Corruption, Elections, Missionary Work, and Free Pizza Delivery

This year I noticed a lot more political advertisements. It’s not unusual for a family to proudly display a blue sign with their party of choice, or to see the occasional political party office. But this year something was different. The amount of media blitz was something I had never seen before.

Naturally, I asked my driver, “So what’s going on with all of this?”

“It’s election time. Every 5 years they have elections, so all of the parties are trying to get votes. You know, they promise that if you vote for them, they will build roads where you live, or help you find jobs or services. Then after they get elected, they can’t seem to keep their promises.”

Sounded eerily familiar. I guess the big news this time around is that Funcipec, the 2nd largest party has been fractured into two groups. Apparently one of their key backers left and formed his own group because of a basic policy difference. Now they are trying to regroup. Plus, there are a couple new parties that have sprung up that seem to be gathering quite a few votes. One is called the Human Rights Party. Their biggest difference I have heard is that they had an election primary, so people could actually choose the person, not the party they are voting for.

So then my driver (Prem) adds: “You’ll see a lot of signs around, parties, and things. They also go to villages and give them gifts. Do they do that in America?”

I sheepishly answered, “Not exactly. Giving gifts to people for votes is illegal, but they find other ways to make promises. It’s a lot harder to see the corruption in America. Here you can see them handing out things. In America we can only read about how money is given from one person to another. Maybe the Cambodian way is somehow less corrupt”.

Prem insightfully added, “It would be best if they just did their job. Cambodia people don’t like to talk about politics. No results, just talk. We’re too busy thinking about doing our job or family.”

Today I got to enjoy what you might call political ads. I go with Deanna to the Church in Khnar Thmei on Sunday mornings for the service. Just after finishing the second song at the start, I hear this deafening roar of audibly mangled Khmer speech. It sounds like a carnival loudspeaker. The congregation looked slightly irritated, and even the pastor commented that it was “a bit loud”. I asked Prem, and he said it was a tape recording for Funcipec trying to convince people to vote for them. It stopped about 30 minutes later, and seemingly started again. I figured they had changed tapes and began to tune it out. Prem then leaned over, “Ah, now it’s CPP.” Cambodian People’s Party, the largest and the one in power, apparently follows the other around and blares their recording after others. Certainly worse than TV ads.

During the service, a lady got up and was showing off a plastic bag full of some kind of food. I couldn’t quite tell what it was, but I had to guess something like a doughnut twist or biscotti. Deanna explained that this lady was the head of the Women’s Group for the church and was offering to teach the ladies in the congregation how to make these next Saturday. Why? Because they are raising money for mission work. Yes, people in Cambodia who are living in one of the poorest countries in the world are raising money to give to those less fortunate. I couldn’t help but think of that when putting in my offering. And by the way, the twists were excellent. A little crunchy and sweet. I ate 3.

After church, we stopped by a ceramics shop that is new in the last couple years. It’s headed by a Frenchman and his son. They do some incredible work there and are teaching local people this lost art. They even had some sample pots they use as artistic guides that where over 1000 years old.

If you think your job is bad, then remember the guy stoking the 2000 degree kiln in the middle of summer in Cambodia. That’s the picture.

Last, we stopped by the new “shopping mall” for lunch. We ate at The Pizza Company and ice cream at Swensens. This was surreal. I felt like you could have dropped this place in the middle of any American city and it would have fit in. It was nice to get out and dodge motorbikes in the street. On the way out, we verified that they do indeed have free pizza delivery. There were a couple motorbikes parked in the back with special containers. Strange.