President Biden Comes to Town, Highway Selfies Turn Deadly, Rapper’s Diss Track Takes Off
Good morning, Cambodia. It's Friday, November 4, and this is your Weekly Dispatch.
BIG GUNS: The American president, Joe Biden, will be in town next week, rubbing shoulders with other world leaders at the ASEAN Summit. Washington wants to counter China in the region. Good luck with that.
GLOBAL REACH: The government will ask Interpol to arrest Sam Rainsy for insulting King Norodom Sihamoni. What happens if they detain him is unclear. The opposition icon faces more than 150 years in prison.
SINKING FAST: The Kingdom came in second to last in the 2022 Rule of Law Index — one place behind Afghanistan and one place above Venezuela. The government yawned, calling the report “politically motivated.”
THE LEDE
Putin Probe
The Strongman has inserted himself into another intractable and bloody political mess: Ukraine.
He invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to next week’s gathering of ASEAN and world leaders in Phnom Penh, and offered to personally mediate talks between the two nations — despite little evidence to suggest Putin is interested in peace.
As incoming ASEAN chair a year ago, Hun Sen promised to bring peace to Myanmar. One expert called the missteps “failed diplomacy,” and Hun Sen’s ASEAN chairmanship a “complete and unmitigated failure.”
Robust Rebound
Cambodia beat nearly all its neighbors for new foreign-funded business projects in 2021 — a surprisingly strong position considering the Kingdom’s small population and infrastructure challenges.
The country pulled in more than three times its fair share of “greenfield” projects — or endeavors beginning from scratch. Singapore was the nation’s largest investor, besting China, which was Cambodia’s leading money source in 2019–2020.
The IMF predicted solid near-term growth, backed by free-trade agreements and high vaccination rates. It pegged 2022 growth at 5.1%, with 6.2% in 2023 and 6.6% in 2024.
Parental Advisory
Mann Vannda’s menacing diss track “J+O II” has garnered more than a million YouTube views per day since its release Monday.
The beef is real. On the track, the Sihanoukville rapper accuses an unnamed rival — although everyone knows it’s veteran hip-hop artist G-Devith — of stealing a song and releasing it under his own name with new lyrics.
J+O is a stylized version of the Khmer word jo, translated as “pretentious bastard.” “J+O II” is clapback for the song theft. The anger is palpable and the F-bombs are plenty. Parental discretion advised.
TALKING POINTS
Power Ties
It’s official — U.S. President Joe Biden will attend the U.S.-ASEAN Summit next week in Phnom Penh. Washington wants to bolster economic and security ties with the 10-nation bloc, flexing its soft power and pocketbook to counter growing Chinese influence.
Red Alert
The government will ask Interpol to arrest Sam Rainsy, who has been charged for “insulting” the Cambodian monarch. The move represents a sea-change in the government’s position — it blocked the exiled opposition leader’s attempted return in 2019. The former CNRP chief faces more than 150 years in prison.
Tilted Scales
Dead last in Southeast Asia and second to last in the world — that’s where the Kingdom placed on the World Justice Project 2022 Rule of Law Index. Of 139 countries, Cambodia placed 138 — same as last year. The government dismissed the report as “politically motivated.”
Traffic Signs
Social-media memes — both hilarious and horrifying — have chronicled the birthing pains of the $2 billion Phnom Penh–Sihanoukville tollway. Wrong-way drivers, selfie-seekers, hammocks in the median and more — officials fear motorists unfamiliar with high-speed expressways will cause accidents or worse. A force of 18 highway-patrol officers and 200 security cameras are on the lookout for scofflaws.
Homegrown Scams
Phnom Penh authorities busted a cyber scamming ring using locals to target fellow countrymen. Police declined to reveal the compound’s location or the number of suspects detained, saying only that Chinese and Cambodians were arrested.
Hazard Duty
Cambodia next month will send a demining team to help train Ukrainians. The Kingdom’s deminers, among the world’s most accomplished, will work in non-combat areas, officials said.
Art Loot
Cambodian experts are “highly suspicious” of Khmer artifacts discovered in Oxford University's Ashmolean Museum and the British Museum. The relics were acquired from Khmer Rouge territory, and in some cases linked to the disgraced art dealer Douglas Latchford. Cambodia believes they were stolen.
BACKPAGES: From The Cambodia Daily Vault
Daylong Hostage Standoff Ends in Deaths
November 4, 2002
Two gunmen and at least one hostage were killed in the course of a daylong hostage drama in the Mongkol Borei district of Banteay Meanchey province that unfolded after an apparent botched robbery at a private health clinic, provincial officials said Sunday.
Riverfront Strip Offers a View of the Seedy Side of Cambodian Tourism
November 2, 2002
Chamroeun has been hawking his services on Phnom Penh’s heavily touristed Sisowath Quay for close to 10 years, though he is now only 16. He gives all of the money he makes to his mother. “She is home, jobless,” he says.
Allegations of World Bank Graft Denied
October 31, 2002
The top World Bank official in Cambodia defended himself on Wednesday against accusations of corruption in connection with the military’s demobilization program, claiming his critics have a vendetta against him.
WEEKEND READING
Rare Orchid Trade in Oral Mountains Linked to Chinese Traditional Medicine
The muddy-brown leaves with their pink spidery veins blend into the damp earth of Knong Psar’s forests on the boundary of Kampong Speu and Koh Kong provinces. Until recently, Hing Sao stepped over the plants like any other as he traipsed the mountains for almost two decades.
Photos: Angkor Wat, Akshay Mahajan, Flickr. Police, Chris Ellinger, Flickr.
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