Aeon Mall

The vision of the business that I started with my friend and Khmer co-founder, Neth Kong, is "A healthy economy and healthy workforce in Cambodia". We believe that there is great potential for the economic recovery in Cambodia and there is evidence of this in many places throughout the country, but perhaps one of the most visible signs of the re-emerging economic strength of Cambodia is a new mall that opened just a month ago. It is called Aeon Mall and it is unlike anything else you will find in Cambodia. It is a top quality, large shopping mall just like you would find in a major US city.

I have been to this mall no less than a dozen times in the month that it has been open and it is really fun for me to see the excitement of Cambodians about this new mall. They are very proud of this new mall and it has stayed busy this entire month. Yesterday, I went to get lunch there and shop for gifts to take back to the US and as I was walking out I passed a foreigner and overheard him say to the person he was with, "Oh great, a mall [sarcastically]! Ruins my trip to Cambodia." I kept thinking about this throughout the day and had a few thoughts about this.

     1) As foreigners, we need to constantly remember that we are guests here and we need to show the proper respect to the Cambodians and their culture.

     2) As guests in this country should care more about the experience that Cambodians are having in their own country than we do about what we ourselves are experiencing or expect to experience as guests. This is their home! If Cambodians like this mall then we should be happy for them that they have it. I have spoken to many Khmer friends and virtually all of them love the mall.

It is our choice to be here. We do not have to go to a mall if we don't want to experience mall shopping. We don't have to eat Khmer food if we choose not to. If we are not Buddhist that does not give us license to disrespect the thousands of monks who serve Cambodia.

This is my Aeon Loyalty card. It only cost $2 and after I
spend $1,000 they will send me a gift certificate for $5.
This is probably the worst deal in loyalty card history.