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Maps not for the local

Today I went to a Cafe near my home. I joined a table with two men. They were trying to find an address but could not make it. They kept complaining of difficulties navigating through city roads.

Suddenly, there were two foreigners biking passby and their eyes were occasionally scanning their colourful maps. The moment left a discussion topic for the two guys. "Why didn't we use a map? we could have found the place easier," asked a man. "Come On, maps are not for us," shouted the other man. "We are the local, we have many other ways," he continued.

The conversation went on and finally they concluded that maps would never become their choice. I asked why and they simply replied that "maps are complicated to use".

I came home and kept thinking about their words. I took out all my maps to find out why they are complicated. At a first glance, I wondered how a user-friendly map should be made as it is already clear.

But later, I noticed that everything on the maps is in English or French. This is true for most maps available in the market. This language barrier is strong enough to keep maps away from the local's everyday life. They especially the rural are still struggling to learn and make use of their own language, let alone to understand other foreign ones.

Now I agree that maps are "complicated" and they are not for the local, at least in Cambodia.
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