My dear Kacvey,

Are your students celebrating the 66th Anniversary of Khmer Independence at home or with the people who want Cambodia to be independent from the yoke of the ex-Khmer Rouge who transformed himself into a vulgar dictator in the same mold as his once-mentor, Pol Pot?

Oh, sorry for the interruption, just received a message from swallow Phkaï Mphéy that reads as follows: “Chheu Smaa getting further bogged down in its stubbornness has solicited Cha Cha assistance not to allow the exiled from landing in Bangkok. Chheu Smaa admits that to let the exiled be in Thailand is the prelude to its political end. Cha Cha seems to understand that if the exiled appeared at the borders, Chheu Smaa could not control its rogue elements and this would force Cha Cha to respond accordingly. Bloodbath would be inevitable at the border. Therefore Cha Cha gambled big by rescuing Chheu Smaa that will forever owe a big debt to Cha Cha until its death. Chheu Smaa is really afraid of letting the exiled landed in Pochentong. Cheeu Smaa doesn’t want the exiled to arrive in the City of Tonle Buon Mouk because it’s always been haunted by the image and aura of million of Khmer greeting the exiled in 2013 and the funerals procession of Mr. Kem Ley in July 2016. Chheu Smaa doesn’t want the exiled to be in Bangkok because from there the exiled could gather a massive column of followers to the border. In sum, Chheu Smaa doesn’t want the exiled to come to Cambodia at all: the stake is too high for Chheu Smaa if the exiled is in Cambodia or nearby Cambodia. Chheu Smaa’s concept of win-win turns out to be shamefully loose-loose. Therefore, Chheu Smaa has decided to kowtow to Cha Cha to save its feathers the same way it did to Vietnam 42 years ago in Kg Cham. Chheu Smaa prefers to do its best to maintain the status quo of its power and will see what emerges in the future. The connection between Chheu Smaa and the real people is totally severed and Chheu Smaa knows it and he also knows that it can never be restored. Chheu Smaa, from its nest in Old Man Khmau fortress is trying very hard not to fall into the 4 quicksands that bubble in his backyard. Chheu Smaa is flapping its wings stronger and stronger against the quicksands magnetism that attracts harder and harder every passing day. For now, Cha Cha has sent Chheu Smaa a lifeline, but like any lifeline, it is a temporary measure. End of message”

Hope your students will greet and join the Khmer without arms including their grandfathers and grandmothers, parents, brothers and sisters, cousins, uncles and aunts, nephews and nieces, neighbors, friends an acquaintances in their awakening on 9 November 2019. Together, on that auspicious day, they plan the seed of CHANGE and will look after it patiently, vigilantly and bravely until Chheu Smaa succumbs under the weight of the people’s will and thirst for democracy, freedom, and INDEPENDENCE.

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Update:
My dear Kacvey,
Swallow Phkaï Mphéy has returned from Poipet where the police and military on both sides of the frontier sensed that somebody had stood them up. They were, however, excused by the population for just trying to do their job without knowing what sort of job it was about.
Meanwhile, Cha Cha seemed not too happy as the exiled was more ore less welcomed in Kuala Lumpur instead. On top of that, he has been officially invited by a parliamentarian from Penang and daughter of Mr. Anwar Ibrahim, to a meeting at the Parliament building of Malaysia on Tuesday 12 November 2019. When it wakes up from the so-so ceremony of Independence, would Chheu Smaa be trying to convince Dr. M to change his mind or to instruct its envoy in Kuala Lumpur to play imbecile like the one in Jakarta? Other swallow will update us accordingly. But it’s safe to say that Chheu Smaa has so far been outsmarted by voodoo props set up in Old Man Khmau, Poipet and Pochentong.