Passion is the mob of the man that commits a riot upon his reason.
~ William Penn ~
The Common Tiger restaurant in new Phnom Penh dining precinct, Street 294 is anything but common, love stories rarely are.
Last year, Villa Maria Estate celebrated its 50th vintage; its first vintage, back in 1962 was off a single acre of grapes, vinified in a small shed in suburban Auckland.
Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, I walked into theirs, and found the watering hole of my dreams. Tucked away at the end of an alleyway off of Phnom Penh’s trendy Street 240, Bar.sito is the “little bar” that could. And still does. Spectacularly.
This past month has seen a great deal of volatility on the world’s equity markets. First the Japanese stock market rose and fell and then the global equities took a hit on the announcement from US Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben Bernanke
Contrary to what is implied by general concepts like “Overseas Chinese” or "Chinese immigration" the Chinese Cambodian community can’t be simply analysed according to a general model of Chinese expatriation or in analogy with the other Chinese communities in neighbouring countries. In fact, the distinctive features of a Chinese Khmer community have to be searched for in a three-centuries-old history. Even if it is tempting and maybe useful to refer to such concepts as “Chinese identity in Cambodia” or “Chinese Khmer identity”,
As expats living in Phnom Penh, many of us learn to separate the artificial from the authentic.
For better or worse, there's something about Cambodia that strips away artifice, and exposes raw character.
Let’s face it in many ways Cambodia seems disconnected from other parts of South East Asia. While the world marvels at the economic powerhouses of Singapore and Hong Kong and lauds the development leaps of Thailand and Malaysia, it often seems that Cambodia is being left behind.
In 2012/2013 applications to the UK’s Universities and College Admissions Service (UCAS) dropped 6.3% year on year and it is expected that this trend will continue for 2013/2014 admissions. In actual terms, this means that there were 40,000 less applicants for university places in the UK which represents a significant fall.
Current bank interests are so risible that even money held in interest paying deposit accounts is losing value. The rate paid is not keeping pace with inflation so in real terms, people saving in these accounts are actually losing money.
Every year, the students at Phnom Penh’s Northbridge International School complete a 24-hour challenge to raise money for charity. Over the past few years, the students’ excellent efforts have led to thousands of dollars being raised for charities in Cambodia and Africa. At the same time, the event encourages the children to think about others less fortunate than themselves as well as engaging them to work together in a fun and healthy collaborative challenge.