Sustainable development in Cambodia
ជំរាបសួរ
That is hello in the national language of Cambodia; Khmer (pronounced khmai) and is pronounced johm riab sua. It’s a beautifully written language don’t you think? What with its intricate lines and beautifully written… nay drawn language. Ironically I didn’t always think this way, to me the Khmer language was a mere scrawl, a slight scribble and voila! You’re done. What happened to me? What changed my paradigm? As simple as it sounds, Cambodia changed my perception. Personally I feel that this style of writing reflects the typical Cambodian lifestyle or at least the life of the city dwellers. It looks complicated, practically cacophonous from the outside but once you’ve been there, once you’ve seen things from their point of view ( or at least as much as you can possibly see in a four day trip) you start to see the beauty in it. You don’t see it as a mess, you see it as an organised chaotic beauty and as paradoxical as it sounds, that is what I found in Cambodia.
So what about Cambodia? Well, the IB students of Taylors College recently organised a trip to Cambodia which was from the 27th of April to the 1st of May. This article is a chronicle of our journey and our experiences from our first day to the last with some personal moments or memories from my classmates.
We were scheduled to meet at KL Sentral at 2.30 am to catch the bus to the LCCT. We were full of adrenaline, our bodies working overtime as we gathered at the station ready to “push off” the proverbial boat and leave our homeland. I’ll admit that is a huge exaggeration but it certainly felt that way, the sense of adventure that was to come; seeing new sights, smelling new smells and meeting new people. In retrospect they taught us a lot more than just compassion and helping others , they taught us how to live our lives , to appreciate what we had and how to eat water beetles. All quotidian tasks except the last one, that one took a little coercing (at least on my part).
Our metal sky boat (yes aeroplane) departed at roughly 7 am Malaysian time with us arriving at 7 am in Cambodian time (they’re about an hour behind us). Their airport was rather pedestrian compared to the grandeur of KLIA but perhaps that airport was to their other airport as LCCT is to our KLIA. Anyways, disaster struck as we found that the luggage bags of two of our group members were missing. Quick to spring into action, Miss Valerie Smith or Miss Val as she’s more commonly known brought said students to the counter to make inquiries about the missing bags. The rest of us piled into the bus that we would spend many hours of the trip in and waited for them. Once they arrived empty handed we all knew that a mix up had been made but the two took it in their stride and we left the airport for the hotel. The ride there was interesting as our guide Mr “Wirak” (who told us to think of our locally made Malaysian car the “Wira” when we wanted to remember his name) explained a little about Cambodia, their culture and the schools there. Apparently he learnt German in university and as we would discover later in the trip conversed quite often with our very own German student Lukas Freitag in Deutsch. He told us a little about the cost of cars in Cambodia which are apparently very cheap as they are imported second hand from more economically developed countries. It turns out that you can get some cars in Cambodia for 10 thousand dollars. The American dollar is also the modus operandi for business transactions there.
We were scheduled to meet at KL Sentral at 2.30 am to catch the bus to the LCCT. We were full of adrenaline, our bodies working overtime as we gathered at the station ready to “push off” the proverbial boat and leave our homeland. I’ll admit that is a huge exaggeration but it certainly felt that way, the sense of adventure that was to come; seeing new sights, smelling new smells and meeting new people. In retrospect they taught us a lot more than just compassion and helping others , they taught us how to live our lives , to appreciate what we had and how to eat water beetles. All quotidian tasks except the last one, that one took a little coercing (at least on my part).
Our metal sky boat (yes aeroplane) departed at roughly 7 am Malaysian time with us arriving at 7 am in Cambodian time (they’re about an hour behind us). Their airport was rather pedestrian compared to the grandeur of KLIA but perhaps that airport was to their other airport as LCCT is to our KLIA. Anyways, disaster struck as we found that the luggage bags of two of our group members were missing. Quick to spring into action, Miss Valerie Smith or Miss Val as she’s more commonly known brought said students to the counter to make inquiries about the missing bags. The rest of us piled into the bus that we would spend many hours of the trip in and waited for them. Once they arrived empty handed we all knew that a mix up had been made but the two took it in their stride and we left the airport for the hotel. The ride there was interesting as our guide Mr “Wirak” (who told us to think of our locally made Malaysian car the “Wira” when we wanted to remember his name) explained a little about Cambodia, their culture and the schools there. Apparently he learnt German in university and as we would discover later in the trip conversed quite often with our very own German student Lukas Freitag in Deutsch. He told us a little about the cost of cars in Cambodia which are apparently very cheap as they are imported second hand from more economically developed countries. It turns out that you can get some cars in Cambodia for 10 thousand dollars. The American dollar is also the modus operandi for business transactions there.
