everywhere in between

I admit it.  I stereotype people on occasion.  Ed can probably write all about my irrational disdain for backpackers (and why I have proudly taken my wheelie throughout Southeast Asia’s often unpaved roads).  Well, most stereotypes get busted and one that surprisingly did on this trip was my firm belief that Asians, as a group, every single one of them, are thin.  Sure, most are, but much to my surprise I’ve seen dozens of people both on the street and tourists like myself who are on the heavier side, adults and children alike.  I suppose it’s not a surprise, given the prevalence of processed foods and candy.  Oreos are everywhere!

Given that obesity has taken a main position in the pantheon of health problems in the U.S., contributing to increases in Type II Diabetes, heart problems, and life-style difficulties, I thought I would take a look at how this issue is affecting this region and the world at large.

While my stereotype of the small, thin Asian isn’t totally off base– I have a hard time shopping in many of the stores here–there is a growing weight problem in some of these countries, seemingly in the more affluent ones (with access to high-fat/calorie, low nutrition foods).  According to wrongdiagnosis.com, roughly 12,000,000 people from Vietnam’s 82,700,000 population are overweight.  That’s a pretty heavy statistic!  Similarly in Thailand, over 10% of the population is overweight.  Of course, that doesn’t come close to America’s whopping 25% obesity rate.

But guess what?  Contrary to popular belief, the U.S. is not the most obese country in the world.  According to The Economist, the U.S. ranks #5 for men and #8 for women in terms of percentage of population that are obese.  The ones who tip the scale? Lebanon, Qatar, Kuwait and Panama for men and Qatar, Saudi Arabia, West Bank and Gaza, Lebanon, Panama, Albania, and Bahrain for the women.  There’s something in the Middle Eastern cooking… or lifestyle.

The spread of obesity is clearly a global problem, especially as the trappings of the sedentary lifestyle keep more people behind the wheels of a car or moto, or at a desk rather than walking, cycling, and working outdoors.  Of even greater concern is the fact that obesity is not unique to developed countries.  As I have seen, many developing countries suffer from obesity, with the cause being easy access to cheap high fat/calorie and low-nutrient rich food.

So while the U.S. certainly isn’t winning any awards for thinness, neither is the rest of the world– probably to everyone’s detriment.  It’s just so hard to choose a banana when those Oreos look so damn good.

http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com/o/obesity/stats-country.htm

http://archives.cnn.com/2000/HEALTH/diet.fitness/01/12/world.obesity/  

http://www.who.int/dietphysicalactivity/publications/facts/obesity/en/

There are countless books regarding genocide from non-fiction, to historical fiction, and memoirs.  Here are a few suggestions of ones that I’ve read recently regarding Cambodia, as well as a few worthy others.

If you’re in the market to buy a book, might I encourage you to support an independent bookstore?   The extra couple of dollars seems a small price to pay to keep a little originality around.  Not only do they provide a unique space, but unlike many chains, they do not sell prime retail space to publishers wanting to promote certain books.  Plus, I think my mother and sister have a great bookstore!  http://www.wherethesidewalkends.booksense.com

Memoirs About Khmer Rouge

When Broken Glass Floats; Chanrithy Him

Stay Alive, My Son; Pin Yathay

Children of Cambodia’s Killing Fields: Memoirs by Survivors; Dith Pran, Kim DePaul

First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers; Loung Ung

Memoirs/Accouts of Other Genocides

Black Dog of Fate; Peter Balakian (Armenian Genocide)

We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families; Philip Gourevitch (Rwandan Genocide)

Non-Fiction

A Problem From Hell: America and the Age of Genocide; Samantha Power

Humanity: A Moral History of the Twentieth Century; Jonathan Glover

One of the bigger news stories a couple of weeks ago was the execution of Saddam Hussein.  From what I gleaned from the coverage, however, the focus was more on the timing of his execution than on the crimes he committed to warrant a premature death.   Sadly, few perpetrators of the heinous crime of genocide ever stand trial.  This is  the case in Cambodia, where in the aftermath of the Khmer Rouge many of those responsible for the genocide were eventually incorporated into the government, creating a bitter peace that my tour guide, Baht, describes as “half-finished.”

