Cambodian forgetfulness /problems with short-term memory

Johno35 · Post by **Johno35** » Fri Apr 12, 2019 1:08 pm

I also made the assumption that employee laziness may just be due to low salaries, lack of nutrition, no Aircon at home, etc.

I worked for a business that setup operations in Cambodia around 2006 and they employ around 20-30 Khmer. Most of the Khmer staff made less than $200 month before starting at that business and their salary jumped to $1,500 per month. You’d think they would be greatfull. Not at all. Most went through the initial 6 month honeymoon phase where they were over the moon with their newfound fortune. Somewhere around the 6 month to 1 year period they all, without exception, began to complain about their low salary. They just could NOT get by on their $1,500 month salary. All complained about having to work. Staff began calculating the companies profit and demanding higher wages. Of course they never calculated ANY overhead like rent, management salary, etc. constant moans about how they “have no salt to lick.”

Despite a handful of excellent staff, most were the laziest staff the company had ever employed. They simply refused to do any work much of the time.

I trained one new employee. He was given 3-4 very simple tasks to do daily. Tasks a 10 year old could easily do. He simply refused to do them. When I asked why he didn’t do tasks he replied, “because I don’t want.” He thought because he was already hired he was “in the door.” Because I was just staff and not management he didn’t think he had to do what I asked of him. Needless to say he was absolutely shocked when he was let go during his training period. There seemed to be no correlation that he was being paid to do a job, not just to exist.

He then complained that the company did not respect human rights and told me he could be Prime Minister or a Foreign ambassador if he wanted. I told him he could not be PM because that role is already taken. I did tell him that he probably could be a foreign ambassador if he could get several million $$ to pay for the job. Then he could live in Phnom Penh, get a Range Rover and spent his afternoons going to brothels and having 3 hr naps in the hammock before returning to work.

It doesn’t really matter how much you pay Khmer staff. A high salary may assist in attracting better candidates, but the will to work will be dependent on each individual and their work ethic, not their salary.

That said, I have met a few rare Khmer employees who absolutely worked their asses off and could do more work than 4 average employees.

A lot of Khmer (and westerners too) just love excuses and need you to throw a pity party for them.

Kayve · Post by **Kayve** » Fri Apr 12, 2019 3:55 pm

From 200$ to 1500$ inflation went riel on this one

Post by **Freightdog** » Fri Apr 12, 2019 6:35 pm

Johno35 wrote: ↑Fri Apr 12, 2019 1:08 pm (Edited for brevity)
Not at all. Most went through the initial 6 month honeymoon phase where they were over the moon with their newfound fortune. Somewhere around the 6 month to 1 year period they all, without exception, began to complain about their low salary....

Of course they never calculated ANY overhead like rent, management salary, etc. constant moans....

Despite a handful of excellent staff, most were the laziest staff the company had ever employed. They simply refused to do any work much of the time.

I trained one new employee. He was given 3-4 very simple tasks to do daily. Tasks a 10 year old could easily do. He simply refused to do them. When I asked why he didn’t do tasks he replied, “because I don’t want.” He thought because he was already hired he was “in the door.” Because I was just staff and not management he didn’t think he had to do what I asked of him. Needless to say he was absolutely shocked when he was let go during his training period. There seemed to be no correlation that he was being paid to do a job, not just to exist.

...the will to work will be dependent on each individual and their work ethic...

This all sounds very familiar.

A young lad, indolent and dopey as it turned out, was hired to be part of a small department. The job was not entirely menial, as such. It required some dexterity, and to follow a fairly simple process. It was quite straight forward, and relatively simple.
Well, young lad was eager to be employed, but that was the end of his efforts. At work, he was sullen, moody, and complaining about the low money. He pushed hard to get on the night shift which paid a little better. He was tolerated, and given the chance. His work ethic kicked in and his output went even lower.
In the small department of about 20people, 10 on nights, 10 on days, the work done by about ⅓ of the staff was about equal to that done by the other ⅔.
Young lad, being the stroppy sod that he was, decided that he could engineer a better process and spent most of a week doing so, on nights. His ‘process’ resulted in something close to 75%scrappage, but fortunately, he hadn’t done much actual work, so the total destruction for his weeks work was pretty low.
Taken to task over this, he moodily agreed to tow the line.
His next weeks work throughput was equal to one of the harder working staff. However, He had deliberately made an effort to damage the items he was working on, resulting in a huge amount of scrap.

After 6 weeks in the company, he had become a rabble rouser, lazy and deliberately sabotaging the efforts. UK minimum wage meant that he was able to earn vastly more at 18yrs old than he would on the dole, and when it came to his dismissal meeting, he begged, and cried, and bleated, and pointed fingers at us actual engineers as being the cause of his problems.
Sadly, the need to increase output, along with a lack of motivated people (the best staff were the part timers; mothers working a short shift while the kids were at school) resulted in accountants doing simple arithmetic and coming up with some vastly inferior result.

Deliberately lazy, indolent, ignorant people tend to infiltrate everywhere. They’ll just about do enough to get in, without actually intending to do a good job. As evidenced by the thread about a western teacher not wanting to teach, just wanting the money.

Give a hardworking genuinely motivated person some mediocre equipment, and they’ll do their damndest to get the job done. Give a lazy person a chance and all the support possible, and it’ll simply cost more.

