inside me, plus if these guys are going to make me sing [something I do not do well] then I am going to make them drink [something that they do not do well!]
So as Ms San Miguel is topping everyone’s glasses up, in comes another girl, this one carrying the karaoke menu, my colleagues pour over this as if it is the Priory of Sion keystone describing the resting place of the Holy Grail.
Choices are made, songs picked, orders barked.
The girl picks up the phone and a minute later the music starts.
Yes, it is some sort of Khmer love song.
You know the sort, a lone woman walking through a field looking for her one true love, whom she then runs into, which means that they have to go and sit on a rock by the river.
So I endure several of these, drinking as much as I can, waiting for the next step in this little dance.
So it came, ‘Darren you sing one song!’
‘No, no, maybe later’
So on they go with the karaoke, the field is replaced by a forest and off they go to sit by a rock next to a river…
Several songs later, several beers later, some discussion in K’mai later, my colleague starts singing in English ‘I don’t like, to sleep alone’
Yes, that is the next step in this particular dance. With me having declined the direct request to sing, they are working around it by singing a song in English themselves.
I could almost count backwards from 10 for the next step in our little dance…
‘Darren you sing one song with me, we sing together’
This is invariably the point at which I have to sing my first song of the evening.
This was the point at which ‘Hotel California’ was murdered like it has never been murdered before – well, since I was last forced to sing it - me, tone deaf and half drunk, my colleague, half drunk and pigeon English – Don Henley will haunt me like Banquo’s ghost for the rest of my years.
As we finish, the polite applause follows cries of ‘very good, very good’
I am temporarily let off the hook.
All the while that I had been singing the girl sat next to me had been massaging my shoulders and neck. As my colleagues carried on singing in K’mai she started giggling and talking to Ms San Miguel, putting her thumb and index finger around my wrist, giggling some more and pointing at my wrist to Ms San Miguel, who reaches over and encircles my other wrist?!? Now they are both giggling and holding a wrist apiece. A third girl nearest us shuffles away from one of my colleagues, near to us and also has a grope of my wrist – what the hell is going on!?!
The three of them are highly entertained.
Opposite, the fourth remaining girl with my other colleague is far to busy trying to fend off his octopus-like arms and hands from her breasts and butt to notice the great mirth and hilarity that my wrists are causing among her friends.
One of the girls starts to massage my legs, which again, results in some ‘ooo-ing’ so all of a sudden I have a girl massaging a leg each and the third one stroking my arms, plucking at the hairs on them muttering ‘sa’aat nah’ you are very handsome…
Damn, I need more beer, reaching for my glass I raise it in a toast, chink some glass and down it – the girls suddenly remember that it is there jobs to get us to drink [thus spend] as much as possible so they chink glasses and drink as well, do a quick tour of the table topping up everyone’s glasses and then return to the business of poking and prodding me while giggling and talking amongst themselves.
After an hour or so of this my friends call for the bill – thank god.
We settle up for the beers and I end up having to tip three girls instead of one as them had all descended on me for the majority of the time there.
As we leave the room Mr Octopus hands is seen scurrying ahead of us with his girl swiftly in tow, no prizes for guessing what is going on there…
The other girls take their places back on the seats looking bored; my other colleague is off down the stairs as I bring up the rear.
Then I feel a hand on my waist, I half turn and there is Ms San Miguel grinning at me saying ‘me massage you?’
‘No thank you, I reply’
‘Me massage you?’ she repeats, rubbing her groin against my hip and tightening her arm around my waist so that the stupid barang gets the message.
‘Oh, sorry’ I say, ‘I have to be up very very early tomorrow’
She pouts – Khmer girls do that so well, do they get special training in pouting and looking hurt? ‘You no like me!’ she accuses me.
‘No, no, you are lovely, but I have to go now, I have to be up very early tomorrow’
Pout, pout. More groin gyration, more hugging.
‘Sorry’ I say one more time and walk towards the stairs.
But suddenly I am unable to walk, my left ankle is in a vice like grip, I look down and Ms San Miguel has thrown herself on the floor and is clutching my ankle with both hands!?!
‘Me go with you, me go with you’ she cries
Not knowing quite what the hell to do I look around, my colleagues have vanished, the other girls sat on their little plastic stools are watching this exchange intently, pointing and a few are giggling.
I crouch down, and say to the girl, ‘sorry, not tonight. I come back tomorrow, I see you tomorrow’ as I say this I slip a couple of bucks out of my pocket and hold them out towards her.
This puts here in quite a dilemma, in order for her to take the money, she has to let go of her vicelike grip on my ankle.
She says, ‘ I see you tomorrow?’ ‘Yes, yes’ I promise.
She takes the money, leaps to her feet, kisses me on the cheek and runs off down the corridor – thank god!
I walk swiftly down the stairs before she can change her mind, hop onto a nearby moto and thank god that we are leaving for Kratie at the crack of dawn tomorrow.
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