When the toad sells itchy skin cream

28 September 2009
Op-Ed by Sopheak
Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy
Click here to read the article in Khmer

KI-Media WARNING: Any resemblance to actual persons or events, living or dead, is unintentional and purely coincidental.

At the fake merchandise shop where Ah Choch, my pal, works, “freedom” or the so-called “democracy” – that people would speak excitedly about – are extremely popular.

Did you know that the workplace of Ah Choch, my dear pal, is involved with an intricate affair that sends out the alarm to all over the world of fake merchandise? Ah Choch was kicked out by his workplace, just like a dog being chased out of the house, there was no question asked, no explanation provided. I did not want to ask him about the cause of his firing, this is what Ah Choch deserves!

Up to now, 5 office employees, including Ah Choch, were fired one after another. Based on the gossip he told me, the firing was due to clannishness. I couldn’t believe him at all, so I asked him: “Are you joking me? By what I know, I heard that your working place is full of democracy! People maintain proper work order, and human rights are very well respected. Why then, out of the blue, would they fire employees without explanation? They call you in to meet for 3 minutes and they fired you immediately like this? Aren’t you lying?” Even when I told him all these in his face, he still kept on saying: “There’s nothing I can do if you don’t believe me! Just wait and see how this will go on.”

Ugh! Is this how it was? At his workplace, besides selling fake merchandise, there a lot of sweet talkers, they cheat the buyers, they boasted to the buyers about how good their merchandises are and they even teach the buyers to bargain down the prices! How funny! In the future, will they still be able to cheat the buyers again or not? Who knows?

This firing story was heard all over the kingdom, and my friend and his fired co-workers even went on to burn a tire (that’s the habit of demonstrators in his village) that bellows smoke all over the place. The administrators of his former office acted as if nothing happened, there’s not even a peep from them, nobody opened their mouth to inform the clients at all, unlike what they always do when it is somebody else’s affair. This is just like the old saying goes: “When it is one’s fault, one can’t see it, but if it is somebody else’s tiny mistake, it sure looks like a mountain.” My friend blurted out to me that, in truth, the administration at his workplace is no different from a toad selling itchy skin cream.