Category Archives: Culture

‘I do not do policy or diplomacy by tweets’

17 Saturday Nov 2018

Posted by in Culture, International, Issue, Politics, Social

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My dear Kacvey,

The President of France, Emmanuel Macron, has given a lesson of responsibility in high politics and diplomacy that you may wish to instill in your students ethical behavior in the modern and fast age of technology and social media.

Politico has this title: Macron to Trump: ‘I do not do policy or diplomacy by tweets’ and The New York Times: Macron’s Response to Trump: ‘I Do Not Do Policy or Diplomacy by Tweets’

You may ask what does that have to do with my class?
Well, good behavior and respect of high responsibility have a lot to do with your students prospective careers.

Let leave to Emmanuel Macron and Donald trump what belongs to Emmanuel Macron and Donald Trump to deal with between themselves. Instead, let just recall how the weak strongman uses Facebook to rule Cambodia, to brag about his millions “like”, to disparage people he doesn’t like, and also to raise wager with his nemesis!

Your students should bear in mind that:
– the country has scales of laws and regulations (whether or not voted and implemented by the kangaroos!)
– the prime minister is the head of the government composed of ministers (sycophantic or otherwise!) to run the ministries;
– the government has ambassadors accredited to various world capitals, and
– the government has administrative procedures and mechanism to ensure that governmental decisions are passed on hierarchically for smooth implementation.

In a very simple term, if the weak strongman uses his Facebook account to dictate his wimp, why should there be ministers and all those useless officials or ministries? why should there be national assembly? why should there be courts and tribunals? why should there be ambassadors?
Why not then abolishing the whole concept of the three branches of power and just having a big screen with the weak strongman sitting in front of the screen and belting out any stupidity that crosses his mind?

In international diplomacy and official dealings, who on earth outside Cambodia cares about what the weak strongman says or writes in Khmer in his Facebook account? Do world leaders at the UN, the EU, the IPU, or the ASEAN, etc … pay any attention to what the weak strongman says or writes in Khmer about his justification of the sham election for one-party state, of the death of democracy and the abuse and violation of human rights and freedom of association? No, no, and no.

Your students are clever enough to understand that you, Kacvey, don’t care about what they think or write in their Facebook account, and that you only accept home works or term papers either in hard copy or through email from them directly submitted to you. None of your student should never argue that: “But, professor Kacvey, I wrote my dissertation on my Facebook!”

To which you laughingly respond: “I do not correct your Facebook paper!”

A 3,200,000 US Dollars Watch

04 Sunday Nov 2018

Posted by in Culture, Governance, Social

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My dear Kacvey,

Do you recall a 1974 to 1978 television series titled “The Six Million Dollar Man” starring Lee Majors?

Well, in the City of Tonlé Buon Mouk, there now is a man whose monthly salary is about US$1,100, but dons a US$3,200,000 watch. Oh, by the way, would there also be a handbag for the lady at, for example, 1/10 of that price?

For now, just have a quick recap to situate where Khmer citizens stand in the context of Cambodia economics:
– In 2017, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita in Cambodia was US$1,135.20, equivalent to 9 percent of the world’s average. GDP per capita in Cambodia averaged US$648.27 from 1993 until 2017, reaching an all time high of US$1,135.20 in 2017 and a record low of US$321.40 in 1994.
– Minimum wage in Cambodia averaged US$130.25 per month from 2014 to 2017, and the minimum monthly wage of workers in textiles and footwear industry is US$170.00.

Please ask your students to do the math to find out how many years it would take for the US$1,100 monthly salaried man to pay for that watch, and how many years for the average garment workers to do the same, and all this without eating and feeding their family!?

Should we dwell on the question how such a situation could happen in such a banana state? No, to repeat it again and again is a waste of time as it has already been extensively written about: Just go to “search” box and type: Corruption, Nepotism, autocracy, Hostile Takeover or Global Witness, and then you get the answer.

Then you might ask why raising the issue of US$3,200,000 watch? Who on earth would wear such treasure on his wrist: would Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, Jack Ma, or even the founders of the brand Antoni Patek and Adrien Philippe do it? There gotta to be, among reasonable and sane mind, an awareness and conscientiousness about value that differentiates those who earn their fortune through pure hard work and entrepreneurship and those who come from the jungle at the border between Cambodia and Vietnam and becoming corrupt autocrat through communism, deceit and falsity.

