A newspaper report on Koh Pich in 1990s

Koh Pich (Diamond Island) is a sedimentary land located in Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh. Its formation was due to the Mekong river and Basa river’s alluvium and the change of flow directions. The first official document that mentioned Koh Pich appeared in a 1910 Phnom Penh irrigation channel plan drafted by the French colonial government. At the time, Koh Pich was still only a sandbank, and it was referred to as Koh Tauch Del Roporye. Such document is still preserved in Cambodia’s national archive. With the change of regime, Koh Pich is still remembered as Koh Klong (the island of madness) in the collective memory of the Phnom Penh residents who age over 60. The word on the street is that it used to be the place where patients of Hansen’s disease and ethnic minorities were managed collectively; in the memory of the Phnom Penh residents aging from 30 to 40, the island is a barren land full of mango trees. A local newspaper clipping from the early 90s shows the picture of a long and narrow Koh Pich with some traces of farming and some randomly-built corrugated iron houses. In 2006, Koh Pich was purchased by the Overseas Cambodia Investment Corporation (OCIC) under K. Wah group. They increased the island area through land reclamation, trying to build Koh Pich as Phnom Penh’s special district and satellite city. They replicated numerous worldly-renowned architectures such as the Arc de Triomphe in France and recruited a considerable amount of Chinese and Taiwanese construction companies to develop the place — this is how the name “Koh Pich” took shape.

A

Abroad 海外

① The Arc de Triomphe of Koh Pich, 8-and-a-half-story high, 960m² in total. The elevator of the storefront on the first floor had been installed, ready to be used as a merchandise store; the second to the eighth floor still consisted of unfinished walls, but they could be used as a hotel. The monthly rent costs US$3,800, the deposit is six months’ rent, and the contract lasts for ten years.

② The Élysée Palace of Koh Pich, a nine-story compound. Its one-bedroom apartment costs US$750 per month, two-bedroom apartment costs US$1,600 per, and three-bedroom apartment costs US$4,000 per month.

③ The Diamond Island Rivera is currently under construction. With 330,000 m² of gross building floor area, it consists of the shopping mall, apartment, parking lot, 150 meters high sky lounge, and sky pool. Its listing price is US$3,281 per square meter.

④ The Morgan Tower of Koh Pich is a 210 meters high, 46-story office building that is currently under construction. The project costs US$1.6 billion in total, and the tower is scheduled to include a 4000 m² sky lounge, sky pool, sky bar, restaurants, private offices, and helipad. Its listing price is US$3,657 per square meter.

B

Beung Kok Lake 班公各湖

As a result of Phnom Penh’s land development project, this endorheic lake disappeared in 2015. The lake locates close to the National Television of Kampuchea (TVK). There used to be a traditional fishing village nearby the lake, but it has been replaced by a modern community full of tall buildings. Many Taiwanese investors reside here.

BKK

Diplomatic quarter; downtown; the “Daan district” of Phnom Penh.

This rectangle quarter is bordered by Monivong Boulevard and Norodom Boulevard on its east and west side, Sihanouk Boulevard and Mao Tse Toung Boulevard on its north and south side. As a central business area that enjoys safety and great public transport, many embassies and global brands in Phnom Penh are located here. To accommodate the overflowing foreign investors and housing demand, it has continued to expand the construction number of modern apartments in recent years.

This district is usually the first stop of investors’ survey tours in Phnom Penh. Its real estate ROI (return on investment) hits 6%, and its house price continues to grow. Even after the political unrest brought by the 2018 Presidential Election and the recent rumors about the housing bubble, the market remains strong, as one can often bump into buyers from Singapore, Taiwan, and China.

“The 352 Platinum I. Apartment”, “Imperial Crown” and “The View” are current construction projects led by Taiwanese Investors in Boeung Keng Kang (BKK).

Bubble Economy泡沫經濟

An opportunist will never give up any opportunity for success, even if traps are hiding underneath.

This is what he believes. He participated in the Taiwanese real estate market during the Financial Crisis in 2008 and subsequently experienced the implementation of luxury tax in 2011 and the Integrated Housing and Land Tax System in 2016. Struggling to navigate amongst the increasingly severe real estate investment market, he sells real estates as well as buying and investing in them. But all of these never falter his desire for wealth. Perhaps the plight that his ancestors had experienced while fleeing to Taiwan still haunted somewhere deep down in the decedents’ hearts even after generations, expressing itself through their overly bony limbs and unusual tenacity when it comes to survival. He believes that he is the only dominator of his life, thereby despise all sort of agreements and principles, showing no interest in future way beyond reach.

