“No People, Invisible, Silent”

20 Friday Mar 2020

Posted by KhmerPAC in Culture, Event, International, Issue, Social

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My dear Kacvey,

Just wish you and your students a lot of mental courage and clarity during the fight against the current trying time caused by the corona virus that originated in Wuhan (武汉病毒) in December 2019. The virus is now scientifically labeled as Corona Virus Disease-19 (Covid-19) (冠状病毒疾病2019) and the pandemic has spread almost throughout the world, with numerous countries and cities being either on lock down or confinement or shelter-in-place. Furthermore, Covid-19 cannot be written with Chinese characters, as the language is pictographic; there are no Chinese characters to write the equivalent of the 5 letters of the alphabet “C-O-V-I-D”. The Chinese can pronounce “Covid-19” but use “冠状病毒疾病2019” (guān zhuàng bìng dú jí bìng) in writing.

While politicians, scientists, and historians are working to find cause of the disease and solutions to cure the affected or contaminated people and society, we all feel that this looks like humanity is fighting a “no people, invisible, silent” war (无人无形无声的战). We must also ponder on one fundamental question that will certainly be raised generations after generations and throughout future history: Why the Wuhan virus succeeds to break the back of the entire world without a war “with soldiers, visible and noisy?”

Wash your hands.
Avoid crowds.
Social distancing, and
Pull out the books from the shelves while the music is on!
Double or triple contacts with family and friends,
And be ready for the CHANGE that will ineluctably occur in Cambodia, a CHANGE that will be revolutionized by the unexpected and unintended convergence of many international and national consequences from Covid-19.

The weak strongman is getting weaker by the day, his 2 foreign backers to whom he alienated the entire Cambodia run out of safety floats to be thrown to him. He should know, being a chess player.

Be well and take good care of yourself.

Intestinal Color Revolution?

11 Wednesday Mar 2020

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

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My dear Kacvey,

The article published by cambonomist.com could not be hidden from your students’ mind and intellect, nor ignored. As a saying goes: “Where there is smoke, there is fire”, and if the statement is made in plain public eyes and ears without fear of retribution, the author of the statement must be privy to “something”, he who is nothing less than the first deputy prime minister and the minister of interior affairs.

Thank you, cambonomist.com for your reporting.

For our library, this is the article in Khmer: សម្តេច ស ខេង៖ ពេលខ្លះ បដិវត្តន៍ពណ៌កើតចេញពីផ្ទៃក្នុងយើង

“សម្តេចឧបនាយករដ្ឋមន្ត្រី ស ខេង បានមានប្រសាសន៍នៅថ្ងៃពុធ ទី១១ ខែមីនា នេះថា បដិវត្តន៍ពណ៌ វាអាចកើតចេញពីផ្ទៃក្នុងរបស់គណបក្សកាន់អំណាចដោយមិនដឹងខ្លួន ឬដោយអចេតនា តាមរយៈការមិនយកចិត្តទុកដាក់នូវសំណូមពរនិងកង្វល់របស់ប្រជាពលរដ្ឋ ហើយបង្កើតឡើងនូវភាពអសកម្មនានានៅតាមមូលដ្ឋាន ហើយប៉ះពាល់ដល់សិទ្ធិនិងផលប្រយោជន៍របស់ប្រជាពលរដ្ឋ។

ថ្លែងក្នុងពិធីអបអរសាទរទិវាអន្តរជាតិនារី សម្តេច ស ខេង បានថ្លែងដូច្នេះថា ”ចំណុចនេះ ខ្ញុំធ្លាប់បានបញ្ជាក់ច្រើនហើយ ថា បដិវត្តន៍ពណ៌ វាមានអ្នកដែលប៉ុនប៉ងដើម្បីនឹងធ្វើការងារនេះ ហើយក៏បានជួបប្រទះរួចមកហើយ ក្រោយបោះឆ្នោតឆ្នាំ២០១៣ ប៉ុន្តែ ជួនពេលខ្លះ បដិវត្តន៍ពណ៌នេះ វាកើតចេញពីផ្ទៃក្នុងយើង ជួរយើង ដោយមិនដឹងខ្លួន ឬដោយអចេតនាតាមរយៈការមិនយកចិត្តទុកដាក់ អើពើ នូវសំណូមពរ សំណើ និងកង្វល់របស់ប្រជាពលរដ្ឋ ហើយបង្កើតឡើងនូវភាពអសកម្មនានា នៅតាមមូលដ្ឋាន ហើយប៉ះពាល់ដល់សិទ្ធិនិងផលប្រយោជន៍របស់ប្រជាពលរដ្ឋ។”