The answer is simple: It’s about the political hypocrisy, repulsive and nauseating dishonesty, and the ex-genocidal-KR turned rogue selling the entire Cambodia out to Vietnam and China:
– the weak strongman pretends to care about the fate of garments workers against the serious threat from the EU about EBA withdrawal, whereas in fact he remains stubborn in his oppressive politics against the Khmer;
– he isolates himself more and more from the future interest of the country, focusing instead on his short-term scheme of protecting his power, family and wealth;
– he continues to shackle and vassalize the country to China through concessions after concessions on use of land, destruction of natural resources and multiplication of gambling and vices industry and businesses;
– his government shames Cambodia on its ineffectiveness and incompetence in the international arena;
– he is the pariah among the world leaders including ASEAN;
– his sycophants’ ill-earned fortune that is stashed in foreign lands is under scrutiny or investigation;
– his trips outside Cambodia have been met with huge demonstrations by overseas Khmer, and
– he uses the result of the sham election as a licence to further alienate the rights and freedom of Khmer citizen in their march towards democracy.

If only the US$3,200,000 watch could tell him the time when his rule is up for CHANGE!

Les Trois Grands “U”

14 Sunday Oct 2018

Posted by in Culture, Governance, Institution, International, Issue, Politics, Social, Stories

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Mon cher Kacvey,

Vos étudiants devraient se gratter la tête pour comprendre qu’est ce qui se passe en ce moment dans la Cité de Tonlé Buon Mouk avec les déclarations de toute sorte des 3 trois grands “U”.

Les 3 grands “U”, c’est quoi donc?

Ouais! l’ONU, l’Union européenne, et les Etats-Unis. Tous les 3 ont un “U” dans leur nom. Simplifions l’orthographie, quoi!

Ah, sanctions économiques, EBA, critique internationale mitraillée de quatres coins du monde contre le faible homme-fort même au sein de l’Asean, lui même en désarroi au sein de son propre parti et ridiculement hué à Sydney, New York, Tokyo et bientôt Bruxelles et  Genève!

Vous saisissez tous, Kacvey! Alors, vous vous débrouillez pour expliquer à vos étudiants les raisons, causes et effets de tous ces machins-là. Mais voici, en supplément, un téléphone arabe tout récemment intercepté par la déesse de l’année du chien (Tévoda Chnam Chôr) quand, au hazard, elle se promenait dans son chariot dans le ciel au-dessus de nos têtes:

