There are so many cultural quirks in Cambodia that you could write a book on them, if you were confident enough in your knowledge. One of my favourites, perhaps because of the similarity with Central Australian indigenous custom, is the practice of referring to people according to an assumed kinship status. Here I am often … More Bongs and Tycoons
It’s a five hour bus ride from Kampong Cham to Siem Reap. I was the only Barang on the bus which is a reasonably unusual experience, especially on a route to the very touristic town of Siem Reap. Seat 29 was my allocation but someone had already taken it. One of the many young men … More The Frangipanis Above Me: Part 2
A friend was telling me the other day about her experience on a medical mission in Haiti. In 2010 a catastrophic earthquake killed at least 100,000 people, maimed many more and destroyed existing infrastructure and services. Many countries responded with humanitarian aid. By the time my friend’s mission began, some years later, she witnessed examples … More The Frangipinis Above Me: Part 1
Perched on the toilet in an open air bamboo treehouse on a hillside above the seaside village of Kep last week, a short wall separated the smells and sounds of my dysenteric squirts from a sleeping Caz. I’m poolside at our Phnom Penh hotel now while she sleeps off her third bout of squirts in … More Sharing the Love Bug
So many things happened in my recent whirlwind 13 day visit to Cambodia, only 2 months before I return there to live and work. There was no time to write about it while I was there and I barely know where to start now. I’ll post a series of chapters covering most of what happened. … More Quick Cambodia Visit: Kim
In 2003, days before the Allied invasion of Iraq, Natalie Maine was performing on a London stage as lead singer of the Dixie Chicks. She is quoted as saying to the audience, “Just so you know, we’re on the good side with y’all. We do not want this war, this violence, and we’re ashamed that … More Blackened Swans
In 1843 a survey was conducted in London which found that only 26 of the city’s 2,400 hospitalised patients were children. Yet in the same year, of 51,000 deaths recorded in London, 21,000 were children under the age of ten and one third of London’s children died before their first birthday. Clearly there was a … More A Tale of Two Cities
Earlier this year on a trip to the city, I drove through inner-suburb tree-lined boulevards, marveling at the rows of sandstone and bluestone villas with their manicured gardens. I once spent a happy few years living and working in this city. At that time I did not consider that it was an especially opulent lifestyle. … More One Degree of Separation
In October I wrote about the elderly woman caring for her three orphaned grandchildren, who walks the streets scavenging for recyclables to sell in order to feed the family. I will call her Belle. Back then I shared this photograph of her at home with the children. Since then a friend has been donating AU$35 … More Imperfect Equals
Helen Hunt and Kevin Spacey made this phrase famous in a film of the same name some years ago. The concept involves the recipient of a favour, instead of paying the favour back, paying it forward to three new recipients. Each recipient is then asked to pay it forward, to three more recipients. The favour … More Pay It Forward
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