He first visited Koh Pich in 2014. Back then the constructions on the island were yet to begin, all one could see was a stretch of dusty land with yellow dirt. But quickly enough, he spotted a silver lining. He recalled that there were only five modern-style service apartments in BKK and they were always full. The rent of a 50m² apartment is US$1,500 per month, and the house price is US$3,600 per square meter, which in turn results in the ROI (return of investment) as high as 10%. He fell in love with this stranger’s land quickly, and soon after the infrastructure construction was completed, he became one of the earliest residents and real estate consultants. The historical moments in which he had participated include: the exceptional situation during 2014-2016 when the Taiwanese bought 80 percent of the apartments on the island, swarming Chinese trade mission after Li Keqiang’s visit to Cambodia in 2018.

He never indulges in stability. He understands that there are way too many low-price suites, a product as the market caters to the investors; the ROI will decrease yearly as the political and economic situation stabilizes, or it might also be entirely destroyed by a disaster out of the blue. He will grasp the next opportunity, and leave Koh Pich.

C

Chef 廚師

Comes from the province of Jiangsu; born and raised in the rural area; did not graduate from middle school; has been a chef for fifteen years.

His first trip abroad is to work at a Chinese hotel in Sihanohkville. The hotel is right next to a casino. Only eighteen days from the opening day, the hotel was involved in a Sino-Cambodian operation that aims to investigate the illegal gambling industry, and thereby had to close its business together with the casino. Through the introduction of a friend, he came to Phnom Penh and continued to work in a Chinese hotel near Naga World casino and Koh Pich.

Every day, he wakes up around noon, starts working around 3 pm, and finishes around 3 am on the next day. He is in charge of making cold dishes and vegetable carvings. He usually spends his few spare hours before work on WeChat groups. He has three main chatting groups on WeChat: one for work, a network where chefs exchange information of recipe and working opportunities; one for personal life, through which he contacts his family in China; the last one for traveling and living abroad, filled with all sorts of document agency and other information. The last WeChat group is also his main source of information.

Throughout the brief thirty-five years of his life, he spent ten years thinking about how he could leave China. Both of his grandparents died during the struggle of the Cultural Revolution, and his parents belong to a generation of silence. Quietly, he participated in the protests of rural China behind his parents’ back, being oppressed, and left the countryside. The village where he was born is far too remote that no one is willing to, or dare to, write down the injustice that took place there.

After he learned how to use WeChat, making friends became his biggest hobby: smugglers, professors, and tobacco and wine merchants. He gradually formed his worldview based on this platform full of lies, but after he learned how to distinguish truth from lies, he realized that he only has one way left to go.

His ultimate goal is to arrive at a place where one can vote. Demonstrating the patience and perseverance he has developed through garnishing, he found a way to go abroad. Cambodia may not be perfect, but before he figures out a way to set off for the next destination, he will stay here temporarily.

Chinese 中國人

Comes from the province of Zhejiangese; worked as a realtor in Phnom Penh for almost three months; only speaks Chinese.

In his first week in Phnom Penh, he already learned to show his clients properties in Koh Pich or BKK with a second-hand motorcycle. Most of his clients are Chinese who have some spare money to spend but not to the extent of extravagance, managing some small business in Chinese while living a life without purpose. After listening to investment consultant’s opinions and reading Cambodian investment advertisements that went viral on WeChat, they started to fantasize about a life in which one goes abroad, makes fortune overnight, and returns with great wealth. They pay little attention to the quality of their food and accommodation. Additionally, as long as the property’s location is not too bad for a shop, it only takes a glimpse or two before they decide to rent it. However, usually after months of business management, the rental board would be put up again, and the property returns to the housing company’s advertisement section.

His supervisor is a Chinese Cambodian, in her early 40s, fluent in four languages including Chinese, English, French, and Khmer. He calls her Miss Yang with great respect. Miss Yang is in charge of assisting the company to deal with the industry in Phnom Penh. Her arrival time is usually near noon, and her work covers from fire safety inspection, police inspection, Cambodian landlord’s complaint with the rental property, to foreign buyer’s demand for purchase and rental. There is a young man working under her, also a Chinese Cambodian. He speaks awkward Chinese, always late, and spends his money on new watch and clothes immediately after he receives a salary. Just a month after he starts working, he purchased a brand-new motorcycle.

Every day at 3 in the afternoon, the young man will buy snacks from the street vendor at the door – either sweet soup or rice paper roll, and one portion each for himself and Miss Yang. He once tried one rice paper roll out of curiosity, but simply couldn’t bear with that chili sauce mixed with a sweet fishy smell. After grudgingly finishing it, he has never touched another piece. Usually people speak Chinese in the company, but from time to time, he bumps into the young man and Miss Yang, avoiding him and talking in Khmer with their voice lowered. He felt somehow frustrated to be treated as if a thief that needs to beware of. All of us are clearly CHINESE!

