Obama's Visit to Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Monday, November 19, 2012

Carol is very considerate of my needs to go for walk every day while I am staying in Phnom Penh. She walks with me nearly daily to the park by the river side at around 6a.m. If for some reason or other, she cannot do it, she would find someone to accompany me.

A Nice Place to Rest & Cool off After Our Morning Walk

This morning, Carol sent Sisto to walk with me. Because of the hectic week I have just had due to the school open house and the numerous message sharing at church, I decided to take a break today. I also gave the teachers a day off to rest. It was quite relaxing this morning as we did not have to hurry back to school. We finished our walk and went to a pretty classy restaurant for a dim sum breakfast by the river. There are a lot of foreign owned business catering to tourists and expensive tastes in Cambodia.

Delicious Dim Sum Dishes in Phnom Penh

 This is one of such restaurant. Unfortunately, the price on the menu is beyond the reach of most Cambodians.

Cambodia is blessed with a lot of natural beautiful scenery and resources. Fresh seafood, fruits and vegetables are abundant, tasty and selling at a fraction of what I am used to pay for at home. I am not normally a shrimp fan, but the shrimp dumplings were so fresh and delicious that I devoured two of them in no time. It was quite a treat for me to simply sit by the river, enjoy the peace and quiet for a change.

Welcome flags & banners are Everywhere

We walked back to the church house, and on the way, we came across people gathering and gawking on the streets and some reporters setting up their cameras along a major artery in downtown Phnom Phenh.

It was around 10a.m. in the morning and they were getting ready for Obama's visit. Obama made history in Cambodia - being the first U.S. president ever visited this country.

 Hotel Cambodia- Where Some World Leaders Stayed was Well Guarded

The preparations for Obama's visit had been going on for weeks. The government asked a number of schools ( a total of 17 schools) located along the route of where Obama would travel to shut down for a week. Few had complained.

Business and shops were asked to do the same thing on the day of the visit. Few seemed to have complained either. Even if they did, not much would be done anyway.

Soldiers with Machine Guns Stationed at Many Places

The security measures were tight as expected and some highways and roads were closed off to the public. Bus loads of soldiers with machine guns were bused into the city of Phnom Penh to increase the patrol of the city.

Sisto, my new local friend was afraid to go near the intersection where the soldiers were stationed. She didn't want to get in trouble. I was not afraid because we were not doing anything wrong, just looking and taking pictures. Why and what would they do to two old ladies? I wonder.

Traffic Jams were Everywhere. The Motorcycles were on the Sidewalk

 Traffic was diverted and it created huge traffic jams everywhere. But the Cambodians were taking this all in strides. Though many streets were crawling and going in snail pace, nobody lost any temper.

There were no screaming, yelling of profanity of any kind nor any signs of road rage. Everyone was patient, sharing the roads with each other. I really respect the Cambodians for that - they are always polite and being respectful of others.

I watched the arrival of Obama on TV with Sisto at Joe's house with his family. CNN was reporting Israel's bombing attack on the Gaza strip in length and we did not see any reporting of Obama there. But when we flipped to any Asian channels, there was almost a minute by minute coverage of this historical visit, especially in Burma and Cambodia. Obama was in Burma for six hours only before he landed in Cambodia, but the coverage was lengthy and detail. The Hong Kong Mandarin Channel did a lengthy and detail analysis of the president's visit and the impact it would have afterwards.

On the Cambodia channel, we saw the preparation for the arrival of the US plane and after a long wait, the appearance of Obama and Hilary waving at the top of the plane. The report went on for sometime, until we saw the two black limousines taking the president and  his entourage away. The TV screen showed the highways leading into Phnom Penh, the capital, totally deserted as the government had closed them off since 1p.m. this afternoon. Obama would not have seen too many people on the streets where he traveled in Cambodia.

Shortly after Obama went into Phnom Penh at around 5:30p.m. every house in our area experienced a power outage and the whole area went totally dark. It lasted unusually long this time - about an hour and half! However, power outage is a regular occurrence in Cambodia. Whenever I turn on the light in my bedroom or the kitchen light in there, I never am sure whether it will come on or not. Local residents tell me that it happens a lot but the power will usually resume in a few minutes. Not this time.

Our entire district just outside of Phnom Penh was without power from around 6:00p.m. - 7:30p.m. I guessed, the lights and air-conditioning at all the 5 star and major hotels were drawing power as the officials were preparing for the state dinner starting at 8p.m. this evening. The hotels where Obama and the other world leaders were staying must be supplied with electricity first before the average Cambodians could have their power supplied to make dinners. After all, this was an important evening for the country. 

From talking to my Cambodian friends, I have learned that they are happy about the U.S. president and Hilary's visit. They know that their country still owes U.S. a huge debt and their prime minister really wants  to have that debt forgiven.

 "There were many business, school and road closures. However, Cambodians would understand the inconveniences...." as reported in one of the local newspapers. Yes, the Cambodians have gone through a lot and they are used to hardship and inconveniences in their lives.

I wonder if my fellow North Americans would understand and put up with these little inconveniences? Toronto, Canada ( my home city ) is still dealing with the aftermath of what happened during the G20 summit riots that took place more than two years ago. Obviously, we have a lot to learn from the Cambodians when come to putting up with life's little inconveniences.

R.T.

Phnom Penh, Cambodia