Taiwanese media exposed that Taiwanese went to Cambodia to work and were deceived, and the number of people was in the thousands.
It is quite curious why Taiwanese are interested in Cambodia and are willing to work abroad. Although the World Bank predicts that Cambodia will reach middle-to-high income by 2030, Taiwan’s current GDP ranks 21st in the world, while Cambodia ranks 108th.
In the 19th century, Chinese laborers traveled across the ocean to work as coolies in the western United States. At least they called themselves “sell pigs”, and they took the risk when they realized that they could not survive. Moreover, there was no Internet at that time, and information was extremely underdeveloped. Most of the Chinese workers were illiterate, but they “sold themselves” to the United States. Although they suffered hardships or had a short life, they were very likely to benefit future generations and become American citizens.
But today Taiwanese go to Cambodia to work, whether they are forced to live like the Chinese workers in the Qing Dynasty. The Qing Dynasty was ruled by aliens, with severe punishments, no awareness of human rights, lack of education, and low literacy rate of the common people. Compared with this, today’s Taiwan Is the situation of people so difficult that they need to go to Cambodia to work?
Indeed, in the past decade or so, travel magazines targeting the middle class in the West have often promoted Cambodia’s exotic culture, describing it as mysterious, abandoned, and even “poor and beautiful”. In particular, Angkor Wat has been regarded as a must-see tourist destination in life. The taste choices of young western backpackers have influenced Hong Kong once, and perhaps young people in Taiwan are no exception.
However, in addition to Angkor Wat in Cambodia, there are also “Red Cambodia” and Pol Pot, the massacre with millions of victims, the testimony of horror concentration camps and a pile of skeletons and bones. For tasteful travelers, choose Cambodia is also quite alternative; if it is measured by work and making money, it cannot simply be described as “alternative”.
Cambodia’s political history, governance, investment opportunities, and average income levels can all be searched online. Taiwan’s Internet is open after all.
Tao Jie