What does a city look like to people?'
Bustling, bustling, with countless high-rise buildings and endless traffic?
Or is it quiet and long, with endless historical and cultural heritage?
I don't think this is comprehensive, but if there is an ideal city, it should be like the famous biologist and sociologist Patrick Gedis described in "The Evolving City":
"Cities must no longer spread like ink, oil stains, and once developed, they must open like stars like flowers, alternating green leaves among the golden lights."
This is what the ideal city should look like: healthy, clean, modern and natural beauty in every corner of the streets and alleys inadvertently perfectly blended.
However, the realization of ideals ultimately requires a long period of time and energy, in reality, many cities are sick, desolate, and even on the verge of extinction because of the deformed historical culture and industrial structure.
Cambodia's Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone (hereinafter referred to as Sihanoukville) is one such city:
Once it was a song of wine and green nights, illegal sex trafficking was repeatedly prohibited, and gamblers and drug dealers ran amok;
Now, because of a strict order from the government, the prosperous bubble has been shattered, the prosperity of the past has been destroyed, and thousands of people have abandoned the city and fled.
What led to the tragedy of the city of Westport that never sleeps, and how can the local government and people break the situation and regain a new life?
Westport
As Hölderlin wrote in his poem, "To establish heaven on earth is to open the door to hell," and the urban development of Westport is like this.
The upper-class figures spend money like dirt, buy drunk with thousands of dollars, and enjoy the most extreme joy in the world;
The people of the lower classes work as cattle and horses, selling their flesh, in exchange for still contempt and pain.
Never sell the Golden Grotto overnight
Here you'll see a series of potholes and dirt roads, and you'll see scantily clad girls in front of bars and nightclubs; you'll find a company that makes it difficult to achieve your dreams, but you can easily build a lucrative casino park.
Here, laughing at the poor and not laughing at prostitutes, the husband visits the brothel in front of his wife, and the wife makes a big deal.
As long as desires can be satisfied and exchanged for money, morality has become a trick for people, and the law is only a tool for demanding money.
Whoever makes normal work all year round is only seven or eight hundred yuan (US dollars), casually picks up some guests, sleeps with them for one night can earn thousands or even tens of thousands, such a gap who accepts, such a temptation and a few people can resist.
So day after day, year after year, no one worked infrastructure construction, and no one was willing to study knowledge for several years in the cold window, they just wanted to get drunk in this gold cave, gentle grave, muddy and bad for the rest of their lives.
The fall of the Civil War
However, north Korea, which is closed to the country and as poor as a country, is still standing proudly, so why does this West Port, which is a rich cultural and tourism resource and a convenient port, fall like this?
This brings us to the Cambodian civil war that took place in the 1970s, when the government of Prince Sihanouk was overthrown, hundreds of thousands of people were taken from their lives, and the whole of Cambodia was plunged into a chaotic confrontation between various forces.
It was not until the United Nations took over the Cambodian regime in the 1990s that national development slowly got on track.
However, at this time, Cambodia was already in ruins, infrastructure, industry and other time-consuming and costly projects that discouraged government officials, and could only turn to the construction of fast money and low investment in cultural and entertainment tourism.
It was at this time that Cambodian women, who were suffering from civil strife and helpless, began to trade their bodies for money and food in the form of pornography to serve the multi-gold tourists who came from abroad.
Illegal sex trafficking
At first, it was only poor and desperate women to do this business, but seeing the huge interest temptation behind it, more and more people began to participate in it, and then gradually evolved into an underground black industrial chain, slowly taking root and sprouting in an unsightly place, until it became a "flower of evil" with a huge root system.
As a convenient port development zone, "ushering in and sending" is already frequent, and now there is a temptation of "more exciting", how can it be left alone?
Therefore, with the continuous fermentation of time, the development zone originally established for economic development has lost its original appearance and become a gate of hell that hides dirt and filth, and is flooded with pornography, gambling and drugs.
As long as it opens up at the right time, tens of millions of "evil spirits" will pour out and devour the "paradise on earth" that has been whitewashed for too long, leaving a trail of wild cries.
And that time has come in the 2020s.
On January 1, 2020, the order to stop approving and issuing various online gambling business licenses operating in the country came into effect, and those gambling companies that have been licensed must also cease to operate immediately after the license expires.
Westport Casino
A stone stirred up a thousand layers of waves, and suddenly, the whole WestPort boiled!
Nearly 100 established gambling companies are facing closures, countless enterprises that are preparing to build have died directly in the bud, and related industries such as sex transactions and drug trafficking networks, which are closely related to gambling, have all been hit hard.
Those outsiders who came to Westport to pursue their dreams, those under the guise of legal gambling, the underworld and evil forces, almost lost everything overnight.
In the face of the government's strict ban, there is only one thing they can do – withdraw their money and flee.
Frenzied divestment wave
As a result, the engine and construction sounds that roared all night on the streets of Westport gradually disappeared;
The original densely packed, crowded shopping mall shops have become deserted, and the door can be seen;
Layers of dust accumulate on the shelves, and no one cares about them anymore.
The whole Westport seemed to have been drained of blood overnight, and there was no longer enough motivation to operate the turnover, like a dying patient, waiting for death to come.
