Kingdom’s Children Hit by Hunger, Art Masters Fade Away, John Pilger Passes On
Good morning, Cambodia. It's Friday, January 5, and this is your first Weekly Dispatch of 2024.
SECURITY NET: A prominent NGO report blasted government-backed infrastructure projects, citing rights violations that lead to debt poverty. The question: Who do you complain to, if not the state?
LONG ODDS: Kem Sokha, erstwhile opposition firebrand, will appeal a grim prison sentence of nearly 30 years. It’s a tricky legal challenge, considering he’s been barred from meeting with attorneys.
FINAL FILE: Cambodia has been the proving ground for great journalists, few greater than John Pilger, the Australian filmmaker who exposed the horrors of Pol Pot to the world. He was 78.
THE LEDE
Crossed Lines
Thailand is no Land of Smiles for Cambodian activists.
Thai authorities appear to be continuing a pattern of detaining dissidents from the Kingdom and shipping them back to face the CPP-run judicial system.
Immigration police last week arrested seven campaigners attending a Paris Peace Agreement workshop, and supporters fear they will be jailed on spurious charges if deported home to Cambodia.
It wouldn’t be the first time: Human Rights Watch reports that Thai authorities routinely deport Cambodian asylum seekers and dissident refugees — in violation of international treaties — and they are systematically tossed straight into the country’s notorious prison system.
Last Wish
The new year shows no signs of improving Cambodia’s awful distinction as a haven for scam mills and human traffickers.
Thailand issued fresh warnings against its citizens accepting jobs in the Kingdom, while officials in India reported fielding about 5,000 cyber complaints per day — with half connected to Cambodia, China and Myanmar. The Ministry of Interior, amid all the warnings and media coverage, reported just 23 human-trafficking cases in the first 10 months of 2023.
Intense Chinese pressure last year forced Myanmar to hand over more than 31,000 scammers and victims. Many are hoping Cambodia is the next nation to fall in line.
Vanishing Act
In 2017, King Norodom Sihamoni bestowed “Living Heritage Status” to 17 traditional art masters — but only eight remain alive. Historians fear that once they are gone, their expertise will be lost forever.
The most famous master is Kong Nai, the legendary chapey dang veng player. At 78, the Kampot native has been in failing health for months. Others include Men Prang, a professor of Pali; Chet Chorn, a classical painter; and Peak Chapech, a master Lakhon Bassac storyteller.
King Sihamoni named nine new masters in 2023, raising the total to 26, but few of the new members practice the same artistic disciplines as those in the original group.
TALKING POINTS
Record Run
Kem Sokha returns to court this month to appeal a 27-year prison sentence for treason. The court has barred the former CNRP leader from meeting with attorneys, and it remains unclear how his legal team will prepare for the hearing. Activists say the appellate court has never once overturned a case involving opposition politicians — and they don’t expect it to start now.
Debt Destroys
State-backed infrastructure projects are characterized by a “gross disregard” for international law and human rights, the NGO Sahmakum Teang Tnaut says, resulting in undue hardship for thousands of families forced from their homes and stripped of their livelihoods in the name of national development. Displaced households routinely end up with so much debt that children are forced to withdraw from school and work to support the family.
Shock Value
Cambodia has the highest industrial electricity prices in the region — more than double that of Vietnam — and sky-high energy bills are hurting local businesses and discouraging foreign investment. The government has promised discounts for industrial and agricultural consumers through 2023, and talks are underway to extend the subsidies — and boost the economy.
Last Call
Khéma Angkor, the highly touted French eatery in Siem Reap, served its final glass of red wine after more than five years in business. The closure of a popular and well-funded restaurant at the peak of high season is an ominous sign — and perhaps further proof the tourism industry is in need of serious help.
Child Welfare
More than 20% of Cambodian children under 5 are underdeveloped for their age as a result of chronic malnutrition, a condition known as “stunting.” The damage, experts say, is irreversible, and leads to lifelong problems, including low educational performance, reduced adult wages and heightened risk for chronic diseases. A group of NGOs is working with the government to improve the situation.
Super Woman
Cambodian hero Bou Samnang is back in the spotlight, topping The Guardian’s Best of 2023 sporting moments with her gutsy, rain-soaked performance in the 5,000 meters at the SEA Games. The 20-year-old distance runner battled sickness and thunderstorms to finish alone on the track in last place — but she never gave up.
Last Reel
John Pilger, the Australian journalist and filmmaker who revealed the horrors of the Khmer Rouge to the world, died in London at 84. His documentary “Year Zero: The Silent Death of Cambodia” exposed the extent of Pol Pot’s atrocities and the deep destruction caused by Washington’s secret carpet bombing.
BACKPAGES: From The Cambodia Daily Vault
Hun Sen’s Nephew To Be Tried This Week
January 5, 2004
A nephew of Prime Minister Hun Sen will stand trial this week for three deaths after a car crash and subsequent shooting in October, his lawyer said Sunday.
VN Hailed as Liberator, Decried as Occupier on Jan. 7 Anniversary
January 3, 2004
Standing in the center of town, the statue of Cambodian and Vietnamese soldiers embracing and marching ahead seems too simplistic.
Thai Business Returns to Cambodia, but Riots Are Not Forgotten
January 1, 2004
A phone call placed to the Thai employees of Modern Plastic and Packaging on National Road 2 in the early evening of Jan 29 last year relayed an urgent message: The Thai Embassy is in flames and an angry mob of youths is headed to destroy your business. Get out.
Photos: Kong Nai, Alan Morgan, Flickr. Kem Sokha, WikiMedia.
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