Blind Nang Sokearath, 25, is typical of disabled Cambodians trying to scrape up a living. The powers that be have vowed to remove such folks from Phnom Penh’s streets. The city periodically sweeps up ordinary street beggars too, then essentially jails them. Source: Phnom Penh Post
The kind of remark I hear all the time was addressed to me an unprecedented three times in one day, on Tuesday, a record that surprised me.
This being Southeast Asia, indirection often is the way questions are answered, criticisms are provided and requests are made. My experience on Tuesday was all about requests, though no one actually asked this barang (foreigner) outright for help.
The English dailies these days seem to be accelerating their coverage and analysis of corruption, the wicked stepmother of deprivation in a nation with great potential that is far from realized. As I have written previously in this regard, I keep thinking about thriving Singapore, the tiny city-state that was approximately at the same stage of development as Cambodia half a century ago and that has far fewer natural resources.
The veiled requests concerned Continue reading
I, on Cambodia 