I will put it in simple explanations. Smart western countries are reserving their natural resource, The Chinese on the other hand do the work and depleting them, their Vietnamese partner in crime had their share...Cambodia who is under the Communist influences and power almost and on their way completely depleting the natural resources where million relied on for livelihoods. Shits like this makes Wall Street looks like a saint.

JBTrain wrote:

frank lee bent wrote:what 500 years of incursion and hegemony by the viets is not history?

that is rather staggering.

even in light of the colonial power that enabled it.

More like 300+ but I've learned from previous go-rounds with FC and KI Media types that facts of history pale in significance to popular mythology.The Vietnamese pussy reference is one and I'm sure Master's Tea would soon come up while actual historical events like the Treaty of Saigon,or Sihanouk's acceptance of maps ceding Koh Tral are unheard of by even most educated Khmers who are sure Kampuchea Krom was lost in 1949 or the Koh Tral is Khmer..

I never checked KL media until 4 or so years ago and spent less than 5 mins on there each time. Their views and understandings are kind of one sided. It does not make you guys any better! Thats fact! The latte sippers still opted for the status quo!

Why? Because it is a win win for both!

flying chicken wrote:

JBTrain wrote:

frank lee bent wrote:what 500 years of incursion and hegemony by the viets is not history?

that is rather staggering.

even in light of the colonial power that enabled it.

More like 300+ but I've learned from previous go-rounds with FC and KI Media types that facts of history pale in significance to popular mythology.The Vietnamese pussy reference is one and I'm sure Master's Tea would soon come up while actual historical events like the Treaty of Saigon,or Sihanouk's acceptance of maps ceding Koh Tral are unheard of by even most educated Khmers who are sure Kampuchea Krom was lost in 1949 or the Koh Tral is Khmer..

I never checked KL media until 4 or so years ago and spent less than 5 mins on there each time. Their views and understandings are kind of one sided. It does not make you guys any better! Thats fact! The latte sippers still opted for the status quo!

The mythology over history outlook is at the core of Khmer identity, it's not limited to people who read KI Media. I'm not saying I'm "better" than anyone but I don't value ignorance and seek out evidence in shaping my opinions. Yeah I read, how terrible.

sorry, you have lost me with KL media. It is not part of my reading of history.

So what are you saying JBtrain? Not everybody especially the younger generation are going to feed the actual truth. Fuck, I dont know even know what you have read nor I have the dedicated time to it, let alone the younger generations. I asked you a simple question, did not get no answer, but it is not the matter of the problem though. What matters for me, and millions of others are what going to happen after the natural resources are depleted? The sole survival for ordinary Khmers...i.e. fish, tree where Cambodia's economy most relied on for livelihoods.

Let me tell you, the Khmer elites are much more prepared than 1997 than NGOers when the inevitable going happen.

frank lee bent wrote:sorry, you have lost me with KL media. It is not part of my reading of history.

I didn't say it was. It simply reflects a very common Khmer viewpoint.

FC what was your simple question?

I'm as concerned as you about resource depletion but the problem can't be laid at the feet of Beijing or Hanoi but at the Cambodian ruling class and at a culture and system that subordinates the national interest to personal and family interests.

flying chicken wrote:I will put it in simple explanations. Smart western countries are reserving their natural resource, The Chinese on the other hand do the work and depleting them, their Vietnamese partner in crime had their share...Cambodia who is under the Communist influences and power almost and on their way completely depleting the natural resources where million relied on for livelihoods. Shits like this makes Wall Street looks like a saint.

The buyers are buying what is for sale, without one bit of concern for any negative effects of their business dealings on the local people and environment. The sellers of those resources are trying to maximize profits from the proceeds of the transactions, also without one bit of concern for any negative effects of their business dealings on the local people and environment. Which is worse? Who is most to blame?

Although both sides are guilty to an extent, it is the seller, as custodian of the nation's public resources, who should bear the brunt of the responsibility of protecting their people and environment and to use the financial proceeds to help offset the negative effects of development with infrastructure and public services which would improve the lives of the local population in the longer term as opposed to being pocketed by the elite with a rent-a-governor on their payroll. Those are not the buyer's responsibilities.

When you go to the market to buy a tomato, is it your fault as the consumer if said tomato was grown on stolen land and harvested with slave labor? FC - look around you for realities of the situation before looking elsewhere for the sorry state of Cambodia's natural resources problems. The boogey man you seek to blame is not that far away.

My crux of the problem is Cambodia's natural resources are 90% depleted. It affects me and the livelihoods of millions. Yes, other countries are facing similar problems too, but it doesnt mean we should turn blind eyes to it. For instance, it is the start of winter time in Cambodia right now but it is hot as fuck. Why? Because there are no trees.

After 30 years of oppression, many learned that blaming is not the solution nor going to bring what is lost back. The people are trying to get rid of the current ruling government many time. They are very addicted to power and they are building more fortresses as we speak. The NGOs are just lapdogs.

My problem with JBtrain is he seems to think what the Vietnamese are doing in Cambodia is ok.

flying chicken wrote:My crux of the problem is Cambodia's natural resources are 90% depleted. It affects me and the livelihoods of millions. Yes, other countries are facing similar problems too, but it doesnt mean we should turn blind eyes to it. For instance, it is the start of winter time in Cambodia right now but it is hot as fuck. Why? Because there are no trees.

After 30 years of oppression, many learned that blaming is not the solution nor going to bring what is lost back. The people are trying to get rid of the current ruling government many time. They are very addicted to power and they are building more fortresses as we speak. The NGOs are just lapdogs.

My problem with JBtrain is he seems to think what the Vietnamese are doing in Cambodia is ok.

And my problem with you is lumping together "the Vietnamese" without distinguishing between a Vietnamese rubber concession , a fisherman whose family has been here since 1880, the owner of a stall at Kandal market, or a local Catholic priest. Do I ever speak positively of the Vietnamese government corporations activity in Cambodia? No, never. Do I have empathy for ethnic Viets who have lived their entire lives in Cambodia, often 3-5 more generations but are treated by law and practice as foreigners and historic enemy ,fuck yeah.