In our hotel lounge, the resident Filipino singer was reliving her relief at being given a contract extension in the coming rainy season which sees very low occupancy. Besides her pay, she gets free meals and a roof over her head. Without work in Phnom Penh, even for a day, she would wonder if she could pay her bills. Here in Sihanoukville, the cost of living is lower than in Phnom. Penh.
 |
| People visiting a Sihanoukville market: not poor by average standards |
As we carried on talking about the cost of living, I wondered why - and how - some Cambodians get by with just a $40 monthly wage. Surely, they must face extreme poverty? Is it any wonder that families, to supplement their income, send their kids out to beg or to dust the windscreens of cars, or even cling dangerously to wing mirrors, so drivers have to give in and dish out 25 cents? A decent meal, by local standards, costs a dollar, so a very poor family cannot eat in even the road side stall.
 |
| Just a few fishes a day to feed this family in the Gulf of Thailand |
This must be the subsistence living, or living from hand to mouth, that we learnt about in school. I think it is still widespread in the bigger Cambodian cities as well as in provinces where land for agriculture has been carte blanche ceded to large investors who then plant commercial crops which need much less labour to farm. I think the country, or the majority of the people, is getting poorer, while the wealth that originates from this fertile land shifts by chunks to the rich.
I worry about as yet an unrecognized danger. It seems to me that sugar consumption is very high in Cambodia. Is it because sweetened foods and drinks provide pleasure and can actually be a drug for the poor while masquerading as a normal condiment or a cool drink? As Cambodians assume a more sedentary lifestyle, I fear obesity and the illnesses associated with it will hurt society.