D

Koh Pich 鑽石島

For the New World is like heaven
And we’ll all be rich and free
Or so we have been told
By the Virginia Company

For glory, God and gold
And the Virginia Company

On the beaches of Virginny
There’s diamonds like debris
There’s silver rivers flow
And gold you pick right off a tree

– Excerpted from “The Virginia Company”, the opening song of the 1995 animation Pocahontas. Ice cream vendors in Phnom Penh use the melody as the ice cream trolley music, playing while they travel with the ice cream cart. Koh Pich is one of the places where they used to visit.

E

Eight Communities八社區

A social housing community located in the suburb of Phnom Penh, close to National Road No.4. The fish batch of residents who had to leave Koh Pich due to an urban planning project was settled here.

The Eight Communities are composed of eight communities, and they occupy ten hectares in total. Every community consists of 200 townhouses which are either 4x8m² or 4x6m², and all of them are equipped with a toilet, kitchen, and front porch. There are a primary school and a market nearby the Eight Communities, and the nearest public hospital is within half an hour walking distance. However, since the area is still far from the city center, there are only 200 families living here. Most of them suffer from poverty and have nowhere else to go. They work as food vendors and part-time workers in the factories on National Road 4 to make ends meet.

Ren Jiangtu (任江土), the manager of the Eight Communities, recalls, when he just moved to the Eight Communities, there is no tap water here. Although it gained tap water and electricity in recent years, the community still faces the issue of its roads being severely damaged. At the moment, they can only rely on NGO organizations’ fundraising to gather the repair expenses of the public facilities.

Although the location of the Eight Communities is remote and not easily accessible, it was able to in turn avoid certain malpractices: As social housings usually lack supplemental measures and proper management from the government, it is not uncommon that residents resell or rent out the social housings, some even use it as a collateral to pay off their debts. However, since the market value of the Eight Communities is extremely low, none of the above events have happened. It also prevented their residents from the situation in which they may be tricked into borrowing money from the loan shark, not being able to pay off the debt, and as a result, losing their accommodation.

Korng Samach lives here.

F

Plan de la ville de Pnum-Penh, 1886; photo: National Archives of Cambodia

Famine飢荒

Through his keen observation of the ingredients in the trading market as a chef and the natural fear towards hunger that is wired in his gene and passed down through generations, he knew that the famine is coming soon.

Last century, more than twenty million people were starved to death as the country where he was born implemented a communist experiment; last century, more than two million people were starved to death in the country where he works also because of communist ideals. Perhaps in terms of historical experiences, communism is a kind of trans-border “starvationalism.”As long as one does not give up on the concept of “property in common” as a means to pursue ideal life, under the rationing system filled with flaws and human greed, hunger crawls in the shadow, eagerly awaits any chance to engulf people.

He believes that the China–United States trade war only marks the beginning of a famine to come. With the non-transparency of information and endless malpractices, sooner than later, the poverty brought by unequal resource distribution and lack of job opportunities will become the main cause of global famine. As a chef, all he can do is to store food and extend its longevity for his family, as well as secretly spreading the news of a forthcoming famine to more people — not unlike the evangelism in the early period.

Before the shortage of pork in the Chinese market in 2018, he had already bought two freezers and a huge batch of pork that is cleansed, marinated, and preserved at low temperatures. The original recipe requires 500kg of pork with 100kg of salt, but when it became almost impossible to purchase pork, he served 500kg of pork with 500kg of salt. This sends an alarming message. He doubled the amount of rice, flour, and soybean entering the cellar he built for his family.

Even after his arrival in Cambodia, he couldn’t bear to let his guard down. To prepare for a famine that may strike in the future, he has trained himself to eat rice, salt, and water as his main course. In 2020, even before the China–United States trade war has drawn to an end, his storage has come in handy for his family during the COVID-19 lockdown.

G

Great Migration 大遷徙

Mostly from developing countries, they are composed of international investors, gamblers incited by capitalism, and capitalists who could not transfer their property due to the limitation of domestic law — all of them move around the world to chase after profits.

To curb property speculation resulted from overseas investment, in 2013, the Malaysian government increased the minimum purchase price for foreigners to acquire property in Kuala Lumpur from 500,000RM to 1,000,000RM. As a result, people gradually left Malaysia for Cambodia. While Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville’s housing markets had experienced ups and downs from 2018 to 2019, entering into 2020, due to an oversupply of apartments in Malaysia, the Malaysian government has prepared to lower the threshold for foreign buyers again to 600,000RM. As the world is under the shadow of COVID-19, they are prepared to move again.

