(AFP/Tang Chhin Sothy)

Suy SE
Fri, June 21, 2019

Living with the dead: Urban poor take over Cambodian cemetery

"Graveyards may traditionally be the eternal resting place for the dead, but one cemetery in Phnom Penh has become a place to stay for the living, as communities destroyed by unstoppable development are forced to take desperate measures. "

"Ma Nith confessed she was "speechless" when she realized that Smor San cemetery in the capital was to be home after her arranged marriage."

"Ma Nith's family is one of roughly 130 residing in make-shift stilt houses and corrugated metal huts in between the colorful tombs of Smor San."

"Some came from a community whose riverside homes collapsed into the Bassac river, while others were evicted from nearby land to make way for a new market. "

"While the dead may not care, their relatives do, and the growing community has even prompted some to start unearthing their loved ones and reburying them elsewhere. "

"With 500 active residents, there are more living than dead."

Full https://www.thejakartapost.com/seasia/2 ... etery.html

I visited there back in 2015 and shot lots of photos, had some talks via my interpreter, some very interesting stories
rainy season the whole area floods..


Heres another story on Doem Sleng; https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-mag ... phnom-penh

In Manila, this is not at all uncommon. I had " good fortune" to meet the son of a Senator, ( there are 7 for the 90 million Filipinos ) and was taken to the cockfights with him. After watching the butchering of a dozen or so roosters we crossed the main highway through Cavite and into a cemetery. There were beautifully manicured lawns and air-conditioned mausoleums most with families of poor people living in them. The cemetery was owned by the Senator, as was the Cavite Colosium were the cockfights were held. At the back of the cemetery, we passed through a large iron gate into an area equal in size to the cemetery.

There were 100's of cocks, a couple of emus and lots of peacocks, some small dwellings for the people who cared for the cocks, a rowhouse inhabited by young ladies that were very hospitable and entertained us for the afternoon and a 1/2 dozen new ambulances up on blocks. The ambulances had been stripped to nothing more than shells, I guess one of the privileges of power in the Philippines is the ability to run a chop shop specializing in publically owned vehicles.

The Senator, I never got to meet, he was the son of a Senator as well and was eventually charged with corruption. The Cavite Provincial Police surrounded his house when the federal police came to arrest him, their guns not pointed inward but outward protecting their patron. He is still a Senator despite having a judgement against him for some 125 million pesos taken from the national treasury. The son, whom I "partied " with eventually shot himself during his father's scandal, though not fatally and went on to be the youngest vice governor in Philippine history. The Revilla family own Cavite, lock, stock and barrel,