សម្ដេចឧបនាយករដ្ឋមន្ត្រី បានបន្តដូច្នេះថា “នោះក៏ជាមូលហេតុនៃការកកើតនៃចលនាបដិវត្តន៍ពណ៌នោះដែរ ដូច្នេះការដែលយើងយកចិត្តទុកដាក់ដើម្បីដោះស្រាយបញ្ហានានាទាក់ទងនឹងសិទ្ធិផលប្រយោជន៍របស់ប្រជាពលរដ្ឋ គឺជាកត្តាគន្លឹះដ៏សំខាន់មួយក្នុងការរារាំង បង្ការ ទប់ស្កាត់ នូវចលនាបដិវត្តន៍ពណ៌នោះឯង។”

នៅក្នុងពិធីនោះដែរ សម្តេច ស ខេង ក៏បានអំពាវនាវដល់អាជ្ញាធរត្រូវគ្រប់គ្រងដោះស្រាយជម្លោះ និងការទាមទារតវ៉ានានា ដោយសន្តិវិធី ឈរលើគោលការណ៍ច្បាប់ និងត្រូវជៀសវាងដាច់ខាតនូវអំពើហិង្សាគ្រប់រូបភាព៕

As the Russian revolutionary, Vladimir Lenin, once, said: “It is impossible to predict the time and progress of revolution. It is governed by its own more or less mysterious laws.”

Meanwhile, an article signed by Luke Hunt and published by UCA News under the title: “Coronavirus an excuse for Cambodia’s poverty plight” should not be disregarded either; it looks like an inventory of disastrous failures that the weak strongman has recently encountered, and if such failings and missteps occurred in another country, be it socialist, communist or liberal democracy, that type of weak strongman must have already been ushered out of the door of power, by vote or by force.

He who thinks that he owns the country is he who has blind ambition and greed and is is ignorant of the natural fact that he doesn’t own the heart and mind of the people who are not his sycophants or kangaroos. Everything on earth has a time limit.

“Another Wuhan could emerge as the coronavirus travels the world. Are politicians, including Trump, prepared?”

10 Tuesday Mar 2020

Posted by KhmerPAC in Culture, Issue, Social

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My dear Kacvey,

Here is an opinion piece penned by Professor Tom Plate and published by the South China Morning Post dated 10 March 2020. We keep the article in our library for your students especially those who are keen in learning and thinking the impossible because “it requires to think outside the box” The tile of the article is: “Another Wuhan could emerge as the coronavirus travels the world. Are politicians, including Trump, prepared?”

For easy reference the full text is re-produced herewith:

“How bad will the global coronavirus epidemic get? The clichéd answer is: only the future will tell. But the problem is that the future is not only with us now but – to scramble the possibilities – it actually influences the past.

“Astrophysicist and author John Gribbin, whose challenging new book Six Impossible Things helps mere mortals like me accept the crazed conceptualising of God-like physicists, makes just this point. The implications may be profound.

“Deep in the subatomic underworld of spectacularly tiny particles and waves is a measurable physical behaviour – especially wave behaviour – that, to me at least, is weird. It turns out that some waves carry their negative energy back into the past while some push it forward into the future.

“In effect, this happens with no intermediary blocking the way (such as what we call the “present”). Gribbin explains: “The idea is that part of the quantum wave really can travel backwards through time … in stark disagreement with our intuition that causes always precede the events that they cause.”

“But where does the wave “travelling in reverse” come from? There is only one answer: the future. If so, then the future continually influences the past in the minutest degree of reality.

“Think of time as a bustling two-way street. If the future influences the past, then we have been looking at the world upside down – or, rather, past to future. But reality is not this simple, which is why it is often nearly impossible to accept.

