A street gasoline vendor is filling up the tank of a motorcycle in Phnom Penh on 11 April 2007. (Photo: AFP)13 April 2007
By Kim Pov Sottan
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by KI-Media
“I have no faith that our country will change its situation towards a better living condition as in our neighboring countries. We will remain poor because the government leaders are the same, the governing system remains the same, there is no change. Therefore, I have no faith, even if we have oil, even if we have a lot of natural resources, we will still face hardship.” - Samrit Bunthol, teacher
Radio Free Asia interviewed many people, but none of them believe that oil will help improve the living condition of people in Cambodia, nor will it bring development to the country. This despair [on the potential oil revenue] stems from the corruption in Cambodia which is worsening by the days.
Ying, a 40-year-old man and a driver of a chartered car from Phnom Penh to Kompong Cham, shakes his head while saying that he doesn’t believe [on the oil revenue] because corruption exists at every level from the lowest level to the highest ranking official, he believes that this is the reason why Cambodian people remain poor: “It won’t happen, [people] will still remain poor. Look at the case of Angkor Wat, it is our national treasure which receives the largest number of tourists in Cambodia. The revenue it brings is the largest in Cambodia, but it is handed over to a private company which makes million [of dollars] in profit each year. When we produce oil, it will be the same, the only thing being that now, there are people who oppose it, they are more numerous now, so they can push it back somewhat only, so that the situation wouldn’t collapse entirely.”
He added the following request also: “We want the government to help resolve the corruption issue, they (government officials) should be full by now [from the stealen money], they should think about developing the country, they should not keep on claiming that we are still living in a period of conflict, and that there is no development possible. Out of this long period, aren’t they full yet [from the stolen money]? Please organize the country to be at least on par with our neighboring countries.”
A man who insists on keeping his anonymity said: “I have absolutely no faith in it (oil revenue) at all. The reason that I don’t believe it: look at the daily situation, it’s so bad already, let’s wait until that [collapse] day happens, they (government officials) are so corrupt.”
Sok, a man from Siem Reap claims that oil is Cambodia’s last resort following [the destruction] of forest, fishes, gem mining, the country is moving toward its destruction while it is becoming poorer and poorer. He has very little hope on this last Cambodian resource (oil). He said: “We can be better if there is no corruption, if the corruption still remains, it does not matter how many oil fields we have, we will still remain the same, in Cambodia, we lost everything already: forests, everything.”
Ly Dy, a teacher from Sihanoukville, said that Cambodian people are happy and proud when they heard about the major oil discovery in Cambodia, but at the same time, their hopelessness also takes place.
He said that there is no hope that the salary for teachers and civil servants will be commensurately increased because of the past corruption that existed: “Now, we can see that the salaries of civil servants and those of ministers [and high ranking officials] are not that much different from one another, but the high ranking officials have money stashed in the banks by the hundreds of thousands, by the millions, they have so many houses that they couldn’t remember anymore, we are wondering where do they get them from? And when the oil will be pumped out, and money will flow in by the millions, whose pockets will it flow into?”
Samrit Bunthol, another teacher, said that if there is no change [in the government], nothing could save [Cambodia] since the [current] governing system remains the same: “I have no faith that our country will change its situation towards a better living condition as in our neighboring countries. We will remain poor because the government leaders are the same, the governing system remains the same, there is no change. Therefore, I have no faith, even if we have oil, even if we have a lot of natural resources, we will still face hardship.”
Um Sophal, another teacher from Sihanoukville, is making the following request: “I want to ask the government that when the oil is pumped out, and that it becomes a common wealth of all the [Cambodian] people, I want the government to pay a lot of attention on the revenue from oil.”
Miss Moniroth, a student from Western University, said that she has only a small hope on the oil issue. She showed her optimism by saying: “I believe that if we can explore oil by ourselves, then I would believe that the salary of civil servants can be increased, and the price of gasoline could drop because we produce it on our own, and we don’t need to buy it from overseas anymore, and we don’t have to pay for taxes, high expenses, etc… If we can produce it on our own, the price could be lower than importing it.”
Miss Somaly, a member of the Cambodian Youth Association, said that she had absolutely no faith in the development. She said that after oil exploration, Cambodia could possibly become much poorer than before because of severe corruption: “I believe that not much [revenue] will flow into the national budget, but the majority of it will flow into individual pockets instead. Development could happen, but if corruption still remains rampant, inequity [of wealth] will still persist and the rich will become richer.”
