Comments on: Japan in Cambodia

By: JJ

JJ — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 10:24:34 +0000

I wish it were so. I was definitely amazed by what I saw, but that would have been even better…

By: dhlt25

dhlt25 — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 05:13:48 +0000

lol for some reason i actually believed in this comment rather than the much more logical comment right above it

By: JJ

JJ — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 03:26:24 +0000

Thanks UB for your comment. As for you weirdo, I would agree with every word you said, and that is why a responsible NGO is careful to be sensitive to the sorts of problems you raise, and I addressed this in other videos in the series. Maybe you could tell us how you are engaging/helping, as it seems you have thought deeply on the subject.

By: ub

ub — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 02:53:22 +0000

Good point, lots of self-serving “volunteers” out there, but by the same token, there are a few noble souls out there who do it because no one else will.

But there’s something to be said about “finding one’s self” in a foreign land, and in the end, that person, by learning more about his/herself, becomes one more slightly enlightened person … Something, I’m sure we can all agree on, is in short supply.

btw, it’d be better to tone down, though, and give JJ some credit for sharing aspects about Cambodia you won’t find in wikipedia. You’re now a little more “aware” of Cambodia, albeit unconsciously aware, and that’s good in itself.

As you can infer, the commercial fishermen are acting to be accountable only to their shareholders, oblivious to the havoc they’re inflicting on the floating communities.

Don’t be a commercial fisherman by looking only at “bottom-line results”, “productivity” and “efficiency”. You are forgetting that “creating goodwill” is one of the toughest categories to place a value on in any situation.

By: weirdo

weirdo — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 07:32:05 +0000

Going to other countries just to go build/help yourself is just self-serving bullcrap. It’s ridiculously inefficient if you actually want to help. Even if you worked night and day, you’d only done the work of what 1 hired local labor could have done for far cheaper, in which case just sending money that would’ve been spent on lodging, plane ticket, and food would have been more help to the people you’re trying to “help”.

By: somegirl

somegirl — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 04:22:26 +0000

thank you so much for sharing, what a wonderful experience you had. really enjoyed this.

By: Vox24

Vox24 — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 00:14:33 +0000

The Cambodian children have constructed a 7 meter tall, fully operational replica of Mobile Suit Gundam. They used discarded sheet metal, scavenged car and boat parts, and hydraulic components from a downed aircraft. It’s really quite good.

It’s at 5:10 in the video.

By: kay Sato

kay Sato — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 21:05:58 +0000

they encounter a japanese operation in a vietnamese settlement area, where some Japanese are teaching the Vietnamese students, Khmer (the official language of cambodia) so that the kids can enter cambodian schools.

it’s interesting.

By: me

me — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 18:57:13 +0000

What’s the “something completely unanticipated?”

By: kay Sato

kay Sato — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 15:27:44 +0000

what’s unexpected?

By: Martin F

Martin F — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 12:45:20 +0000

Great video, you really went to an amazing place, thanks for sharing.