My job as Vice Consul is to provide help to people going through what is probably one of the toughest experiences of their life. Cambodia attracts a diverse group of people from the UK – some living and working here, others travelling or on holiday - who find themselves in difficult situations. I recently featured in a BBC documentary about the work of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) which followed us as we helped a group of British citizens arrested for “pornographic dancing”.
If people are jailed, we visit them throughout their sentence. When people become ill, we visit them in hospital and help in any way we can. We also assist bereaved relatives, victims of crime, people who have run out of money or had their belongings stolen.
You have to be patient and compassionate in this job. But it’s not just sympathy people are after, it’s practical help and guidance through their difficulty. You need resilience to do this job – people going through a stressful experience are not always at their most easy to deal with. Obviously, however, we can’t always solve every problem. We have guidance about what we can and can’t do, and sometimes that means telling them we can’t give them the help they want, which can be difficult.
Helping people going through their difficult situations is the most rewarding part of the job. We do everything we can to get them back on their feet and, if necessary, get them home.
I also preside over marriages – taking on the job of a registrar – and that is happiest part of this job. The couple usually turn up in their finery and I make an effort too. It’s very hot here in Phnom Penh but I always put my suit on when I’m going to marry people, complete with hanky in the pocket.
I joined the FCO in 2002 after seeing an advertisement in The Herald. I’m from East Kilbride and after graduating from Glasgow Caledonian University lived in Australia, which gave me the travel bug.
I was in London for a few years then posted to Tel Aviv, Istanbul, Kiev, Islamabad and now Phnom Penh.You really do see get to see the world and meet so many fascinating people along the way. It an amazing life and I feel very lucky. I met my Danish wife while in Tel Aviv and we now have a young daughter, which has changed our experience of the places the we live in.
I do miss Scotland a lot, especially my mum. I miss the landscapes, too, and believe it or not I also miss the cool weather. I miss the chippy as well - whenever we get back to East Kilbride one of the first things we do is go to Victor’s takeaway.
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