HOUSE OF THE WEEK

Ready-for-rent villa in Mayangone township

MAKE no mistake – this is a big house. The compound is about 10,000 square feet and the two-storey house has about 5000 square feet as well. And it’s just as well that there’s so much space because it’s a long way from downtown, at Thanlawaddy Street, off Pyay Road, in Mayangone township. more

Yangon Weather Forecast, Burma

Few but united, Myanmar forge a life in Siem Reap

WHILE millions of Myanmar migrants temporarily – and sometimes perman-ently – call Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia home, a small but adventurous group have carved out a community in a less obvious Southeast Asian neighbour: Cambodia.

In the capital Phnom Penh, hundreds of Myanmar earn a living in the hospitality, engineering, IT, education and garment manufacturing sectors.

A few live outside the capital, mostly in Siem Reap, the gateway to the famed Angkor Wat temples.

Ko Than Htaik Aung, 27, has been working as an IT teacher at Siem Reap International School for the past five months, after working in Singapore for about a year.

He enjoys Cambodia’s relaxed atmosphere and says the work environment is less competitive than in Singapore, where up to 100,000 Myanmar live.

“This country won’t really help me improve my IT skills or knowledge but I can quite easily get a higher position here than in Singapore,” he said.

There are also more perks to the job, particularly long holidays. At the end of the school terms he usually returns to Myanmar or travels elsewhere in Southeast Asia.

“When I was working in Singapore, it was really difficult to get any leave,” he said.

Before moving abroad, Ko Than Htaik Aung was an IT officer for Gulf Travels and Tours in Yangon. He says despite the language barrier and the hot, dusty climate, he prefers Siem Reap to Phnom Penh, which he likens to Yangon.

U Kyaw Myint, 48, a cost controller at Sofitel Angkor Phokeethra Golf and Spa Resort, said Siem Reap has a small but close-knit Myanmar community.

“I arrived in Siem Reap in 2001, after one of my friends told me about this job vacancy. I haven’t really thought about returning [permanently to Myanmar]. There are many similarities between Myanmar and Cambodian culture. One advantage that I see here is there are more opportunities to learn and develop our career [than in Myanmar],” U Kyaw Myint said, adding that most Myanmar in Siem Reap are professionals.

“Most are working in the hotel industry and information technology sector. Previously there were also other skilled people, like engineers, but the size of the Myanmar community here is smaller than in the past. Although it’s a small group, we have a warm relationship. We all greet each other with ‘Mingalabar’, even if we don’t really know each other,” he said.
He says that although he is happy in Siem Reap, his native country is never far from his thoughts.

“We usually go back to Myanmar once or twice a year whenever I have the chance. Although I am happy in here, there are some things that I miss about home, like the food, culture and, of course, my family,” he said.

While some Myanmar stay in Siem Reap for just a year or two before moving on, U Maung Maung Myo Thaung, 38, a room division manager at Angkor Village Hotel and Resort, says he now considers the city as a kind of second home.

“I arrived here at the end of 2000 to work at Sofitel Hotel. I got married to my wife, who is Cambodian, and two years later we opened a 36-room guesthouse called Mandalay Inn, which is near the Old Market,” U Maung Maung Myo Thaung said.
“In about 2003, the Myanmar community here was growing and there were about 30 people, I think, but now there are only about 20 left. Many engineers who worked at the golf resort projects have now moved away, because their contract ended or they got a better job in another country. Some of my friends who are still here work in the hotel industry or are teachers at private schools.”

He says the community still occasionally gets together as a group, often at Mandalay Inn.

“My guesthouse is a kind of common assembly area for the Myanmar community. Sometimes we eat Myanmar food together, as I have a Myanmar chef in the restaurant here. Recently, we had a monk from Myanmar stay here so everyone came to meet him at my guesthouse.

“We are normally very busy with our jobs but the community is still close. If anyone is having difficulties, we don’t hesitate to help them out.”

As well as the small expatriate community, there are also several hundred Myanmar tourists who visit Siem Reap each year.

“In 2009, about 400 to 500 Myanmar people stayed at my guesthouse while they visited the temples at Angkor Wat. Already in 2010 we have had some Myanmar visitors.”

He says guests of other nationalities are often interested in trying traditional Myanmar curries and salads and he considers this a way of promoting tourism back home.

U Maung Maung Myo Thaung says that although he has been in Cambodia for nearly a decade, he never forgets his native country.

“You can see that I’ve called my guesthouse ‘Mandalay Inn’. Mandalay is quite a special place for every Myanmar person and also well known around the world. I always remember I am a Myanmar citizen, whenever or wherever I am – and I want everybody to know the owner of this place is Myanmar too.”

 

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