At the same time, at the airport, in the places most closely connected to the outside world, people are rushing like honeycombs, pushing and shoving each other.
Everyone has an idea in mind: hurry up, get out of this place quickly, and never waste your time and money again.
According to statistics, in this wave of evacuations, nearly 60 gambling companies have closed, more than 7,000 people have lost their jobs at home, and as many as 450,000 Chinese have evacuated Cambodia, and the damage and impact cannot be measured by money.
Westport real scene
Rents for shops in Westport have fallen again and again, but no one has settled in; land prices have been almost low, and developers are reluctant to patronize them.
Once regarded as the light of Cambodia, Westport eventually fell into decline and calm after a short period of prosperity.
Deformed industrial structure
Some people may wonder, does banning online gambling really have such a big impact? Will it plunge a city into darkness?
In fact, the industrial structure and development direction of Westport have always existed great drawbacks and hidden dangers, but they have been suppressed by the government and maintained the superficial brilliance and peace.
However, with the passage of time, the drawbacks and hidden dangers accumulate more and more, the more tired, the government also began to have a weak heart, if you do not choose to "self-detonate", sooner or later will be submerged in the boundless fire wave, there is no room for turning over.
You see which prosperous and developed city is the same as Westport, the basic water and electricity transportation, the city construction is a mess, there are only countless nickname girls and prostitutes.
It takes decades for other cities to develop to such a prosperous level, but the transformation and evolution of Westport is only three or four years, and the difference of more than ten times in time can only show that the prosperity of Westport is just floating under the clouds, and there is no solid foundation to maintain.
Once the wind and clouds change, it will fall into a place of no return and fall into the boundless abyss.
Therefore, today's Westport, and even the whole of Cambodia, have the same problems: the industrial structure is deformed, and there is a serious fault line between infrastructure construction and economic development. This makes them a wood without a root, a water without a source, and it is almost impossible to develop smoothly and healthily.
So the future of Westport, the future of Cambodia is really completely hopeless, and there is no possibility of turning over?
Of course not, as the saying goes, "there is no way out of heaven", as long as Cambodia keeps two points in mind, it can turn the danger into a disaster and reshape the glory.
Structural transformation
The first is to carry out industrial structure transformation. Cambodia's current main industries are tourism and entertainment, and it is true that less investment makes money quickly, but it is also true that it is vulnerable to the environment and instability.
Taking the raging COVID-19 epidemic as an example, the most affected industries in the world are tourism, catering, entertainment and other industries where people gather. At the height of the epidemic, work and production were once stopped, not only no income, but also high rents, so that a large number of enterprises died in the darkness before dawn before they saw the dawn of the sun.
According to Cambodia's minister of tourism, in the last week of April, there were only 8,960 domestic tourists in Cambodia, of which only 206 were foreign tourists, a new low in the same period.
In the past 2020, the number of foreign tourists has decreased by 80% compared with 2019, causing Cambodia to lose more than $3 billion in foreign exchange.
You know, the total GDP of Cambodia in 19 years is only 27 billion, and this loss alone has accounted for 1/9, and the serious impact can be seen.
Tourists come to Cambodia
Therefore, accelerating the transformation of industrial structure and enhancing industrial diversification, especially the development of the real economy such as industry, should become the top priority of Cambodia's future work.
Cambodia GDP
"One fence three piles, one good man three gangs", in addition to their own efforts to strengthen themselves, seeking foreign aid and seizing opportunities is also an important way for Cambodia to change its current predicament.
Cambodia is located in the transportation hub of Southeast Asia, and it is very convenient to travel to and from major cities in Southeast Asia and China, so it is also a very important part of China's "Belt and Road" construction, and China is also happy to see its development and prosperity.
As long as Cambodia can treat China-related international events fairly and justly, not favor the United States, India and other countries, and maintain friendly exchanges with China, then China, as the leader of Asia and the head of developing countries, will certainly not treat Cambodia badly.
At the time point of the Year of Tourism Exchange and the Year of Culture between the Two Countries, a large number of Chinese tourists will also be contributed to Cambodia's GDP.
"It is not too late to make amends", There are still many charms and functions of Westport and Cambodia that have not been excavated and exploited, as long as they can remember these two key points and unswervingly implement them, then the road ahead is still promising!
It only takes one night and a paper ban to go from heaven to hell in Westport; Cambodia's transition from war to prosperity takes decades of time and generations of selfless dedication.
From this, we can know how easy it is to destroy a country and a region, and how much hardship it takes to build a rich and strong nation on one side of the land.
As the rulers and leaders of the state, we must put the country first in everything and always take the national interests as the benefit, study and formulate the general direction and pattern of development, and be prepared to deal with all crises.
As individuals, as an individual, we must also start from ourselves, shoulder a sense of morality and mission, do not take ill-gotten gains, do not do wrong things, and let our society and our society be full of sunshine and warmth.
"Peach and plum do not speak, the next is their own", no matter how gorgeous words can not compare to the charm of action, at this moment, let us say a little less, do a little more, with their own practical actions to defend our motherland, build our homeland!