How did it become like this?

Having just returned back from a fascinating trip to Cambodia, I have to say I really admire the Cambodian people!

They have been through so much in the last three decades, yet when you travel around the streets the people are always smiling.

I have traveled to many parts of the world, but when I was in Cambodia it really struck me how you rarely see people smile in the street in “rich” countries. In fact look around the streets and office blocks of those countries and most people look pretty glum. Worse, if you were to smile in public, people would think it was a sign of madness. How did it become like this? Yet the Cambodians smile a lot, they are a happy people though they have little material wealth. I admire them for that.