Phnuoy Mék: Allô, mon Seigneur. C’est Phnuoy Mék à l’appareil. Je me prosterne à vos pieds pour vous présenter mes respects.
On Ze: Allô oui. Je vous entends. J’ai seulement 3 minutes avec vous. Washington est sur mes talons. Je vous écoute.
Phnuoy Mék: Les 3 grands “U” sont aussi sur mes talons et je ne sais pas quoi faire. J’attends un geste ou un mot de vous pour réagir contre eux.
On Ze: Je sais, mais vous êtes assez grand pour vous débrouiller, non?! Je ne peux pas mélanger votre histoire avec la guerre commerciale qui me menace en ce moment de Washington. Chaque chose a ses priorités.
Phnuoy Mék: Je vous ai attendu à New York pour montrer à ces 3 “U” que vous êtes le Seigneur en qui j’ai le plus absolu dévouement et qu’ils cessent de m’enquiquiner. Mais vous m’avez posé un lapin.
On Ze: Je ne voulais pas me mettre les pieds au pays des Yankees, mais il y avait pas mal de mes sujets déguisés en supporteurs pour vous encourager.
Phnuoy Mék: Vos “supporteurs” étaient dans les rues et en inferiorité numérique, mais il n’y avait personne de taille dans le grand hall de l’ONU pour me soutenir.
On Ze: Allez, arrêtez de vous plaindre. Quoi d’autre?
Phnuoy Mék: Si EBA passait dans quelques mois, j’aurai une grande crise dans mes bras.
On Ze: Ne comptez-pas sur moi pour acheter ou importer chez moi vos vêtements et chaussures fabriqués chez vous. S’il y a crise sociale, utilisez les millions de dollars qui sont dans vos chaussettes et matelas. Je peux exporter d’autres dollars pour vous, mais je N’IMPORTE ni vos vêtements ni vos chaussures. J’en ai déjà trop de tout ce bazard chez moi.
Phnuoy Mék: Mais, Seigneur, j’ai plus d’un million de travailleuses et leurs familles qui dépendent de la production et de l’exportation de ces vêtements et chaussures.
On Ze: Moi, j’ai plus d’un milliard et demi de bouches à nourrir. Savez-vous faire le math? D’ailleurs, pourquoi depuis tout ce temps-là n’avez-vous jamais réfléchi ou compris que vos usines fonctionnent et vos travailleuses vivent au dépens des dépenses de consommation des gens des 2 grands “U”?
Phnuoy Mék: Mais, c’est les entrepreneurs de chez vous, de Hong Kong, de l’Asean qui décident toujours pour moi.
On Ze: Ces entrepreneurs n’étaient pas chez vous ni avant ni après que vous arriviez de chez Ngouy en 1979. N’oubliez pas que c’est vous qui les invitiez à venir s’installer chez vous depuis 1995, et vous et votre famille en tirez énormement de profits personnels depuis lors. Pourquoi vous n’investissez JAMAIS vos énormes ressources accumulées au fur du temps dans ces usines-là, au lieu de dépendre éternellement et à 100% des facteurs extérieurs?
Phnuoy Mék: Soit. Je vous entends, Seigneur. Que ferai-je de vos entrepreneurs qui dirigent les usines de vêtements et de chaussures?
On Ze: Ils n’ont absolument pas besoin de vous parce qu’ils savent que vous ne pouvez rien faire pour eux. S’ils ferment leurs usines et rentrent chez eux, ce n’est plus leur problèmes de gérer les travailleuses qui n’ont pas de travail. C’est VOUS. Quant à moi, je ne leur dirai rien parce qu’ils savent déjà quoi faire. Sachez que les portes d’investissement sont ouvertes au Bengladesh, en Turquie ou même chez Ngouy!
Phnuoy Mék: Qu’est ce que je devrais faire pour qu’ils ne délocalisent pas leurs usines de chez moi?
On Ze: Si vous êtes communiste comme moi, soyez de vrai communiste avec la dictature du prolétariat. Le communisme et la démocracie sont deux ennemis idéologiques et politiques. Si vous êtes communiste par le biais des élections, même truquées, vous êtes un faux communiste. Regardez moi; regardez Ngouy.
Phnuoy Mék: Au sujet de Ngouy, que diriez-vous de son nouveau président?
On Ze: Au moins, il y a du changement chez Ngouy, comme chez moi. Il n’y a que chez vous que les dirigeants ont des racines comme les banians de Ta Prohm. C’est en changeant qu’on améliore. Même le communisme change les communistes qui changent la face du communisme.
Phnuoy Mék: Alors, Seigneur, vous n’êtes pas d’accord avec le choix de mon fils aîné comme mon successeur?
On Ze: Je ne répète pas ce que je vous ai déjà dit la dernière fois sur ce sujet.
Phnuoy Mék: Etes-vous fâché contre moi, Seigneur?
On Ze: L’émotion et les sentiments n’ont pas de place dans ma politique et la gestion du monde n’est pas un roman d’amour. Dernier point?
Phnuoy Mék: Oui, Seigneur. Si EBA, les sanctions imposées par Washington sur mes “sales 17” (Dirty Seventeen) et les résolutions de UNHRC contre mon autorité domestique deviennent réalité, que deviendraient vos sujets qui s’établissent à Kg Som et ailleurs, et leurs casinos?
On Ze: Je compte sur vous non seulement pour les PROTEGER mais aussi pour tenir vos obligations envers moi car vous avez déjà perçu d’énormes redevances en contrepartie.
Phnuoy Mék: Mais, Seigneur, si, pour une raison ou une autre, la crise sociale déborde et si les amis de Ngouy dans les maisons flottantes et les gros sampans de Tonlé Sap se croisent les bras?
On Ze: Alors, personne n’est indispensable. Je pourrais vous trouver une résidence luxueuse dotée de meilleure médecine traditionelle – comme jadis reservée pour le prince – pour vous dans la province natale de vos ancêtres, le “Nan Min” ou le “Bei Min.” Comme ça, vous pourrez goûter la douceur de la vie dans le communisme étranger avec plus d’un milliard et demi de gens comme voisins. Et soyez rassuré que vous ne manqueriez pas de “tréy ngiét” pour vos repas du soir.

Il y eut un click, et le téléphone arabe coupé. La déesse de l’année du chien jeta un coup d’oeil vers la terre et vit Phnuoy Mék titubant tout seul vers le Tonlé Buon Mouk, une main sur sa poitrine comme pour supplier son coeur de ne pas le lâcher.

