Ignorance is no excuse

A seven year old child is a victim of ignorance as described in this DPA article. She was expelled because she is HIV positive and thus a danger to the other children.

Phnom Penh - The foster parents of a seven-year-old Cambodian girl are considering legal action after a foreign-managed private school expelled the child for being HIV positive.

The Cambodian-owned, British-managed Footprints School in the capital, which bills itself as to international-standard and offering 'well trained, caring, professional staff,' expelled the girl within hours of becoming aware of her HIV status, the parents said.

The ignorance is appalling especially for an educational institution. How is it, in a country with so many HIV/AIDS programme, is Footprints ignorant of HIV modes of transmission?

The four major routes of transmission are unprotected sexual intercourse, contaminated needles, breast milk, and transmission from an infected mother to her baby at birth.

Which of these is the root of Footprints' fear? Which is relevent to a seven year old child?

Obviously if it's educational standards are so low, the board of directors should consider closing the school as quickly as possible. Do they still teach that the Earth is flat there too? Maybe the students learn that sun revolves around the Earth? Besides ignorance is no excuse under the law and impossible to believe.

Millions of dollars have been invested in HIV/AIDS education and the efforts are paying off as the infection rate is significantly reduced as a result. Anti-retroviral drugs are available and people are living with HIV/AIDS, not dying of because of inadequate care.

Cambodia has anti-discrimination laws and all children are entitled to an education. Footprints is breaking the law. Wonder if this will have legal repercussions?

A woman who identified herself as the director of studies at Footprints said by telephone that the school did not have an HIV/AIDS policy in place and despite the girl's unblemished three months at the school prior to the discovery, she had to leave.

'We are worried about the rest of the children,' she said, acknowledging that the child's HIV status was behind the decision.

'We are a private school, and although we would try to keep information like this confidential, there is no guarantee it would not become public,' she said.

That could result in the school losing business as panicked parents withdrew their children, she said.

Ah so the motivation is not education but losing business. Yes well yet another reason to close the school down. Children should not be learning discrimination in school. Children should not be learning myths as fact in school. Children should have HIV/AIDS age-appropriate education and not be taught to demonise their peers. The child is not a risk to other students. To expel her on those grounds would be laughable if it was in violation of her human rights.

Shame on you, Footprints School.

Mob rule

From KI Media

Cambodian police arrived in the nick of time to save a British man from a lynch mob after he allegedly savagely beat his girlfriend on the street, an officer said Monday.

David Finch, 42, of Birmingham, had allegedly been punching and kicking his 20-year-old Cambodian girlfriend on the footpath when his neighbours decided they could take no more, said Chhit Vuthy, deputy police chief of Psar Kandal 1 in the capital, the dpa reported.

"They formed a mob and managed to hit him hard in the head but we arrived just in time and then they had to let him go," Vuthy said. "He has no respect for Cambodians, and they were angry."

Mob and extrajudicial killings of suspected criminals remain relatively common in Cambodia.

It is certainly true that vigilante justice is meted out indiscriminately in Cambodia. One must always be careful.

A friend had a few dollars stolen out of her bag in the Russian market. If she had called out "thief (joao)" then that person would probably either have been killed by a mob or would have spent years in prison. A harsh price for stealing a few dollars.

As for David Finch, who "he allegedly savagely beat his girlfriend on the street", there is a certain frontier justice to the beating he received.

Customer disservice

Cross posted at Expat Advisory

Cambodia has its charms - rice paddies, Kampot, friendly people, Angkor Wat, Ratankiri, great fish and cheap DVDs - customer service is not one of them.

Now I do understand that the customer cannot always be right, but maybe, from time to time, consider the notion that the customer is sometimes right. Too often I hear, "no have" or "cannot". Really? Forgive my scepticism. A lamp shop doesn't have any lamps? A supermarket doesn't have any bread? An internet service provider cannot provide internet service? Eventually I find whatever it is I'm looking for, while the salesperson is giggling with the cashier. I bitch under my breath about service and usually head off for a vodka and soda.