H

Hierarchy階層

Taiwanese, expatriate gaming engineer, base salary: US$3,000

Taiwanese, expatriate civil engineer, base salary: US$2,000

Taiwanese, expatriate realtor, base salary: US$1,800

Chinese, expatriate manager of a construction company, base salary: US$1,500

Cambodian, salesperson of a construction company, base salary: US$700

Cambodian, bilingual salesperson of a jewelry company, base salary: US$500

Cambodian, construction worker. base salary: US$200

I

Investment tour賞房團

This marketing technique originates from Century 21 Real Estate’s marketing model that applied to their seven branches in Phnom Penh. Starting from the “Bali Resort and Apartment” series, a collaboration with a Taiwanese construction company released in 2013, investment tour has become one of the common marketing modes among all major real estate agencies in Cambodia.

J

Journey 旅行

Founded in 2016, the China Driving Union is a road trip service platform composed of Chinese around the world. Embracing the ideas of “mutual benefit, common development, joint contribution” and promoting exchange projects between China and other countries through road trip culture, the Union had founded branches in different countries. In 2017, the branch of Cambodia was founded in Phnom Penh.

To promote the Belt and Road Initiative road trip economic corridor, in 2019, the China Driving Union held a 20-day road trip ranging from China, Cambodia, Laos to Thailand. They departed from the Yuxi river of Yunnan, went through immigration at the Mohan port of Xishuangbanna, and went all the way south. All of these are filmed in the documentary “The Road to Southbound”. (This article is excerpted and adapted from Jianhuadaily.)

K

Kampuchea Krom Blvd 128 甘隆街

Purpose; landmark; sign; symbol of the glory created by opportunists of the old times.

“Kampuchea”, the old name of Cambodia; “Krom” means “lower” or “below” in Khmer. The term “Lower Cambodia” originated from the way Cambodians refer to Vietnam. Since Southern Vietnam used to be a part of the Cambodian territory, the saying of “Lower Cambodia” (Vietnam) appeared. Originally, Kampuchea Krom Blvd was the shopping street co-managed by Vietnamese migrants and Taiwanese businessmen in Phnom Penh before the outbreak of the 1997 Cambodian coup d’état. At the time, after Taiwanese businessmen acquired jewels in Pailin, they displayed and sold the items on Kampuchea Krom Blvd. In their heyday, around half of the stores on Kampuchea Krom Blvd belonged to a single Taiwanese businessman.

Kheang Meang Heang高民漢

Born in Phnom Penh in 1960 as a second-generation immigrant from Guangdong, he moved to the White Building to live with his family after the Khmer Rouge. After the White Building was torn down due to Naga World’s “Naga 3 project,” he and his family moved to Phum Orndoug 6.

Kheang Meang Heang grew up in a period when the whole world is trying all it can to defy the traditional value: oral contraceptive pill, LSD, Disco. He is fortunate enough to take a glimpse of Cambodia’s prosperity before the war, but harboring the Chinese tradition of “not forgetting one’s roots,” Kheang Meang Heang has never been seduced by the outside world nor did he become one of them.

He graduated from an overseas Chinese school, well-versed in reading and writing Chinese, and he only speaks Cantonese. He eats rice that served with fried vegetables and sausages.

The colorful and strong-scented Cambodian spices have never appeared on his family’s dining table. In the past, he had been ripped off and struggled to make ends meet since he doesn’t understand Khmer, but after a large number of Chinese investments entered Cambodia, leading a comfortable life is no longer a problem. Currently working as a construction foreman in a Chinese enterprise, he is proud to be part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative construction.

Korng Samach 高莎曼

As one of the last batch of residents leaving Koh Pich, he came back through the Thai-Cambodia border in 1996 and arrived in Phnom Penh which was still under the war. Up until he went on the governmental bus heading towards the Eight Communities, he had already been wandered in Koh Pich for thirteen years, depending on all kinds of part-time jobs the city offered to make a living.

When he left Koh Pich, the government officials promised all the inhabitants that the government would buy their shelter in Koh Pich for US$8,500, or provide them with a new townhouse with running water and electricity. After wandering half of his life, he chose the latter and came to the Eight Communities with ten other families from Koh Pich.

He is someone who had been through war, and his ability to imagine has been worn out by reality. All he believes in is the misfortune, U.S. dollar, and the clothes he puts on. Sure enough, among those inhabitants who didn’t leave Koh Pich with him, some of them ended up getting nothing.

