Built to Last

In the best selling business book "Built to Last" Jim Collins and Jerry Porras profile 18 "visionary" companies that have had sustained success relative to the market. They looked at companies at least 50 years old. It's just one example of how in North America our conception of time is so different than here in Israel and the Middle East, where history is measured in centuries and millennia, and not years and decades.

Two things in particular have stood out to me as being "built to last". Many of the ruins I have seen are two thousand years or older, yet they are still standing. I am talking about walls, structures, even columns. It just makes me laugh when I think about all the condo's in Toronto that were thrown up overnight in the past ten years. A friend of mine once commented to me that his condo was "old" when I asked it's exact age he said about ten years. I won't be surprised if some of these buildings don't even last fifty years before being knocked down due to poor building standards or materials.

The other thing that stuck with me was my visit to the Israel Museum earlier today. Some of the books and scrolls on display are over one thousand years old. In contrast I bought a brand new copy of George Orwell's "Homage to Catalonia" in Cambodia last summer and pages started falling out within days. Today we no longer "build to last". We build for cheap and now.

In a funny kind of way this relates to my interest in family business. Since most family businesses are private, they are not pressured to make long-term sacrifices to hit short-term profit targets like many public firms often are. It's easier for them to take the long view, which is something that appeals to me.

Thoughts on Siem Reap and Angkor Wat

First I will share my impression of Siem Reap - the city near Angkor. It does not take long to notice the signs of a quickly growing city. First is that many of the more popular hotels and guest houses have multiple properties. Second is the number of brand new gas stations. There were about four gas stations on the main road to Angkor. None of them looked older than two years (and that's pushing it). One can only imagine what the city looked like 30 years ago, but then one is reminded that 30 years ago was a short time after the reign of the Khmer Rouge, when every city in Cambodia was emptied in a matter of days (with people forced to work the land in rural areas, essentially living a life not much different than a slave).

When you walk down one of the main streets, the roads are literally lined with empty tuk-tuk's, with their drivers trying to get your business. Further, it is not uncommon for a restaurant to have a couple groups on the patio, and then be empty inside. Despite the signs of a growing city, it was obvious this was not their best time of year. Personally, it worked to my advantage. It meant that when I went to the temples, the crowds, while existent, were definitely manageable. At some places, like the Terrace of the Elephants, and Banteay Srei (which is further afield), I had chunks of the ruins basically to myself to explore. I imagine in the dry season that it is much busier.

Of all the things that stick out about Siem Reap and Angkor, none are quite as striking or obvious as the restorations done to some of the ruins. Apparently the Khmer Rouge decapitated pretty much every statue in Angkor during their reign of terror. While some statues have their original head cemented on, others have completely new ones placed on top of thousand year old bodies. It's nice to see what the statues are supposed to look like, but it takes away from the authenticity of the ruins.

Lastly, on my way back from the temples, we saw some monkeys... we got our driver to pull over so we could get out and take pictures. At one point my friend Carlo got a little close and one of the monkey's chased him! Then a few minutes later the same thing happened to me. Nothing will get your adrenaline pumping like a monkey taking a swipe at you. Everything I know about monkey's is from the Dustin Hoffman movie "Outbreak", so needless to say I kept my distance after the close call I had with the hyper aggressive monkey (I have a video of it wrestling another monkey for a good two or three minutes). I'm just glad I escaped the encounter Ebola free, and with some great pics of the really cute baby monkey.