Today I wanted to get internet hooked up at home - can't be surfing dodgy sites at work... I identified the company and the price plan and all that jazz and had several frustrating conversations over a very bad phone line but eventually was told to come down to the office for contracts. After baking in the sun for half an hour and swallowing dust and SUV exhaust, I find the office. The customer service agent looks at me as though I am an alien. I doubt if he could have been more surprised if Chewbacca walked in the door. I state my purpose and I explain what I want.

We are getting on swimmingly until I mention that I don't need a modem. I have a modem. M used this company, left the country and left it to me (as part of the settlement that comes with desertion). Modems, as any techno geek knows, are not computer or contract specific. It's pretty much plug and play. The internet company wants me to buy another because the one I have is associated with M's contract. Despite the termination of said contract.

Incredulously, I request a repeat, "wha'?". And then he utters the words that chill my bones, "it's company policy". I bite my lip. I try not to show my extreme annoyance. This is Cambodia. I respect the culture, which means no raised voices or negative emotions are to slip out.

Me: Company policy? That is ridiculous
Him: You have to buy or rent a modem
Me: I have a modem. From your company. I am not buying another one
Him: You have to buy or rent a modem
Me: Then I must go to another internet company
Him: You have to buy or rent a modem
Me: No
Him: I speak to my manager. I call you later
Me: You do that

I can't believe that a company would sacrifice a 12 month contract which would bring in over $1000 for a $50 modem. Net loss is $950. $950 sacrificed on the altar of company policy. "Company policy" is a terrible phrase. It has the same cadence as "bubonic plague" or "we need to talk".

What this company hasn't considered is word of mouth. I'm already bitching about them on the internet, even if I haven't posted the company name. Expats seek recommendations, even if they have been here for donkey’s years. A bad review of a restaurant or pub ensures bad business. Customers have options. Your business does not operate in a vacuum. There is choice and screw you if you don't provide the service. Being polite to customers is basic. Choose customers over company policy, especially when the company policy makes no frakking sense.

Now I am not unsympathetic to the plight of the customer service agent. I myself was engaged in the business of placating angry customers threatening to sue the multi-billion dollar American multinational internet security company that I worked for. We didn't exactly take them seriously. Who could? Your anti-virus expires and you are going to sue? Please try.

On the other hand, you do go above and beyond for the non aggressive customer. Sometimes you can't help and it does suck but when you can there is a sense of accomplishment if the customer is not a total asshole.

In the internet provider office I was being polite, suppressing my annoyance and only got a half arsed, "I'll call you". Seriously unimpressed at the customer service. Felt like taking my business elsewhere. Voting with one's feet, as they say.

Now the customer service at my DVD haunt is impeccable. It inspires loyalty. I will only go to First CD because I get great service. And obviously, Freebird has the best service of pretty much any bar I've ever been to. But otherwise, customer service is pretty lousy. Perhaps some business might attend to this training niche.

It is four hours later and I am still waiting for that agent to call me and tell me whether the company is prepared to miss out on $950 for the sake of $50.

April in Cambodia

It’s hot and humid. It’s almost unbearably hot and humid. You sweat walking from the couch to the bathroom or into work. Short walks have you crying a river of sweat. You patronise aircon-only establishments. You flop around like a fish out of water. You want to go dancing on Friday nights but you have to pick the outfit that shows the least moisture. The sweat test is handy. Lick your finger and apply to outfit. See how dark it goes. This is April in Cambodia. Or at least, this is normally April in Cambodia.

This year, there is a difference. This year the rains seem to be here in the dry season. Is global warming and by extension, humanity to blame? Perhaps it is the typhoon in China? Perhaps it’s a higher power wants us to cool down. Whatever it is, I’m lovin’ it.

The ominous black clouds gather in the distance and you know what comes next. Rain. Clean (ish) refreshing rain that forces the temperature down. The wind will then howl around every building site, kicking dust into the air, blinding you as you try to make it home before it starts.