Plan des quatre Bras de Phnom-Penh, 1876; photo: National Archives of Cambodia

L

Landlord 房東

: Please don’t take drugs here

M

Mess Vern與 Mey Sarerat 米沃與梅莎拉拉

The inhabitants of Phum orndoug 6, a couple in their 40’s from the White Building. Mess Vern usually peddles sundried salted clams mixed with chili and lemongrass with a cart while Mey Sarerat runs a small grocery store at home. Their residence is a standard 4m × 6m ration room attached with a squat toilet and a kitchen counter made out of bricks. After Mey Sarerat put up a red gingham curtain to hide the sight of mess in the kitchen, the only space left is a shallow living room. They had to build a wooden mezzanine as the second floor so that they have space to sleep and store odds and ends.

The living room of Mess Vern and Mey Sarerat is extremely simple. The right side to the door is Mess Vern’s place to nap. Two flattened throw pillows, a green and a red one, and a set of old Karaoke equipment were piled in front of a wall with water seepage. These are all of their furniture. In Mess Vern’s spare time, he will lie on the side and space out on the throw pillow. On the left side of the door lies Mey Sarerat’s grocery store. However, the so-called grocery store is actually an empty iron shelf placed with few barreled water and drinks.

Mess Vern and Mey Sarerat consider their life in Phum Orndoug 6 better than the one in the White Building. Although Phum Orndoug 6 is a bit far from the city and provides few working options, it runs a stable water supply to the residents. Mey Sarerat hopes that she can earn more money in the future and own an iron shelf full of products.

N

Naga World 金界賭場

The largest legal casino in Phnom Penh, full of opportunists yearning for fame and wealth, attracts endless business opportunities for Koh Pich. Next to the Naga World sits the hotel where the chef works. In his spare time, the chef has to accompany the Chinese kitchen manager to gamble in the Naga World and pay for the bill. Ms. Lin occasionally comes to the Naga World after dinner, “one bet costs around US$100 or 200, same as the amount for a meal, why can’t I?” said Ms. Lin. The process of the bet is similar to the working content of an expatriate game engineer. The nearby construction which Kheang Meang Heang used to participate in. The place where Mess Vern always passes by when selling salted clams, where Korng Samach used to nap after work, and the vacant lot which is the playground of Ryhorn and Zheap Sreang’s children.

O

Overseas Chinese華僑

One-third of road No. 278 in between Wat Langka and Wat Moha Montrei in BKK belongs to the Lin sisters.

Lin family’s grandfather was born in a Guangdong gentry family. He could read, calculate, and knows a little bit about herbal medicine. To avoid the war that broke out in the early republican period in China, he boarded on a boat that ended up in Cambodia and married a woman who was also on the same boat. In his first few years in Cambodia, he relied on peddling along streets to make ends meet. It was not until his business became financially stable that he was able to purchase a property in Phnom Penh and own his own shop.

The grandfather who is hale and hearty believes that “worker will not succeed, only businessman will bring in the fortune.” Following such doctrine, he passed down his business skills to his children, taught them the knowledge of business management and herbal medicine. However, only two of his granddaughters fully absorbed such teaching: the third granddaughter left the whole industry behind and headed to Australia for a carefree life. She only stops by Cambodia when she occasionally goes to Singapore for a physical examination. The fourth granddaughter who remains in Cambodia is in charge of managing hotels, brick factories, and land investments.

The fourth granddaughter Ms. Lin encountered the Khmer Rouge when she was 19. Even before she was able to graduate from middle school, Ms. Lin, together with her family, was forced to work in the countryside by the military. During those years, family members were separated and assigned to different communes, and each person only gets two ears of corn per day for food. When Ms. Lin missed her mother, she could only secretly visit her mother’s commune during the middle of the night. When the war was over, Ms. Lin walked for three days to return to Phnom Penh, and she waited for a month in front of the old deserted home. Only eight of the twelve siblings showed up, the rest of them all died from starvation.

The silver lining is that Ms. Lin’s parents showed up, and her grandfather also made it through the Khmer Rouge. He was able to accurately spot the business opportunity in this wrecked country and had all of his eight grandchildren learn the business of brick manufacturing before he passed away.

At first, Ms. Lin purchased the land in Phnom Penh to increase the scale of the brick manufacturing factories, trying to meet the market expansion brought by the increasing demand for construction. With the accumulation of land and capital, Ms. Lin and her other sisters bought one-third of road No. 278, which led to the beginning of their sideline, hotels. During the years when the tourism industry began to take off, hosting foreign tourists brought in considerable income for the family. After a while, land conveyance became a business in itself, and Ms. Lin began to engage in land investment. During the years when international development companies frequently visited Cambodia, she would sell the land in the city center to Taiwanese construction companies.