Numerous people, including farmers, taxi drivers, tuk-tuk drivers, teachers, and students who were interviewed by RFA said that they have absolutely no faith that progress in Cambodia will occur in the near future because of oil exploration. Some decline to provide any comments, while others said that they only have little hope that price of gasoline could be lowered because of local production.
Politicians as well as International observers express the same concerns that Cambodia will become a poorer nation if the revenue from this last natural is not managed properly.
The oil profits must be shared among all khmers. It will be a terrible mistake if they, the govt, keep all of them for themselve.
ReplyDeleteLet's not be so obsessed with corruption. Let's think out of the box and of the utilisation of the future oil revenue before this revenue goes into private pockets. Let's have a vision by drawing a bit of lesson from our past.
ReplyDeleteFortune has saved the Khmer nation from extinction so many times in the past. Just a couple of episodes in its recetn history as an illustration: The French came while the Siamese and the Annamites had a joint suzereignty over it. It survived as an independent nation after the French departure - with the loss of Kampuvhea Krom. It faced yet another exstinction under the Khmer Rouge. Following its ideological and territorial conflict with the Khmer Rouge, Vietnam invaded Cambodia to oust the Khmer Rouge and install a quisling (puppet) government in Phnom Penh. The Cambodian nation faced extinction again. The international community intervened and the Khmer nation survived yet again as an independent country. It has had in between periods of peace - or relative peace, but it has failed to build itself to become a strong nation. At one time in the early 1970s a Cambodian scholar politician and diplomat listed the opportunities that the Khmer nation failed to seize during the peace time of the 1950s and 1960s. (“L'inventaire des occasions perdues”- Inventory of lost opportunities)
Thanks to the international guarantee, democracy of a kind and massive aid, the Khmer nation is experiencing yet again a period of stability and peace. And now it is discovering oil and other mineral resources. Fortune smiles on this impoverished nation yet again -this time with a big smile.
It is yet another opportunity the Khmer nation must not fail to seize to build itself to become a strong nation. But what it needs first and foremost is a vision. Where there is no vision, the people perish, says a proverb in the Christian Bible. What kind of society the Khmers want to build? What kind of common core values do they have to bind Khmers together? What kind of people that could build that kind of society bound together by that kind of common core values? Nothing is possible without men; nothing is lasting without institutions, says Jean Monet, a founder of the European Union. What kind of institutions do those leaders want to build? In the 1950s and 1960s Khmer leaders failed to build strong institutions. The nation was then governed by the rule of men not by the rule of law. It simply collapsed with a change of leadership. The same with the Khmer Rouge under whose regime the Khmer nation was governed by the rule of men and gun.
Oil revenue should be utilised to build up and consolidate a system of values and the institutions of the rule of law starting off with the criminal justice. Oil revenue must be utilised for sustainable development, for instance by
- pensioning off and retiring old, incompetent (and corrupt) government governments, and raising the salaries of the rest;
- offering land to landless people and building public houses for the poor using local materials and labour;
- transforming rivers, lakes and sea waters into a giant fish pond by protecting the environment and the eco-system in and around those waters and creating fish hatcheries around Tonle Sap Lake;
- undertaking development projects using a lot of labour in rural areas to generate income for the poor;
- constructing economic infrastructure: roads, bridges, railways, hydro-electric dams (inducing a big one the Mekong); universities, colleges, schools, scholarships, hospitals...;
- turning Khmers into free, well-educated, skilled, responsible and enterprising citizens;
- offering scholarships for long-tern study in advanced countries...to have highly qualified technicians, scientists, engineers, doctors...for industrialisation and the well-being of the people
- industrialising the country starting with turning Kompong Cham into an international industrial and commercial centre, and the seaboard along the coast with the construction of manufacturing industry using oil by products as raw materials.
There are of course much more to do for sustainable development
LAO Mong Hay, Hong Kong
Mr. LAO Mong Hay, that is a very keen insight and I agree with you all the way. I respect your opinion very much. Let's hope things work out for the best for all the beloved khmer people and nation. Although I have my doubts, I do believe that one day Cambodia will be a strong nation again and I believe it will happen in my lifetime.
ReplyDeleteThanks Dr. Lao Mong Hay for your faithful comments on how to utilize the revenue from our (May be last) treasure resource (Black Gold). From my point of view, I am really concern about how to collect the revenue rather than how to use them. I wonder how, what kind of of strategy, will the government will collect those revenue ???
ReplyDeleteUntil now there is no information about how the government plan to do with the crude oil yet. I am not sure will they refine it in Cambodia or they are going to sale those crude oil and gas to the other country?