You rush to make the hurricane purchases - water, diet Coke, beer or whatever poison you choose. You have just passed over your dollars and the first drops begin to fall. Oh shit, you are too late! You zigzag between pedestrians and motodops trying to get home before the storm unleashed. Everybody on the street is doing likewise. So not only are you blinded by the rain but you also have to be doubly careful because the driving tends to be worse than usual.

The storm is just a meteorological phenomenon but it does command respect for the elements and an sense of unease may penetrate because we all know that global warming is going to change the face of the planet forever a.k.a. we’re all going to die horribly.

You charge through the lake that is forming in front of your gate and rush upstairs out of the storm. As you sit, waiting for the kettle to boil, watching the storm, the power goes out. D’oh.

You are mostly trapped in your house. No one will deliver food in the rain. No electricity to watch Battlestar Galatica or whatever you are into. No light to read. No credit on your mobile. You sit in the dark and watch the rain, flinching at the thunder and lightening. Pretty sound the house starts to heat up. No fans no aircon. Your ice is melting rapidly in the freezer. Just have another warm beer cos there’s nothing you can do.

Of course you may not have been lucky enough to get home. In this case you are in a shop, bar or outhouse. Perhaps you have taken shelter under a tree (don’t. If lightening strikes…). But you are ok.

After about two hours the rain eases off and you make your way home. You wade through the flood, picking up all sorts of worms and parasites. Try not to think about what else is in the water. Thanks to the drainage in Phnom Penh, the water may be well past your knees. Accept and relax. You will never be able to wear those shoes again. Your flipflops have long since floated away...

But then, for about an hour, or two at most, after the rain, the temperature is lower and it feels so pleasant and you love Cambodia in April!

Shooting the rain

Gunfire is seldom the answer, especially while drinking, but when your enemy is the rain...

Phnom Penh - Furious that it began raining when he was trying to drink, a Cambodian man shot at the offending rain cloud but missed, hitting his friend instead, local media reported Tuesday. Dy Sovannara and his drinking partner Hiem Vuthy were enjoying beers Monday evening in Phnom Penh when rain spoiled their evening, the Khmer-language Rasmei Kampuchea newspaper reported.

Sovannara, who claimed he was a soldier, borrowed a pistol from a nearby guard and shot into the air to "scare the rain away," but the gun misfired and the bullet hit Vuthy in the knee.

Luckily, the pair was carousing outside the city's largest hospital, allowing Vuthy to receive immediate treatment, and he was in stable condition, the newspaper reported.

Friends don't let friends shoot at the weather. Kinda impossible to scare rain away anyway.

Earth day 2008

I'm late with Earth day again. Oh well we are all late, may very well be too late. If you want a good scare on OMG WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE then check out this book:


I enjoyed its tale of a dystopian future because I like that sort of fiction but it is sobering to realise that may be our future.

Do the usual things: turn off your aircon/ lights/ computer when you leave the office/home, carpool, recycle and write hundred of emails to big businesses, the UN, national governments. Realise that unless something changes, we are fucked.

Imagine: the polar ice melts, millions of environmental refugees, crop failures, food shortages, right-wing governments with protectionist policies, armies protecting borders, wars over natural resources, rioting, panicking, death. Yeah how many of those are already in motion? Turn off the lights...

Disgusting

Violence against women is common in Cambodia. Here is another account of domestic abuse:

Phnom Penh - A German man was facing 10 to 20 years in a Cambodian jail after police allegedly rescued his wife in what they claimed Wednesday was one of the worst cases of domestic violence they had seen. Alvin Gossnol, 37, was arrested after police received complaints from his 38-year-old wife's family that she was being held against her will in their home and had been badly beaten.

Cheung Prey district police chief in theon eastern province of Kampg Cham, Heing Vuthy, said the woman had managed to escape a room she had been locked in for two weeks but had been unable to scale the locked gate because her hands were broken.