The Complete Loss of Order

26 Sunday Aug 2018

Posted by in Culture, Governance, Human Rights, Issue, Justice, Politics, Social

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My dear Kacvey,

After the sham election, it looks like the weak strongman is changing the cards deck and sticking his finger out to feel which direction the wind is blowing in order for him to save his dictatorship from a possible and probable shipwreck.

This is how he has been shuffling the new deck of cards: releasing prisoners that his administration and its sycophantic henchmen in the police and judiciary system had arrested, condemned and incarcerated through trumped and bogus charges, and for purely political motives as to silence any critics against his corrupt and repressive policy.

The pregnant vixen named August has been so prolific in delivering cubs, all named Pardon, one after another:
– on 17 August 2018: Kim Sok, a political commentator was released after 18 months in jail;
– on 20 August 2018, Tep Vanny, along with 3 other land rights defenders were released after 2 years in jail;
– on 21 August 2018, Uon Chhin and Yeang Sothearin, two journalists were released on bail;
– on 23 August 2018, Sourn Serey Ratha, the former leader of Khmer Power Party was released after spending more than a year in jail; (N.B. Suorn Serey Ratha was first pardoned in July 2015)
– on 25 August 2018, Um Sam An, an opposition parliamentarian, was released after spending more than 2 years in jail.
– on 27 August 2018, past midnight, Meach Sovannara and 13 other prisoners belonging to the opposition party were released after spending more than 3 years in jail.
(The list will be updated as soon as news on new delivery is provided by the animals hospital.)

Kacvey, this set of successive news on releases and pardons must blow the brain of your students as well as yours as to what has been behind all of these? What is the weak strongman’s next move and what will be future consequences on the overall political landscape of Cambodia?

For now, from the bench of the campus auditorium, let formulate some conjectures or postulates and put them forward to your students for discussions:

Intra-Party pressure
The crooked victory has been the least celebrated in the history of the ruling party: no ovation, no fanfare, no firecrackers, no music, no parade, no joy, no nothing that resembled a pride and well-earned victory. It’s rather like a funerals or dismal and lugubrious mourning, without procession, upon the coffin of the dead body of democracy. They won all the 125 seats, and why are they not happy and elated?

It doesn’t need an Einstein to see through: they won through manipulation, deceit and intimidation, and they OVERDID it. They never feared of losing but they expected massive and public and explosive popular expression of discontentment and rejection. They overplayed their hand, and the people responded with a peaceful, internal, silent and zen-like discontentment and rejection.They felt the atmosphere of public resentment.

Within the close-knit circle of the weak strongman, that public resentment touched sensitive nerves of a few sycophants that still have brain and heart. The relatives of the Dirty Seventeen may ask a very simple question: with such a public resentment, how is the weak strongman going to govern? More repression on “what”, the opposition party being already out of the picture? Well, if the weak strongman has no more “official opposition” to kick around, he will kick those around him around.

Sometimes, sycophants can’t be that stupid all the times.

Kacvey, would you think that this new forum called “Supreme Council of Consultations“(SCC) would make the members of his party happy or be welcomed by them? Who are these 16 scums to check on the power of the ruling party that not only occupies all the 125 seats at the national assembly but also the executive and judiciary branches? The weak strongman by wanting so much to be praised for his  corrupt and unpraisable deeds has just ridiculed himself inexorably.

International Pressure
Kacvey, you have already read tons of literature on the reactions of the international community to the sham election, and what they had done and expect to do in the future. We continue to document and update ourselves ceaselessly from Washington, Brussels and Canberra, Northern Capital and Eastern Capital falling off the radar.

What makes the weak strongman so frustrated with the international pressure that dominates the news during the electoral campaign, the sham election and afterward? His entire government runs out of arguments and ideas to counter Washington or Brussels, and there is NOBODY to carry the torch to challenge both capitals; (Oh, there is one, the head of the bodyguard unit who is ready to make war against the US!) he himself, having no personal ability nor skill to sit at the table and articulate and negotiate in person and viva voce.

Moreover, there is one disconnect between the weak strongman and the Dirty Seventeen that surround him in supporting his autocratic power: The international pressure is more strongly felt by the Dirty Seventeen than by the weak strongman himself. The weak strongman keeps on quacking to whom who wants to listen to that he has no fortune stacked in overseas accounts, but things are not the same with the Dirty Seventeen with regards to Australia and the US. If these Dirty Seventeen truly believe in the perennity of the weak strongman, why don’t they leave their fortune in Cambodia along with the weak strongman’s wealth? Why do they stash their fortune in Australia or the US or anywhere else outside Cambodia?