After freshening up and having brunch, we left for a walk around the streets of Cambodia which can be a little frightening at times. The traffic is like a symphony made to be off time but somehow fit together. Red lights seem to be an option at times, illegal turnings are unheard of and the Tuk tuks race around nonchalantly. Yet, in those four days I didn’t see a single accident which was disproportionate with the amount of traffic we saw. As we were ravenous students, we stopped for lunch at a restaurant nearby to our intended destination; The Royal palace and Silver Pagoda. The food was good and the portions were quite large for their price. After lunch we made our way to the Royal palace and Silver Pagoda full and happy where we saw riches beyond our wildest imagination. We saw a jade Buddha carved entirely from a block of jade, we walked on tiles that were made of silver; not plated with silver but made of actual blocks of silver. A few friends and I hummed the mission impossible theme song after a while joking that all we’d had to do was get just one of those jewels and we could live decently for the rest of our lives. Jokes aside, we also learnt about the monarchy in Cambodia, their customs and even got a peek at the royal chamber. Apparently the current King of Cambodia studied Ballet in France and is still single. We walked around and learnt that after the death of a King, the people of Cambodia decided if he was a good leader and if he was, they built a stupa in honour of his leadership but there was also a special stupa present. It was for the daughter of one of the Kings, she passed away because of leukaemia at a very young age.
We left feeling wiser and a lot worldlier as we had found out a great deal about Cambodia in that short period of time. We decided to obtain the service of Tuk tuks to get us to our next destination, a local market (a Tuk tuk is akin to a trishaw except it is driven by a motor). What transpired next was practically a scene out of an action movie, we zoomed off, squeezing into tight spaces and making turns that would make a ballerina dizzy but when we arrived, we realised that these Tuk tuk drivers were actually in control of it all. They grew up in these conditions and what they do is merely them adapting to it and thriving. No different from someone who is brought up in the hullabaloo of traffic in India.
The market we visited was very similar to a market in Malaysia except for a few interesting features. One of the features was that the inside was made to resemble New York central, the famous train station and the second feature was the presence of insects being sold. A few had the courage to eat these without flinching and I salute them, a few of us less courageous ones took a little warming up to the idea of a creepy crawly being in our mouth. Honestly, true to the old adage; it does taste a little bit like chicken. One of my friends Chang Shun who was a maven in eating all sorts of “unique” things however argued that they taste like prawns with the shell on. It was an experience that I’d recommend to anyone.
We left feeling wiser and a lot worldlier as we had found out a great deal about Cambodia in that short period of time. We decided to obtain the service of Tuk tuks to get us to our next destination, a local market (a Tuk tuk is akin to a trishaw except it is driven by a motor). What transpired next was practically a scene out of an action movie, we zoomed off, squeezing into tight spaces and making turns that would make a ballerina dizzy but when we arrived, we realised that these Tuk tuk drivers were actually in control of it all. They grew up in these conditions and what they do is merely them adapting to it and thriving. No different from someone who is brought up in the hullabaloo of traffic in India.
The market we visited was very similar to a market in Malaysia except for a few interesting features. One of the features was that the inside was made to resemble New York central, the famous train station and the second feature was the presence of insects being sold. A few had the courage to eat these without flinching and I salute them, a few of us less courageous ones took a little warming up to the idea of a creepy crawly being in our mouth. Honestly, true to the old adage; it does taste a little bit like chicken. One of my friends Chang Shun who was a maven in eating all sorts of “unique” things however argued that they taste like prawns with the shell on. It was an experience that I’d recommend to anyone.
The second day was filled with more physical labour than the first but personally it was welcomed, all the insects and the good Cambodian food were making me feel bloated. We arrived at UNACAS (Unassociated Association) and introduced ourselves to the children there whose ages ranged from 5 to 18. It was nice to see how eager they were to meet us, they were constantly smiling and came flocking to us after our formal introductions. Sadly, it began raining very heavily and we were forced to stop work for a while but during that time, it provided a fantastic opportunity to get to know the children better, to know more about their lives and who they were.
After about two hours, the rain stopped and produced a cool and invigorating weather which was perfect for physical work which was exactly what we did. We carried bricks, mixed cement and sand and learnt how to lay bricks. It may be menial work but it was not easy, the effort left us exhausted. Transporting a cement and sand may sound easy but after the first five it started to take a toll on you. On the other side was the painting team. Their role was to handle the transport of the beds out of the rooms (no easy feat as the beds were roughly the same size as the door frame even when turned onto their side.)Then they had to scrape the paint off the bed before the painting could begin. We made many new friends who we would continue to get to know over the course of the next two days. One of my classmates said, “ I sat beside her for the first time and I could feel her smile without even looking at her” when asked about the experience of making a new friend.