With the ousting of the Khmer Rouge by Vietnamese troops in 1979, the Khmer Rouge core regrouped in Western Cambodia and continued attacks throughout the 80’s and 90’s.  Wanting an end to the fighting through peaceful elections, the United Nations’ Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) oversaw well-behaved elections in 1993.   Though the elections were peaceful, the results weren’t pleasing to the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP- a party that has its history in the old Communist party and which counts many former Khmer Rouge as members.  It is headed by Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge soldier who defected to Vietnam in 1977 after the Khmer Rouge began purging its ranks).

Like a spoiled child, the CPP threatened secession until it was agreed that there would be two Prime Ministers, of which Hun Sen was one.  UNTAC declared the operation a success and left Cambodia to a half-formed peace, where the bad guys not only went unpunished, but were given power as well.

History cannot teach any lessons in Cambodia today.  As Baht said (paraphrased), “what do I tell my kids?  They know my stories, but that is all.  I cannot tell them about what happened to the Khmer Rouge because maybe they will think ‘if I do bad things, get power, make money, I will not get punished.’  They cannot learn from what happened to the Khmer Rouge.”  And since the CPP has had power, according to Baht, Cambodia’s painful recent history has been glossed over in school.

Not only is history silent, but the mourning is as well.  Prior to 1993 (when the CPP was incorporated into the government), the Cambodian people would celebrate “Angry Day” on the 20th of May (?).  On this day, people would go to the local killing field where they would tell their stories and their loved ones’ stories,  cry together, and burn effigies of Pol Pot, Ieng Sary and the other Khmer Rouge top leaders.  (I’ve also heard that sometimes people burned an effigy of Cambodia’s beloved King Sihanouk whose own political machinations helped pave the way for the Khmer Rouge.)  Similarly muted are celebrations on January 7th, known as Victory Over the Genocide Day and which mark the day the Vietnamese entered Cambodia and sent the Khmer Rouge fleeing.

This peace is half-finished, says Baht.  Not only is it half-finished for Cambodians, but the rest of the world should consider it incomplete as well.  It is an abomination that top Khmer Rouge leaders should have ever been allowed inside the United Nations as legitimate politicians (please note, I need to fact check this, but I believe I read it in Samantha Power’s A Problem From Hell: America and the Age of Genocide).   Though there is now a joint UN-Cambodian Government court established to try Khmer Rouge criminals set to begin this year, it seems to me to be a bit compromised given that the current Prime Minister, Hun Sen, has a long and complicated relationship with the Khmer Rouge.

So while the news discusses the politics and timing of Saddam’s execution (which are undoubtedly important), I prefer to focus on his crimes in the first place.  When some genocide masterminds such as Pol Pot and Slobodan Milosovic get to die in their sleep, it is justifying to know that at least one has received his due.

For the Cambodians, however, the wait continues.

Baht is one of the moto(rcycle) drivers Ed and I had for a day trip around Battambang, a small town (but Cambodia’s second largest city) in Western Cambodia. Baht is about 38, though he looks no older than 25. While showing us around Wat Phnom Sampeau, site of one of the local killing fields in Khmer Rouge days, Baht shared with us some of his memories during the four years of brutal Khmer Rouge rule, 1975-1979.

Baht’s family was separated, he going to work in one of the children’s camps, his older sisters going to other camps, and his older brother in a third. Baht would often sneak away to his mother, but she was often out working in the rice fields. Because the Khmer (Cambodian) people were fed only a cup or two of watery rice per day, Baht and his cousin took some eggs from one of the temples that was being used as a barn. When the old monk in charge of the temple caught them and asked what they were doing, Baht and his cousin lied. Though the monk could tell they were lying, according to Baht, he just told them to quickly run away, which they did. (Under Khmer Rouge rule, monks were either killed or forced to disrobe and take on duties in the communities, as this one did, though apparently without losing his goodwill.)

Another time, Baht saw an old man who had been tied up, wearing nothing but shorts and left so the ants would bite him, a painful punishment especially for someone in an already weakened state. The old man called out to Baht, promising him bananas if he untied him, which Baht did, allowing the old man to run away. When the Khmer Rouge leader asked the children who had untied the old man, all the kids dutifully pointed to Baht. The leader, or teacher, as Baht called him, grabbed Baht and went on a search for the old man, saying, “if we don’t find him, I’ll kill you instead.” Fortunately for Baht they found the old man, who sadly was not so lucky.

