Princess Jenna, Preah Vihear Forests and Kem Sokha's Trial

Feb 04, 2022

GENERAL UNEASE: Prime Minister Hun Sen is back to toeing the ASEAN line on Myanmar, banning the junta’s representative from an upcoming gathering of the regional alliance.
CASH STACKS: Striking NagaWorld employees rejected management’s claims that recent firings were due to the pandemic. They pointed to huge profits and big expansions.
GRINDING ON: The 29th hearing in the trial of Kem Sokha proceeded at a typically glacial pace, with the court showing hours of videos — followed by bickering and debate.

THE LEDE

Quarantines Are Back

Phnom Penh residents with Covid-19 could face jail for refusing to alert officials under drastic new measures against the surging Omicron variant.

All positive tests must be reported to health officials, who assess patients' ability to safely self-isolate. Those allowed to self-quarantine must sign a contract promising to stay home. Those who are not will be forced into state-run care.

The move upends a relaxed testing approach and may derail attempts to eliminate quarantines and other health restrictions in the name of the reeling economy. Two weeks ago, Prime Minister Hun Sen said patients with mild symptoms could isolate at home.

Forest Siege

Indigenous Kuy communities in Preah Vihear province accused the Ministry of Environment of having a hand in the wide-scale destruction of the area’s protected forests.

Clear-cutting in Prey Lang and Preah Roka represents an existential threat to the Kuy. Sacred forests are interlinked with the spiritual identity of the ethnic minority group, and many survive by collecting resin and other forest products.

The Kuy’s claims are nothing new. Repeated studies and reports have documented government complicity in deforestation.

Shooting Star

Meet Cambodia’s fastest rising royal starlet — 9-year-old Princess Jenna Norodom.

The precocious pre-teen songstress croons everything from pop hits to Golden Era standards by Sinn Sisamouth and Pan Ron.

Her YouTube songs have garnered tens of millions of views. She also dances and acts, with her thespian skills landing her roles in two popular television dramas.

Princess Jenna was born in Paris in 2012 and arrived in Cambodia at age 3. Her next step, it seems clear, is pop-culture stardom.

TALKING POINTS

Myanmar Line

Hun Sen is back on script after his star-crossed bid to bring Myanmar’s outcast leaders into the regional fold. The Strongman said Myanmar’s representative was unwelcome at a gathering of ASEAN leaders this month — a view held by the bloc’s heavies. Cambodia is the 2022 ASEAN chair.

Firewall This

Cambodia flayed U.N. critics of its National Internet Gateway, calling their remarks “politicized, imaginary and misleading.” Activists say the gateway — which will route internet traffic through a single, state-controlled choke point — puts too much surveillance and censorship power into officials' hands. Phnom Penh denounced any threat of government eavesdropping.

Court Bickers

The treason trial of Kem Sokha continued like a sloth race. In a four-hour Tuesday session, the court played six videos purporting to show the former opposition leader calling for peaceful change at the ballot box. Both sides bickered over the details and importance. This week’s proceedings marked the 29th hearing in his trial, which started in January 2020 but was suspended by the pandemic.

Strike Continues

Union members scoffed at NagaWorld’s claims that pandemic losses forced the April firing of more than 1,300 workers, most of whom happened to be union members. They pointed to steady profits and the $3.5-billion Naga3 expansion as evidence of the casino’s cash stacks. The union began striking in mid-December over claims of forced layoffs, miscalculated severance pay and more. Authorities have arrested several members, including union president Chhim Sithar.

Jan 7 Forever

Hun Sen reaffirmed the ruling party’s commitment to Victory Over Genocide Day on Jan 7 after analysts suggested the CPP was abandoning the national holiday. The prime minister said this year’s ceremonies were canceled by Covid-19, despite the government dropping pandemic-related restrictions in November.

Smokey Skies

The Ministry of Environment reported an alarming drop in air quality across the nation. It attributed the decline largely to the burning of fossil fuels, but also smoke from wildfires and dust from construction sites. Fires in the country’s northeast have spread haze as far as Malaysia.

Shiny Progress

Commercial gold-mining has left a once-prosperous village in Preah Vihear province with little more than health problems and land conflicts. Small-scale miners earned decent incomes before Delcom, a Chinese-Cambodia venture, arrived a decade ago. Since then, forests have been replaced by cassava fields, livestock have died inexplicably and local families have battled for equal access to land.

WEEKEND READS

Online fraud: how Chinese nationals forced to run internet scams in Cambodia earn millions for their captors, sometimes paying with their lives

Lured or trafficked to Cambodia with promises of lucrative jobs, victims instead find themselves worked relentlessly by brutal bosses fleecing people online

In Search of Forests

How Cambodia’s Protected ‘Flooded Forests’ All but Disappeared

Photos: Jenna Norodom, Facebook. Kem Sokha, CCHR.

The Weekly Dispatch

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