Interviews
Trip Start
Mar 18, 2004
1
2
Trip End
Mar 28, 2004
Phnom Penh, Svaey Rieng, Sihanoukville,
Cambodia
Thursday, March 25, 2004
With the migration of both my grandparents from Guangdong Province, China to Cambodia in the 1930's, my family began writing its long history as refugees. It is estimated that from the early 19th to early 20th century around 2000 Chinese citizens immigrated to Cambodia per year. Some were merely private citizens speculating on a new investment frontier while others represented the Chinese government's feeble attempt at keeping a political foothold in Indochina. Little could stop the juggernaut of French colonization in Indochina at the time though, leaving Cambodia victim to another full fledged protectorate of France by the early 1920's. The overwhelming presence of French advisors in Cambodian state and local government meant that true exploitation of the countries resources could now occur. Money was poured into communication and transportation infrastructure, which in turn helped to develop the profit-making commercial sectors such as rice and rubber exports. These prospects lured many Chinese entrepreneurs, increasing the number of Chinese immigrants to a steady 5000 per year by the mid 1920's. The Chinese population in the Kingdom rose accordingly from 170,000 in 1905 to 300,000 at the beginning of WWI.
The events leading up to WWII marked yet a new wave of Chinese immigrants arriving in Cambodia. The rather large and still growing Chinese population in Cambodia urged some victims of the Japanese bombings in China to flee to the Kingdom.
Aunt and Lotus
My grandparents were a part of this new group of war refugees. The journey for those opting to reach Cambodia by sea was long and treacherous. The vast and unpredictable waters of the South China Sea prevented many from ever making it safely to a second country. My grandparents were one of the few lucky enough to be able to both afford and survive the journey. Their early life in Cambodia as illegal refugees was no less trying though. It was fraught with difficulties such as: a language barrier, nationwide unemployment hovering at 25%, poor social welfare system, animosity towards Chinese because of their financial successes, etc. With very few possessions in hand and a non-existent refugee support system in place, they found themselves drawn into one of the many Chinese enclaves in Cambodia. At that time the area encompassing the capital of Phnom Penh and the surrounding municipalities was split into three residential zones. The boundaries of these residential zones were mostly demarcated by ethnicity: The Vietnamese and Cham lived to the north, Khmers to the South and West, and the Chinese and French in the commercial center. The support network they found in the Chinese community helped them tremendously in terms of assimilating and establishing themselves economically. After working menial jobs as kitchen and wait staff for Chinese owned restaurants, my paternal grandfather eventually moved to Svaey Rieng and opened up his own restaurant. My maternal grandparents exported their knowledge of rice-wine making from China to begin a profitable spirits business.
