The day before we left Battambang, we had dinner at Jean-Christophe’s place. We left Battambang two days earlier than initially scheduled, as we had a meeting in Phnom Penh with PPS’ lawyer Mr Siphana. From Phnom Penh, we had another taxi tour of about 5-6 hours back to Siem Reap from where we would fly back home.
When in Siem Reap, we took the opportunity to visit the plot where PPS’ new circus is supposed to be built. We wonder how this place will look in a year’s time!
Saro, one of the people working at PPS, recommended that we get a massage from the Seeing Hands massage parlour. Apart from being a good massage, according to the recommendation, it also had the benefit that it was conducted by blind people, which meant that it was providing employment, economic activity and self-esteem to a group of people who otherwise would have been disenfranchised.
Wendy’s masseuse became available first, and after the massage started, she surreptitiously whispered to Sanjay “When they ask you whether you want medium or hard, don’t go for hard! I asked for medium and it’s already hard enough!”
Masseuse: Would you like hard or medium?
Sanjay: Medium
Masseuse: starts massage
Sanjay: Ow! Aaarggh! Ow! Ow!
Masseuse: continues massage
Sanjay: Aaarggh! Ah! Ah! Owwww!
Masseuse: Does it hurt?
Sanjay: Yes… it HURTS!! Aaarggh!
Masseuse: Oh. continues massage. Just as hard.
15 minutes later
Sanjay: I know I paid for a full hour, but could you end mine after only 45 minutes please? I’d like to finish at the same time as Wendy.
Masseuse: continues massage
Sanjay: Is it OK to finish early? After only 45 minutes?
Masseuse: OK
30 minutes later
Wendy finishes her massage and stands up
Masseuse: continues massage
Sanjay: Ow! Ow!
Masseuse: continues massage
Sanjay: Err, would it be OK to stop some time soon?
Masseuse: continues massage
Sanjay: Ahem, it’s been 45 minutes now.
Masseuse: continues massage
Sanjay: Let me know when you reach a good point to stop
Masseuse: continues massage
Sanjay: Please! STOP! STOP! Please!
Masseuse: Stop? Oh, OK.
Up until now, this blog has said little about one of the most striking and disturbing topics relating to Cambodia, a topic that for many is what springs to mind as soon as you mention the name of the country. In fact, it’s something that has come up very little in conversation in our time here. In a sense, that’s unsurprising – after all, you normally talk about ordinary everyday things, not the lives of your parents and grandparents, especially not when it’s traumatic.
But it really does seem that there’s a silence about this topic. This was confirmed by one of the ex-pats we talked to. Also, the current executive director of PPS told us that he previously worked on a production called Breaking the Silence, in which people who had various roles in the Khmer Rouge era were interviewed. So despite the openness we experienced with Supheap last Saturday, presumably this silence is a real phenomenon.
So why?
Well, we don’t know. But here’s some quotes that might be relevant:
“Hem Heng, the Cambodian ambassador to Washington offered an example. His family, he said, were respected in their village, but in 1978 the Khmer Rouge ordered their family killed. Villagers made a deal with the soldiers: Kill another family instead. And, sure enough, Hem Heng recalled, Khmer Rouge soldiers executed “a Chinese family in our place”. He frowned and looked at the floor, silent” Taken from “Cambodia’s curse: A modern history of a troubled land” by Joel Brinkley.
And according to Youk Chhang, who runs the Documentation Centre of Cambodia which gathers records of the Khmer Rouge regime, “people were hiding their past behaviour [after the war]. To survive during the Khmer Rouge, you had to steal, lie, cheat, point fingers at others, even kill. And now you are ashamed.”
And is there anything we encountered in our time at PPS that might help to explain this? Well, we were told that PPS tried to offer counselling services to people in the area of Battambang, so that they could (further) process their terrible memories from the Khmer Rouge era. This was not easy: if a PPS employee would visit a family and mention talking about this topic, the man would typically not say a word and pretend he found something very interesting on the ground that required his undivided attention. The women typically started crying, not able to have a conversation.
Today we attended Wedding No. 2 which took place at the bride’s house in a suburb of Battambang. Weddings typically last between 1 and 3 days and this wedding was somewhere in the middle: 1,5 day. The duration of the wedding depends on various factors, including the financial resources available to the family.
This was the wedding of one of the technicians who works at Phare Ponleu Selpak. He got married to a girl who worked at Madison, a bar in central Battambang largely frequented by ex-pats (we have been there as well).
Weddings in Cambodia start much earlier than they do back home. Fortunately for us, we managed to arrange to be there from just 8am, which is easier to stomach than the 4am-5am start that some people would have had. We were there just in time to join the groom’s procession into the house. Here is a picture of Wendy just before we joined the procession. Bowls full of tomatoes were thrust into our hands, and we joined the back of the procession. “No! No!” we were told. “The fruit has to go before the pig’s head!”
