Written on
March 1st, 2011
(lectores en español, ver más abajo la versión en nuestra lengua)
Last weekend I visited Thailand to see Bangkok and also renew my Cambodian visa. When I got back to the Phnom Penh airport, I relived the experience of the first day we got here: the warm and slightly humid air, a lot of people on the airport’s exit and a lot different vehicles moving with no identifiable pattern which constituted just a preamble of the dynamics I was about to experience later.
“In Cambodia, driving is an art”, said a Khmer man, one of our client’s main managers. “If you follow the rules, you will block the way and create an accident: it happens all the time with foreigners around here”. Then he went on to describe how a foreigner would stop at a street where he would seemingly not have the right of way and then people would crash on his car because it made no sense for him to stop. This made me think of how living in a rules based society might seem like the only ‘developed’ alternative and, as much as I agree that rules are necessary, they are not the only way to function and, if excessive, rules can even preclude the use of common sense.
How many accidents have you seen happen because someone who had a green light crashed with someone who thought they did? I have witnessed more accidents happen in Bell Road near the Thunderbird Campus (where there are plenty of rules, signs and police officers to enforce them) than what I have seen all over Cambodia… and this is a place where pedestrians, bikes, motorbikes, tuk tuks, cars, SUVs and trucks do not respect the direction of the streets, the stoplights or any safety rule you can think of (ok, some are wearing helmets). How does this work? Well, they drive using common sense instead of rules: if they are driving and they are going to hit something they stop or they drive around it. If in order to do avoid hitting something they need to invade the line in opposing direction and doing so will not get them hit, they will do it. If it is not clear who has the right of way (and it never is) both will go and just dodge each other. There is no “I had the green light”, but only a “I want to get where I want to go, I do not want to crash with you”.
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Written on
February 24th, 2011
Cruising around Glendale, one is nearly assaulted by a plethora of strip-mall restaurant delicacies available around every corner. Will tonight be three-cheese lasagna at the Olive Garden? Thai curry at Satara? Weinersnitzel at Haus Murphy’s? or Pho at Little Saigon? We Thunderbirds are lucky, I suppose, to have so many options and flavors to choose from just a delivery driver away.
While our temporary home in Phnom Penh lacks the strip mall charm of Phoenix, the culinary options are plentiful, from French and Australian to Chinese and Khmer. Wait….what is that last one? Khmer? So, this past weekend I decided to answer that very question myself, by enrolling in a half-day, hands-on Khmer cooking class offered by a local restaurant chef.
First, some history: Khmer cuisine dates back over 1,000 years to when the Angkor Empire ruled over most of Southeast Asia. As a result of this influence, many regional flavors such as Thai and Vietnamese, have their rootsin the Khmer kitchen. Interestingly, Khmer recipes date back to before the 16th century to when the Portuguese introduced the chili to the region. As a result, Khmer food is milder than other neighboring cuisines.
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Written on
February 22nd, 2011
This weekend marked the halfway point of our project in Cambodia. Since my first trimester I knew TEM Lab was a program I wanted to take part in, but I was wary of the time I would be away from campus during my last trimester. That aside, I knew that TEM Lab would provide an element to my Thunderbird education that life on campus could not, a unique learning experience that would utilize the skills I have learned in other coursework. Ultimately, I decided to forgo the first half of my last trimester on campus because I wanted to make an impact in an emerging market and to learn from the skills and experience of my team members.
Some of the best experiences I have had on campus have been Regional Nights. It is an excellent way to spend time with other students and learn about other cultures. My personal favorite Regional Night is Asia, which took place this past Saturday. When Asia Night finally rolled around this trimester, I realized that even though I didn’t get to wear the saree from the Winterim in India I was looking forward to debuting, I had my own Asia Night. In fact, the TEM Lab has given the team the opportunity to have Asia Night every night for five weeks.
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Written on
February 18th, 2011
We’re in the Siem Reap night market, scouring hundreds of stalls for the best deals. The shopkeepers, sensing tourist dollars, call out to us promising their best price. We have been coached by our professors on the fine art of negotiating and are looking to put our skills to the test. Oseas asks the shopkeeper, “How much?” Negotiations begin at 18 dollars. I tell Oseas that that is a ridiculous price and he should counter with $5 dollars. Kate is even more ruthless. “Two dollars!” she says. Zach and Jessi both agree that nobody should pay more then seven dollars for the shirt. The whole time the shopkeeper is looking at us in confusion. We’re speaking in Spanish.
What started as joking around has morphed into a secondary means of communication. We seamlessly switch from English to Spanish, using it in our everyday comings and goings. Whole dinner conversations will be held in Spanish, only shifting to English when there is a gap in vocabulary or inability to express complex concepts. We especially use it when negotiating in markets or transportation to and from the DDD office. Sometimes even pretending to have very limited comprehension of English in order to squeeze out the best deal possible. There is an intrinsic pleasure derived from communicating in another language. The thrill and enjoyment that group gets is measured by our habitual willingness to communicate in Spanish. Spanish provides a veil of confidentiality in public places. And there is comfort in knowing that nobody understands you, even when you’re speaking out loud.
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Written on
February 15th, 2011
I believe that in order to truly understand a culture, understanding the language is crucial. I’m not here long enough to learn much Khmer, but knowing the history of the language and how it is used provides insight into the culture as well. This is really important. In order to be effective in our project, we need to understand the cultural variables that shape the way the employees of the organization operate, the values inherent in the organization itself, and the way that we will need to orient our recommendations and communicate them to provide real value. Language is an avenue towards understanding cultural symbolism.