I bet there is the different ways to control the revenue if they choose to just export the raw oil or they will refine them here.
PS: There are some questions on why don't we produce in our country??? The only answer is relate to the cost and benefit of setting up refinery plant.
Yuu ta
Mr Lao Mong Hay, your dream is good. I know you want us to support your friend Kem Sokha because he pretend to have a new concept of his political party.
ReplyDeleteI say this will not convince most of us because after listening to Mr Kem Sokha last Saturday 14th in Montreal he didn't bring any new idea at all. He tried to take away new young voters and the those of old Funcinpec from SRP. He said he will not have a big chance to take away votes from CPP. He said he will not win for the next 5 years so why he does that ?
I say he is working for Hun Sen or he hates Sam Rainsy so bad. And I predict today that Kem Sokha will never reach any agreement with SRP because he cannot or does not want to.
Please Mr Kem Sokha!!! Stop telling media that Cambodians in Canada support you. We do Not!!!!!!
From Canada
From Canada
"...The nation was then governed by the rule of men not by the rule of law."
ReplyDeleteRule of law, Rule of law, Rule of
law, if we love it so much, why
don't we put the damn rules into
the computer and have the computer
governs all of us. Have we lost our
sense of rational?
What's up man? what rule?
ReplyDeletedon't go back to primary school!
We all know what law mean, commone law you fool is commone sense!
As long as Ah corrupted Hun Khvorng Shit and his crooks still remain ruling the country, poor Cambodians still have nothing to eat.
ReplyDeleteOh stop crying already, what is a
ReplyDeletebunch of little bayyybeeees here.
First thing first, like I said,
the money is no good when we are
all dead. So, what we have to do
is to get away from buying weapons
to arm the country. An arm race
in the region is the last thing
we want to have if we are to
appreciate something from the oil.
Therefore, no matter what roumors
you hear, who got kill, ..., or
what Ah Khmer-Yuons said. Don't
buy any weapon, not even a bullet.
And if you failed to avoid that
and you have purchase a bunch of
weapons. Don't think for a moment
that this make you the mighty power
of Indochina because what you got
will not be anything more than
absolete craps. No one is dumb
enough to sell you their latest
state of the art and leave themself
defenseless against you attacking
them. Okay?
12:57, there is no such thing as
ReplyDeleterule of laws, that is nothing but
rheotoric. Don't drown yourself in
fancy words, dude. Every law
has loopholes in it that is to be
interpreted by Men. Thus, it will
become rule of Men, not of laws,
no matter how you look at it. Got
the idea?
As long as we still have the current government led by the lack vision ,vietnamese's create monster and power monger HUN SEN, Cambodia will never prosper.
ReplyDeleteCambodia need a visionary like Mr.L.M.H to lead her.GET RID OF THE INCOMPETENCE or the CROOK...
I don't understand why you guys like to talk about politic other than economic improvement to our country? Please come up with some ideas to bring our country prosperity.
ReplyDeleteI know that all of us are hurt by the current leader, but what else can you do beside saying bad about them??? To me, I think currently we still have room to move rather than stuck in one place, keep on sitting and shouting to others.
Yuu Ta
First of all we need to come together and vote for a new government. Too much corruption from lowest level and on up. That is the only way we can get a real start. Otherwise the current government will just build here and there with their own personal names on it. Don`t you notice that hardly any high ranking officials inaugurate a building without mention that it came out of their own pockets? If we can get a new change in government, then the rest of the goods will follow.
ReplyDeleteCC, California
Wrong, that is how the country
ReplyDeletegetting smaller and smaller. We
can't cut the entire tree down just
because of a few bad fruits. It is
too high of a risk to start a new
administration, not to mention
decades of learning curve before
they can produce something good
for the country.
Mr/Ms 10:06 PM, Canada
ReplyDeleteI wish to inform you that I'm not joining his party or any other party, though I have wished him and his supporters the best of luck.
I prefer to be simply an "impartial spectator", though I would support younger leaders who have a vision of Cambodia. What kind of citizens do they wish the Cambodian babies being born while you are reading this reply to your comment to be, when these same babies will be 16 or 18 years old? How would they set about to help those babies to be such citizens?
Happy Khmer New year!
LAO Mong Hay, Hong Kong
I support 8:48pm. I am not in the government side, However, it is really a high risk to form up the new government with a trustful person today. Can you fully trust on the other party which they don't (Have never) lead the country yet? I understand that the current government is bad enough however, please think of some ways to solve it.
