No Money No Honey: A Travel Memoir by Max D

Author:Max D [D, Max]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-02-01T06:00:00+00:00

Cutting the Branches

Cambodia has a history of rich culture and heritage, having once dominated all of Indochina. Today, the state of Cambodia has eroded to roughly the size of Missouri. After the Pol Pot regime, civil war left Cambodia in shambles. Entire families were missing or dead, and people are still recovering from the traumatic losses. The majority of its intellectuals had been wiped out: teachers, professors, doctors, lawyers – anyone who wore glasses was killed during the time of Pol Pot. Those who did escape either settled in the USA or elsewhere, created a life, and never returned. Pol Pot’s ambitions were essentially accomplished: to start from a new year zero. Cambodia then needed a new government that would promise peace and lead the country out of its hole, to become integrated into the global economy. Cambodia needed a new generation of college graduates pursuing skilled jobs. This might now seem like a fresh start for Cambodia, but many of those who poses the high-ranking positions in government were once, ironically, part of the Khmer Rouge. In fact, Prime Minister Hun Sen had been a Khmer Rouge general. The Khmer Rouge has simply evolved to fit the modern government, where corruption perpetuates today.

One might say that at least, finally, there is peace in Cambodia, and that the people now have a chance to strive and become successful. I disagree; does an absence of war necessarily mean the presence of prosperity? The same gears are turning. Who knows, perhaps Prime Minister Hun Sen might be a changed man, having seen millions of his own people die. Maybe Prime Minister Hun Sen truly wants prosperity and peace in Cambodia. Certainly, peace is prevalent in Cambodia, and the country has certainly improved compared to a decade or more ago, but after years of destruction the process of rebuilding cannot happen overnight.

Despite the corruption under the Hun Sen administration, I must admit that he is doing a fair job. Prime Minister Hun Sen, according to locals, never even had a high school education; he only graduated from the eighth grade and was a pagoda boy without experience in politics or economics. However, he did gain a military background during his time with the Khmer Rouge, which eventually led to his post as prime minister today. To leave school after the eighth grade and go on to become the prime minister of the country really is an accomplishment. One might say, in a sense, that this is the American Dream: to come from a poor family, work hard, and make it.

Over 1000 NGOs are currently active in Cambodia – some of which stick to their mission statement and do good in the country. Many others are corrupt, just like the Cambodian Government itself. A lot of US aid money also pours into the country, possibly linked to the Cambodian Government’s journey towards democracy, as well as the Nixon bombing of the Ho Chi Minh trail, which ran through Cambodia, causing much death and destruction. A certain amount of corruption is natural in any human society, but it requires limits.

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