Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Stereotypes about Cambodia (Khmer)














Stereotypes about Cambodia (Khmer)




The below 16 stereotypes are just those I, a Cambodian born and raised, have compiled due to the fact that I have not seen any articles written about this area. It's just a bit more about how Cambodian are perceived among themselves and viewed by the other. I write this using my own experience. Some parts of it might not be accepted by all other Cambodian but it gives you idea what is Cambodian stereotypes. Before going any further, one term that you should know is KHMER. Khmer is just another term that Cambodian refer to  the language, Cambodian people, and the country itself.


1.      The bride’s price in Khmer literally means the price of milk (breast milk fed when you were young). When you ask for the hands of someone’s daughter in marriage, parents ask for high price to show off their status in society and the value that their daughter is worth. It looks like you are bargaining some good. It’s to some extend a bad image if looked at by other nations especially from developed countries but it’s a tradition practiced from the past and is still being done by Cambodian.

2.      Women is supposed to do all the house whole chores and look after children while men are supposed to be the head of the family and support the family completely. There are some sayings in Khmer that reflect women inferiority to men. If literally translated it would say something like this: Women cannot turn the stove around. The saying compares the stove to the house whole chores that women cannot barely struggle finish because there are so many. So as weak as women, they are supposed to just do all these simple tasks and let the husband worry about income. Now day, more women receive access to education and they are as capable as men in term of financial status. However, this is still true in places where women receive little education.

3.      Cambodian wear too much make up. To some extent, it is true but it depends on the occasions as well. If you go to formal events like party or wedding, you will see that almost all of women wear makeup or have their hair done. It’s a social event so it’s common but in daily life, I have to agree to disagree.

4.      Cambodian show off. People like to show off their wealth through materials and expensive jewelry just to scare each other especially in the big events or social gathering. This is a bit more obvious if you live at the provinces. You would see people wearing big gold chain necklaces. If you want to prove that you are economically capable, you would need to update your motorbikes or cars almost every year to the latest series.

5.      Your parents are so protective. Many children are complaining about their curfew. You would get a common response when calling your friends out. I cannot stay out later than 8 or 9pm. Cambodian parents are strict. And there is nothing you can do about it. You cannot choose your parents.

6.      Cambodian eat too much rice and fish sauce. Well, we eat rice every meal and we are not sick of it. Most of the food are cooked with fish sauce which is not a pleasant smell to some people. However, they tastes good.

7.      It is really hard to address people. So many statuses to memorize if you address relative in Chinese way ( kov, e, jek, sau, ….). Moreover, sometimes looks can be deceiving if you accidentally address someone older as younger or older as younger than you, it can be a big offence. Respect is taken seriously to some people. So you should be careful before addressing someone in Khmer.

8.      You are supposed to listen to whatever the elder are telling you and you cannot talk back. It’s a shitty rule but it’s true somehow. Cambodian children are supposed to take whatever good from the advice given and forget whatever none sense told. The elder are always right. It’s a bad system which should be turned around and I hope this article would play small part in it too.


Prahok
9.      Cambodian love stinky Prahok. The salted and fermented fish gives a foul smell to your nose if you are new to it. It is seen in many Cambodian cuisine and we Cambodian love it. It’s also part of our identity.

10.  Country of war: Going through decades of wars and a genocide, this country is still appear to the foreigner as a country of war and instability. There is no more war. The country is at peace despite occasional protests done in designated areas in Phnom Penh, I can assure that it’s a safe place to come and visit.

11.  Cambodian are black. Many people still have this fix idea that unless you have very dark skin, you are not 100% Cambodian or 100% khmer. On the other hand, people with lighter skin or bright skin are considered as Cambodian Chinese decedent who are perceived as more attractive and superior in intelligent. They are thought of as having natural talent with entrepreneurship or business. That is why skin whitening products are flooding Cambodian market. I would personally deny the fact of skin color. Being smart or poor depends on the environment and education provided to you and of course gene play a small role in that too.

12.  Cambodian are gentle, kind and helpful. Many people who visit this country fall in love with it for its kind and gentle people who love each other. If you live in the province, everybody knows each everybody in a community and they stick together.

13.  Women are the victim of domestic violence. Many traditional costume about Cambodia are rich but one particular tradition written down for women is particularly bad from my opinion. In Khmer it is called Chbab Srey literally translated as rules for women. This particular poem is written about how women should behave. It illustrates all the roles that women should play as a passive, house care taker and future mothers. And women are supposed to put up with their husbands even if there is violence. There are many more rules they cannot be used in this contemporary civilized world but it is part of national identity and are taught to daughters since they were little. Wanting it or not, many Cambodian women submit to this reality especially low educated women. It’s a pity.

