Cambodia Democracy in Two Acts

06 Friday Aug 2021

Posted by KhmerPAC in Governance, Human Rights, Institution, International, Issue, Justice, Politics

My dear Kacvey,

It looks like the train of US policy on Cambodia is hitting a high speed in Washington. Right after the visit by the Deputy Secretary of States, Wendy Sherman, to Phnom Penh in June 2021, the US legislative branch has been taking tremendous steps to go side by side with the White House.

On 28 July 2021, Congressmen Steve Chabot and Alan Lowenthal had endeavored to have the “Cambodia Democracy Act” UNANIMOUSLY and favorably voted by the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

On 5 August 2021, Senators Ed Markey, Marco Rubio and Dick Durbin jointly undertook to introduce legislation “Cambodia Democracy and Human Rights Act” to the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee.

The weak strongman may brush it off arguing that he had seen these maneuvers before, and that wouldn’t give him sleepless nights or further increase his blood pressure. So be it for himself!

While you and your students are going to study the situation as time goes by, one thing that seems not to be seen by the weak strongman is that his two foreign masters have no “counterweights” to Washington initiatives in their respective capitals of Inner River and Northern Capital. Northern Capital might continue to flow more money to the weak strongman’s pockets in the name of unshakable and historical friendship, development and BRI, whereas Inner River, while snubbing the weak strongman, is shaking the US hands joyfully and cooperatively day after day.

The US has written Cambodia Democracy in two acts; will the third and final one be the crowning of Democracy in Cambodia?

Exeunt the ex-KR-turned-corrupt-autocrat?

The Weak Strongman Gets Hacked

23 Friday Jul 2021

Posted by KhmerPAC in Event, Governance, Institution, International, Issue, Politics

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My dear Kacvey,

You and your students must be scratching your heads when the news about hacking was all over the wire services. Smart Alec outsmarted by a dog?!

For records:
1) The United States Department of Justice: Four Chinese Nationals Working with the Ministry of State Security Charged with Global Computer Intrusion Campaign Targeting Intellectual Property and Confidential Business Information, Including Infectious Disease Research
2) Prak Chan Thul and James Pearson reported for Reuters: Chinese hackers stole Mekong data from Cambodian foreign ministry – sources
3) Sun Reported for VOA: អាមេរិកចោទជនជាតិចិនថា លួចទិន្នន័យពីកម្ពុជាទាក់ទងនឹងការពិភាក្សាអំពីទន្លេមេគង្គ
US Indictment Alleges Chinese Hack of Cambodian Ministry

Well, as American justice takes its course, would you, Kacvey, expand this short rhyme into something more poetic for your students:

The weak strongman gets fooled by its master
Hacking its mfaic over issue of Mekong River.

Meanwhile, Inner River is laughing louder and louder;
Its infidel old valet has become indignant to Ho’s honor.

A valet serving two masters, sooner or later,
Will surely end up in a catastrophic Ta Khmao sewer.

The Deputy vs. PM

05 Monday Jul 2021

Posted by KhmerPAC in Event, Governance, International, Issue, Justice, Politics, Social, Stories

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My dear Kacvey,

In a cavern inside the City of Tonlé Buon Mouk, is the war between the “prime minister” and his 1st deputy now open to public view?

You may wish to closely analyze these 2 articles since you live right in the middle of the axis between the residences of the weak strongman and of the “deputy”:
1) Cambodianess: “Confiscated Lion Returned to Chinese Owner Following PM Hun Sen’s Intervention” by reporter/journalist Phoung Vantha, and
2) Phnom Penh Post: “Sar Kheng: No violence towards protesters” by reporter/journalist Voun Dara.

Is the weak strongman now trying to tell the world that not only he screwed his government front and back by stupidly reversing his own Ministry of Environment action just to please his Northern Capital master but also by so dying he is the worst imbecile and sick among world autocrats, past and present?

Kacvey, would you happen to know whether the weak strongman and the deputy talk to each other, and why the deputy was not at the meeting with U.S. Deputy State Secretary when the issues of human rights, arrest and jailing of opposition politicians and activist were discussed?

Rumors of dissention inside the corrupt people party has been in the air for quite sometime, is this the 1st of ray of light out of that tunnel of secrecy after 37 years of ex-KR rules, corruption as high as Mount Everest and wide as the Pacific ocean, and the selling of land, lakes, rivers, seashores, swamps, forests, rice fields, sands and mountains to 2 groups of foreigners?

The weak strongman was so silent on the issue of eviction of floating houses on the Mekong, and now becomes so vocal on the lion owned by that hideous Chinese man? Is he now the unconditional defender of the Chinese man inhumanely atrocious and illegal action?

There is common denominator between the Chinese man and the weak strongman: their attitude of cruelty against living creatures. The weak strongman arrests and jails opposition politicians and activists with bogus and trumped charges. The hideous Chinese man deteethed and denailed the lion, a torture method in ancient time and similar to what went on in Tuol Sleng under the KR, to which the weak strongman belonged before he fled to the neighboring country to seek help in 1977.