In recent years, as Sihanoukville began to develop, Ms. Lin also bought several acres of land there. A Chinese businessman once came to Ms. Lin, asking her to sell her lands in Sihanoukville for US$2 million. She did not show much willingness to do so, commenting that “if I sell the land now, isn’t it like squandering all the wealth of my descendants in advance?”

P

Phum orndoug 6 水井六村

A social housing built for accommodating inhabitants who had to move out of Phnom Penh city’s center due to its urban planning. It is located around an hour’s drive away from the downtown area, northwest to the National Television of Kampuchea (TVK), next to the industrial district. Composed of ten rows of townhouses, each row of townhouses is divided into dozens of 4m × 6m independent units, and each unit is considered as one household. A hospital is located by the entrance, and the community itself is surrounded by rice fields and factories.

The residents of Phum orndoug 6 came from Koh Pich, Borei Keila, and the White Building. They used to rely on short-term labor demands in the city such as construction worker, tailor, maid, etc. to make ends meet. After their old residence was torn down due to urban planning, they relocated to the suburb area and tried to manage grocery stores or small-scale trades in the village using the skills they had learned in the past. There were also people who used social housing as collateral to pay off their debt or to raise their startup funding, but more often than not these people still try to stay close to the city so that they can obtain more resources for survival.

In the community, there are only marginalized people, moving toward the unknown future while thrusting and pressing against each other. Kheang Meang Heang, Mess Vern & Mey Sarerat, Reith, Ryhorn, and Zheap Sreang all lived here in 2019.

Plov Tom Mop Toul Kork 妓女街

A red-light district that had experienced the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia. It is located on the way from Phum Orndoug 6 to the downtown district. Throughout the 90s, the street was occupied by Vietnamese sex workers who were seducing those Phnom Penh prodigals with the price of US$2 per time. Following the urban planning in Phnom Penh, Plov Tom Mop Toul Kork has turned into an automobile industrial district. Since the 1990s, the price of the townhouse has also skyrocketed from US$4,000 to over a million dollars.

Q

Quiet 安靜

They came to Koh Pich, rented the most expensive house so that they can stay indoors. People heard from the plumbers that these people speak Mandarin and play computer games most of the time, but other than that, nobody knew anything about them. Every October is the season of the high turnover rate in the housing industry on Koh Pich. After China’s National Day on October 1^st, some people will return to China, and they will not be coming back until the end of the Lunar New Year. Some of them never returned. They always come and go, but there will always be some of them on the island. The word on the street is that a few years ago, they held a magnificent event in Phnom Penh to welcome their partners who chartered a private flight from Mainland China to Cambodia. They almost reserved all the hotels in Phnom Penh’s city center, and this became the loudest noise they had ever made in the memory of the Phnom Penh residents. Six months after that, as the news showed that an international scam group was cracked down, they disappeared. It was not until recently that some of them gradually came back to the island.

Plan des quatre Bras de Phnom-Penh, 1910; photo: National Archives of Cambodia

R

Reith 赫蕾

A resident of Phum Orndoug 6. Married at 16, she moved to the area nearby Koh Pich with her husband. Under the urban planning project in Phnom Penh’s city center, they moved to Phum Orndoug 6 with several other families from Koh Pich.

Apart from the accommodation assigned by the government, Reith and her husband also bought the apartment behind it, and they broke the wall between the two households to make it one unit. During the day, Reith’s husband will peddle salted clams on the streets, and Reith runs a bodega next to their house. Due to the heat, they replaced both their front and back doors with folding doors. During the opening hours of the grocery store, they will open both folding doors for ventilation, leaving Reith’s bed, the pink bed curtain hanging above, and rows of candy and soda exposed awkwardly in front of the customers.

In June 2019, Reith’s husband died in a car crash while selling salted clams, leaving behind Reith and five children. The youngest boy had not even turned 3 yet. Reith’s grocery store can earn around US$20 per day. She hopes that she can pick up more jobs aside from running the grocery store, increase her income, and leave the Phum Orndoug 6 that suffers from bad public security.

Ryhorn 里沃爾

Born in 1976, the neighbor of Zheap Sreang. Together with children, Ryhorn and Zheap Sreang came to Phum Orndoug 6 from Koh Pich. Ryhorn now lives with three children and two grandsons. Normally, she peddles in the village, selling low-cost ice that added all kinds of artificial seasonings.