“So we note, as does Gribbin, this exchange from Alice’s immortal adventures in Wonderland: “Alice laughed. ‘There’s no use trying,’ she said. ‘One can’t believe impossible things.’ ‘I daresay you haven’t had much practice,’ said the Queen. ‘When I was your age, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast’.

“The great advantage of diving into neurotic but utterly science-based quantum physics is that it requires you to think outside the box. Physicists, notably in quantum theory, conceptualise aspects of the physical world, often with the help of thought experiments, that are hard to see or measure but are essential to understanding physical existence. The hitch is they often wind up taking us so far away from a comfortable “common sense” (or dogmatic) world view.

“In “real” life, for example, we think of time as moving in military formation, from past to present to future. But let us now assume there is no substantial now, because the very moment we observe or do something, it becomes the past; and, what’s more, that somehow or other the future affects the past in unexpected ways. Now let’s apply this idea to the coronavirus epidemic.

“You may have noticed that US President Donald Trump and our scientists sometimes seem not to agree on rather basic aspects of the coronavirus epidemic. As you know, Covid-19 simmers globally without the slightest humanitarian instinct and in a fiercely non-partisan way (there is no Republican, Democratic or Communist immunity from infection). And, for all anyone knows, the epidemic might not resolve itself quickly enough or, possibly, ever go away entirely. The future-soaked past is still revealing itself day by future day.

“For the relatively brief time that the US has existed as a nation, its pragmatic penchant for problem-solving has helped it survive and prosper. But as the philosophical pragmatist John Dewey once famously noted, “Acceptance of dogmatic rules as bases of conduct in education, morals and social matters, lessens the impetus to find out about the conditions which are involved in forming intelligent plans.”

“Basic science cannot be beaten for that purpose. In the case of the coronavirus, we should add impossible thinking, if in fact the future does “influence the past. Wuhan is an ongoing part of the past, but out there in the unseen future, feeding into new pasts, are very possibly other kinds of Wuhans.

“We don’t know where they are, but we had better find them quickly. If you believe that globalisation will remain a big factor, as it has been up to now, a measure of “Wuhanisation” in many other places has to be assumed.

“We cannot close down the world the way the Chinese creditably closed down the metropolis of Wuhan. We still have no idea how much more trouble is out there. You might suspect, as I do, that the epidemic is historic and the belief that everything will be OK and work itself out is beyond optimism – maybe really nuts.

“So this is the huge next new thing – but it is for the scientists, not the political leaders, to take over. The latter just don’t get it. It’s too hard for them. They will build their aircraft carriers and nuclear missiles, mindlessly, when it would be far smarter to pursue enhanced international security and peace.

“The future has just now told us what is in the future: specks of little things that are coming in from the future to change the past that we thought we had more or less tamed. Our best bet is to keep thinking impossible things and figure that the future may be trying to change very many things.”

Tom Plate is Loyola Marymount University’s Distinguished Scholar of Asian and Pacific Affairs and the Pacific Century Institute’s vice-president

“The Whole Earth Is Our Hospital”

08 Sunday Mar 2020

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My dear Kacvey,

Hope your students and you take all the “common sense” precautionary measures against the spreading of the Wuhan virus (武汉病毒) wherever and whenever all of you are, be it in the classroom, library, meetings, home, markets, social events etc … albeit the fact that the weak strongman has a different view on it. He may believe that Wuhan virus carries a passport when arriving in Cambodia, at any port of entry like Kg Som with regards to Westerdam, it has to be stamped by him personally. Let leave him alone to his crazy, irresponsible and half blind fantasy, but your students and you must go on and live your life outside the sphere of corruption and craziness of a quack doctor.

The propagation of Wuhan virus worldwide reminds us of a passage (Part IV) in “East Coker”, a poem by T.S. Elliot as follows:

“The wounded surgeon plies the peel
That questions the distempered part;
Beneath the bleeding hands we feel
The sharp compassion of the healer’s art
Resolving the enigma of the forever chart.

“Our only health is the disease
If we obey the dying nurse
Whose constant care is not to please
But to remind of our, and Adam’s curse,
And that, to be restored, our sickness must grow worse.

