Cambodians and their saving face perception

Many Cambodians consider saving face is part of their daily life. To Cambodians in all level, saving face is what they always take into account and care the most. Cambodians would do whatever to save their faces and especially families. Cambodians are so much concerned how other people might think about them. There are no certain sources claiming whether the culture of saving face was originated in Cambodia or derived from other countries in the region. Possibly it might had been derived from China as holistically Chinese was the second nation to arrive in Cambodia after Indian. Chinese played a really important role in Cambodia history.

For instance, when a group of Cambodians go to eat out at a restaurant, they will ask someone to pay for the bill, then they will pay him or her back later. Some Cambodian will never collect the money from each one in front of the waiters or other people. Most of Cambodians think that this kind of act is really embarrassing.

Writing this topic, it reminded me about one of my high school classmate. Her mother forced her to marry with a guy while she already knew that she had a boyfriend. So, my classmate decided to run away with her boyfriend. Guess what when her family found them. They just allowed them to get married together right away. In Cambodia, it is really embarrassing when your daughter ran away with someone or lived with someone without marriage. Most families who experienced that always allowed their children to get married with their loved one immediately in order to cover up the scandal.


Writer: Anonymous

Joker Poker wrote:Evidently it doesn't apply to driving/riding on the road???

It is a national disgrace that it is so appalling here.

I hurt my neck over Khmer New Year getting out of the way for some retard, causing me to hit 3 potholes on my moto. Two days later I was completely run off the road by another even more retarded driver - this time I had to come to a complete stop, or run down a bank. I flipped the moron a bird and I can still see the look on his face.

When crossing the road along the riverside, I'd suggest that at least 95% of motorists completely ignore pedestrians, even when it is quite clear that they have to stop anyway because of traffic congestion just ahead. There are a few who will pull up and let you cross but it is a quite rare.

So, how does this work with face? Does being a complete wanker behind the wheel absolve the driver of any loss of face when they blatantly ignore traffic laws and put everyone else at risk?

Just wondering. Still can't figure out how some of these morons got past their teen years.

prahkeitouj wrote:Sometimes I don't like to walk with old people because they really care about saving face. I like to share when my friends and I having meal out together. If they think want to pay for the bill then I'll not enjoy my time. But if we have a dating, men should pay. :p

Joker Poker wrote:Does being a complete wanker behind the wheel absolve the driver of any loss of face when they blatantly ignore traffic laws and put everyone else at risk?

MekongMouse wrote:I think the main difference between the Cambodian and western sense of "face" is the totality of it in Cambodia. Westerners are definitely concerned with saving face, but the thing is we are embarrassed by incidents as they happen, not like a long scorecard. We don't consider one-time incidents to be beyond repair. Many times I feel a Cambodian will react too seriously to insult or reprimand. Westerners on the other hand, we insult each other for fun; it is practically the national sport of Australia. There's this inability to just let bygones be bygones. We also consider it a much more individual thing. I don't lose any face because of stuff my sister does. Cambodians do. Luckily, I think this is more of an older generation thing...

I'll write more later, as I have a lot of thoughts on this, but I need to head out.