The procession was heading to the bride’s house, which is where weddings traditionally are supposed to happen. This is because, according to Cambodian custom, the groom goes to live with the bride’s family, and not the other way round. We expect that this is a positive for a culture in which alcohol abuse and domestic violence are problems.
Once inside we sat in a big aisle while the people conducting the wedding said lots of things that we didn’t understand. Fortunately Reaksmey, one of the staff members at PPS, kindly translated for us. It included some special dancers who were employed to proceed down the aisle picking up pieces of fruit that had been part of the procession. Traditionally 36 different varieties of fruit would be selected, although today, in the interests of time, just a handful were picked up.
Interestingly, the definition of fruit was quite broad. Strictly speaking, nobody should be surprised that we were holding tomatoes – after all they are fruit. And lots of the bowls contained real fruit. However other bowls contained biscuits, chocolates, jelly, beer and cigarettes. Do those count as part of your five a day?
We all then went through to a seating area to have some food. We sat at a table with several people from PPS, mostly other technicians and some performers.
Then we continued further into the house for the wedding ceremony itself. It included a ceremony to tie knots around the wrists of the bride and groom, naga weaving (passing around candles to represent protection from Lord Shiva) throwing seeds from a plant at the bride and groom, and the people conducting the wedding unsheathing a sword to represent protection of the couple.
Many people were wearing bright clothes, and the bridal couple seemed to have change into different costumes several times in the day.
After the ceremony most people went home for a bit before coming back for the reception just a short while later. When we returned we discovered that it was raining, which is highly unusual for this time of year. It meant that there was lots of mud to traipse through, but nobody seemed to mind.
There was then plenty of eating, drinking and dancing, much as you would expect with any wedding. At one point a line of people came towards our table chanting, each holding a glass of beer. Chanting, each of them then encouraged Det (one of the people at our table) to drink from the glass they were holding - there must have been about a group of 8 people. It seemed like they all really liked Det and wanted him to have fun.
We all stayed a while longer, but then we left earlier than many people, and very early by the standards of a European wedding – around 3pm. Det kindly drove us back to our hotel.
We cannot keep you in suspense any longer, dear blog readers! You must now know this exciting update! Sanjay has succeeded in getting his haircut!! We realise you may be sitting on the edge of your seat and desperately trying to contain your excitement. Try not to burst into a spontaneous round of applause, if you can. We’re sure you can now understand why the day has been eventful enough to warrant two whole blog posts.
First, some key stats:
Cost: $1 (not the cheapest one we could find – Sanjay is turning into quite the discerning beau!)
Style: Curtains (No options given!)
Optional extras: Earwaxing (Not taken up)
Somewhat interestingly, the barber did not give Sanjay any options as to what sort of haircut he would like. He simply proceeded! Sanjay did try to communicate what he wanted to the barber, but to no avail.
Here’s a picture of Sanjay before the haircut:
Here’s a picture after:
Here’s a picture of the earwaxing – this is what we missed out on!
Mission status for Sanjay’s haircut mission: SUCCESS!!!
When we were looking lost in the streets of Battambang, wondering how to get to Ek Phnom, we were lucky to be approached by Supheap the tuk-tuk driver. Supheap turned out to be a former monk who had become a layman three years ago. On the picture on the left, Supheap is showing a picture of himself when he was still a monk.
Supheap told us about how his family managed during the Khmer Rouge era. As many blog readers will know the Khmer Rouge were in power in Cambodia during the period 1975-9, during which time the population of Cambodia is thought to have reduced to around 75% of its levels prior to the arrival of the Khmer Rouge, largely as a result of starvation, but also executions ordered by the government. The Khmer Rouge forced virtually the entirety of the urban population to work in the fields in a bizarre enactment of their vision of communism.
Supheap’s father apparently worked on building a dam, and was only given a small amount of rice gruel each day, so sometimes at night he would sneak out and steal some potatoes, despite the fact that guards told him that he would be sent to “sleep” if he did so.
After the end of the Khmer Rouge era, Cambodia fell into civil war, and Supheap’s family, like many others, went into a UN refugee camp in Thailand, an experience he described very positively.
We had employed Supheap to take us to a tourist sight (Ek Phnom pagoda) but also got him to take us to the pagoda where he had spent 9 years as a monk.
Here’s a picture of Supheap in front of the room where he used to live. He also introduced us to the Head Monk of the pagoda.
Summary of our conversation with the Head Monk:
- goal: being manager of foreign company
- philosophy: money is bad and makes you sad forever
- as Head Monk, he could spend days… studying!
As we were about to leave, the Head Monk felt it important to share one story with us before we go: An American girl feel in love with a monk, the monk left the pagoda, and now they are married!
