Dear Editor,

Little Cambodia is in the international news for the wrong reasons and for the right reasons. The sad and tragic stampede last Monday was clearly predictable and preventable and could have occurred at a number of locations throughout the city, not just on the bridge.

Last Sunday night I was trapped in a similar gridlock after leaving a cafe near Sihanouk and Street 51. There were no police around to unravel the mess. The death trap was created not just by the mass of people, but by the many motos embedded in the crowd that formed barricades to the movement of people.

I said to myself then that if anything set off the crowd dozens, if not hundreds, of people could be killed. Then the next morning I awoke to learn that the nightmare was a reality. There seems to be no limit to the resources of police when it comes to facilitating the movement, safety and security of the elite and powerful. But for ordinary people the approach seems to be “do nothing and hope for the best” when planning for prevention or when dangerous situations develop. Whatever bad publicity the country gets is well deserved and hopefully will get the government to act responsibly in the future.  

Jim