The Dirty Seventeen may ask a simple question: if their name are black listed, what can the weak strongman do to make it “white”? Weak Strongman, you have the floor, like you routinely do in front of the garment workers, before or after the sham election! Dirty Seventeen are waiting!

Oh Kacvey, one more thing. The weak strongman is also planning to sell his crooked victory through sham election to some European governments and the United Nations in New York in September and October (and also Japan, but well, don’t waste our time with Tokyo!) But there seems to be no enthusiasm and heat in preparing these so-called official trips: the feedback from those capitals is that the weak strongman would not to be welcome as a national liberator like Gandhi or Mandela, but would rather be met with snubs and massive demonstrations. [Remember the burning of ទីងមោង​ in Australia in March 2018!]

World leaders – except those notorious one-party state dictators – know the difference between a democratically elected head of government and a banana state autocrat. What ever speech he will deliver would never be believed, the burden of the sham election being so heavy and already undeniable. Poor speech writer(s), you’ll have such an impossible task, especially when your heart is only 50% with what and whom you work with!

By the same token, would the Dirty Seventeen dare showing their face with the autocratic delegation to visit their relatives attending colleges or to check on their properties in those places?

The devil in a saint cloak
The Sichuan Opera 川剧 is also known as the faces changing art 变脸. In this genre of opera, generally male actors or performers change from one face or mask to another almost instantaneously with the swipe of a fan, a movement of the head, or wave of the hand. With such a frequent visit to China, the weak strongman must certainly have attended that opera.

Kacvey, you may ask what has to do with the weak strongman and his sham election aftermath? Well, it has to do with how he’s managing that aftermath. He’s trying to change the mask of an evil dictator to a saint with a halo! He’s promoting himself as a saint showing mercy,  compassion and clemency to the same prisoners that months or years earlier his bodyguards or judiciary goons, on his direct orders, arrested them and threw them in jail for no constitutional or legal rhyme or reason? Now that the sham election is over, and the democratic threat to his regime has already been crushed, he dons a saint cloak and mask to bless his autocratic sins.

A wicked man is capable of everything: one day he’s Satan, the next day a saint, and on and on. A wicked man can fool Tom, Dick or Harry some of the time but he cannot fool them all the time. It’s a fashion now for murderous ex-KR to hide behind religion conversion and to be reborn to cleanse their guilty conscience from the genocidal blood, but the weak strongman needs to attend theology classes if he wants his saint cloak to be believed.

“To keep you is no benefit. To destroy you is no loss.”
These two phrases were used by Pol Pot and his ideologues to inflict accusation on the New People that the Khmer Rouge were about to do away with.

As soon as Tep Vanny and three other human rights defenders were released from jail, the kangaroo court of the weak strongman found her and other five members of the community guilty of OTHER crime. It’s not a secret to anybody that the weak strongman has in his sleeves a plethora of accusations against anybody that criticizes him or his repressive and corrupt authority. Cases in point are those of the self-exiled and ex-leader of the opposition and the current opposition leader who has been put in jail since September 2017 without investigations, charges or evidence of any wrongdoing.

The weak strongman exercises his repressive authority like an octopus: one tentacle release one prisoner at a time, others catch others; and once a prisoner is caught, the octopus spews its black ink on him/her that can’t be erased; it tells the prisoner she/he is “marked” for ever. The message from the weak strongman is clear: once a prisoner of him, there is no escape. Any release, through pardon or otherwise, is just a temporary relief. For now, “to keep you [in jail] is no benefit.”

Kacvey, your students might also ask what do these releases and pardons have to do with the crimes that those recently-released have been wrongly and fictitiously accused of? Why have they been subject to double punishment? Beware, the devil in a saint cloak remains a devil till end of its time.

The weak strongman, having put Cambodia during the last 34 years in a state of complete loss of order, has not had a good night sleep since the end of the sham election.

=====
Update:
– on 4 September 2018, UCA News reported: Political analyst flees Cambodia after threats to daughter – Recently released Kim Sok warned by caller to stop criticizing Hun Sen’s government
– on 8 September 2018, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported: Long Beach resident held political prisoner for years in Cambodia safely returns to U.S.

A Poem about KhmerPAC

21 Tuesday Aug 2018

Posted by in Culture, Social

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My dear Kacvey,

Wish to share with you this poem written by a visitor, and hope you would, sotto voce, THANK the author if, by any chance, you both meet each other somehow and somewhere.