During the discussions that Wendy and Sanjay had with Jean-Christophe about PPS and the social business, we discovered that PPS has in fact launched quite a few national and international careers, including that of Kran. Jean-Christophe tells us that today, Kran is a big star in Cambodia. This might sound ironic though because Kran is actually a dwarf! As you can see, we couldn't find a picture of him, so we had to invoke Austin Powers to come to the rescue!
Kran is actually his stage name, and his real name is Ley. He grew up in a poor rural farming family in the area of Battambang. His neighbour came to PPS to do visual art, and Ley came with the neighbour. Then the neighbour stopped coming so Ley came to PPS to be able to continue his training. He used to hang out in PPS where the circus performers would mess around and involve him. He then transitioned to being involved in performing arts. He then got involved in PPS projects. He was doing a PPS sensibilisation tour about HIV/AIDS when he was talent spotted. From there is career was launched.
What would have happened if he were not involved in PPS…?
Our daily routine includes eating in the restaurant at PPS. The restaurant normally is only open when there is a performance, so for the rest of the time it is just peopled by the two of us and some French people whom we’ve gotten to know.
They work for a company called Ubi which is owned by someone called Saro and another person who is not in Cambodia or working closely on this project. Although we tend to think of Saro as French, he is actually half Cambodian himself. His mother was the daughter of a Cambodian minister before the Khmer Rouge took power, so we imagine she must have been quite well off. When the Khmer Rouge took over circumstances changed rather dramatically for her.
So Saro’s mother found herself in France and that was where Saro was born and grew up. Now, some years later, he is in Cambodia producing a show called Rouge. It is a non-linguistic dance/circus production which will explore the emotions that surround the Khmer Rouge regime.
Apparently the show will tour in Europe including the UK, at least in Milton Keynes and probably in London as well. Knowing what we do about the background to the people involved in the production, we think we would find the production fascinating, so we’re looking forward to seeing it when it comes here in about July 2012.
We didn’t get round to seeing them in rehearsal, but here’s a video from their website http://www.cie-ubi.com. We don’t know how much the performance will have changed by the time it comes to be performed, but this 5-min video might give some idea.
At lunchtime today we tried visiting the place we found earlier – the one where we saw haircuts happening. We were greeted with joyous smiles by our friend Jendi (with apologies to Jendi if this is not how she usually spells her name).
We asked her whether we would be able to get Sanjay’s hair cut, but sadly we were out of luck. The person who did the haircuts was pregnant and unable to provide haircuts. Jendi explained that there was someone across the road who was able to provide haircuts, but this person was thought to be unavailable, since it seemed she was in Phnom Penh with no indication of when she would get back. Nonetheless we crossed the road and searched for her, and she was there after all! Unfortunately she was unwilling to provide haircuts for men – she, like the rural hairdressers, only did haircuts for women.
Mission status for Sanjay’s haircut mission: In jeopardy!
As a consolation prize, we got talking to Jendi about her studies. We learned that she was studying general management at a local university. The course was very expensive for her – she paid $300-$400 per year. She hoped to run a restaurant for foreigners when she was finished.
We don’t know whether this is true of Jendi’s family, but we hear that in many parts of rural Cambodia (including this one) it’s common for men to start drinking early in the day and for women to be the ones that the family relies on for an income, whether that’s from working in the fields or doing something else. Whether this is the case for Jendi or not, we were pleased to discover that Jendi was investing in her future anyway.
Today Wendy had a meeting with some of the staff at PPS to discuss ways of negotiating contracts. Sanjay continued to work on the budget for the social business. However, this fine work is not, needless to say, the reason for the title of today’s blog post!
Instead it’s because we thought our blog readers might like a description of some of the toilets we have come across in Battambang. We would separate these into three broad categories:
- Hole in the ground. Two spaces are provided for you to place your feet, then you crouch and do your business. See picture.
- Western-style. The toilets we know and love from home.
- Half a western-style toilet. Some of the components of the Western toilet are considered optional. Some toilets don’t have a cistern, so you can’t flush them; you can only pour water down them. Some also don’t have toilet seats on them either.
Some further features:
- There is always some sort of water dispensing device. Sometimes this is a geyser (a sort of small hose), sometimes just a bucket with a pan.
- Toilet paper typically seems to be added in venues where Barang (foreign) visitors are expected.
- Soap seems to be considered optional as well, and at times we’re not sure whether it will make our hands more or less clean!
Yet more optional extras
- Delicious smells (sometimes holding breath becomes a valuable skill!)
- Teeming mosquitoes
Today we took a tuk-tuk to go round some of the sights south of Battambang. Our tuk-tuk driver was called Bo-Ren.
We enjoyed going round the countryside and seeing the rural villages, and the traditional houses, most of which are on stilts. We assume this is because it is necessary in some parts of the country because of flooding. In other parts of the country it (presumably) became popular because the shaded part under the house can be useful for storage and for somewhere to sit when the sun is hot.
