Members of a Cambodian household put together a scarecrow in entrance of their residence (AFP)
Kampong Cham, Cambodia:
Armed with a stick, a floral-shirted scarecrow with a plastic pot for a head stands guard in entrance of a rural Cambodian residence — a sentry erected by superstitious farmers to keep off the coronavirus.
Generally known as “Ting Mong” in Khmer, the creatively rendered scarecrows usually pop up in villages which have been hard-hit by infectious ailments like dengue or water-borne diarrhoea.
This time, “I’ve arrange the Ting Mong to forestall the coronavirus from threatening my household,” says farmer Sok Chany, 45.
She has two posted in entrance of her wood stilt residence in Kampong Cham province, about 110 kilometres (70 miles) northeast of the capital Phnom Penh.
The opposite is wearing camo-green and has a stick propped like a rifle throughout its hay-stuffed chest.
“It’s our historical superstition to arrange Ting Mongs when there are harmful ailments or to avert evil,” she tells AFP.
The bulk-Buddhist kingdom has a robust pressure of animism integrated into the day by day lives and rituals of Cambodians, with many believing that spirits are tied to locations, animals and issues.
The Ting Mongs are supposed to keep off evil spirits wishing to carry hurt on an unsuspecting household by spreading illness.
In Sok Chany’s Trapeang Sla village, no chances are high taken — an effigy is tied to the gate of almost each residence, although constructed with various levels of effort.
Some are elaborately wearing army uniform or floral pyjamas, whereas others merely have stuffed luggage with sun shades perched on them for a head.
Farmer Ton Pheang stuffs outdated clothes up the arm of his Ting Mong, which is wearing a shiny pink shirt and has a helmet for its head.
“That is my second one — the primary one broke,” the 55-year-old says, including that his scarecrow has been standing guard underneath solar and rain since April when the outbreak began spreading quickly throughout Southeast Asia.
“We have been fantastic because the outbreak,” Ton Pheag tells AFP. “I will proceed to depart it up so long as Covid nonetheless exists.”
Cambodia seems to escaped the brunt of the pandemic, registering simply 283 infections and no deaths — although sceptics say the low toll could possibly be as a result of a scarcity of testing.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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