“ខ្មែរបក្ស” [KHMERPAC]

“ខ្មែរបក្ស”កវីសំដីពីរោះ តើចិត្តពិតស្មោះដូចចិត្ត”សុទ្ធ”ស្មាន
“សុទ្ធ”សឹងស្រែកយំ”សុទ្ធ”ទ្រំាំមិនបាន “សុទ្ធ”សូមរាប់អាន”កវី”យល់ព្រម?

“ខ្មែរបក្ស”កវីថ្វីមិនទាន់ស្គាល់ “សុទ្ធ”សែនកង្វល់ឆ្ងល់មិនគ្រប់ល្មម
ចង់ដឹងចង់យល់”កវី”ខ្លឹមស្រោម? “ខ្មែរបក្ស”ចំណោមចំណែកណាខ្លះ?

“ខ្មែរបក្ស”កវីនិយាយខ្មែរបាន? ដូចខ្មែរគ្រប់ប្រាណឬ”សុទ្ធ”យល់ខុស?
កវីប្រាប់ “សុទ្ធ”ដោយចិត្តស្ម័គ្រស្មោះ កុំតែបង់បោះលះបាត់បំណង!

“សុទ្ធ”អាចនិយាយពីរ(២)ភាសាទៀត សូម”កវី”ឆ្លៀតសំរួលសំរង់
ប្រាប់មក”សុទ្ធ”វិញប្រាប់ដោយត្រង់ៗ ព្រោះតែ “សុទ្ធ”ចង់យល់អ្វី”ខ្មែរបក្ស”?

Dans “Le discours de la méthode”, René Descartes disait: “La poésie est des dons de l’esprit plutôt que des fruits de l’étude.”

The Dirty Dozen + Others

29 Friday Jun 2018

Posted by in Culture, Governance, Justice, Politics, Social

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My dear Kacvey,

Two dates in June 2018 had shaken the confidence and serenity by which the autocrat has been behaving himself amid the institutional and political storm that he voluntarily created since September 2017 to protect his personal and despotic ambition and the economic and financial interests of his tribe in view of the legislative elections scheduled for 29 July 2018.

Bu in the following month, more revelations have come from various news organizations that hit the head of the nail harder and harder.

For our records:

Keeping track of numbers with new total: The Dirty Seventeen [Dirty 17].

When truth speaks, its voice is louder than the thunder and carries beyond the horizon.

So far, the autocrat has not made any official comments yet, his barking dogs doing the dirty work for him in lieu of his silence. Let him brew his reactions in his own heart and mind, but whatever he feels his autocratic machinery will certainly have no ability to rebut the issues point by point, line by line, or item by item. The revelation is like a sharp arrow piercing the heart of the wolf to bleed in its loneliness.

Kacvey, there must be some children or relatives of the “Dirty Dozen + Others” among your law school students. How would they hold up their face in front of their friends and peers whose parents are law-abiding, honest and accountable? The burden that corrupt fathers impugn on their children’s shoulders is so heavy and the shame that those children have to endure in years to come is so devastating that even history could not save them.

Ask Lon Nol’s or Pol Pot’s children!

 

Mère et Fils

26 Thursday Apr 2018

Posted by in Book, Culture, Social, Stories

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Mon cher Kacvey,

Voici un bouquin que vous pourriez fortement recommender à vos étudiants comme lecture informelle pendant les grandes vacances (titre du livre envoyé en courriel privé pour éviter d’être taxé de publicité indirecte!)

Pour ne pas trop divulguer, dites à vos élèves que:
– c’est un livre écrit par un cambodgien sur sa vie depuis son jeune âge jusqu’à l’âge de 27 ans à Prey Lovéa (province de Takéo) et Phnom Penh;
– sa ténacité et son endurance à s’accrocher à ses études malgré la pauvreté et les malheurs familiaux qui surgissent continuellement les uns après les autres;
– l’amour et le suport support familiaux dispensés à tout moment important par sa mère et sa grande tante sous les larmes constantes de la mauvaise fortune;
– la lutte contre la méchanceté de l’inconnu de demain perpétrée soit par les évènements hors de leur portée ou soit intentionellement par des gens sans vergogne;
– comme une étoile, son amour platonique qui scintille sous les nuages des fois noires ou ravageuses, et
– malgré tout ça, un dénouement qui récompense joyeusement.

