December 11, 2008
By Sean Paul Kelley
Gather.com
If you don't think there is a global food crisis you are wrong. One of every five people on this planet are either starving or malnourished. If my experience in Cambodia was any indication of what this means, let me reiterate what I saw there: massive inflation, massive poverty, urban and rural and a severely distressed countryside.
Cambodia was the most expensive country in South East Asia--but also the poorest. Why?
Mostly because the influx of foreign aid has caused a massive rise in both corruption and inflation. (Oh, and Angelina Jolie is supposedly building a huge house there.) Add to that much of the countryside being very distressed, still littered with UXOs and lying fallow you have a recipe for disaster. Now toss in a rise in food prices due to inflation and a concomitant price decrease, due to the commodities market collapse, in what the farmers can get for their rice and you have a massive mess:
Cambodia was the most expensive country in South East Asia--but also the poorest. Why?
Mostly because the influx of foreign aid has caused a massive rise in both corruption and inflation. (Oh, and Angelina Jolie is supposedly building a huge house there.) Add to that much of the countryside being very distressed, still littered with UXOs and lying fallow you have a recipe for disaster. Now toss in a rise in food prices due to inflation and a concomitant price decrease, due to the commodities market collapse, in what the farmers can get for their rice and you have a massive mess:
- Still, a country like Cambodia helps illustrate that lower prices have not ended the crisis. The price of rice – the country's staple food – has gone down by about 7 percent since August. But observers say that's not enough to offset the staggering 25 percent inflation of the last year.
- "Workers already spend about 70 percent of their income on food. Prices have gone down, but they're still higher than other years. If you look at people's income versus inflation, many more are poor today," says Yang Saing Koma, president of the Cambodian Center for Study and Development of Agriculture, a think tank in the country's capital, Phnom Penh.
14 comments:
Prices for 1 liter gas is from 6.000 Riel to 3.100 Riel.
Rice cost best quality for 50kilogram 3 month ago 50$ now it's 31$.
Seems that this expat cambos don't understand the Reality in Cambodia.
Of course NOT all!
I agree with this article 100%. The present development of Cambodia is the future problem. Cambodian need to pay a high price for this recent blind development. A blind man cannot do much more than the vision he can see around him. Areak Prey
What a shit load of crock? Cambodia is moving in the right direction, and the whole world knows it and hailing it. They can't possibly be on drug, can they?
2:54AM,
Why would you believe and agree with someone that spends five minutes to write about Cambodia?
Where is your analytical skill?
You are the type of audience that the opposition parties would love to have, because they can brainwash you easily.
Hope you learn to analyze things and read people minds not just their words.
economic growth 5%, inflation 25%
only the dirty rich and crooks can survive as human beings. the rest is subhuman- animals.
if you can't no can open ur eyes
Not an economist nor a politician but there happens to be so many excuses to me!
Commodity prices rised due to Gasoline price surged. Gasoline went down though not proportionally but commodity is still at up-trend due to food crisis.
Now financial crisis but claimed less impact on Cambodia by government but commodity is still relatively high.
What would be next? It seemed no exact plan/action taken by the government to counter/solve.
Everything is in the darkness, no one knows what's happening.
End of the day my concern is that I and all Khmer will have not enough food to feed family because even fish in Tonle Sap river has also gone down in quantity
dramatically.
What I need most from the government is "how to earn the living" because I have no power nor relatives with the government.
I am one of the poors.