The Weak Strongman Admits he is a Dictator

11 Sunday Apr 2021

Posted by KhmerPAC in Event, Governance, History, Institution, Issue, Politics

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My dear Kacvey,

Your students and you will have to open a new subject for discussion on a common issue in the 3 pieces of information as follows:

1) Cambodianess
Hun Sen Blames Bad Governance, Orders Stringent COVID Measures as WHO Warns of Health Disaster

2) Channel News Asia
Cambodian PM Hun Sen threatens COVID-19 quarantine-breakers with jail

3) Persuasion
The Other Tyrants

After 36 years, the weak strongman issued, from the KR revolutionary, educational and guerilla stock reveals his definition of his own character and nature: not only dictatorial but also intrinsically uneducated, savage, corrupt, irreligious, unethical, irresponsible and unaccountable.

Unable to re-engineer himself out of the vassalhood that he has bounded himself with two foreign masters and with that, alienated the entire nation and population to only God-knows when, his self-admission seems to be the last chapter that he can write on the screen on his FB account despite the arrogance of his language. He has nobody to adulate or “admire” him anymore, nobody to “hold his eggs” (trôr pông) anymore, but only his remaining sycophants and the image of himself that he can only see half of it on the reflection on his computer screen. He threatens to arrest and jail more innocent people, but he’s so blind not to see that he is a prisoner of his own power within four walls of his palace with only a peep to the outside world through ZOOM, FB or YouTube!

He is a prisoner of fear.

He is a selfish tyrant who destroys Cambodia.

As Soren Kierkegaard, once, said: “The tyrant dies and his rule is over, the martyr dies and his rule begins.”

The Three Kingdoms

17 Thursday Dec 2020

Posted by KhmerPAC in Event, Governance, Institution, International, Politics, Social

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My dear Kacvey,

Please do not be alarmed by the title of this letter; it has nothing to do with the classic “Romance of the Three Kingdoms” 三国演义 with states of Wei 魏, Shu 漢 and Wu 吳, nor with Liu Bei 刘备, Cao Cao 曹操, Zhu Geliang 诸葛亮, Zhang Fei 张飞 or Guan Yu 关羽 etc… It is rather about the three kingdoms in current Southeast Asia, and on the way how each suzerain, in dealing with or governing his people, is seen in contemporary time through media.

Numerous articles have been written about the suzerains of these three kingdoms that you and your students could easily find in google for expansive information. However only 3 articles have been chosen as a base for discussion in this letter.

Malaysia
Reuters, 25 October 2020
Malaysia’s king rejects emergency rule in blow to PM Muhyiddin

Thailand
The New York Times, 18 November 2020
‘Now, We Fight Face to Face’: Thailand’s Protests Shatter Taboos
Reuters, 18 December 2020
The last taboo

Cambodia
Radio Free Asia, 21 October 2020
ឧត្ដមទីប្រឹក្សាផ្ទាល់នៃព្រះមហាក្សត្រ ថ្លែងថា ព្រះរាជាបច្ចុប្បន្ន ដូចជាប់ឃុំក្នុងវាំង ព្រោះស្ថាប័នរដ្ឋាភិបាល
Radio Free Asia, 30 October 2020
“រដ្ឋាភិបាលមិនបានគាំទ្រព្រះមហាក្សត្របំពេញព្រះរាជ តួនាទីពេញលេញតាមរដ្ឋធម្មនុញ្ញ”

Your students should be suggested to conduct a comparative study on the difference in way the suzerains reign over and rule their subjects. Today’s news from Sweden could give some impetus to the thinking when the Swedish monarch, as reported in Business Insider, openly said: “I think we have failed. We have a large number who have died, and that is terrible”

This brings us to recall 1) what the Proverbs of Solomon said: “In the multitude of people is the king’s honor; but in the want of people is the destruction of the prince”, and 2) what Bhumibol Adulyadej, king of Thailand, once said about himself: “I am not afraid if the criticism concerns what I do wrong, because then I know. Because if you say the King cannot be criticized, it means that the King is not human.”

Please let us know when they complete their homework!

=====
Update:

1. Asia Times, 12 January 2021
Does Cambodia have a ‘puppet king’?

Summit for Democracy

28 Saturday Nov 2020

Posted by KhmerPAC in Event, Governance, Human Rights, International, Politics

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My dear Kacvey,

Please keep these two articles in your archives and wait until it happens to see whether the weak strongman that has become Cambodian most corrupt autocrat would make the list:

1. Foreign Affairs: Why America Must Lead Again – Rescuing U.S. Foreign Policy After Trump by Joseph R. Biden, Jr., and
2. Politico: Are you on the list? Biden’s democracy summit spurs anxieties — and skepticism by Nahal Toosi.