Khmer is heavily influenced by Sanskrit and Pali, reflecting the centrality of religion in the history of Cambodia. Sanskrit is the language of ancient Hindu texts, while Pali is used in some of the earliest Buddhist scriptures—particularly those of Theravada Buddhism, now devoutly practiced throughout Cambodia.
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Written on
February 13th, 2011
It’s hard to believe that we have been on the ground here for only two weeks. Phnom Penh feels like home already. In just ten working days, the team has met with over 15 project stakeholders from across the country in the healthcare, banking and international development sectors. Based on these interactions, along with day-to-day living experiences, the one thought that consistently comes to my mind about the environment here is a sense of aspiration. The people, expats and locals like, all seem to be zeroed-in on elevating Cambodia to the ranks of other emerging markets in Southeast Asia.
This is no easy task. Thirty years ago, Cambodia was in the midst of genocide and a civil war that effectively purged its educated population and dismantled its market economic systems. Since that time, Cambodia has had to completely rebuild its industry, workforce and culture. Evidence of progress is everywhere in terms of newly paved national highways, increased tourism presence, growth in the garment sector and construction of new office complexes. Most recently, the country has experienced enviable levels of economic growth, achieving 8.0% prior to the economic crisis and projected 5.1% growth this year.
Prior to departing for TEM Lab, an article in the Wall Street Journal explained how business and government leaders were considering a proposal to construct Asia’s tallest building in Phnom Penh. While this project may not be truly practical at this stage, it is symbolic of the place Cambodia wants to hold in the region.
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Written on
February 7th, 2011
To my surprise, the most commonly owned cars in Cambodia are not small older cars, but large SUVs, primarily Toyota and Lexus. Paul Dodds, one of our contacts, explained that most of these vehicles are originally from the United States. The large SUVs that are constantly zigzagging through traffic are formerly wrecked and decommissioned vehicles that have been refurbished and brought back to life here in Cambodia. Although the cars are second hand, it gives one a sense of the country’s ability to seek out and seize opportunities.
Our first Saturday morning in Cambodia found us contorted into the back of a newly fixed-up Toyota Camry taxi. The destination: Sihanoukville, a beachside city 5 hours from Phnom Penh on the southern coast of Cambodia. Sihanoukville is an example of the tremendous growth that is taking place in the tourism sector. Less than ten years ago, Sihanoukville was a quiet town with a few hotels and restaurants frequented primarily by the King. No longer the sole playground for royalty, the city is a beachside retreat, booming with hotels and restaurants for the enjoyment of tourists and locals alike. Sihanoukville is also the only deep-sea port in the country, making it a new hot spot for investments beyond just tourism. FDI is flowing rapidly into the country and growth is taking place at approximately 7% per year. It is said that Sihanoukville will soon be a more bustling metro area than the nation’s capital. Money is being invested to clean the city for continued growth in the tourism and cargo transportation industries. In the near future, cruise ships will be docking in what was once a sleepy seaside town visited by few.
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Written on
February 4th, 2011
According to Merrian Webster, an entrepreneur is “one who organizes, manages, and assumes the risks of a business or enterprise.” Dictionary definitions are seldom exhaustive and after only three days in Phnom Penh I have learned yet another way in which this is the case. As we finished our first meeting with Narin Soen, Operations Manager at DDD, he sighed about how it is a conflicting emotion to see many of their operators go. He mentioned how developing talent and then letting it go is part of DDD’s social mission. DDD’s mission statement is “to empower disadvantaged youth to become skilled leaders and break the cycle of poverty that traps their families.” What is this talent that DDD is letting go? People from the poorest regions in Cambodia, orphans, landmine victims and disabled youth that DDD trains and enables to work as part of a world-class company offering digitization services – while they study to get their undergraduate degree. And when they graduate, they have new skills that are required elsewhere so they move on to different companies and, well, the next batch is waiting. Sounds too good to be true? 
The best part is that this is a self-sustaining, profitable entity. Now that is something I would like to see under ‘entrepreneur’ in the dictionary: someone who creates a profitable way to take people who would have had a hard time finding a job, develops them until they outgrow the organization, and still makes a profit – just to do it all over again. Nice alchemy.
Espíritu emprendedor
De acuerdo al diccionario un emprendedor es “alguien que organiza, maneja y asume el riesgo de un negocio o empresa”. Las definiciones en el diccionario no siempre son exhaustivas, y luego de tan solo tres días en Phnom Penh he descubierto un ejemplo más de cómo éste es el caso. Al terminar nuestra primera reunión con Narin Soen, Gerente de Operaciones en DDD, suspiró al platicarnos cómo es una emoción conflictiva
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Written on
February 2nd, 2011
The great thing about jet lag is that you have plenty of quiet “waking” hours to put your thoughts together. I am currently operating on an unknown time zone having completed my Winterim in Germany, traveled to Glendale for a week of orientation then travelled 24 hours to Phnom Penh. In my current lucid state I want to take this opportunity to put pen to paper and share my thoughts on the city so far.
My first thought when I stepped into Cambodia was, “This is a poor country.” Now this is an obvious statement and people that do not even know where Cambodia is on a map would most likely be aware of this bit of information. But it is not until you actually see and smell and touch it that you understand how little these people have. Throughout the city there is a visibility disparity between those who have money and those who do not. Twenty six percent of the population lives on just $1.25 a day and 58% of the population lives on less than two dollars a day.Per capita income in the country is just $2000 and 31% of the population lives in poverty.
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