Dear Poster 5.29AM, It is true that only a blind man will see Cambodia is now propserous. But for a wiseman like the one who has written this article need only 5 minutes to convince me his theory. Cambodia is being divided by a few group of people such as Yeay Phu, Yeay Phann, Yeay Oy, Ly Yong Phat, Sok Kong, Kok Ann, Kong Triv, Mong Rithy and Hun Sen family, Sok An 'family, Om Yin Thieng 'family, Hok Lundy'family, Kiet Chhon'family etc.. and etc... These families have taken almost 50% of lands in Cambodia. A few developments in Phnom Penh will be at the end in the hand of a few banks owned by Hun Sen (Canadia ) and kith Meng. Millions of Cambodian are still suffering from massive inflation and jobless. The state can only pay slavery salary to public servants. It took 300 years salary for each public servant to buy a house to live. In 1993, Cambodian national budget was abot $600 millions and the public servant was paid $40 per moths. Now the budget has increased to $ 1.77 billions and the public servant can increase only 10% which is $4.00 per months. How can these public servants can survive? The country is moving into a slavery society like Tibet before 1949. For those who do not want to be slaved will be living by robberies from day to day survival. The fabric of Cambodian society is being tornt apart by the gap of riches and poors. THe riches have to live with the security of strong bodyguards if not their lives will be in danger every day. Overseas investors are too scared to see the lifestyle in Cambodia with plenty of daylight killings, daylight robberies and injustice of the court system. People are sick and tired to be a closed friend to Hun sen to be protected. Therefore people like myself would stay far as possible from Cambodia and will not take any risk to visit Cambodia unles the present bundle of leadership are gone. Areak Prey
sHOWE THIS ARTICLE TO AH DRUNK kHIEV KHANARITH, HE WILL BLAST LIKE THIS:
AH CHO MARAI, PEE PLER MEN, IF KHMER ARE THAT POOR AND STUPID, WHY 14 MILLION PEOPLE STILL SURVIVE ? DON'T LOOK DOWN ON KHMER, BVOEY PROYAT BEK KBAL.
AH YASH GHAI WAS GONE AFTER I BLASTED HIS INDIAN HEAD, NOW AH PLER BARAING MUOY TIET MOAK.
HING BUNG BEANG , PLEASE TAKE OVER THE JOB FROM AH HOK LUNDY , WILL YA !
11:43 AM, they survive on your ratio, without them you wouldn't fill your bank account right now. Ah pler like you wouldn't go beg for money around the world and use these poor bastard as your hostage. Get your own money and stop slaving others ah joh mar-seet.
If anyone wants to know who was Khiev kanhrith, ask former students of Indradevy. In 1970-1971, everyone should know Khiev Kanharith there.
If we use the salary now to buy rice, there is no different with Pot Pot regime. Each person can have half tin of rice. Many people have to sell their daughters body for their daily needs. Some have to send their family members to Korea, Thailand, Malaysia to either as their slave wife or slave workers there. Altogether about 75,000 people. Areak Prey
Dear 10:30AM and others - I have never disagreed with anyone about the poverty, the unjustifiable gap between the few privileged/rich people and the poor population in our country, and I wish the government has done a better job.
Having said that I strongly disagree with a lot of critics who appear to suggest that all these miseries are government faults. Let’s be fair for a moment. The massive inflation was largely caused by the World food shortage last year. Similarly, the gasoline price when up last year was due to high demand from China and India plus all the speculations made by the traders at the stock exchanges. Not a single country was spared from these events.
How do you expect Hun Sen, alone, to solve the problems for more than ten millions people? Recently, Cambodia received a pledge for almost one billion dollars from foreign donors. It’s true that is a lot of money for you and I, but not enough to save a nation from the poverty. Let’s do some math here. One billion is one thousand millions for fourteen million people, which is roughly seventy one dollars per person per year. Even you have the most honest government on Earth, it can not save the country from poverty with seventy dollar per person per year at its disposal.
You mentioned about the country wealth is being controlled or owned by a few people. Well, this is a sad reality in every country, not just Cambodia. In Canada, most of the economy and wealth of several Maritime provinces were owned by a single family. In USA, a small number of rich folks own a big chunk of the nation wealth. A chief executive officer of a large corporation earns hundred of million dollars in annual compensation while receptionists and non-professional employees earn barely enough to pay the basic bills. And I can g on with this for hours…
The main point here is that the government alone can not solve the problem for the nation. The government does not create businesses, jobs, nor it controls the productivity of a firm. The people have to step in and work harder to help themselves and the nation. You don’t have to look far, just look at South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, … etc. I don’t know if you have worked with professionals from these countries. I have and I can tell you they work days and nights to complete their assigned projects. Khmer people have a lot to learn form the people from these country. Their nations do not become rich because of government handouts, but because people step up to the plate and work very hard.