ReplyDeleteCurrently, aren't we in the process of getting free election? Even though the election is not 100% free and fair but the result can represent the Cambodian voice already.
Yuu ta
Sahtouk, brother!
ReplyDelete"The nation was then governed by the rule of men not by the rule of law. It simply collapsed with a change of leadership. The same with the Khmer Rouge under whose regime the Khmer nation was governed by the rule of men and gun."
ReplyDeleteMr. LAO Mong Hay, I appreciate your view. In the 50s and 60s, in spite of some small fractions among Khmers, Cambodians were proud to be Khmer and the nationalism was spread over the country. Ruled under the nationalism theory, Cambodia had produced lots of Khmer lovers and great people. For instance, not to mention others, in literature there is Samdech Sang Chourn Nath, etc. During these days, rarely have people recognized someone as the most respected persons. If it is so, they have been bought up by the corrupt officials. History tells Khmer often split among each other and race for power.
From historical experiences, and beyond any doubt, Khmer should be united. I am not a politician, but I do not support Mr. Khem Sokha in creating a new political party. Agree that people may have different ideologies, but they can be reconciled. Why everyone wants to be a leader? There is no difference between a minister and the prime minister, or asecretary of state or a parliament member, and a peasant farmer, if these people are to work in the same direction—making Khmer a better nation. It is a different case if he wants to be the Prime Minister. If it is so, again, the ideology saying he can better serve the country with democracy and the rule of law is a big lie to Khmer people and to himself particularly. In fact, if he does so, he puts his power above everything.
If you all, opposition partie(S) who view that Cambodia needs to be changed, and that the change of the regime can lead to better Khmer, you need to unite among yourself before you try to unite the whole country. I am afraid that Khem Sokha is making his own party strong or even split the opposition voices, and then he could demand for millions of dollars from the corruption-strategy-ruled party (CPP).
It follows from the fact that people was thrilled to have Funcipec won the election in 1993. People hope there was change, but many nationalists (from Funcipec) have been bought up by the CPP by their corrupted money. Now, many Khmer now lose hope in EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING because they know it is the same and the same. They are in despair. I
f you all (opposition leaders) want to bring hope and make people happy, you must UNITE. This is great news for Khmer people that brings stronger and united voices to beat the CPP. People will have hope again. BE STRONG AND DON’T LET MONEY BETRAY YOUR OWN CONSCIENCE.
As for now, only tears and sadness can express my mind.
Rath
Cambodia
Okay, there has been some serious
ReplyDeletemisunderstanding here about
democracy. Allow me to point it
out: it will worked only if you
have true quality parties. In this
case, the more parties, the
better. On the other hand, if you
have poor quality parties, it will
not works, and the more you have
the worse it will be. Thus, quality
come first, and quantity come
second. Take the US for example,
they have only 2 dominant parties,
if you were to eliminate one, do
you think the US will crumble?
Singapore has only one dominant
party since the 60's and they are
still growing and ticking. So
again, Quality, Quality, Quality.
And if you can't get that, then
you want to have just one poor
quality, not 10 poor quality
parties. That will distroyed
things 10 times faster. And that is
what our stupid westerner
assistances forgot to tell us,
hehehe.
Mr. Rath of Cambodia,
ReplyDeleteI very much appreciate your ideas and the way you have articulated them. You have strengthened my hope for the Khmer nation.
I'm not so sure whether those put money first in their life have any conscience. It is said such and such a man has sold his ideals (oudomkiti). I'm not so sure whether such a man has any ideal to sell.
Please coninue writing.
Happy Khmer New Year!
LAO Mong Hay, Hong Kong
Allow me to be more direct: every
ReplyDeleteoppositions put power first and
people last. That is what I have
been saying since day1, LOL, and
just watch what they have to use
for their campaign for the 2008's
election: lipservice, lipservice,
and lipservice. And the election
result will be lost, lost, lost,
followed by all sorts of complains
about election irregularities and
flaws. I am sure many people is
tire of the same old music.
Sorry, I am a bit late in the discussion. However, I would like to express my idea also in term of one of the Khmer Nation.