14.  Cambodian hate Vietnamese and Thai people. The mainstream of Cambodian people do not like these two neighbor due to the historical fact of wars and invasions between the countries. Cambodian are taught from when they were a kid by teachers about sad history of how these two countries have taken our land and many teachers do not make it clear that history is a lesson rather than a pit of fire burning the kids’ soul to be racist. I would like to see people looking at each other from individual perspective rather than as a race because the people did not steal our land, their governments did.


Cambodian couple in their traditional wedding dress
15.  Cambodian parents always want to marry their daughters off no later than mid twenty. If their daughters are still single after 25, they are afraid that she will be a maiden for the rest of her life. Cambodian people marry their children off very early. In the province or some remote area, sometimes they are married as early as 14 to 15 years old depending on their physical maturity to bare children. Grandchildren is believed to be one of the reasons why parents marry their children off so soon. Another possible explanation is relief expenses due to many siblings.


The biggest NOM ON SORM

16.  Sticky rice or Nom on sorm is Cambodian most cake. It is made almost at every houses during Khmer New Year if you are living in provinces. It is also made especially in wedding ceremony and some people make it during Pchum Ben. Weighing 4.04 tonnes, was included in the Guinness World Records as the biggest sticky rice cake in the world. It tastes really good. If you have not tasted Nom on Sorm, you are not Cambodian.

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Tips for Average C Students in hunting Scholarships

Tips for Average C Students in hunting Scholarships


A majority of University students in Cambodia are average performers who have tried so hard to acquire two degrees at the same time and some even work part time to survive in this harsh reality. Due to this fact that your academic results do not outstand from the crowd, you doubt applying for a scholarship. You look around and see that people seem to get scholarship fairly easily. And you start questioning yourself why not me. There are secrets behind what seems easy. People who have realized their goals are those who plan them well ahead before they apply and they follow it. Mr. Menghieng Hun, an average performer, is going to share you his secret of how he got his Erasmus Mundus scholarship to study Master of Educational Science in Finland on his first try. 

Doing some reading in the Library
Mr.Menghieng said “I started searching for scholarship since I was in my second year at University. I started attending all scholarship workshops or sharing sessions that I can find. I went through many scholarship websites to see the requirement and to familiar myself with different criteria of scholarships to various countries. ” The most important point that he stressed was “You need to find out what the scholarships are looking for in a person. Most of them want to see their money spent results in helping humanity, building a better world or developing your country or poor institutions in your countries” so your A or A+ on the paper cannot always help you get a scholarship. Sometimes C or C+ is enough. 

First of all. Ask yourself!!! What quality do you have that outshines the other candidates?

Extracurricular activity is accepted as a crucial quality for a student to be selected. You can start by volunteering with NGOs or Institutions whose works parallel to your study majors or professions. Showing your selflessness through volunteering convinces the committee of the possibility of your continuation to help the country upon your return from your study period. You will learn not just the practical skills related to your study but you have a chance to meet successful people who have already got their scholarships abroad. You also have a chance to socialize and build a good network and even ask for tips and process on how they got them. Through volunteering and workshops, Mr. Menghieng got a chance to work and talk to former Australian, New Zealand, Korean, Japanese, Fulbright, European scholarship holders and even the scholarship committees. You would never know who you would run into during your extracurricular activity. 

Work experience is a big advantage that can overshadow fresh graduates. We all know scholarship is very competitive. Having many extracurricular activities sometimes is not enough because other candidates also have the same thing and they have work experience as a plus. So you have to show them that you have the leadership skills. Convince the committee that you have the initiative ability to start something on your own no matter how small it is. I personally quote my initiation of how I help organize a charity trip to my homeland and how I raised money at my work place to help underprivileged children and I fortunately won a prize for raising the most bikes. With the prize money I got, I organized a party for all staff involved to build team spirits. These are the simple and common quality that you can use. But what you have to remember is to write your own story that you have done. Do not copy other people’s ideas. 

If you have the curricular activities, work experience, leadership skills, you have a big chance of winning over the committee. Having been selected is just the first step of getting financial support. Second is to get the admission to get into the university. English proficiency is a must. You have to meet the schools requirement. Many Universities require IELTS, SAT, TOEFL or many other international standard tests score to prove that you are qualified. Some people pass the scholarship but fail to get accepted into the university and end up losing the opportunity. 

To sum up, all you have to do are collect all scholarship information as much you can, volunteer or intern where relevant to your current major to prove that you are committed to your field and the help of humanity and your country and work hard on your English or subjects required by universities you are applying to. Do not loss hope because you are average performers. Hieng is the proof that C average performers can win the grant as long as you plan your steps well. Don’t wait until you have graduated your Bachelor degree to volunteer and look for your scholarship, start to prepare from now on.