Kacvey, vos étudiants devraient prendre connaissance de la vie de ce “caractère” khmer et litéraire. S’ils ignoraient les quelques fautes d’édition et d’impression, ils pourront tirer de très bonnes leçons de la vie de ce protagoniste exemplaire.

Bonne lecture!

Greeting the Chaul Chnam Khmer, Year of the Dog

13 Friday Apr 2018

Posted by in Culture, Event, Social

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My dear Kacvey,

The Year of the Rooster ended dramatically for Cambodia, and what a long list of outstanding and disastrous items that the Rooster has to hand over to the Dog:
– democracy was murdered;
– constitution was trampled and rule of law massacred;
– freedom was shackled;
– opposition was not only outlawed but annihilated;
– opponents were ruthlessly and arbitrarily threatened, accused, arrested, jailed or forced to exile;
– press, radio stations and NGOs were forced to close;
– corruption was aggressively multiplied;
– nepotism reached a level higher than the Everest;
– leadership irresponsibility and unaccountability was exponentially accrued;
– Kg Som, one among many other places, has become a Chinese town for mainland Chinese gamblers;
– debts towards Vietnam, China and Japan became epidemically rampant;
– 1991 Paris Peace Accords were thrashed, and
– the ex-KR has crowned himself the sole and uncontested autocrat by putting all state institutions in his hands or under his feet.

Nevertheless, there was one particular moment when the Rooster shared the joy of the people who, at the June 2017 commune elections, voted heavily in favor of change and to reject the old order of the ex-KR autocracy. Unfortunately, it was a short-lived joy and hope as the autocrat, sensing the wave of popular rejection and dislike of his corrupt regime, reverted to old political playbook of neo-Stalinism that is associated with terror and totalitarian rule.

Farewell Rooster, and Thanks for being there!

Welcome Chnam Thméy, the Year of the Dog, and if, as traditional saying goes, dog is indeed a man’s best friend, the questions for the next 365 days would then be:
– whose best friend the Dog will be? the Khmer people or the ex-KR autocrat?
– would the Dog be a leashed one to protect the corrupt villa or would it be a K9 helping to sniff out drug, firearm or explosive at the airport?
– would the Dog be a stray or vagabond dog that is infested with vermin, roaming the garbage fields and could be savagely caught for ugly gastronomy purposes?
– would the Dog be the one that could be a serious contender to win the National Dog Show? or
– would the Dog be a puppy fed with Purina or a bitch living off human excrement?

Whatever breed the Dog will turn to be, Cambodia warmly welcomes you as we are bound to live together during your 1-year stint. Contemporaneously and in unison, we will work to change Cambodia to be a truly democratic state where rule of law and respect of human rights and freedom are paramount.

My dear Kacvey, may the good spirit of the Chnam Châr be the bright lodestar guiding your endeavor throughout.

Why are the people …

12 Monday Feb 2018

Posted by in Culture, Justice, Social

≈ 1 Comment

My dear Kacvey,

Long, long before François Fénélon wrote “Dialogues des Morts” (pour l’éducation de Mgr Le Duc de Bourgogne), Laozi taught the way to govern the people.

In Chapter 72 of Dao De Jing 道德经，七十二章, Laozi 老子 said:
“When the people fear no longer your power,
“It is a sign that a greater power is coming.”
“民不畏威，则大畏至。”

“Interfere not lightly with their dwelling,
“Nor lay heavy burden upon their livelihood.”
“无狎其所居, 无厌其所生。”

“Only when you cease to weary them,
“They will cease to be wearied of you.”
“夫唯不厌，是以不厌。”

Furthermore, in Chapter 75 七十五章, Laozi added:
“Why are the people hard to manage?
“Because those above them are fussy and have private ends to serve.
“That is why they are hard to manage.”
“民之难治，以其上之有为，是以难治。”

Also in Chapter 31 三十一章 Laozi seemed to tell warmongers and hegemons that:
“As weapons are instruments of evil,
“They are not properly a gentleman’s instruments;
“Only on necessity will he resort to them.
“For peace and quiet are dearest to his heart,
“And to him even a victory is no cause for rejoicing.

