Bad Boy Rapper Mann Vannda, Chinese Military Pact, Baby Asian Elephant
Good morning, Cambodia. It's Friday, April 1, and this is your Weekly Dispatch.
CHILD WELFARE: The Kingdom’s move to restart foreign adoptions drew heavy criticism from a local rights group. The practice was banned in 2009 after years of scandal.
GANGSTA LEAN: Face tattoos and a foul vocabulary haven’t stopped the rise of Mann Vannda, the edgy Sihanoukville rapper whose new tour includes shows at Angkor Wat on Khmer New Year.
POLL POSITION: One-party state? The ruling CPP brushed off concerns from the U.N. by pointing to 17 competing political parties. Being loved, CPP officials said, was not their fault.
THE LEDE
Losing Game
The ruling CPP had two words in response to the Candlelight Party’s threat to boycott June 5 elections — bring it.
A refusal to take part in district polls would cement a CPP victory and turn next year’s national vote into a one-sided blowout.
Would the Candlelighters take such a risk? The fledgling opposition group has been trying to establish itself as the ruling party’s main rival since the CNRP was outlawed in 2017. Rank-and-file members have regrouped under the Candlelight flag, and the party stands a decent chance of winning a non-trivial slice of the electoral pie.
A boycott could play right into the CPP’s hands.
Rising Son
Prime Minister Hun Sen reconfirmed that he will stand for national elections next year, with his eldest son, Hun Manet, waiting in the wings as a “reserve” candidate.
The announcement hints at the Strongman’s strategy for detouring around polls and sliding his son into the prime minister’s role without a vote. Exactly when that might happen is anybody’s guess.
Hun Sen announced in December that future candidates would need to wait until elections in 2028. More recent comments suggest the date could be sooner.
Safety Check
The Chinese and Cambodian armies signed a secretive military pact likely to inflame tensions across Southeast Asia, where many countries remain suspicious of Beijing.
Massive Chinese-backed construction projects along Cambodia’s coast have prompted fears of a permanent military presence that would radically alter the region’s balance of power.
Cambodia has depended on China's financial and military aid for years. The latest pact between the two armies was another snub to the West, specifically former benefactors in Washington.
Ricefield Superstar
Androgynous pop stylings are definitely out. Cambodia’s newest musical shot caller is full-on bad boy — face tattoos, cigarettes and four-letter rhymes certain to make parents blush.
Mann Vannda grew up in the paddies near Sihanoukville, and his music blends angst-ridden American rap with age-old Khmer tunes. His latest song, “Bok Kalo,” received more than 3 million YouTube views in two weeks. His breakthrough hit “Time to Rise” is approaching 90 million.
Don’t worry if you haven’t heard of him — you will. He starts a nationwide tour April 9 that includes three headline shows at Angkor Wat over Khmer New Year.
TALKING POINTS
Game On
Don’t hate the player — that’s how the CPP responded to U.N. complaints that Cambodia was effectively under “one-party rule.” The government pointed to the 17 groups registered for upcoming elections and said it wasn’t their fault voters loved the CPP.
Wild Cambodia
Lonely Planet has fallen in love with the Kingdom’s national parks. From the chilly hilltop climes of Kirirom to the untamed jungles of Virachey, Cambodia offers 4,000-plus square kilometers of largely untraveled, wildly beautiful Mother Nature.
Hot Money
Thai police are coming for online swindlers working from Cambodia, where authorities said some 3,000 Thais were working to scam their compatriots. Thai officials estimated about 10% were being held captive, but the rest were stone cold crooks.
Bad Reputation
Gun-toting gangsters could be holding up to 100 Malaysians captive in online crime compounds. It’s the same awful story: Victims are lured by offers of high-paying telemarketing jobs then forced to defraud their countrymen back home — or face beatings and torture. Half a dozen countries have issued warnings.
War Paint
Local art icon Leang Seckon responded to the Ukraine war the best way he knew how — painting. The British Embassy this weekend will auction off one of his latest pieces, “Reborn Sunflower,” with proceeds going to support refugees fleeing the conflict.
Adoption Alarm
Cambodia has restarted international adoptions, sparking the concern of a leading local rights group. The Kingdom suspended foreign adoptions in 2009 after years of scandal that reached all the way to Oscar Award-winning actress Angelina Jolie.
Adorable Newborn
The Kingdom’s endangered Asian elephant population has a new member, Gee Pich, born in captivity on March 25. It was an unplanned pregnancy. Two years ago, a bull elephant swaggered in from the jungle and ran off with Gee Pael, the newborn’s mother. Elephant minders in Mondulkiri lured her back home after she injured her leg and began raiding local farms.
BACKPAGES: From The Cambodia Daily Vault
Sam Rainsy Touts New Leads in 1997 Attack
April 1, 2002
Investigators are closer than ever to discovering the perpetrators of a deadly 1997 grenade attack near the National Assembly thanks to new evidence that has come forward, opposition leader Sam Rainsy said at a ceremony Saturday marking the attack’s fifth anniversary.
US-Cambodian Lawyer Suspended From Bar Association
March 28, 2002
The Cambodian Bar Association has suspended attorney David Chaniawa’s license to practice law in Cambodia for 18 months, saying he broke confidentiality agreements with clients, refused to comply with orders from the association, and solicited for clients in local newspapers — all violations under the National Assembly’s law on the bar.
Hun Sen: Reform Ideas Resemble a ‘Coup’
March 28, 2002
A suggestion that Cambodia consider setting up a three-month “caretaker” government prior to next year’s national elections has apparently touched a nerve with Prime Minister Hun Sen. On Wednesday, he called the idea unconstitutional, and said anyone trying such a scheme would go to prison.
WEEKEND READING
A long time coming: oral history and healthcare with Khmer Rouge survivors
After decades of waiting, thousands of Khmer Rouge survivors are finally having their stories committed to the historical record, finding closure and gaining access to healthcare with the help of a local NGO, the Documentation Center of Cambodia.
Khmer Krom Monks Cross Borders to Learn Their History
Frustrated by Vietnam’s suppression of their language, history and faith, Khmer Krom monks are forced to migrate to Cambodia to pursue an unrestricted education. Some who return face hostile authorities who fear monks will stir up deep-seated ethnic divisions.
Cambodia’s banana workers, exporting mainly to China, are getting sick, blaming the chemicals they use. But no one is listening
Cambodian banana exports to China have surged in recent years, but reports abound of exploitation and endangerment across Cambodia’s banana farms
Photos: Mann Vannda, via Facebook. Phnom Kulen, Steve Hübscher, via Flickr.