{"id":105576,"date":"2021-01-27T05:05:05","date_gmt":"2021-01-27T05:05:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/?p=105576"},"modified":"2021-01-27T05:05:05","modified_gmt":"2021-01-27T05:05:05","slug":"cambodias-cash-strapped-cyclo-drivers-treated-to-pedal-in-movie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/markets\/cambodias-cash-strapped-cyclo-drivers-treated-to-pedal-in-movie\/","title":{"rendered":"Cambodia's cash-strapped cyclo drivers treated to pedal-in movie"},"content":{"rendered":"
PHNOM PENH (Reuters) – Presented with a movie, meal, medicines and a $20 cash handout, Cambodia\u2019s cyclo taxi drivers received a rare treat at the weekend, and a brief distraction from hard times as the coronavirus takes a toll on tourism.<\/p> Hundreds of drivers who are struggling to make ends meet were seen sprawled out in their pedal-driven vehicles during the special screening on Saturday, when a makeshift movie theatre sprang up in a grassy yard in the capital Phnom Penh.<\/p>\n They were shown the new film \u201cFathers\u201d by local director Huy Yaleng, about a cyclo driver\u2019s daily battle to support his family.<\/p>\n \u201cI teared up. I remember how I had to do anything and everything to support my family,\u201d said Sun Sokhorm, 67, a cyclo driver for 34 years.<\/p>\n \u201cThe story felt like my own story.\u201d<\/p>\n Cambodia\u2019s cyclo drivers have long been a popular choice for visitors keen to take in the sights and enjoy the buzz of Phnom Penh at a leisurely pace.<\/p>\n But the coronavirus pandemic\u2019s devastating impact on global travel has seen tourist numbers plummet, even though Cambodia has reported less than 500 cases, with no deaths.<\/p>\n Sokhorm earns about a third of what he made before the pandemic, sometimes as little as $3 a day.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s not much left over, but I can survive,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The movie was a hit among the drivers, one of which was 93, born just a few years before cyclos first appeared in the former French colony in 1936.<\/p>\n The pedal-in movie was the idea of student Taing Huang Hao, 20, who met Sokhorm last month and has helped organise fundraising on social media for cyclo drivers. In the latest round, he teamed up with the director Yaleng to raise $5,000 to distribute at the private screening.<\/p>\n \u201cThey can see themselves inside the hardships portrayed by the movie, so they don\u2019t feel like they are going through this by themselves,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThey are the storytellers of the city,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n