A beautiful blog

Photo by: UNHCR/KD17506/ Refugee Camp II/Thailand 1984, courtesy of Ron.

I just discovered this blog, wherethefisron.blogspot.com. Ron is a Cambodian who grew up in Canada and now travels the world taking beautiful photos. Ron left me a comment a few days ago and is a follower of this blog. Initially, I thought he's a Westerner, because of his name, but today I explored his blog and discovered this:

"In July of 1979, my parents escaped the slave camp they were in. Walking for 3 days without food or water thru dense jungles littered with landmines, they finally made it to the safety of a UN refugee camp along the Thai-Cambodian border. In December of 1980, I was born."

It's from an entry called "Between Heaven and Earth: kd17506", which is the name of the family photograph shown above, taken at the refugee camp, where the multitude of human beings were identified by assigned numbers.

Ron writes beautifully and this other entry "Between Heaven and Earth: Reincarnation" really moved me.

"By all accounts, I had a normal upbringing. And today, if you were to look me straight in the eye, you'd never believe my story. You'd say I'm lying. You'd say I'm full of shit. But believe me when I say this: "war is no lie."

It's not easy telling your friends that you're a child of war. While growing up in Canada, I never did. I hid it deep within me. I was ashamed. I was ashamed to be called a refugee, an immigrant, a minority. I was ashamed to say I am Cambodian. My face would turn red and I'd stare at my feet while the other kids laughed and giggled in amusement. Cambodian. Where's that?

My parents worked twelve hour days, seven days a week. When I got home from school, I'd cook for myself, vacuum the house and made sure the meat was defrosting so mom could make supper when she arrived. On weekends, I'd go to church when my neighbors invited me. When it was a Buddhist holiday, my parents would take me to a temple. They never discriminated. I was taught to love, to cherish each other and to forgive. They never cared if that message came from Jesus, Buddha, or Allah. A far cry from the world they had left behind.

It's interesting when you think about it. They've gone through so much pain and suffering, yet, they still find it in their hearts to forgive. To forgive the soldiers who killed their families, robbed them of their childhood and raped them of their freedom. To forgive, but never forget.

In light of the fighting in Gaza, I wish all children could have parents like Ron's. If you are interested in Cambodia, or just in humanity and the power of the human spirit, I encourage you to visit Ron's blog. I know I'll be following his journey.

No culture? Make your own!

I just met a couple of dancers from Rawdance who came into the shop. Rawdance is a US dance company founded in 2004 and the two dancers arrived in Cambodia from Singapore, where they had performed for the annual M1 Singapore Fringe Festival.

The team headed to Singapore for the premiere of Fallout: "An exploration of the dissolution of the nuclear family as envisioned by 1950's McCarthyism, and our current struggles to redefine family ties in today's tense and sensationalist political climate. Complete with white picket fence, a battle of the oven mitts, and full bottle of vodka."

It sounds so interesting, I wish I was there. One of the things I miss are cultural events, especially if they are about politics. There are very few cultural events in Siem Reap, although it is getting better. One performance I enjoyed was by a Ghanaian dance troupe sometime last year, held at Abacus restaurant. Then there was the Angkor photography exhibition.

This reminds me of the time I met a Frenchman in a small tea shop in Pokhara in Nepal (if you haven't been, you must! Pokhara is beautiful and another place I want to live). He was married to a Tibetan woman and had lived in Pokhara for a decade where he earned a living as a paragliding instructor.

The Frenchman was fashioning a musical instrument out of a plastic pail, a piece of rope, and a wooden broom handle (turn the pail upside down for the base, and the broom handle holds up the rope, which is the string to pluck--just like a cello!). He said, "There is no culture here, so we make it." I was so impressed with his creativity. Although I cannot remember how he made different sounds by plucking the string, I do remember he succeeded.

I forgot to get their names but the Raw dancers from San Francisco said that while Singapore was very organised (it was the only place where everything worked on time and worked well, they said), they felt uneasy, like outsiders. Mainly it was because of the city's consumer culture.

They were not surprised when I told them about Singaporeans' obsession with the 5 Cs: Cash, Credit card, Condominium, Car, Country club membership. One of them said as dancers, they live at the bottom of the money pile, and have had to struggle to pay rent etc as they do what they love, instead of simply pursuing money.

But there are Singaporeans like them, albeit very few. I used to know a Singaporean woman, a friend of a friend, who gave up a lucrative law career to work behind the scenes in theatre. I used to know people like her when I was in university, as some of my friends were arty types.

In 1994, my friend Khim and I volunteered to do the PR for two performances by this Singapore company The Toy Factory (at that time it was known as tfte, which stood for the Toy Factory Theatre Ensemble). One was called Qfwfq by an Italian author, Italo Calvino. It was a bizarre dance performance and I didn't get it. But it didn't matter. I had a lot of fun hanging out with the dancers, all bilingual in Mandarin and English, and so passionate and committed to their art.

Tattoo in Siem Reap

Siem Reap is becoming more and more like a resort in Thailand. To cater to Western tourists, Cambodians who travel to neighbouring Thailand have figured out what it is that tourists like--massages, manicures and now, tattoos.

This tattoo parlour opened on Sok San road about 6 months ago. The artist is something of a pioneer in this town--I have not seen tattoo parlours before this. That hasn't stopped Western tourists from getting artwork inked on their skin. I've seen male and female Westerners sitting in the shop.

I expect it will not be long before we see hair braiding done in Siem Reap like you get in all tourist towns in Thailand.

Emily Strange is Rosamond Strange

Woah. I just saw this. Emily Strange was a favourite among some of my friends back home when we were younger. I have to say Rosamond is much weirder and cooler looking. She is a character who is repeatedly described as "strange" in Nate the Great children's books.
Many thanks to youthoughtwewouldntnotice.com for the revealing pics and to atomicspace for adding it to reddit.

Graffiti art in Siem Reap

These walls were painted by Tony, a Khmer who was born in Switzerland. It took him about a month to finish the job. I like the art, I think it brightens up the place and is something unique for Cambodia.

Tony came to Cambodia to find out more about his culture. He is a tall lad and he tells me he is often mistaken for a Japanese. He can speak and read Khmer as he had learnt it from an old relative in Switzerland. He does not know much about the war here though, as his parents had left the country by then. They were Cambodian government scholars are were studying in France at that time. Today his mother is a chemist for the Swiss government.

Tony is a professional graffiti artist and he approached Sok San Palace for work. He told me he was paid over a grand for this particular job. In Switzerland, he charges 10 times that amount when companies commission his work. Tony wanted to spray paint the Bloom shop but I almost fainted when I heard his fees!

Sweatshop comic

I received an email from artist Matt Bors a while ago in respond to my post about the Nike sweatshop found in Malaysia. Matt is a nationally syndicated editorial cartoonist living in Portland Oregon and has his own blog (with more great comics!). Visit Matt's blog for more great comics.