Mekong River in CambodiaThe following is a story told by Thai delegates participating at the Council of Asian Liberal Democrats (CALD) meeting held in Siem Reap regarding corruption. The story was translated from Khmer by KI-Media from an article by Sakura published in the Sralanh Khmer newspaper on 01 May 2006.
One day, a delegation of CALD executives visited a country in Africa. Arriving at a magnificent villa belonging to the prime minister of the country, all members of the delegation could not help but praise the magnificence of the house of the prime minister even though the country is ridden with foreign debt. When the delegation was led to a room inside the house, they saw a picture of a bridge. Puzzled, the delegation guests asked their host about the significance of the picture. The delegation was told that the picture is a symbol for the bridge construction in this African nation. The delegation was also told that the construction of the bridge allowed the prime minister to have enough funds to build his magnificent villa.
Later, the same CALD delegation visited a country in Southeast Asia. Arriving at Tonle Chaktokmouk (in Phnom Penh), the delegation saw a huge villa, even bigger than the one they saw in Africa. When they were led to a room inside this huge villa, they saw a picture of the Mekong river on display. The guests again asked for the significance of this picture. The owner of the house told the delegation: “Here we do not need to build a bridge to cross the Mekong, we sell the Mekong river to get the money to build a villa like this one.”
The moral of the story is that: those who build a bridge have only enough money left to build a medium size villa, but those who sell the Mekong river, they can get a fortune to build huge villas.
One day, a delegation of CALD executives visited a country in Africa. Arriving at a magnificent villa belonging to the prime minister of the country, all members of the delegation could not help but praise the magnificence of the house of the prime minister even though the country is ridden with foreign debt. When the delegation was led to a room inside the house, they saw a picture of a bridge. Puzzled, the delegation guests asked their host about the significance of the picture. The delegation was told that the picture is a symbol for the bridge construction in this African nation. The delegation was also told that the construction of the bridge allowed the prime minister to have enough funds to build his magnificent villa.
Later, the same CALD delegation visited a country in Southeast Asia. Arriving at Tonle Chaktokmouk (in Phnom Penh), the delegation saw a huge villa, even bigger than the one they saw in Africa. When they were led to a room inside this huge villa, they saw a picture of the Mekong river on display. The guests again asked for the significance of this picture. The owner of the house told the delegation: “Here we do not need to build a bridge to cross the Mekong, we sell the Mekong river to get the money to build a villa like this one.”
The moral of the story is that: those who build a bridge have only enough money left to build a medium size villa, but those who sell the Mekong river, they can get a fortune to build huge villas.
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