At one point, Baht’s mother worked in the kitchen and so was able to sneak him some extra ears of corn which he ran away with to eat in secret. When he was caught with the corn, he was tied to a post and left there all day and overnight as an example to the other children. His mother came to find him in the morning and asked why he was being punished. The “teacher” berated Baht for “ruining the revolution” by stealing from Angka (the Khmer Rouge organization). Baht’s mother was unable to take the blame for giving her son corn because punishment for adults was far more severe than for children (she could have been killed). Fortunately Baht knew this and kept silent.

Baht’s older brother, who was about 17, died under the Khmer Rouge rule, supposedly by drowning. But, as Baht pointed out, learning about the death through hearsay leaves a certain amount of room for error.

After the Vietnamese brought about the fall of the Khmer Rouge in 1979, Baht was reunited with his mother and one sister. For many years it was just the three of them, his other sisters missing due either to the constant moving of people during the Khmer Rouge, malnutrition, or brutality. His mother cried every day for her lost daughters, leading to premature blindness, Baht says. One day, however, one of his sisters found them. This repeated itself several times over the next several years until the rest of his family, save his deceased brother, was reunited. (Because Baht’s family was originally from a village, which was regarded as a virtue under the Khmer Rouge, they fared much better than the city people, who were forced to leave the cities and work in the villages under harsher circumstances.)

Baht told his stories in a matter-of-fact manner, and often with a smile. As we were exiting one of the killing caves, Baht said that he is a Buddhist and because of this he is peaceful. However, he continued, if he ever saw his “teacher” again, he would kill him. Interestingly enough, this isn’t entirely far-fetched. Many of the Khmer Rouge cadres not only survived the regime (which killed many of its own people) but escaped punishment in the aftermath as well, leading to a half-formed peace today. More on this in a future blog…

Taking Lonely Planet’s suggestion, Ed and I opted for the scenic boat travel between Siem Reap and Battambang in Cambodia (described as a 3-8 hour journey, but was, in reality, more like 9 or 10…).  In spite of the cramped quarters on the roof (yes, roof) of the boat in the hot sun, I am glad of the choice because not only was it scenic with wildlife and protected wetlands, but it provided a glimpse into a rural lifestyle seemingly one step away from Kevin Costner.

At intervals along the slow-moving river, we would pass through a village, a floating village.  Sometimes there were riverbanks in sight, sometimes nothing but wetlands extending on to the horizon.  These floating villages exist almost entirely on water, replete with floating schools, restaurants, and markets (one school was donated by UNICEF, as noted on its outside.  All those Halloweens collecting money for UNICEF weren’t for naught!).  Villagers needing a ride further along the river would row up to the boat and deposit goods or themselves, or in one case, what seemed to be a message to pass along down the road.  Some of these towns were water-land hybrids, at least now in the dry season.  At the edge of one such hybrid town a group of teens with a rather large set of speakers were having a mid-day dance party under a house perched high on stilts.

Though charming to look at, these villages and their people have an interesting relationship with the water on which they live.  The river is multi-purpose, used for fishing, bathing, drinking, and laundering–and as a repository for litter and human waste.  That the latter uses contradict the former doesn’t seem to be a concern to the people, even given the river’s slow pace.  (The man sitting next to me on the boat finished his to-go food and threw the styrofoam container right into the river, while below-deck a woman scooped water out to give to her child.  All this, after a rest stop where the bathrooms were nothing more than a hole to the water below.) 

In general, this behavior seems to be keeping with a common theme I’ve noticed– more in some countries than others–that of a seeming disconnect between action and consequence (at least in some areas that register with me).  Mainly this pertains to litter, where many seem to take the view that once you throw it away it’s gone, regardless of where.  However, it can also be applied to far more serious issues.  Cambodia has the highest HIV infection rate in Asia, and though it has dropped considerably since the start of both an ad campaign advocating condom use and a law requiring all sex workers to insist on condom use, there may still be lurking attitudes that what one does in the present has no connection with the future, or that one can invent a more pleasing connection.  As Geoff Manthey, former UNAIDS Program Advisor in Cambodia said, “We are still battling against a sense of invincibility and misconceptions. For instance, some believe that if you have sex with a virgin, you will be cured of the (HIV) infection.” 

Hopefully this government law will do much to affect not only the HIV infection rate, but also the Cambodian notion of action and consequence as it applies to littering and hygiene on its lived-on waterways.  But it’s a slow-moving river…