ReplyDeleteI agreed that Mr. KIM SOKHA should not create another party since his activities will separate the voice from the current democracy party. If you are talking about QUALITY what do you mean? Is that mean the more party we have the more QUALITY party we will get? Can you really tell me that Mr. Kim SOKHA party (Human Right Party) will have a true QUALITY? Well, I am not criticize him, what I mean is I really did not put my trust in his party yet since he just come up an idea in creating the party. In term of trustful, I would say I will trust SAM RAINSY party rather than that HUMAN RIGHT PARTY (Regardless of the other parties) since at least SAM RAINSY party have been playing role in the politic more than 10 years. I agreed that Mr. Kim Sokha idea is not bad in term of structuring his authority in the party as well as in the country (if he would win). However, he should contribute such a great idea to the existing party if he feel he really want to help the country.
Now let's get back to U.S, why they have only two parties? This is one of the example of UNITED. They would not create so many mess of many parties and using fund without no benefit as what Cambodia's politicians are doing everyday. I could not see the reason why one party of U.S will be eliminated even though Goege Bush get less popularity because of his decision in attacking IRAQ.
To sum up, I would repeat what I am saying is we should be united. We are together not to beat HUN SEN, we are together not for the power nor the money but we are together to lead the country in the way that all opposition parties are saying today.
Yuu ta
Okay 6:53, I agree with many of
ReplyDeleteyour points. First, in case it is
not obvious, let me declare
explicitly, that I am pro-
government. I don't like to hide
anything nor do I like promoting
dreams... never did.
Admittely, the government is new
in the governing bussiness, but
they have gain a lot of experiences
over the decades that they governed
the country. We have done a lot
better in busting drug dealers,
and keep H5N1 bird flu virus under
control ... I don't take that
accomplishments for granted. They
made some mistakes on the way, and
they have resolve it as they move
along ... .
Now, in order talk about Quality
scientifically, you need to metric
their goal and accomplishment with
numbers. And given the above, I
would rate our government Quality,
about a 6 on a scale of 1-10.
While they are doing a great job
serving the majority interest,
they are still struggling to
satisfy the minority interest or
small group of people. Granted,
little have been accomplished for
them, but they will ultimately
get something done for them, one
way or another. In particular, I
mean those thousands who have been
complaining about lost lands. Also
note, we are talking about
thousands not millions who
complaint about lost land.
Moreover, we only have very
limitted budget at our disposal.
There are a lot of things that
we want to do for the people, but
we can't afford to do it at the
moment. Recently, we have received
aids and assistant from westerners
in this area, I believe AU and
a couple other EU mumbers; The
land grabbing issue is not as
simple as it looks, Cambodia
is a small country with limitted
land. And we must use it
productively and efficiently if
we are to see a competitive life
style in the region. We can't just
allowed people to take premium land
and not using it to benefit the
country ... . Anyhow, one way or
another, the land grabbing issue
will soon to be history with
minimal damage to our future.
The goal is to accomplish as much
as we can for as many as we
possibly can. Moreover, this aint
no lipservice either, but positive
action that is happening as we
speak. And that is my justification
for my Quality rating for the
government.
Damn it getting to be too lengthly.
I will make it quick. Now the
rating for opposition. You give
me your number if you think I am
being unfair, okay. The best I
can give them is about a 3 on the
same scale. They lack unity among
themselve as you have pointed out.
They don't know when it is time
to work and time for election.
They don't what country they are
in. They have no faith in the
Free Market economy. They don't
have the full understanding of
communist and have excessive hatred
for them, which can put us all
at high risk ...
ahahahahahhahah!
ReplyDeleteWhat a joke man!
If any smart Cambodian people want to know the depth of corruption, why not use the tourism of Angkor Wat that bring in hundred of million of dollar as a fucken metric measurement!!!Why even bother and continue to talk about the corruption in the future when it is not even exist yet!!!!Why not talk about the present corruption that is already existed in Cambodia under AH HUN SEN dictator leadership!!!
In the world of magic, the magician can only fool the audience if the magician can misdirect the attention of the audience!!!!
In this case, some stupid corrupted Cambodian leaders are trying to be a magician by misdirect Cambodian people attention of the corruption at hand by talking about the corruption that didn't even exist yet! Bravo motherfucker!
I wasn't a fool who is borned yesterday!!!!As long as the current corruption had not been solved then all these mother fucker need to shut the fuck up!!!!!!!!
I don't need none of your fucken magic trick!!! Do you hear me??!!
Hey dude, I did not rated our
ReplyDeletegovernment with an 8 or a 9, in
case you haven't noticed it. Yes,
we have been hit by scammers, but
we are trying to get ahead of them
on a shoes string budget. It will
be a while, but we will do it. I
have no doubt about that. So don't
get a heart attack and died on us,
okay?