After she turned 30, Ryhorn’s life was tied with her husband, children, work, and Koh Pich. After she moved to Phum Orndoug 6, her husband left her. When Ryhorn has some spare money with her, she will let her grandchildren buy a bag of salted clams. The three of them will then sit on the neighbor’s recycled iron sheet, enjoying their time by spitting out clamshells. Since the income of most residents in Phum Orndoug 6 is at the lower end of the wage spectrum, the ice business did not receive many customers. Under such a dire economic situation, Ryhorn sold the house assigned by the government to the bank, and in turn, rented the house back at the rate of US$25 per month.

After coming to Phum Orndoug 6, Ryhorn once returned to the place she used to live. Looking at the paradise-like island that is now completely different from the past, a sense of loss emerged, discouraging her from crossing the bridge which connects the Phnom Penh downtown and Koh Pich.

S

Sihanohkville 西哈努克港

Sihanoukville, also referred to as “Xigang” in Chinese, is located on Cambodia’s Southwestern coastline. Named after the former king Norodom Sihanouk, it is the largest port and the second-largest city besides Phnom Penh in Cambodia. It is also the only special economic zone in Cambodia, similar to the position of Shenzhen in China. Xigang was built after 1950. To encourage investment, it was established as a tax haven in 1998. Sihanohkville was once renamed Kampong Som in wartime but restored the name of Sihanohkville in the 1990s.

With the development of local economics in recent years, its unique natural sceneries gained foreign recognition. European and Chinese backpackers attracted by its beach and waves began to flock into Xigang. As an emerging isle sightseeing hotspot, its scenery and beach are nothing less than Maldives and Palau. Today, Xigang witnesses a large number of casinos, a high commodity price, and a deeply troubled social order. Due to the close relationship between China and Cambodia, Xigang enjoys great popularity among Chinese tourists, which made up 90% of Xigang’s total visitors.

Xigang is still experiencing a development boom, with countless business and industries awaiting their time to shine. (This article is excerpted from Baidu Baike, 2020.)

T

Tool 工具

7 CNY：1USD：4000 KHR

Taiwan investors台商

An ethnic community with intricate emotions and identities. Please refer to Abroad, BKK, Bubble Economy, Great Migration, Hierarchy, Investment tour, Kampuchea Krom Blvd 128, Khmer Pres, Naga World Overseas Chinese, WeChat, and X’mas.

U

Utopia理想國

The following is former communists’ reflection on communism, which they 4 developed after they left their communist homeland and entered another new country with a communist history:

① one must own an enclosed island, use such island as a base for the final revolution, and invite people with all kinds of expertise to live together;

② the thought of those living on the island must be as homogenous and as pure as possible;

③ to eliminate all possible forms of corruption, barter system will be the only acceptable form of trade to exchange necessary supplies on the island;

④ fairness, justice, and transparency: all matters on the island must be determined through voting;

⑤ remove the obstructions caused by the corrupted customs of the past: written text is an unnecessary communication tool; if necessary, one can create another system of communication on the island.

Projet du canal entre Pnom Pneh et Pochettong, 1913; photo: National Archives of Cambodia

V

Victory成功

① First of all, your physical capacity is the best asset. You can collect recyclable materials available for sale from the trash pile or become a temporary worker on a construction site. Keep in mind that you have to save US$1 per day out of your income somewhere you will not want to withdraw money from, for example, a certain corner on the roof. If possible, maybe refrain from alcohol drinking for now.

② Next, you might gain some money. Hold on, don’t rush into buying all those commodities that just come across your mind. The rental fee for a traditional wooden tuk-tuk is US$2 per day, and the newer kind of metal tuk-tuk costs US$3 per day. You can also pay a small amount of fee to Pass App or Grab, join their tuk-tuk driver’s network, and receive a stable customer base. Otherwise, you can also go on the streets and solicit customers by yourself. If you want to become part of Pass App or Grab App’s tuk-tuk driver’s network, you will need to buy a smartphone (OPPO provides pretty reasonable pricing) and a SIM card first. It doesn’t need to be something expensive, just the ones that will allow you to connect to the App all the time. If you want to solicit your own business on the street, the standard pricing for a 3-hour trip in Phnom Penh is around US$10-15, this income is more than enough for the rental fee of a tuk-tuk for an entire day. However, most people who purchase these travel packages are foreign tourists. If possible, they prefer tour guide service; you better learn a little bit of English or Chinese.

③ Now that your daily revenue should be around US$15-20, you can start thinking seriously about saving some money. You can consider applying for a bank account to avoid the risk of missing money or being robbed. If you have decided to choose tuk-tuk tourist service as your main source of income, you can sign up for an English class opened by an NGO in your spare time. Additionally, they are picky foreigners, so don’t forget to always keep your tuk-tuk seats clean. If possible, you can even spend some effort on decorating your tuk-tuk. Don’t forget to use Pass App and Grab App to increase extra revenue as well.