Good Khmer
Hello Poster 11:09PM,
You seem to be a pro-goverment of Hun Sen and a good writer but you haven't learnt and recognised all the reality in Cambodia at all.
Offcourse there are riches people and poor people in every country and not only Cambodia. But in most countries there are laws to protect people right and people properties. There are no country on earth except Zambawe, Laos, Burma and Cambodia that those rich can take all the land from the poor such as Ly Yong Path took all the land from people lived in Koh Kong, Keat Chhon'sister took all the land belong to minority in Ratanakiry, Yeay Phu took all the land from people in Pursat and Kg Chhnang, Yeay Phann took all the land from people in Kg Speu, Hun Sen 'children took land land from people in Dey Krahoam etc.. and etc.. They stole their land and paid them pennies. Have you ever heard that Mong Rithy ever paid a pennies for all the thousand hectars of land along Road No 4 for his palm plantation? No No No. He got them free from Hun Sen.
Cambodia is an agriculture country. If the price of all agricultures are hight, it should be good for Cambodian farmers. But they haven't because all their lands have been stolen by all the riches and have put all their fences. Those robbers riches have kept their lands unproductives for speculation only.
If we talk about sharing contribution between public sector and privated sector, that mean, Hun Sen should conecentrate about improving his government image while allowing private sector to grow the economy. The government shouldn't interfer the economy at all and let all private sectors to care for the economy. What the government should do is to;
-Improve the public security
-Collecting tax
-Improve education and public healthcare
-Combatting corruption which is a social deseased.
-Improve roads, transportation system.
-Improve drinking water
-Improve social justice
-Improve social order
-Improve public servant salary
-Improve public hygiene
-Improve the wellfare of the people.
-Improve housing for homeless.
-Improve immigration system
Have this government of three terms has ever improved their own job yet? No, The government has never cared about their own obligation as a government. But they are always interfer with private sectors or even personal problem such as to care about what kind of clothes should a singer should wear at the stage? Areak Prey
2.53 am,
Well done, man. You have very good ideas. If I were a PM, I would appoint you as my supreme counsel whose would be equivalent to Rannarith. But don't stage a coup to push me out please.
A small example of how corrupted and how destructive government at present.
At this year budget, the Government has lowered the budget for military from $277 millions last year to $160 millions this year. Suppose they use $60,000,000 for salary for all the cobattants of 100,000 soldiers. Each soldiers will earn around $600 per year/soldier. At present has any soldier earn that Much? where are the moneys gone to?
Suppose they use another $10 millions for 1000 general salary. Each general would earn $10,000 per year per general and they would have another $90 millions for weaponaries, transports and campus. Where are all the military barack in Cambodia? Only a few backward one left. The military has lived in the rat holes. But during the disputes with Thailand about Preah Vieah, some military leaders have expressed that Cambodia has less than 8000 combattants and has no weaponary to fight. Therefore we can see that each year, all leaders and military leaders have stolen millions of dollars from the budget for their own pocket.
How about Royal Palace? in 1993, Sihanouk has asked for $5 millions dollars for himself and his children. Now, because he has given some titles to Hun Sen , Chea Sim, Heng sam Rin, that budget may have increased from $5 millions to $15 millions a year just for a few people to enjoy their lifestyle. The Schoolteacher has still earn $25-$50 since 1993.
From the present budget, they should earn at least $300 per month and per teacher. Example if we have 100,000 teachers $300X100000x12=$360,000,000. It cost only $ 360 millions. It just 20% of the budget. In many countries, education has taken from 25-30% of their national budget. Areak Prey
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