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April 1, 2015

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Angkor Wat toxic rubbish dump serves as monument to our reckless consumption

The Daily Mail recently published photographs of people, including children, picking through a toxic rubbish dump near a tourist center in Cambodia.

They even showed groups of Japanese tourists who arrived in buses and tuk-tuks to take pictures of those children working at a dump in Anlong Pi, just 18 miles from Siem Reap, home to the world-famous Angkor Wat site.

I visited Angkor Wat some months ago. While I was delighted by the ruins and temples there dating from 800 years ago, I was not aware of the existence of this rubbish dump nearby. I did see small children at the tourist sites trying to make some money by selling souvenir books or trinkets to tourists.

The local guide told us that it would be OK to give them snacks, but not sweets, for children there have taken so many sweets from tourists that many now suffer from tooth decay.

In recent years, Angkor Wat has seen a rise in the number of Chinese tourists, and most of the enterprising children there have picked up some simple Chinese, in addition to other languages.

At a fairly secluded site of ruins near an ancient palace, my son offered some snacks to a boy who had accosted him.

Overtaken by progress

Before he knew it, about five other children of a similar age had sprung up from among the stones in the ruins and began to close in on them. My son had to beat a hasty retreat.

During a boat trip on the Tonle Sap Lake, two children offered to massage the shoulders and backs of the passengers, and got some money for their token service. The children also helped anchor the ship, and gave a helping hand to passengers embarking or disembarking.

They spoke quietly, were fairly adept at their business, and were not aggressive to those who refused their offers.

The Daily Mail report reminded me how idyllic and carefree the lives of these children seemed to be compared to those who have to plow through mountains of rubbish under the scorching sun.

The guide politely told us about improvements to local life due to tourism dollars. Most tourists would gladly take these observations as compliments.

The tourist sites, if a bit dusty, are fairly good in terms of sanitation, with the toilets cleaner than many we see back home. And, most important of all, the people we met there were helpful and friendly.

But the shocking images of landfills that have so often been carefully kept out of our view should make us think again. Not long ago, before locals were overtaken by progress, these people used to take everything they needed from nature; whatever they discarded afterward could be reabsorbed quickly by the environment.

Food for thought

In contrast, waste that refuses to be reduced and assimilated by nature are stains of prosperity and symbols of affluence.

In a sense expanding landfills testifies to improvements in standards of living, suggesting that consumption has come into its own. And here is where the scavengers come in, as they try to salvage some residual value from these heaps of non-degradable industrial waste: plastics, electronic devices, bottles, metals and disposables.

Probably the curiosity of the outsiders had been so piqued that a visit to the dump was included in their tour itineraries. I do not know if these tourists realize they are confronting the direct consequence of prosperity.

Braving bad smells caused by mountains of toxic waste and decaying food, are these tourists seeking catharsis, just as watching a Greek tragedy?

Whatever their true motivations, I hope the trip will give them food for thought about what reckless consumption all adds up to.

For Siem Reap, in recent years, the influx of tourists — and their dollars — has caused an exponential increase in the amount of rubbish taken to the dump site.

The significance of the dump visit would be lost if the tourists — and everybody else — remain blind to the growing pile of rubbish as a global problem.




 

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