④ You already have some savings as well as a stable income. Never forget, “learning is the only road towards success.” I suppose that you have already mastered the driving of tuk-tuk, so you will need some challenge now. “A car” will be helpful to your next step towards a successful life. Your savings will be useful when you need to pay for the down payment of your car. After owning a car, you can hit the road and charge your customers a higher fee to pay for the monthly loan.

⑤ Now, you can resume your habit of drinking. You had repaid your car loan, and on top of that, you also possess a car and bank savings. Now you can consider starting other businesses to increase your income.

— Suggestions from Proum Veasna, a tuk-tuk rental shop owner. He reads Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad, Poor Dad (1997) as his motto

W

WeChat 微信

WeChat is the vein that connects the opportunists with the world and among themselves. It possesses its own unique system of language, obfuscating the line between truth and lies. One needs to master a particular reading skill to be able to enter the vein that runs a dark and rich world inside.

X

Xmas 聖誕節

Sceneries around the world would only synchronize on Christmas day. Ten years have passed since his father deceived him into coming to Cambodia, Christmas has always remained one of his favorite holidays.

A year before his arrival in Cambodia, a school shooting took place at the international school he attended. A Cambodian restaurant staff who held a grudge against its Korean owner for maltreatment broke into the school with a private gun. The staff attempted to seize the Korean owner’s son as hostage and killed a blubbering Canadian boy in the process. This incident did not discourage his father’s ambition to make the most of his talent in a foreign country. After picking up him and his mother, they began their life together in Cambodia.

At the time, roads were not paved with asphalt yet. When the wind blows, one’s head and body will be covered with dust all over. In his house, people drink unfiltered turbid groundwater. He will always remember those kids he met in school — born in diplomat families, those kids always smell like fresh soap. He is the only one who always has a rusty smell that cannot be washed off. From the lack of clean tap water sources, his father spotted a business opportunity and started a laundry company that specialized in cleaning high-quality beddings for big hotels. It was not until local residents learned the technique of water purification and intensified the market competition that his father retired.

At the time, the trend of teleshopping just emerged in Taiwan, and its product catalog also includes package tours to Southeast Asia. Introduced by a friend, his mother hosted a group of Taiwanese visitors and officially began to run a travel agency in 2013. Not long after the business started, his mother realized that in a price war, an underfunded small travel agency could hardly compete with the chain travel services provided by the Chinese people. To share the familial financial burden, he thereby decided to utilize his advantage of speaking Chinese, Khmer, and English to work in a Hong Kongese enterprise at the nearby no.278 road.

Cambodia equipped him with the perfect survival skills. He knows the way to find fine quality marijuana; he knows how to avoid ill intentions; he is familiar with all the special cocktails made by the bartenders, and knows how to maintain his sanity while consuming alcohol. Throughout the year, Christmas is the only day when he appreciates the fact that he possesses these skills.

Y

Yellow 黃色

The color that represents wealth. Advertisement. Statue. Royal Palace. Pagoda. Land. Metal sheet roofing. Clothes. Candy. Duck egg yolk. Milkmarrine.

Z

Zheap Sreang 仁莎鈴

She was born in the last year of the Khmer Rouge, but she was not able to avoid the misfortune. She has a face different from normal Cambodians: her cheekbone is too high, and her lips are too thin. Her dry and yellow hair tied together, hanging beside her face. According to the beauty standards of Phnom Penh, Zheap Sreang might be of Northwestern Thailand heritage. But she has a face of a Phum orndoug 6 woman: covered with fine lines and sunburn, her lips always pale, and her muddy eyes always full of exhaustion. Throughout her childhood, she fed on hunger and poverty for living. When she was old enough to conceive a new life in her uterus, all she could feed her children were hunger and poverty as well.

She was married twice, and she was also twice divorced. She had given birth to seven children and lived with her family in the White Building in the past. After the fire, they moved to somewhere close to Koh Pich and set up a simple tent life. When the fifth and sixth children were born, she used the mangos on Koh Pich to make desserts and peddled those sweets on the street to raise her six children. On September 6^th, 2016, together with her family, she took the bus arranged by the government and became a resident in Phum Orndoung 6.

After being abandoned by a British boyfriend, her daughter returned home, lived with all of her other children, and gave birth to a beautiful mixed baby girl. The birth of this baby girl made up to the misfortune of the family. That soft and foreigner-like white skin represents the wealth and health that is out of reach of this land. It also compensates for the regret of grandma Zheap Sreang to some extent. Zheap Sreang had the baby girl’s ears pierced with golden earrings, and let visitors took pictures of the baby in the hope that, in place of them, this baby girl can stay away from the destiny of abandonment.