Contrasts

Golden Dragon, Phnom Penh

Cambodia is a country of contrasts. It's not my original thought, I've heard it said over and over by people who have visited the country. Being here, I experience such contrasts every day.

There are modern skyscrapers under construction alongside basic shacks by the railroad tracks where the poor people live. Fancy restaurants with every world cuisine imaginable where a dinner likely costs upwards of 25 USD while a few steps away, at the central market, a main meal can be bought from a stall for 1,50 USD. Upscale beauty salons that advertise haircuts for 22 USD but I went to a local hairdresser to have my hair cut for 2 USD.

Modern air-conditioned cars drive on the roads, many of them huge 4WD models, with Toyota by far the most popular make. Among them, hundreds or perhaps thousands of locals on their motorcycles, tuk-tuks and bicycles wiggle their way, sprinkled with an occasional bicycle rickshaw powered by an emaciated old man.

While many of the local people are poor, making a living on a few US dollars per day, there are also those who overstepped poverty and seem to be living in relative comfort. The family who owns the guesthouse where I’m staying, for example. They send their two boys to an international primary school and they can afford to buy a remote-controlled helicopter for one of the boys on his birthday.

I also met an obviously well situated local young woman, a consultant where I work. She graduated in sociology from the Phnom Penh University and she consults on a freelance basis with non-governmental organizations in conducting surveys. Her background image on her laptop computer is one of her in front of the Universal Studios theme park in Singapore where she had been recently on vacation.

Many Cambodians dream of landing a job in Thailand, the region’s economic leader, where – if they’re lucky and find a job – they migrate to earn money to send back home to their families. Contrarily, I met Thai tourists traveling in Laos and Cambodia who seem to be dreaming of working “abroad”, wherever that may be. One young Thai girl asked me whether it would be possible to get a job in my country (not knowing or even caring where Slovenia is) because she had heard from her English teacher that “one Euro is many, many baht”.

I guess it all boils down to the fact that everyone is looking for ways to improve their standard of living, whether it’s to escape poverty or just to earn more money.