“The teachers are the vanguards of Cambodia’s progress and prosperity. Good salary attracts good and bright students to enter the field of teaching. This will lead to quality education which would then lead to producing quality graduates to serve Cambodia.”
Editorial by Khmerization: - the skyrocketing of the price of goods and the soaring price of fuel have put a strain on many battlers, who are striving to make ends meet in the face of low wages, high costs of living and limited opportunity. The demands by the Cambodian Independent Teachers Association for their pay increases on par with the inflation index is not unreasonable and the government must not ignore their demands (read about the teachers‘ demands here).
The teachers are the educators of our future generations and the next leaders of Cambodia. It is imperative that the government realise about their importance and look after them well so that they can put 100% commitment to groom our next generations of leaders. By saying this, I appeal to the government to meet their demands and increase their salary.
The teachers are the vanguards of Cambodia’s progress and prosperity. Good salary attracts good and bright students to enter the field of teaching. This will lead to quality education which would then lead to producing quality graduates to serve Cambodia.
During the Sangkum Reastr Niyum and, to a certain extent, the Khmer Republic regime, teachers were held in high regard and their salaries were the best among the public servants. They were the most incorrupt people in the land. Teaching, then, was the most respectable profession and everywhere they went people respected them.
Today’s teachers are among the most hated people in the land, not because they are bad by nature, but they are corrupt by circumstances and by faults of government. While prices of commodities have risen to record high, the government is still refusing their repeated demands for pay increases. With their meagre salary, coupled with skyrocketing prices of commodities, the temptation to commit corruption are too hard to resist. As a result, many teachers have immorally pressurised their students to attend their outside of school hour classes and charge them extortionate amount for private lessons.
The government has repeatedly refused the teachers’ demands for pay-rises, using the pretext that the government simply does not have the money to fund their pay increases. This is simply not true. The money to fund the teachers’ pay-rises can be found by eliminating corruption. All lost incomes through corruption from illegal logging, land concessions, Angkor Wat ticketing concessions, the sales of state properties, which the World Bank has estimated to have cost Cambodia’s national budget to the tune of US$500 million per year, would be more than enough to fund the pay increases, if they are collected and deposited in the state treasury, instead of going to the pockets of the corrupt officials.
The national budget can be saved further with the streamlining of government’s unnecessary appointments. The government can further save millions of dollars if the thousands of Hun Sen’s shadowy advisors are struck off the government’s payrolls.
In the past three governments post-UNTAC, the governments have never reduced governments’ appointments in order to save money. Instead, the governments have consistently made many unnecessary appointments to further strengthen their grips on power at the expense of the hapless and lowly paid public servants, such as the teachers. This is an act of corruptly squandering national budget for one’s own political interests.
The teachers are the educators of our future generations and the next leaders of Cambodia. It is imperative that the government realise about their importance and look after them well so that they can put 100% commitment to groom our next generations of leaders. By saying this, I appeal to the government to meet their demands and increase their salary.
The teachers are the vanguards of Cambodia’s progress and prosperity. Good salary attracts good and bright students to enter the field of teaching. This will lead to quality education which would then lead to producing quality graduates to serve Cambodia.
During the Sangkum Reastr Niyum and, to a certain extent, the Khmer Republic regime, teachers were held in high regard and their salaries were the best among the public servants. They were the most incorrupt people in the land. Teaching, then, was the most respectable profession and everywhere they went people respected them.
Today’s teachers are among the most hated people in the land, not because they are bad by nature, but they are corrupt by circumstances and by faults of government. While prices of commodities have risen to record high, the government is still refusing their repeated demands for pay increases. With their meagre salary, coupled with skyrocketing prices of commodities, the temptation to commit corruption are too hard to resist. As a result, many teachers have immorally pressurised their students to attend their outside of school hour classes and charge them extortionate amount for private lessons.
The government has repeatedly refused the teachers’ demands for pay-rises, using the pretext that the government simply does not have the money to fund their pay increases. This is simply not true. The money to fund the teachers’ pay-rises can be found by eliminating corruption. All lost incomes through corruption from illegal logging, land concessions, Angkor Wat ticketing concessions, the sales of state properties, which the World Bank has estimated to have cost Cambodia’s national budget to the tune of US$500 million per year, would be more than enough to fund the pay increases, if they are collected and deposited in the state treasury, instead of going to the pockets of the corrupt officials.
The national budget can be saved further with the streamlining of government’s unnecessary appointments. The government can further save millions of dollars if the thousands of Hun Sen’s shadowy advisors are struck off the government’s payrolls.
In the past three governments post-UNTAC, the governments have never reduced governments’ appointments in order to save money. Instead, the governments have consistently made many unnecessary appointments to further strengthen their grips on power at the expense of the hapless and lowly paid public servants, such as the teachers. This is an act of corruptly squandering national budget for one’s own political interests.
One would hope that the next government would cut the inflated and unnecessary appointments so that money can be saved to fund the pay-rises for low-ranking public servants such as the teachers, the police and the army. I hope. //
11 comments:
Although it certainly desirable to increase teachers' salaries and it is equally true that they hold our children's future in their hands, it is rather naive to think that the necessary funds could be raised by eliminating corruption and deflating the top-heavy bureaucracy. Read some of the posts regarding those subjects on www.about-cambodia.blogspot.com. You may not agree with the anti-SRP stance there but the economics are described pretty accurately.
I strongly believe that money to fund the teachers' salaries can be obtained with the right policies, if Mr. Hun Sen has the political will to stamp out corruption, including cleaning up his inflated and unneccesary bureaucracy. The teachers' salaries ranges from $25 per month for primary school teachers to about $150 for a university lecturers. This is not much considering Hun Sen's unneccesary appointments of defectors or his cronies to high paid job with the salaries ranges from $500-$2000 per month. There are reports that the salaries for Hun Sen's un-needed advisors totalled to about $24 million dollars per year. If the $500 million lost through corruption are collected by the state ttreasury, and added with salaries recovered from un-needed Hun Sen's advisors, it would be more than enough to fund the teachers' pay rises. While corruptions are tolerated and allowed to thrive at a grand scale, the low-ranking public servants like the police, the army, the teachers and others are living with meagre salaries. This sort of salaries would never be enough to feed their families and this has pushed them to commit corruption and a cycle of corruption will never ends. In the West, workers' and public servants' pays are always above or on par with inflation index. If the inflation is, say 2%, he salary increases would always be 2% or higher. In Cambodia, while the inflation had increased to maybe double, but when was the last time the govt. give the people a pay rise? Never.
If it is naive to think that the govt. can give a pay rise to the teachers or other public servants, what is your solution then, 7:51 AM?
Without getting to much into detail, the answer is quite simple, but the implementation is quite difficult. Cambodia needs an effective tax collection system. Most people with income don't pay any taxes at all. Check out the national budget where the taxes come from. Of course, the majority simply doesn't make enough money to pay any taxes. One can hardly tax people making $50 a month. The $300 to $500 million lost to corruption is not revenue the government would otherwise have, this is where your articles and the SRP are wrong. Most of that corruption money is lost to the economy as it is mostly in the form of surcharges officials request for speedier handling of matters, e. g. land titles, drivers licenses, passports, etc. The inflated top-heavy bureaucracy is a burden, but if you look at the numbers the money saved wouldn't go very far. Certainly, it wouldn't be enough to raise teachers' salaries to a reasonable level. And what about the police? The money simply isn't there. The World Bank was instrumental in drafting the national budget. They considered it prudent given the circumstances. What's lacking is a wider and broader-based economy. Garments, tourism, and construction isn't enough.
Although officials do pocket hefty amounts for giving sweetheart deals to friends and friendly investors, this isn't by far the largest part of that often-cited $500 million in corruption money. This is what you and the SRP want to make people believe. And Sam Rainsy knows that. His standing in Cambodia has suffered greatly in the last two years. But I just happen to know this as I am an active participant in the Cambodian economy, to use a very broad term, as opposed to you, who doesn't even live in Cambodia and gains his knowledge from newspapers and then writes op-eds on KI-Media, which is just another mouthpiece for the SRP serving the overseas Khmer community who happen to be the largest donors to the party but otherwise doesn't have much influence on domestic Cambodian politics.
All this does not mean I am supporting the CPP and the government, and most assuredly, the teachers, police, generally all civil servants need to make more money, but so do the factory workers. What is missing are pragmatic proposals for reform, not just diatribes. Anybody can espouse those.
Sure, corrupt money from petty corruption such as bribery to officilas for paper works won't benefit economy much but you forgot to mention about the money collected from illegal logging, land concessions, sales of state properties, Angkor Wat concessions etc, etc. This is the $500 million per year that the world bank was talking about, not the petty bribery that you are talking about.
Certainly with $50 per month salary people won't have to pay tax. Taxes are lost through corrupt businesses the like of Sok Kong oil imports, Mong Ritthy businesses and the like of these people who evade tax because they are Hun Sen's cronies. You claimed that govt. can't afford to increase salaries because govt. can't collect enough revenue. This means that the govt. is incompetent, doesn't do a proper job and in the West, such a govt., would have to resign because of incompetence. If there is a will, there is a way. If the govt. can't double the salary, the govt. must show its goodwill by increasing whatever amount they can. But so far, it is silent. I might have lived overseas, but what about numerous people living inside Cambodia such as the NGOs, diplomats and oppositions, who have the same views as me. Are you saying that they are not informed? I have been back to Cambodia a few times, I got friends and relatives there who informed me, I read Cambodian papers, listened to radio, TVs in Khmer, so I think I'm pretty informed. You live in Cambodia, but I assume you can't speak and read Cambodian, so what make you more informed than me, beside reading the English articles like me, or the news being relayed by your wife or Khmer relatives who are Hun Sen's beneficiary? Your analysis make a lot of sense, except you refused to accept that there is way that can be taken to increase the public servants' salaries, or that there are widespread corruption. The increase can be done, big or small, it must be done. To stay silent is tantamount to refusing to acknowledge the problems.
I find you quite frequently get the facts wrong. The World Bank never said it was $500 million, it was always estimates put forth by one politician or other. The corruption money for land deals, etc. is not the majority of the bribes. You are wrong again. If you had done deals in Cambodia you would know. Only the people involved in those deals know for certain. I happened to be involved. No NGO has direct knowledge, only third-party information and hearsay. NO written records exist. Don't get me wrong I am not condoning corruption. I only want to see a balanced picture. But people like you who pander to the overseas Khmer with their blog just don't have that picture. I am sorry to disappoint you, I do speak and read Khmer sufficiently. Talk to the people in Cambodia what they think of overseas Khmer.
My fact is not wrong, it is you who do not want to acknowledge the fact. The $500 million per year money lost through corruption is a World Bank's figure. It is on record. I'm not talking about bribery for land deals. I'm talking about officials pocketing the proceeds from the sales of state lands, illegal logging, Angkor Wat ticketing concessions, land concessions to Hun Sen's cronies, the likes of Sok Kong,, Mong Ritthy etc. etc. Who is so stupid to have records of corruption? Corruption is criminal so no one will leave any trace. NGOs, Global Witness, world bank, ADB, diplomats all said about corruption and the $300-500 million lost through corruption. True, no records because it is corruption. These figures are estimates. They came up with the figures with good research. You are very active in the Khmer economy, I wonder if you are aiding and abetting corruption there through some dodgy land deals. Talk to the rural people what they think about overseas Khmer. Overseas Khmer are the main source of incomes for many rural families. The money we sent home to Cambodia is the only money that really helps the economy and the livelihood of the people. A balanced picture? Your blog is a propaganda machine for Hun Sen and the CPP. If you want a balanced picture, you should advise Hun Sen to give airtime of state TV and radios to the various views, including the oppositions. State TV and radios are Cambodia's properties, why only Hun Sen has the exlcusive use by himself and the CPP? Is this what you called balanced? Everytime I turned on TVK Hun Sen talked boringly for hours and hours. You don't condone corruption? Action speaks louder than words. I don't need to any further than your blog to find the evidence. Ciao!
Now you resort to the same type of arguing as all overseas Khmer do when they are faced with certain facts. They rave and rant and insult people. I assume you are a younger person based on your level of English. Were you born in Cambodia or in Australia? I first came to Cambodia some 20 years ago. So I believe my knowledge an experience far outweighs that of any of you pundits on KI-Media. And really you must have a lot of time on your hands seeing how many blogs you post every day. So, my friend, why don't you go and help Cambodia directly?
A P. S. to my last comment.
I provide more than 100 jobs for Khmer people in Cambodia. What do you do for Cambodia?
Dear Sir,
I wrote my reply under time constraint. It might sound like raving and ranting. But who is defensive here, when faced with facts? You failed to answer all the questions I posed to you. Who is insulting whom? Your phrase "Talk to the people in Cambodia what they think of overseas Khmer" could be considered insulting to the overseas Khmer. Are you implying that we overseas Khmers are rubbish? Don't get it wrong with the amount of time I spent posting. Are you implying that I am a bludger doing nothing, but playing internet? Tell you what? I've got two decent jobs, working 6 days a week to feed my family. Spending half an hour or one hour a day posting is not a big sacrifice for me, because I want to help spread the news among my 150-200 readers who flocked to my blog everyday. I am pressured to update the news for them.
I am not as young as you would have thought. When one writes under time pressures, summarising could sound like raving and ranting. Insulting? Who is insulting whom?
I've lived through 4 Cambodian regimes. Educated in the refugee camp and overseas. My schooling might not be as fortunate as you are as your country never faced war, but I struggled and succeeded, even though the Pol Pot regime deprived me of my childhood and formal education.
What have I done for Khmers? I've been involed in community works for both overseas and for Khmers inside Cambodia and refugee camps for roughly the same time as you. I have sacrified time, finances and energy for free at the expense of my family, but I never benefitted anything through any corrupt dealings with corrupt regime/individuals inside Cambodia.
Anyway, congratulation for employing 100 Cambodian workers. I hope your business helps Cambodia more than exploiting Cambodia. I also hope you will realize that Hun Sen is leading Cambodia to disaster, when you got out of his hypnotism one day, and agree with the overseas Khmers, NGOs, Human Rights groups and diplomats.
My hat off to you for your good work. I did not mean to slight you personally in any way but to remind you that certain facts are highly disputed, which are published on certain forums as iron-clad. One recent example is your map in your latest article on territory lost to Thailand, where you use a U. S. army 1954 map. You should know that U. S. army maps are highly inaccurate in their border delineation. As recently as the war in Bosnia, U. S. airplanes bombed the Chinese embassy in Belgrade using out-of-date and inaccurate maps. I am not saying the map is wrong, but it cannot be used as evidence in a case. At the same time cartography before the introduction of satellite photography was highly inaccurate to begin with. What I am trying to do is to show up the weaknesses of certain arguments and representations made by some people , who as you may well know are mostly overseas Khmer. Another aspect is that Westerners, and we must count overseas Khmer among them, make the biggest mistake when they try to impose Western ideas and concepts on countries, such as Cambodia, which hasn't developed those values yet. Blanket condemnations aren't the way to rectify wrongs. And I am the last not to admit there are plenty of wrongs in Cambodia. But seen realistically and also somewhat cynically, it is part of the development of a poor country. And finally, I am a businessman who employs people in his business paying normal, decent, above average wages, helping them and their families out whenever I can and when needed. I can't say I am altruistic but I am a socially minded person. But I am also a firm believer in the tenet that there is not one person in Cambodia at this point in time that could do what is needed in Cambodia given the circumstances and the structure of the government and the ruling class. A Sam Rainsy does not have the know-how and capability to bring about changes. He has shown himself too uncompromising and autocratic. But compromise is needed when you want to bring about change. If Barack Obama were to win the election in the U. S., he would soon have an unpleasant wake-up call, realizing that he is up against formidable opponents in Congress. This is what Sam Rainsy would encounter too, not so much in parliament but in the ruling class and the bureaucracy. He would fail miserably. Mark my words. It takes another 5 to 10 years for Cambodia and its people to evolve into a society that comprehends the social fabric of a free people.
Dear Sir,
Thanks for your encouragement. Regarding the Google and U.S army maps I used in the post regarding Preah Vihear is for good reading and for informing purpose only. These maps cannot be used as tools and documents for the negotiation with the Thai. Thailand would never accept such unofficial maps. What I was saying was that Cambodia should use the 1907 treaty maps when Battambang and Siem Reap were returned to Cambodia, or maps from the 1950s, 1960s or maps that were internationally recognised that Cambodia deposited at the United Nations.
Regarding Sam Rainsy, I do not wish to debate it here because it would lead to nothing. But I'd like to say that one has to be given a chance to prove himself. Hun Sen had that chance for 29 years and it's been proven that he had not done much good to Cambodia, nor has he improved the livehood of the Cambodian people in general. Cambodia's neighbours had done far better in the 29 years up to now. Dictatorship will never lead the country to progress. Just look at the countries that were/are under the dictatoship. Rainsy or any other capable leaders should be given a chance. If he/she is no good then the people can vote them out. I am not asking the PM post to be given for free to Rainsy or others. What I'm saying is that they must be given a chance through a free and fair election, free of cheating and fraud, like the one organised by UNTAC in 1993. That's all I ask for. And when they get elected, that Hun Sen and is supporters give the new leader their support, I mean transfer the power to them and let them rule peacefully, like the election losers in the West.
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