Cambodia's coronavirus curbs leave karaoke workers in limbo
27 Mar 2020 - 17:27
Matt Blomberg I Thomson Reuters Foundation

PHNOM PENH: Thousands of Cambodian women are heading home to the countryside after karaoke clubs and beer gardens were banned to curb the spread of coronavirus with the loss of about 80,000 jobs, labour rights groups have said.

Most were employed informally and have little prospect of finding work in their villages, said Ou Tepphallin, head of the Cambodian Food and Service Workers' Federation union.

"Most have no idea what they will do next. Some are already taking new loans to cover their daily living costs," she said.

"There is nothing in these villages - that's why they left in the first place."

Across Cambodia, schools, businesses and government offices have closed over the past week, but campaigners fear workers from the informal sector will be hit hardest by a shrinking job market.

About one in seven Cambodians have microfinance loans, according to a report from human rights groups Licadho and Sahmakum Teang Tnaut.

The Thomson Reuters Foundation has spoken to about 20 entertainment workers since the shutdown was announced last week, and almost all said debt collectors were their biggest worry.

"They are concerned that the bank or microfinance firm will take their land," Tepphallin said.

Her union has called for a freeze on repayments until the situation stabilises. But government spokesman Ek Tha said there was currently no plan in place to offer assistance.

"We cannot solve all the related social issues overnight... we need to address what is the most crucial issue first," he said.

Cambodia's karaoke clubs have a reputation for being seedy, with clients paying for food, drink, songs and women to accompany them in private rooms.

For people who come from the countryside to make money in Phnom Penh, they offer a less gruelling alternative to factory work - but earning a decent salary can have its own risks.

"The nature of the sector is that workers get most of their income from tips and extra services with clients," said Khun Tharo, a program coordinator at the Center for Alliance of Labor and Human Rights.

In the absence of a government bailout, it is likely that some of the unemployed entertainment workers could turn to sex work, where they have no legal protection, he said.

"I can not see any alternatives for them. Hotels, restaurants, cafes - they're all shut down, so where can they go?"

While most of the newly unemployed entertainment workers have headed home, some have crammed into shared rooms in Phnom Penh in the hope of finding work.

"I need to find money before Khmer New Year," said Srey Sokhoeun, who moved into a single room with four colleagues after the karaoke club she worked and lived in shut down.

Like many of her peers, she is expected to return home flush with cash for the traditional three-day holiday in mid-April.

"If I don't have money as expected, I don't think I can go home," she said. "I don't know what I will do."
https://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/artic ... s-in-limbo

I'm just gonna throw a little humor wrapped up as misogyny here:

CEOCambodiaNews wrote: ↑Sat Mar 28, 2020 3:16 pm "I need to find money before Khmer New Year," said Srey Sokhoeun.

Like many of her peers, she is expected to return home flush with cash for the traditional three-day holiday in mid-April.

"If I don't have money as expected, I don't think I can go home," she said.

'If I don't have money.........I don't think I can go home.'

That statement is quite illustrative of the sickness eating away at this Country's soul.

Children raised as chattel and moms expecting a 'return' on the investment they made when they opened their legs and shit out a kid.....in some cases almost as soon as the child is old enough to put a tray of sweets on their head and wander the markets.

Children.....mostly daughters.....viewed as a commodity. Fucking vile.

'Don't you dare return home unless you have sufficient dosh to splash around to momma and the multitude of other shiftless fat arsed uncles and aunts.'

Of course this attitude is not all encompassing but it's prevalent enough in Cambodia's pristine 'Khmer Culture' to be extremely disturbing.

Brody wrote: ↑Sat Mar 28, 2020 5:25 pm

CEOCambodiaNews wrote: ↑Sat Mar 28, 2020 3:16 pm "I need to find money before Khmer New Year," said Srey Sokhoeun.

Like many of her peers, she is expected to return home flush with cash for the traditional three-day holiday in mid-April.

"If I don't have money as expected, I don't think I can go home," she said.

'If I don't have money.........I don't think I can go home.'

That statement is quite illustrative of the sickness eating away at this Country's soul.

Children raised as chattel and moms expecting a 'return' on the investment they made when they opened their legs and shit out a kid.....in some cases almost as soon as the child is old enough to put a tray of sweets on their head and wander the markets.

Children.....mostly daughters.....viewed as a commodity. Fucking vile.

'Don't you dare return home unless you have sufficient dosh to splash around to momma and the multitude of other shiftless fat arsed uncles and aunts.'

Of course this attitude is not all encompassing but it's prevalent enough in Cambodia's pristine 'Khmer Culture' to be extremely disturbing.

Agree completely, and the barang who claim that banging a bar girl in their 30's is like throwing a hotdog in a hallway have no responsibility for this. Those Cyrcee girls are getting old..... Talk about extremely disturbing.

Jerry Atrick wrote: ↑Sat Mar 28, 2020 4:39 pm I'm just gonna throw a little humor wrapped up as misogyny here:

truth in jest
i'll see your meme and raise you a reality tv series

Brody wrote: ↑Sat Mar 28, 2020 5:25 pm Children raised as chattel and moms expecting a 'return' on the investment

disgusting i agree
but was common everywhere until a hundred years ago or so

The guy in the link looks like the Secretary General of WHO.

3 June 2020, Phnom Penh: KTV businesses, karaoke clubs, disco bars, bars and beer bars are still banned for business because of fears of coronavirus spread among the population.

June 19, 2020
Entertainment sector workers denied $40 monthly aid
Labour Minister Ith Samheng has rejected a request by out-of-work employees in the entertainment sector to also be given the $40 aid, doled out to suspended garment and tourism workers.

On June 9, a group of entertainment sector workers petitioned to the Ministry of Labour to extend the $40 per month government allowance to them.

In their petition, they also asked the government to intervene and order landlords to reduce rentals by 50 percent while they are suspended from work.

On Wednesday, Mr Samheng sent a letter to the Cambodia Food and Service Workers Federation stating the ministry could not accept the request.

However, he said the government is preparing a special aid package for poor families whose livelihoods are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic to which the entertainment sector workers would be eligible.

In the letter, Mr Samheng said the government had already suggested to landlords to delay collecting rentals from tenants whose livelihoods have been disrupted by the pandemic.

He also advised suspended workers who wish to find new jobs to contact the ministry for help.

Ou Tep Phallin, president of the Cambodian Food and Service Workers Federation, said yesterday the workers have expressed disappointment over the response.
https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50735871/e ... nthly-aid/

June 25, 2020
Dozens of entertainment workers ask for relief
About 50 entertainment workers today submitted a petition to the Labour Ministry for a second time, asking it to dole out $40 out-of-work allowances a month since they have been adversely affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

Pov Chamrong, one of the entertainment workers, said that they came to the ministry again after it turned down their request.

“The Ministry used to reject our request, but we are still trying to ask it again because our livelihoods have faced difficulties amid the Covid-19,” she said.

Entertainment establishments, along with schools, are still closed as a precautionary measure against the spread of the virus in the Kingdom.

On June 10, a petition by the group was denied by the ministry, who instead encouraged them to find new jobs.
https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50738100/d ... or-relief/