Bits and Pieces about Cambodia Culture - Part One

Bits and Pieces about Cambodia Culture that we’ve been told about – believe it or not….!!

When buying a car, always go in pairs. If you spot a car that looks pretty good, don’t decide to come back another day to buy it, let one person stay behind with the car and the other person to go and get a mechanic and bring them back with them to check the car out thoroughly. This is so because apparently the car will be in great condition the day you first see it but if you decide to come back another day to buy it, the car dealer place is more than likely to change parts on
the car to those that are less than reliable!

FOREIGNERS + CAMBODIA = $$$$$$

A foreigner driving his car in Cambodia got pulled over by the police for apparently not stopping at a street sign. The police told him that he was fined US$10 for the offence. The foreigner only had a US$5 note and told the police this. After a bit of heated discussion, the police decided to let the foreigner off with just paying the US$5 fine. The foreigner drove off with a smile on his face thinking he was able to bargain with the police and get away with it! However when the foreigner met up with some of his local friends telling them the story and boasting of his bargaining with the police, his local friends burst out laughing telling him that by law, the offence for not stopping at a street sign is only 5000 riel (US$1.25)!

(NB. The irony of this story being told to us was that about a week later, Mark got a ride with a local Cambodian friend of ours and they got pulled over by the police twice about 5 mins apart and were fined two different amounts. Mark was adamant not to pay but our poor friend who was borrowing the motorbike from another friend was ‘strongly encouraged’ by the police to pay up or the moto would be taken away from him!)

More and more Cambodians want to learn English, recognizing that this a means to getting better jobs and thus better money. We have heard stories of staff members of
English training schools stealing the answers to tests so they can give them to their friends to pass (even those that are Christians)!

As a foreigner living in Cambodia because it is assumed you have much money, it is also assumed that you have a cook and/or cleaner. We have heard a number of stories of when you are able to find a good cook/cleaner/security guard and a relationship of trust is been built, they are often tempted by their families or friends and this is how many expats find their places robbed of their belongings! We just heard recently that this also happens to Cambodians who can afford help.

Cambodian logic – the further you live away from Cambodia, the cheaper the phone call via internet, i.e. a call to Vietnam costs more than a call to Australia and a call to the States costs less than a call to Australia. However to send a fax, you are generally charged US$3-4 a page or charged depending on how long it takes for the fax to get through, so too bad if you have to try several times before the line is free and you get connected!

In 2005, the number of landmine victims in Cambodia was 862, over 55% of them from the western provinces.

This is a brief article in a local magazine (Bayon Pearnik):
Prison break ends in firefight
Civil society and law officials on June 22 lashed out at Chhay Sovann,
the deputy chief of Battambang Provincial Prison for banning relatives
of the nine dead prisoners, from taking the corpses away for funerals.
Chhay Sovann reasoned that some of the killed criminals were sentenced
to 30 years in prison. So, if the relatives want to hold a funeral, they will
have to wait until the sentence is finished.
“We cannot allow any dead bodies to be sent to their relatives because
those criminals were sentenced to 30 years in jail, so we will keep the
corpses until their sentence is finished,” he was quoted as saying.
The corpses of the criminals were buried in the compound of the provin-
cial prison soon after the incident.

This seems to be linked to the Buddhist way of thinking. As the reporter comments at the end of this article in his own words ‘seems logical in a Cambodian kind of way.’

For those who haven't been here before, these are the conversion rates:
Riel (Cambodian) = US$
200 riel = 5c
1000 riel = 25c
2000 riel = 50c
4000 riel = $1