At one point we shouted “Stop! Bo-Ren! Stop!” This was because we had just spotted a hair salon! Excited, we thought we were on the verge of completing our mission, here in a remote Cambodian village! Bo-Ren stopped the tuk-tuk and we tried to arrange a haircut. Unfortunately we discovered that hair salons that will accept male customers are unheard of in rural areas. In the villages men get their hair cut by their mothers or wives. Apparently this is because women don’t care how men look – they’re only interested in whether men have good farming skills so they can generate a good income!
Mission status for Sanjay’s haircut mission: Disappointing, but on track.
PS we also saw the bamboo train, Wat Banon and Phnom Sampeu, three of the major tourist attractions in Battambang.
Marijuana grows easily in Cambodia, and used to be very easily available – you could simply wander up to somebody in the market and ask for it. Nowadays it has become marginally less easy as the police have become more vigilant, but it’s still the case that most market stalls will have some, and most farm
ers will grow some.
Marijuana is illegal, and since there is no drug classification system (such as the UK A/B/C grading) it is just as illegal as heroin. However marijuana is widely used with no repercussions. It is considered widely socially acceptable to include some marijuana in your food, although smoking it would be frowned upon by many.
We went to a restaurant in Battambang that included the following as one of the items on the menu:
Happy Chicken soup (soup with chiken and happy herbs, including mariwana) (sic, of course)
The day we went they were out of “mariwana” (not that two well-behaved law-abiding citizens like us would have tried it, obviously!). The name of the restaurant was (we’re not making this up) Smoking Pot!
Dear blog reader, would you like some deep-fried spider with your sautéed frog? Yes, those are real Cambodian specialties (actually we can’t remember how the frog is cooked, but it seems that they don’t just stick to the legs like the unadventurous French!) It may seem like enough to turn you vegetarian, but it hasn’t worked on the Cambodians. Vegetarianism is still pretty foreign to everyone who isn’t accustomed to Barang (foreign) visitors. So foreign is it, in fact, that when they do provide vegetarian food, it invariably includes some sort of mushroom/tofu/other fake meat, which is specially contrived to be as convincingly akin to meat as possible.
Wendy turned vegetarian long before she even heard of deep-fried spiders, and has always liked eating vegetables whenever she can find them. However when they’ve been trodden on by a chicken we both might find them less appetising - see this picture taken at a stall we saw on the street!
So to give you some idea about the work we’re doing here at PPS, we’re going to describe a new development at PPS. PPS is setting up a social business, something which is sometimes also referred to as a social enterprise. It involves PPS setting up some businesses which should generate a profit, and that profit will go back to PPS to be used for charitable purposes. The businesses are largely relating to PPS’s cultural activities: there’s a circus performance arm, a visual art gallery, a theatre production company, and a graphic design and animation studio.
Sanjay has been spending a lot of time taking a key role in bringing the budget together so that it’s ready in time for presentations to potential social investors. Social investors are investors who are generally interested in getting their initial investment back, but may want little or no further return on their investment. Instead, they want to know that the profits generated will go to a good cause. Wendy has been looking at the legal structure of the social business among other things.
An analysis of the competitive and strategic positioning of these businesses is interesting. It seems there are potential growth opportunities; these reflect PPS’s competitive strengths compared to its Cambodian peers, and low cost base compared to international peers.
Haircuts
In addition to a progress update on PPS’s social business, we would like to give you an update on Sanjay’s own personal mission: to get his hair cut in Cambodia. After having had his hair cut in various other countries around the world, he would like to add Cambodia to his list. So far he has spotted a place just a short distance from PPS where haircuts are offered.
Mission status for Sanjay’s haircut mission: Looking good!
In this blog entry we will describe the structure of a typical day.
Many days start with us being woken up by monotonic oriental chanting emitted from a nearby pagoda at around 5am-6am. There’s no way of escaping from the sound, since it seems to permeate every street in Battambang.
Then we get up and get ready in the hotel, and then cycle to work past a statue of Vishnu at a size worthy of a god, ridiculously overloaded bicycles and scooters and cars, various animals, an occasional wedding procession and the odd monk. Traffic rules seem to be that you give way to a vehicle that’s bigger than you. So try not to be the smallest thing on the road (i.e. a bike!).
At PPS we then go to the office and work from about 9 until about 12, when we stop to have lunch in the PPS restaurant. The chef serves us delicious food and is able to cope with Wendy’s bizarre Western vegetarianism. We are usually joined by a handful of French people whom we’re getting to know fairly well.
Lunch breaks in Cambodia frequently last for 2 hours. This gives people the chance to eat and have a rest before going back to work. In the Cambodian heat a siesta is very tempting.
The evening may involve seeing one of the shows at PPS, but is quite likely to involve us going back to the restaurant at PPS before going to the hotel for the night.