Justice Thurgood Marshall, once, wrote: “Where you see wrong or inequality or injustice, speak out, because this is your country. This is your democracy. Make it. Protect it. Pass it on.”

Prisonnier de l’Ancien Khmer Rouge

31 Saturday Oct 2020

Posted by KhmerPAC in Culture, Event, Governance, History, Human Rights, Institution, Issue, Justice, Politics, Social

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My dear Kacvey,

You certainly recall this French book by Sihanouk: “Prisonnier des Khmers rouges” (ISBN:978-2010121845) published in 1986.

Hope your students remember and make connection between:
1) Sihanouk’s birthday and Halloween: 31 October, and
2) the following two reporting by Radio Free Asia and Sihanouk’s book title:
– ឧត្ដមទីប្រឹក្សាផ្ទាល់នៃព្រះមហាក្សត្រ ថ្លែងថា ព្រះរាជាបច្ចុប្បន្ន ដូចជាប់ឃុំក្នុងវាំង ព្រោះស្ថាប័នរដ្ឋាភិបាល
https://www.rfa.org/khmer/news/politics/a-king-advisor-blames-the-government-for-weakening-the-monarchy-10212020041531.html
– រដ្ឋាភិបាលមិនបានគាំទ្រព្រះមហាក្សត្របំពេញព្រះរាជ តួនាទីពេញលេញតាមរដ្ឋធម្មនុញ្ញ
https://www.rfa.org/khmer/news/politics/watchdogs-criticize-Hunsen-govt-for-abusing-King-roles-and-responsibilities-10302020050748.html

There currently are so many innocent people who get arrested and jailed by the police and justice that are in the autocratic hands of the weak strongman. They are arrested and jailed for the peaceful and non-violent exercise of their freedom of political expression. Isn’t then there a commonality between the suzerain and the people: suzerain and subjects being prisoners of the same and one regime?

If the quote attributed to Jayavarman VII: “The suffering of my people is my suffering” is true, shouldn’t the suzerain and the people join hands to free themselves from the prison? How and what would and could the suzerain do to elevate the above quote to be: “The suffering of the suzerain is the people’s suffering”?

Or would Desiderius Erasmus have foreseen the fate of Cambodia when he said: “In the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man is king”?

Kacvey, can this passage from Exodus 3:7 “And the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows” help your students to ponder on this miserable matter in the City of Tonlé Buon Mouk?

=====
P.S.
1. A glimpse at the Sultan of Malaysia (pour mémoire)
Bloomberg: Malaysia’s Once-Peripheral King Emerges as Major Political Force

2. South China Morning Post, 29 November 2020
Why Cambodia’s royals need close China ties that are separate from Hun Sen’s government

3. SEA GLOBE, 5 January 2021
‘Be a leader’: Sochua calls on king to intervene to ensure her return

4. Asia Times, 11 January 2021
Does Cambodia have a ‘puppet king’?

5. RFA, 12 January 2021
Cambodian Court Charges Acting Opposition Chief Sam Rainsy Under Lèse-majesté Law

Trilogy that Can Befall the ex-KR Autocracy

20 Sunday Sep 2020

Posted by KhmerPAC in Event, Governance, Institution, Issue, Politics, Social

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My dear Kacvey,

Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines “trilogy” as: “a series of three dramas or literary works or sometimes three musical compositions that are closely related and develop a single theme.”

Let use that definition as a model for a series of three dramas for your students to study in Cambodia contemporary politics that befall the weak strongman.

If the play is titled: Trilogy that Can Befall the Ex-KR Autocracy, the three “dramas” are:
1. The Sword of Damocles Has Dropped
2. The Blue Tent That Became a Permanent Wooden Structure or How New Cyclopic Chéy Chétha Drew the Map of the New Kampuchea Krom, and
3. Dara Sakor, a base or not a base?

The weak strongman is no longer in command of the three quagmires that he has built under his feet that stand on corrupt and autocratic power. It’s the European Union, the United States and China that will oversee and decide above his head on the denouement of the three saga. He is expendable and the next leader who will succeed him will have enormous difficulties to deal with his excremental leftover. And if he thinks that his son that, to this age, still holds the pleats of his pants can handle these issues, he must then have a rotten brain.

The weak strongman acting as main thespian is now less than a puppet and more like a one marble-glass-eye-scarecrow in the middle of the emptiness of a rice field.

If the weak strongman has become cockier with Khmer in domestic issues, it is – like a prisoner in his own palatial jail decorated with insane luxury watches and protected by thousands of bodyguards against his own intestinal enemies in the corrupt people party – that the gold bars on the cell windows that keep the bodyguards active for his cause until such a time that a storm blows that scarecrow away from its pole. Even a Mi 171E helicopter won’t be able to lift him on time to an unknown safe heaven.

Like in all Greek trilogy, the end is never a happy one.

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Category Archives: Governance

Cambodia Democracy in Two Acts

The Weak Strongman Gets Hacked

The Weak Strongman Admits he is a Dictator

Summit for Democracy