The Hurried Monk
Nov 11th, 2007 by Jinja
Phnom Penh: I’m having an early afternoon bowl of noodle soup when a monk walks into the restaurant, plops this plastic ‘amulet’ on my table and tries to sign me up on his donations list. Apparently for the building of a temple. He doesn’t respond to any Khmer language inquiries.
Naturally I just want the amulet so I give him a small donation and he’s off to collar other barangs. After further inquiry with local shop owners, it turns out he is ethnically Chinese and visiting all the foreigner haunts methodically. (Tourist alert? This happened about two weeks ago, he seems to be gone by now.)
In Cambodia you’ll find your friendly neighborhood monk begging during the mornings, not the afternoons. Common practice is to stand outside a doorway with rice bowl in hand (as in the accompanying picture). That’s why being hit up for money or any kind of donation during the afternoon is a little… jarring.
Below: Fake Monk.
(hmm, three posts in a row that touch on Khmer Buddhism. Erik, others, feel free to school me if there’s worthwhile stuff to add.)
Postscript: (Aug 2014):
The monks are still out there.
Tweetage:
Brother, I wish I had the time to write more substantively: I’m pretty sure I know this guy. Definitely a charlatan, but that’s not what fascinated me (there’re plenty of religious charlatans everywhere; they tend not to be fascinating, except in the way that con-men are): I too loved the strange oddities of dress, and the pathetic attempt to acculturate his appearance to Cambodian monks. By the way, I loved the picture from Em Satya’s picture in the Cropped Top post: can I get a copy of that when I come to Cambodia next?
Postscript: this guy is still out there, working the tourists/foreigners!