Why are Chinese workers so unpopular in Southeast Asia?

For decades Chinese migrants have sought refuge from upheavals at home by building new lives and businesses across Southeast Asia
But as a new breed of overseas worker from an ascendant China ruffles feathers, a fresh backlash threatens to derail their immigrant dreams
1 Jiune 2019
When Michael Xu arrived in Manila 22 years ago to pursue his “Philippine dream”, he was just another Chinese teenager fresh out of high school with little idea of what lay ahead. Making his way from the airport to his flat for the first time, Xu was surprised to see slum after slum. The youngster was left with the impression that the Philippines was even more backward and poverty stricken than the China he recalled from the 1980s.

Xu, then 17 years old, had made the journey from his native Fujian province to help his family set up a small business. The coming years would give him a front-row seat on the local Chinese immigrant experience, as workers and entrepreneurs from the Middle Kingdom streamed into the Philippines in search of opportunity. Some opened shops and restaurants. Others became the labour that powered those businesses.
But he and other Chinese who have spent many years in Manila say the influx has become particularly acute in recent years. More Filipinos have been openly complaining about the upwards pressure on property prices and inflation. The surge has been made worse by scores of foreign workers recruited by online casinos based in the Philippines to cater to their biggest customer group – the Chinese.
“Some of the local population, often also including the Southeast Asian Chinese, feel rather resentful towards new migrants. Apparently, this is not only due to the economic competition but also the different culture they bring,” Suryadinata says.
Full article: https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics ... heast-asia

It is hard to understand how the have nots in sihanoukville have not risen up when their basic means of survival have been taken from them by these people.

The Exodus of small business has certainly not been confined to barang.

Even the market has seen a complete replacement by PRC citizens.

frank lee bent wrote: ↑Mon Jun 03, 2019 1:17 am It is hard to understand how the have nots in sihanoukville have not risen up when their basic means of survival have been taken from them by these people.

The Exodus of small business has certainly not been confined to barang.

Even the market has seen a complete replacement by PRC citizens.

The Chinese neighbors are not obnoxious and most of them try to be pleasant. But these are working people, not the bigwigs. I was witness to a hilarious Khmer lesson in my local shop when Mama was teaching some young Chinese guys on how to say hello and thank you in Khmer. It was funny, but they were trying to communicate. Lol, it's a big problem, but just like any people, these Chinese people are not all bad.

I think Cambodians should be asking for more accountability from the Sihanoukvillle authorities. They only wake up when someone posts something on facebook. For the moment, the rich are making a killing, whether Khmer or Chinese, and the others are just trying to get by, like the rest of us. Everybody is suffering from the shitty over-crowded roads and trucks, electricity cuts, piles of rubbish, polluted air etc. Whether we like it or not, we are all in this together.

I don't like what is being done to Sihanoukville, but I don't blame the Chinese workers.
However, I understand the resentment toward the Chinese here. Too much too fast too soon. And of course, nothing has been planned, so it's a total shit-fest, but whose fault is that ?

The usual suspects.

frank lee bent wrote: ↑Mon Jun 03, 2019 2:11 am The usual suspects.

You mean THEM ? Or should I say TUS ?

Anchor Moy wrote: ↑Mon Jun 03, 2019 2:17 am

frank lee bent wrote: ↑Mon Jun 03, 2019 2:11 am The usual suspects.

You mean THEM ? Or should I say TUS ?

Chuckles and his win win cronies with hands outstretched.??

It's not all bad. A few Khmers bitch, but the haves nots are pretty happy to smile and sell their slum dwellings for a pretty penny when the Chinese (or anyone else) come knocking. The price of land here is pretty insane all things considered (bad roads, no/lackluster drainage or sewage, no city water, now power lacking etc). Once you factor all these issues in, the local prices aren't very good value if you ask me. A wooden shed out of town with horrible local infrastructure can literally sell for half a million. If you ask me, they're lucky, but it doesn't bode for very stable economy or affordable housing in the long-term. Some of these people are technically richer (asset-wise) than the average European. Doesn't really make sense, buy TIA?

And the people in otres and prey nob who have been evicted without compensation when their land was sold to investors without consent?
In a country with majority soft title, this is a regular occurrence.

We must move in very different circles as the Khmer I know are actual have nots whose grasp on property lies with the sangkat rather than the national titles office.
Many have poverty cards if you know what that means.

Years ago there used to be a village near Otres. They asked the people to leave but they didnt want to. They went in and burned the village down. One lady resisted. They hit her arm with a gun and broke her arm. She was too poor for medical treatment, and lived with a permanent disability. Then the land sat vacant for many years.