My engineering days are over long ago, but I still encounter (thankfully to a much lesser extent, now) similar folk in aviation.

Phnom Poon · Post by **Phnom Poon** » Fri Apr 12, 2019 8:00 pm

Johno35 wrote: ↑Fri Apr 12, 2019 1:08 pm Staff began calculating the companies profit and demanding higher wages.

That will happen if you're secretive about the accounts

These stories all sound like resentment to me
Of course to an employer, the perfect employee will do their best despite unfairness and won't ask 'those' questions
The answer isn't just a higher salary
It's engagement and belonging, backed up by a meaningful stake

JerryCan · Post by **JerryCan** » Sat Apr 13, 2019 7:33 am

One of the most difficult realisations I've come to living here, is that the poor are poor almost always because they are unemployable.

I also would not exclude myself from this category when I was a lad. Needed a serious kick in the arse to rid me of my attitude.

Tarndog · Post by **Tarndog** » Sat Apr 13, 2019 7:44 am

Johno35 wrote: ↑Fri Apr 12, 2019 1:08 pm I also made the assumption that employee laziness may just be due to low salaries, lack of nutrition, no Aircon at home, etc.

I worked for a business that setup operations in Cambodia around 2006 and they employ around 20-30 Khmer. Most of the Khmer staff made less than $200 month before starting at that business and their salary jumped to $1,500 per month. You’d think they would be greatfull. Not at all. Most went through the initial 6 month honeymoon phase where they were over the moon with their newfound fortune. Somewhere around the 6 month to 1 year period they all, without exception, began to complain about their low salary. They just could NOT get by on their $1,500 month salary. All complained about having to work. Staff began calculating the companies profit and demanding higher wages. Of course they never calculated ANY overhead like rent, management salary, etc. constant moans about how they “have no salt to lick.”

Despite a handful of excellent staff, most were the laziest staff the company had ever employed. They simply refused to do any work much of the time.

I trained one new employee. He was given 3-4 very simple tasks to do daily. Tasks a 10 year old could easily do. He simply refused to do them. When I asked why he didn’t do tasks he replied, “because I don’t want.” He thought because he was already hired he was “in the door.” Because I was just staff and not management he didn’t think he had to do what I asked of him. Needless to say he was absolutely shocked when he was let go during his training period. There seemed to be no correlation that he was being paid to do a job, not just to exist.

He then complained that the company did not respect human rights and told me he could be Prime Minister or a Foreign ambassador if he wanted. I told him he could not be PM because that role is already taken. I did tell him that he probably could be a foreign ambassador if he could get several million $$ to pay for the job. Then he could live in Phnom Penh, get a Range Rover and spent his afternoons going to brothels and having 3 hr naps in the hammock before returning to work.

It doesn’t really matter how much you pay Khmer staff. A high salary may assist in attracting better candidates, but the will to work will be dependent on each individual and their work ethic, not their salary.

That said, I have met a few rare Khmer employees who absolutely worked their asses off and could do more work than 4 average employees.

A lot of Khmer (and westerners too) just love excuses and need you to throw a pity party for them.

Uh oh, you must not have received the memo. You're supposed to say that Khmer are hard working, intelligent and honest people; otherwise, you'll get criticized for hating Khmer. Whatever you do or observe, don't say they are lazy!!

Joker Poker · Post by **Joker Poker** » Sun Jan 05, 2020 7:39 pm

Rather than start a new thread I thought that I would just bump this one (thread mentions iodine).

Does anyone know where to buy iodine supplement, as in caps or oral solution?

I have tried one Khmer pharmacy and UCare, and somewhat stunningly, they didn't seem to know what we wanted.

Thanks.

pczz · Post by **pczz** » Mon Jan 06, 2020 3:03 am

SternAAlbifrons wrote: ↑Tue Apr 09, 2019 6:17 am "is there a doctor in the house who can shed some light on this perhaps?"

I am not a doctor but I know the answer.
However no way I am going to talk about it here - 'cos I just know it will give some people another reason to be bar-room experts and start spouting crap like - "All Cambodians are stupid because they have a ****-deficient diet."

(Not that my opinion is worth anything - but I reckon there is a far higher average of mentally mucked-up people on this forum than in the general Cambodian population)

Another answer to V's question could be; Maybe they just don't give two hoots about the same things that are important to V.

I think there is some mileage in both diet and the DNA of those who were strong enough to survive pol pot. But my fav theory is that Cambodians behave very much like children a lot of the time. i think they just get easily distracted and forget. Too buy videoing crash or theft for Fresh news...or admiring some FOOd on a acart

BR549 · Post by **BR549** » Mon Jan 06, 2020 4:12 am

This thread is describing the entire planet.
I don't grasp how the word racist applies when you are talking about people as a whole of a country.
You are assuming they are all 100% of a particular race.
Stop making excuses

The French have a term..
Mise en Place...it is a very good term to apply to life at work and at home.
Unfortunately, you must be willing to abide by it and be willing to continue to teach it.
Bonne chance.

Marty · Post by **Marty** » Mon Jan 06, 2020 7:12 am

[Admin Edit: We don't need that on here. Thanks.]

Cambodian forgetfulness /problems with short-term memory

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