Cambodia Calling: Golf in Cambodia 2

Monday, December 08, 2008

Golf in Cambodia 2

I've finally found photos from last year's inaugural US$300,000 Johnnie Walker Cambodian Open. It was played in November at the newly opened Phokeethra Country Club here in Siem Reap. The club is managed by the Sofitel Hotel.

My partner Alan went to watch the game. It was funny listening to him tell me about the outing. First of all, the Johnnie Walker sponsored bus which was to take spectators to the course was empty except for Alan and the Western woman who was part of the organising team (maybe in charge of PR?). So much for interest in the game! You can see there are no spectators on the course at all.

The second Johnnie Walker Cambodian Open will begin on Monday. I wonder how many people will watch it this year. Siem Reap now has two golf courses, Sofitel's Phokeetra Country Club, and the Nick Faldo-designed Angkor Golf resort, owned by Indonesian casino tycoon Holic Tandijono.

The Phnom Penh Post reports a new one will open on 14th Dec on the road to Phnom Penh. The Siem Reap Lake Resort Golf Club is owned by KTC Leisure, a Korean company. The Post reports that golf here is played mainly by Koreans, so executives at the other clubs are worried about the new competitor.

At least four more luxury courses are now in various stages of construction, says the AFP in a Dec 3 article titled "Cambodia's golf plans now face financial hurdles". The article says so beloved is golf, Cambodia's senate has its own nine-hole course. The leaders of this country have also approved plans for a luxury golf course in Bokor national park, a protected wildlife area. And "Prime Minister Hun Sen's golf scores are posted on his cabinet website, even though he has a handicap of 15."

No comments:

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Some argue that "Shopping is more important than voting", and that the disposition of money is the most basic role we play in any system of economics. Some theorists believe that it is the clearest way that we express our actual moral choices, i.e., if we say we care about something but continue to buy from parties that have a high probability of risk of harm or destruction of that thing, we really don't care about it; we are practicing a form of simple hypocrisy." - Ethical Consumerism, Wikipedia

THE BLOOM MANIFESTO

1. We believe in the right of all people to a decent life, free of poverty and with access to education

2. We believe you will be enriched helping the poor

3. We believe women hold up half the sky

4. We believe workers should always be paid a fair wage

5. We believe if you knew the truth, you would not be an accessory to the exploitation of workers

6. We believe exploitation is evil

7. We believe in the power of good over evil

8. We believe in the power of the individual to bring about change

9. We believe your bag is a reflection of you - are you really a sheep?

10. We believe quality is worth paying for

11. We believe in love at first sight - at least where our bags are concerned!

12. We believe in life, liberty and the pursuit of handbags!

WHAT IS A SOCIAL ENTERPRISE?

A social enterprise has as its central objective, a social or environmental purpose, and not the obsession with profits. Yes, of course we want to be profitable, but it is so we can hire even more people in unfortunate circumstances, and offer them a shot at a better life, and not because we want to "increase shareholder value" or for the sake of lining our personal pockets. In fact, the only foreign staff (and founder/funder) does not get a salary from Bloom.

At Bloom, our mission is to alleviate poverty and save the environment at the same time, through our recycled bags.

As a social enterprise in Cambodia, we are competing with many NGOs on the one hand (which get donations) and for want of a better word, capitalistic businesses (which drive down costs in an effort to maximise profits). We recognise and accept the challenges that face all business, but are committed to principles of Fair Play, and will NEVER sacrifice those principles in order to be competitive. This means, for instance, we will never sacrifice workers' pay just so our bags will be cheaper. The average pay at Bloom today is 2.13 times the market rate.

So please, before you ask us to discount our bags, remember that we are not a minimum wage factory; we are a social enterprise. If you want a cheap factory-made bag, Bloom is not what you are looking for. If you agree that workers (where-ever they are--Singapore, Germany, France, the US) should always be paid fairly and are not here to produce goods and services at low wages for the profit of big business, then please consider Bloom. Bloom bags are all hand-made by our small team who spend our working hours dreaming up and making bags.

All Bloom profits go to our Khmer staff and to growing Bloom. Ultimately the aim is for Bloom to be a workers' cooperative, where workers own, manage, grow the business and share the profits.

WHO WE ARE

Bloom is a social enterprise established in Sept 2006 with the intention of providing fair-paying jobs to abandoned, widowed and divorced Cambodian women. Bloom is not a factory. We are a small workshop of nine people who work closely as a team to produce original, quality handmade bags made from recycled rice and fish feed bags.

Every Bloom Bag is meticulously designed, cut, glued and sewn by the Bloom team in our workshop in Phnom Penh. Each bag is handmade with love and attention to detail (the Bloom team really enjoys making bags!), resulting in beautiful, unique bags we are sure you will love and your friends will want!

All Bloom Bags are handmade by our team. We do not outsource to other sewers because we want to be in control of the supply chain, to ensure that everyone involved in making a Bloom Bag is paid fairly. There is no middleman taking a cut and passing on the work to another.

Please Visit Bloom's new workshop off Norodom Boulevard in Phnom Penh and our retail outlets. Bloom is next to Warehouse Pub in the Old Market Area in Siem Reap and at No.808 Russian Market, Phnom Penh.