We left around 4.30 in the afternoon because it would take around an hour and a half to get back to our hotel given the traffic at that time. After that, we proceeded to eat dinner at a nearby restaurant and then went to a night market in the area where a large number of goods were sold. They also had night performances but sadly everything was in Cambodian so we couldn’t understand much. Our third day in Cambodia was more or less the same as the second except that in the morning when we arrived , we went to the nearby chicken coop where they reared chickens and we transported thatch roofing by hand which may sound easy but it kept slipping out of our hands and falling out. It was during this time that my friend Lukas asked me to follow him for a while and what I saw amazed me. It was a scene straight out of National Geographic whereby we saw a woman wading in a pond to collect some sort of vegetables. The second deviation from our otherwise unchanging day was the theatre show put on by our very own theatre students. The play was directed by Sunita Soh. Luckily we managed to finish the brick laying on that day itself through pure determination and a never say die attitude (Thankfully this was the case as we only managed to finish the beds around an hour prior to leaving on the third day).
We left around 4.30 in the afternoon because it would take around an hour and a half to get back to our hotel given the traffic at that time. After that, we proceeded to eat dinner at a nearby restaurant and then went to a night market in the area where a large number of goods were sold. They also had night performances but sadly everything was in Cambodian so we couldn’t understand much. Our third day in Cambodia was more or less the same as the second except that in the morning when we arrived , we went to the nearby chicken coop where they reared chickens and we transported thatch roofing by hand which may sound easy but it kept slipping out of our hands and falling out. It was during this time that my friend Lukas asked me to follow him for a while and what I saw amazed me. It was a scene straight out of National Geographic whereby we saw a woman wading in a pond to collect some sort of vegetables. The second deviation from our otherwise unchanging day was the theatre show put on by our very own theatre students. The play was directed by Sunita Soh. Luckily we managed to finish the brick laying on that day itself through pure determination and a never say die attitude (Thankfully this was the case as we only managed to finish the beds around an hour prior to leaving on the third day).
On the fourth day however, we visited the infamous S-21 prison in the morning. We met and talked to one of the seven survivors of the torture. The torture he went through was horrific and even the living conditions were appalling. They had to stay in tiny cells during their time there and would be tortured by waterboarding, electric shocks and nails pulled out. As we walked through the halls of the once-tortured prison we lamented on the fact that someone could kill so many of his people. I am talking about none other than the infamous Pol Pot who committed crimes against humanity and the genocide of his own people. He would have people sent to the prison to be tortured if he suspected any inkling of a rebellion against his regime the Khmer Rouge. Later we visited the equally infamous killing fields where prisoners from S-21 were taken to be executed. The reason why they were shifted away was because the prison was in the city and the smell of the bodies would be too overpowering and alert everybody of the atrocities being committed. At the killing fields, they would have prisoners kneel in front of a ditch with a blindfold over their eyes and they would use clubs or knives or batons to break their skulls and push the bodies into the pit. Some pits contained as many as 200 bodies. Apparently they would play very loud music as they did this so that the other prisoners who were nearby would not hear the suffering and know of their impending doom. There was also a tree there with a horrific past; the officers would smash the babies of the prisoners against it thus killing them. They followed an old saying that I will paraphrase, ”to remove a weed , one must remove even the roots” and they did this so that the children would not grow up to take revenge on the Khmer Rouge.
After the sad and morose morning we went to the orphanage and helped finish off the beds there where the children were either very eager to help or eager to get the chance to paint the beds but either how they were very helpful and would take over when someone was feeling tired or needed to get water.
Sadly all good things must come to an end and we had to leave the orphanage. We were as sad as the orphans to have to leave them, our dear friends who we had made despite the language barrier and the short time span.
The iB students in front of the killing fields.
One of the survivors of the S-21 prison
I asked our photographer / director Lukas Freitag for a quote after the trip and he said, “Before the trip I was thinking about taking film at a university or a film school in Germany. Now I am certain that I will be applying. It was a great experience and helped me expand my creativity. In my opinion every single moment at the orphanage was special. I was able to get some great videos and photos and am really looking forward to editing the documentary and using it in my application for university “.
I guess he nailed it for me in a nutshell, it’s a life changing experience and one that I won’t be forgetting anytime soon.
I guess he nailed it for me in a nutshell, it’s a life changing experience and one that I won’t be forgetting anytime soon.
BY IAN QUAH