"She managed to attract the attention of a boy who was passing and he ran to tell her relatives, who called the police," Vuthy said by telephone.

"After we pulled her over the wall, she told us when they married in 2001, her husband had made a special stick to beat her with. If she got the stick for him herself, he didn't beat her as badly, but if he had to get the stick, he beat her very seriously."

...

"When we came back with a warrant, we found the stick, exactly as she had told us and it was still covered in her blood," Vuthy said.

...

Divorce is still frowned upon in Cambodia, and the women also frequently feel a financial obligation to their families to stay with their foreign husbands no matter how bad it gets.

Many women in Phnom Penh marry foreigners for a number of reasons - lifestyle, poverty, family obligations or perhaps they are not virgins. The reality is that abusers can be of any nationality or ethnicity.

It is possible that the prosecution of this abuser is a sign that violence towards women is becoming taboo. However, the more likely explanation is that in this particular case, the violence was extreme.

Freedom for women is, and will remain, limited until the taboo of divorce is lifted.

Yay democracy!

Not sure that the point of demonstrating is fully understood in Cambodia or at least by certain politicians. The governor of Phnom Penh tells voters not to worry their pretty little heads about politics. Citizen should leave the business of politics to politicians. Quite the servant of the people eh?

Kep Chuktema indicated: “I ask all of you to think and not to believe propagandas made by the politicians. Leave politics to politicians, you should work in the field and produce the crops, raise pigs, chicken, ducks, cows, buffalos, fishes, plant vegetables to sell in the Phnom Penh market so that you can improve you family living condition.”

He explained that demonstrations cannot resolve anything, and they can only create unrest and havoc in Phnom Penh, and if the demonstrators destroy shops, jewelry [sic] stores, markets, and they start looting, then who would be responsible?

Why your protests might impede the economic progress of the country! And demonstrations don't resolve anything! Yeah but in a democracy are civil liberties not supposed to be respected? Luckily he clears up that doubt with a ringing endorsement of the most perfect leader ever!

Kep Chuktema indicated that the government of Cambodia led by Hun Sen bring safety over 100% of the country, and it pushed up the price of lands, improved the livelihood of the population, and they have no fear, why then some would want a demonstration that creates unrest in the country and the city, and it will also lower the price of land as well? What is the goal (of those who want to hold the demonstration)?

Casting aspersions on the motivations of your political opponents is a great way of avoiding the real question. Why are demonstration not permitted when they are a normal part of a healthy democracy?

Also, notice the necessity of keeping the price of land high. It will bring in huge profits when the Chinese and Koreans buy up the country for export processing zones and the political elite will make a killing. In the meantime, let's raise the price of land by kicking all the poor off their land. Yay more profits for us. Long live the kleptocracy!

Kep Chuktema claimed: “You can trust us, we are city governor, we are prime minister of the country, we defend and protect the city, and provide good security and safety, people have no fear. We are not dumb to let somebody do anything they please. I, the city governor, hace the duty to protect security for the people, we do whatever for the people until we achieve it.”

Big brother will take care of you. You can trust us. We are not dumb to let you have an opinion. Please surrender your civil liberties at the door, you won't be needing them here.

Oopsies?

In medical professional in the shambles of the Irish health service just removed the wrong kidney from a child. Harney, the Minister for Health, said

that unfortunately clinical errors occur in the best healthcare systems... insists she has total confidence in the hospital carrying out a thorough internal investigation.

Really? It's amazing that she is not requesting an independent enquiry, especially after the cancer misdiagnoses last year and the resulting deaths. The Irish health service is a total joke and Harney has total confidence. I don't.

Bird flu

Anyone else a little concerned? Found this recently on bird flu.

Limited, non-sustained person-to-person transmission of H5N1 virus probably occurred in this family cluster

Even if limited, human-to-human transmission is worrying and yet is only once of the looming disasters. I feel like singing: