PHNOM PENH – Cambodia’s crucial garment sector has bounced back after the end of a global quota system saw orders dip due to competition from China, but experts warn the industry’s socially responsible image will not ensure its long-term survival. The 1.9-billion-dollar sector, which provides the destitute kingdom with more than 80 percent of its…
Read moreBest lightly fried, Cambodians can’t get enough crickets
PHUM THUN MONG, Cambodia – By day, the expanse of emerald rice fields look like ordinary, peaceful paddies. But when dusk falls, sheets of plastic unfurl from bamboo frames, electric blue neon tubes flicker on, and hordes of Cambodian crickets are lured to untimely, watery deaths. The humble chirping cricket became a part of Cambodians…
Read moreCambodia’s great asset swap angers many, leaves government on the fringe
PHNOM PENH – As bulldozers slam down huge trees outside, Tann Sinthou brandishes a meticulously highlighted copy of Cambodia’s land law, hoping it will save her home, the latest public asset to go under the hammer in a slew of government land swaps. "This land is state land," the defiant 54-year-old cries from her veranda…
Read moreCambodia’s first soya milk factory eyes nourishing nation’s children
PHNOM PENH – Taking a break from her job of sifting through sacks of soya beans, Cambodian Chea Bunna sighs as she remembers foraging for frogs and crabs in rice paddies to fill her family’s stomach. Now she supports them by working in the kingdom’s first long-life soya milk factory. The 59-year-old with cataract-clouded eyes…
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