Today I’ll be on my own. I had to meet Jayanthi, a staff of Girls Brigade Singapore, who is working in Phnom Penh. We had arranged to meet at 0930 for a short meeting at Jars of Clay café near Russian Market. I got a motordop driver (motorcycle taxi) and paid 2500riels (USD$0.5) for the ride there. I arrived a couple of minutes late…Jayanthi was already there. We had a short meeting till Jayanthi had to leave at 11am to do some work.I went off to Russian Market to do some shopping since I was already in that area. Of all the markets in Phnom Penh, this is my favourite market…maybe because I used to stay near the market or maybe it’s where I always get my DVDs when I’m in Phnom Penh. I went straight to the DVD section and literally went on a mad spree. I bought like maybe 11 DVDs at the market. After buying the DVDs, I went to the food section for lunch. I always eat this dish call lok char at the market. In Singapore, we call the noodles bee tai mak. It’s actually a short white thick noodle that looks like rat’s tail. In Cambodia, they fry the noodles with vegetables, egg and black sauce. You can have beef with it if you want but I normally take without.The lady whom I always buy lok char from. Amazingly, she still recognizes me after my one year absence. Despite her working in the market cooking such hot oily food, she has really good complexion. At least she didn't try to squeeze my pimples which would be really freaky.My dish of lok char. Look at the wok, the noodles are just left there. Every time someone orders lok char, she would just use her spatula to get the amount needed from the pile and start cooking. So basically, flies or dust can land on the noodles without anyone knowing.After a lunch of lok char and ice lemon tea which costs US$1, I went to the dessert stall to buy some desserts. I wasn’t buying them for myself as I normally only eat steaming hot cooked food from the market or street. I was buying them for friends at the shop my organization open in Phnom Penh selling handmade bags, shawls etc.This is a typical dessert stall in Cambodia. The metal tubs hold different desserts. You just order and the lady would pack them in plastic bags to take away or in bowls so you can sit around the stall eating. The green plastic bag on the table is mine. I ordered 7 different kinds of dessert. She even put shaved ice in the bag for me. Each packet I bought is 500riels so for basically about US$0.8, I bought desserts enough for 7 people.Some photos of the market.The market is pretty dark with no overhead lights and natural lighting is very minimal. It’s quite a narrow path between the shops.The wide variety of vegetables sold in the market plus dried stuff.This stall is selling some kind of barbequed meat. Look at the eggs on the left side of the photo. They are duck eggs with duck foetus in them. It’s a favourite delicacy in Cambodia. It is said to give a person strength. I had a friend who ate 5 eggs at one go. Till now, I haven’t the guts to try and I doubt I will ever try. I’ve seen the foetus in the egg before. Feathers were already growing on the foetus. It was totally disgusting.The outside of the market. Look at the guys under the red and white umbrella. Those are motordop drivers waiting for customers to leave the market.After buying the dessert, I proceeded to the shop. We are situated just outside Tuol Sleng Genocide museum. As you walk out the entrance of the museum, look to your left, we are at the corner. The name of our shop is VillageWorks. We sell handmade bags, shawls, little souvenirs etc. VillageWorks was conceived by the Girls’ Brigade Singapore for the purpose of creating employment and providing skills and livelihood to women and young people in Third World Countries where the Girls’ Brigade Singapore has pioneering work.Our vision is to bring meaning to the lives of people in small villages, to nurture their worth as persons and to help them realise their potential and purpose in life. Our strategy is to organize, equip and inspire the villagers to produce quality handicraft works for the global marketplace.VillageWorks is more than craft. It is more than enabling the villagers to bring home food for themselves and their families. VillageWorks is about restoring the spirit to small villages and about bringing meaning to their life. It is about empowering the people to stand tall on their own.As we are non profit, every cent that we earn goes back to the business and to the women. If you are interested in buying some of our products and supporting the work in Cambodia, please visit
http://www.villageworks.com/ . To find the locations of our Singapore outlets, please visit the website as well.I know it sounds like I’m advertising our business and I am but that’s because I know how much our business is helping the women in a small village in Kampong Thom and some of the handicap staff that we employ. I myself have spoken to some of these women during my stay in the village and I know with the work we give them, they can lead better lives, buy better food to nourish themselves and send their kids to school. I see this business and I believe in it. In addition, we are giving these women self worth which is more important then anything.Anyway, I spent some time with the staff in the shop, catching up with them again. One of the staff, Kung, had gotten married during the one year I was away. Our manager, Anak, was also 7 months pregnant. About an hour later, I went to Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum. I’m ashamed to say though I have been to Cambodia so many times and worked there for a couple of months, I have never been to the Genocide Museum or the Killing Fields. I’ve always never felt like going in because of the tragedy that happened at the museum. For a month, I actually stayed opposite the museum and still I’ve never stepped in. Reading about the Khmer Rouge (KR) Regime and the time under the KR, I know it’s going to be difficult to walk in and out. But I thought I should at least visit once…how can I say I’ve been to Cambodia and worked there if I’ve never been in. So this trip, I resolved to visit the museum.I paid my entrance fee, US$2, and went in. I felt a sense of dread as I walked in.For those unsure of Cambodian History, well let me talk a little on it. Cambodia used to be a French Colony along with Vietnam and Laos. During the days of colonization, Vietnam was treated better then Cambodia in terms of education and the general opening up of the country because the French saw more potential in Vietnam then Cambodia. Anyway, after World War 2 and in early 1950s, King Sihanouk began to demand for independence from their colonial masters. In 1953, Cambodia finally gained independence. King Sihanouk abdicated in favour of his father and became Prime Minister of the country. With many policies and political repression that made then politicians unhappy, a coup was staged in 1970, deposing him in favour of Lon Nol. With that, King Sihanouk traveled to Beijing and from there supported the Khmer Rouge in their campaign to oust the Lon Nol government. In 1975, the Khmer Rouge gain control of Cambodia and began their inhumane rule. The Khmer Rouge broke off all contact with the outside world, totally isolating Cambodia. They closed schools, hospitals, factories and abolished finance, currency and banking. They also outlawed all religions and confiscated all properties. They drove all the people from the capital to the countryside where the people were forced into hard labour. During their four years in power, the Khmer Rouge overworked and starved the people and at the same time killing selected people whom they felt were a threat to them. People who were educated, professionals, used to work with the previous governments, ethnic Vietnamese, Chinese, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists monks or found with foreign objects like spectacles were put to death. Studies have shown about 1.7million people died during the period of 1975-1979. In 1979, Vietnam liberated Cambodia.As for Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, it used to be a high school. In 1975, the school was converted into a prison and interrogation centre. Of the estimated 17,000 who went in, only 7 survived. The rest were tortured and later brought to Choeung Ek otherwise known as the Killing Fields to be exterminated.The prisoners brought in were from all over the country and they were usually former Khmer Rouge members and soldiers who were accused of treason. These men were viewed by Khmer Rouge leader, Pol Pot, as potential coup leaders against him. Besides the “coup leaders”, their families were also brought in to be interrogated and later killed.
