We just had the monks’ house-blessing ceremony for our new house. It raised many questions. monks chanting at our house-warming It was positively medieval and other-worldly. Of course, that’s the point: to perpetuate the continuity of traditions that date back at least a thousand years. Also, religious ceremonies in general are designed to transport people […]
Category: Cambodia
SHIVA IN CAMBODIA
I was taking my morning walk in the gardens behind Wat Kandal in Battambang, when an Indian-looking guy came up to me saying “Shiva, Shiva”, and pointing to a remote corner of the gardens. There I found a new statue of Shiva, complete with his identifying symbols of the trident, the third eye, and especially […]
CAMBODIANS — AND OTHER NICE PEOPLES
Almost every visitor to Cambodia is struck by how nice the Cambodians are. I know that my critics will say, “People everywhere are the same; there are good and bad people in every country.” However, anyone who has travelled abroad will aver that people in different cultures and countries are very, very different. So why […]
THE COMING CRASH: BE PREPARED
Cambodians, and in fact people all over the world, are not taking the coming economic catastrophe seriously enough. One reason is that the ships that left the Middle East over a month ago are still arriving in Europe and other ports, so that shortages, even of oil, are not being felt yet. However, once their […]
CHINA JUST BANNED FOR-PROFIT SCHOOLS
OK, for a nominally Communist country like China, for-profit education exacerbates class differences, since only the rich can attend the better schools. Therefore, an egalitarian government should outlaw profit-oriented schools. How about extending the ban to lower-middle-class countries like Cambodia or richer countries like the United States? The same class-dividing argument as in China also […]
THE U.S. $2 BILL IS A GOOD LUCK CHARM IN CAMBODIA
How odd! That the US two-dollar bill should become a good luck charm in Cambodia. When I arrived in Cambodia in January of 1995, the bills were everywhere. Every money-changing stall, and many other shops, had them on display — for good luck, not currency. There was a rumor that the United Nations UNTAC workers […]
CAMBODIA’S COMING DEBT CRASH
The rise in energy costs is going to hit Cambodia harder than other countries. This is because the country is already struggling with mountains of debt. My sister used to work for an American bankruptcy court, and she would tell me story after story of families who played by the rules, paid their debts, and […]
FOREIGN PRODUCERS REALLY DO PAY THE TARIFFS
Conventional wisdom is that foreign countries do not pay the tariffs; importers pay them, and then pass them on to consumers. Various estimates claim that 95-99% of Trump’s tariffs are paid by consumers. So now that the tariffs have been declared illegal, import companies are lining up to claim refunds on the tariffs they were […]
ARE CAMBODIANS REALLY BUDDHISTS?
Here’s an interesting hypothesis: the behavior of followers of any religion is diametrically opposed to the main principles of their religion. For example, the main message of Christianity is “Love thy neighbor.” But today’s Evangelicals harbor an intense hatred for blacks, Hispanics, Moslems, LGBTQs, and anyone not exactly not like themselves. Not to mention the […]
WHY WOULD THAILAND WANT TO DESTROY A VISHNU STATUE?
Thai crane topples Cambodian sacred statue on Cambodian ground This destruction was no accident, and was not done by F-16 fighters. It’s a simple crane toppling the statue – clearly on purpose. Thailand claims the statue was removed “solely for the purpose of area management and security”. Suuure! I have been claiming that the Thai […]