“To rejoice over a victory is to rejoice over the slaughter of men!
“Hence a man rejoices over the slaughter of men cannot expect to thrive in the world of men.”
“兵者不祥之器，非君子之器，不得已而用之，恬淡为上。
“勝而不美。
“而美之者。
”是乐杀人者，不可以得志于停下矣。”

The Forty Four Scums

30 Thursday Nov 2017

Posted by in Culture, Governance, Institution, Politics, Social

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My dear Kacvey,

Have you seen any scam walking around in your neighborhood? Because 44 of them have been seen entering the national assembly to take over the seats anti-constitutionally to pretend to represent more than 3 millions people who never ever voted for them.

Merriam-Webster defines scum as a low, vile, or worthless person or group of people. Such a person is regarded as a despicable and shameless element of society.

So the banana state not only that it is run by an autocrat that concentrates all 3 powers in his hands (legislative, executive and judiciary) it now has scums as legislators who in cahoots with the autocrat will transform the state into an absolute despotism; he took the power from the people and distributed it to scums that behave worst than pigs that eat anything or garbage.

If your students wondered why politics in the City of Tonlé Buon Mouk has reached such a low-level of putridity and rottenness, please refer them to Noteworthy News page that extensively archives the flow of events and particularly this article by Geoffrey Cain in The Nation. However, it is hoped that none of your students has anything to do, be it family or friendship or business relationship, with these 44 scums because, if he/she had, what and how would she/he behave in front of millions of honest and law-abiding citizens who abhor such a public and anti-constitutional thievery? It is also hoped that history will put the names of these 44 scums on public display that never the country in future will put its trust in their morally filthy and besmirched hands.

A Phnom Penh Post’s article titled “Mixed feelings as unelected lawmakers are sworn in to National Assembly” should win the prize for the best title of the year! By the way – and just for fun! – which of the two: “The Forty Robbers” in The Arabian Nights’s Ali Baba or the The Forty Four Scums – all thievery being equal – has a better moral ground? You and your students are the judges!

Your students might also ask why replacing the democratically and officially elected lawmakers with those scums when the state institutions and laws are all there for the country to go forward following the spirit of the 1991 Paris Peace Accords and the ensuing May 1993 elections under the auspices of UNTAC? Well, we did in the past have had multiple conversations on those issues, for example: The Weak and Desperate Strongman, Generation “DEMOCRACY”, 2016: The Year of Mortal Repression, Will the one-man show go on forever, Can They Really Prevent “Color Revolution”, or If He Were Overthrown, What Does That Mean for the Country? If your students put them all together and see them as a forest not as individual trees, everything would come out clearly as to the motives of such “scummery”. To all that, your students could add (1) the paradigm of wealth that the autocracy has amassed through the destruction of the country natural resources, the sell out of those resources to private and external interests, the corruption and nepotism at every level of the administration, and (2) the undeniable image of the shift of the population mind and choice during the 2017 communal elections.

The equation that the autocracy has to solve is how to protect the mass of wealth that it has accumulated since the departure of UNTAC – remember, these guys had barely the minimum necessary to survive between 1979 and 1993 – and to stay in power at the same time. In other words, stay in power at all cost to protect the wealth, and use the wealth to corrupt the institutions in order to protect the power. Power is the drug, and wealth buys drug! The wheel is come full circle!

Autocracy is fully aware of the popular and electoral hurdles it has to overcome, and the more it displays its bodyguards/police/military fire power to scare the public, the more the public becomes conscientious of its devilish scheme, the more it’s become harder for it to convince them. The audio tapes that were leaked, whether it was voluntary, incidental or accidental, does tell what has been going on inside the autocratic headquarters and what the tapes did not explicitly tell: dissension, unhappiness, lost of trust and lost of national perspectives.

The autocrat breeds the scums to reinforce its farm of absolute power as Mary Astell, an English writer, once said: “The scum of the People are most Tyrannical when they get the Power, and treat their Betters with the greatest Insolence.”

Meanwhile, history of Cambodia continues its course to show that all ingredients are in place for an unexpected turn of events as change of power was always through un-democratic means and force as:
– King Sihanouk and all popular movements fought in many years for the independence of the country in November 1953 from French colonialism;
– Lon Nol Ousted Prince Sihanouk in a coup d’état in 1970;
– Pol Pot ousted Lon Nol in April 1975 through long and bloody internal war;
– With military help from foreign country, the ex-KR-now-turned-autocrat ousted Pol Pot and took power on 9 January 1979;
– What will happen next is your students’ guess, but either history will repeat, or the power that the autocrat took away from the people must be returned to the people in order to stop the history wheel to continue to turn.

Herodotus, once, said: ‘Men’s fortunes are on a wheel, which in its turning suffers not the same man to prosper for ever.”