Cambodians have hundreds – perhaps thousands of proverbs.
One of the more vibrant Facebook sites dedicated to things Cambodia is the group run by expats from around the world – who dwell in Cambodia. Each day the site is populated by a wide variety of comments. There are the unfailingly generous comments from the Rosy guesthouse, and the help wanted requests from expats who are finding it hard to locate a house to rent, or a hairdresser who is used to working with the mysteries of European hair.
This week one of the stories that unfolded concerned a Samsung Galaxy notepad that had been stolen. Unfortunately for the thief, the photos they took – as proud new “owners” of the device – ended up hosted not on the device, but in the Cloud, and could be accessed by the victim of the theft.
The photos were selfies, and the thief wasn’t simply anonymous, a desperate youth, but an easily recognisable disabled person. Caught on camera! I gather it took only 48 hours or less for the Samsung device to be recovered.
What hurt was that the thief had been supported (with food and shelter,) over previous months by the victim. The English proverb comes to mind; ” don’t bite the hand that feeds you.”
Cambodia has more than its fair share of proverbs as well, and the proverb copied above reads something like this:
Taking the opportunity to embezzle from those who help you, through the use of cheap, disgraceful tricks, thinking they are unaware of attempts to cheat them – this is breaking your own rice pot.
Judging by comments posted on Facebook, the owner of the Samsung device has been far from alone in their experience. Others attest to the fact that they too have been ripped off by people they had previously helped.
I’m not saying dishonesty is especially widespread in Cambodia, (the first time I was there a stranger tapped me on the shoulder and pointed out that my wallet was half out of my back pocket, and was at risk,) but l have often wondered at the immense temptation that many people face. A lifetime is spent scratching for dollars, and there, within easy reach is a laptop, or tablet, or wad of cash – it must surely cross anyone’s mind that one quick snatch might be life changing.
Savong and I have discussed this a few times, and the issue of forgiveness comes up. I’m afraid that if he caught a thief he would be less forgiving than I would. Or perhaps simply less soft. I searched Google for Cambodian proverbs about the subject of forgiveness, but so far I have not found anything quite so elegant as the old European adage: “To err is human. To forgive – divine.”
Instead I see more Cambodian proverbs instructing owners to be careful with their goods, and instructing servants to avoid the penalties that come with dishonesty. Here are two such proverbs:
Stealing may bring profit, but hanging costs far more.
Don’t let an angry man wash dishes; don’t let a hungry man guard rice.
It turned out the children in the adverts were child models, dirtied up and paid to look like victims – and the fundraising agency said the imagery had kickstarted a very successful fundraising campaign. They were angry to be called out by the media, and went on to attack critic via twitter, arguing that donors don’t respond to images of happy, employed children.