“The whole earth is our hospital
Endowed by the ruined millionaire,
Wherein, if we do well, we shall
Die of the absolute paternal care
That will not leave us, but prevents us everywhere.

“The chill ascends from feet to knees,
The fever sings in mental wires,
If to be warned, then I must freeze
And quake in frigid purgatorial fires
Of which the flame is rose, and the smoke is briars.

“The dripping blood our only drink,
The bloody flesh our only food:
In spite of which we like to think
That we are sound, substantial flesh and blood –
Again, in spite of that, we call this Friday good.”

The Corrupt, The Dirty, The Sanctioned

12 Thursday Dec 2019

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

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My dear Kacvey,

Do you recall our communication The Dirty Dozen + Others a year and a half ago? Well, since then a lot of things have happened with corruption getting worst and worst every passing day involving more or less the same persons in the corrupt leadership circle and their family members.

But it is very important for your students to remember, at the outset, what Norodom Sihanouk had said as reported in an article penned by Maurice Eisenbruch in The International Journal of Human Rights titled: “The cloak of impunity in Cambodia I: cultural foundations” in which Sihanouk was quoted as follows: “In today’s Cambodia, the God of Impunity reigns side by side with the King of Corruption.”

Let inventory them so that your students could have a comprehensive information on the extent of the corruption and their authors in the City of Tonlé Buon Mouk.

Human Rights Watch
1. Cambodia’s Dirty Dozen – A Long History of Rights Abuses by Hun Sen’s Generals
2. នាយឧត្តមសេនីយ៍បាតដៃកខ្វក់ ១២ រូប – ប្រវត្តិរំលោភសិទ្ធិមនុស្សដ៏យូរអង្វែងរបស់នាយឧត្តមសេនីយ៍នៃលោក ហ៊ុន សែន

Global Witness
1. HOSTILE TAKEOVER – How Cambodia’s ruling family are pulling the strings on the economy and amassing vast personal fortunes with extreme consequences for the population.
2. FROM THE DEATH OF CAMBODIA’S DEMOCRACY? – As Cambodians head to the polls, Global Witness exposes an elusive club of politically exposed tycoons set to profit from the country’s sham election

Reuters
1. Special Report: Khmer Riche – How relatives and allies of Cambodia’s leader amassed wealth overseas
2. Cyprus opposition wants to know how Cambodian elite got passports
3. in-cyprus: Interior Minister to carry out additional probe into Cambodia elite passports
4. Cyprus plans to strip citizenships after uproar over passports
5. Cyprus Mail: Names of those on passports to be revoked made public

U.S. Department of Treasury
1. Treasury Sanctions Corruption and Material Support Networks
2. United States Takes Action Against Corruption and Serious Human Rights Abuse – PRESS STATEMENT by MICHAEL R. POMPEO, SECRETARY OF STATE
3. American Shipper: US sanctions aim to topple Cambodian timber magnate

Radio Free Asia
1. How Did Cambodia’s First Family Afford Their Long Island Home?
2. $5 MILLION APARTMENT A LAUNCHPAD TO LONDON HIGH SOCIETY FOR NIECE OF HUN SEN
3. Foreign Homes of Cambodia’s Top Officials and Family Reflect Tenuous Grip at Home
4. CAMBODIA ENERGY CHIEFS TIED TO U.S. PROPERTY WORTH $5 MILLION
5. OVERSEAS PROPERTY OF CAMBODIA’S ELITE
6. អចលនទ្រព្យនៅក្រៅប្រទេសរបស់ក្រុមអភិជនខ្មែរ
7. មុខមាត់បុគ្គលដែលជួយអ្នកមានអំណាចខ្មែរឲ្យលួចលុយជាតិ
8. The ‘Respectable’ Faces that Help Cambodia’s Elite Loot the Country

Transparency International
1. Corruption and Cambodia’s – Governance System – The Need for Reform – National Integrity System Assessment 2014
2. For 2018, Transparency International ranked Cambodia the 161st out of 180 countries worldwide.
3. For 2019, Transparency International ranked Cambodia the 162nd out of 183 countries worldwide.
4. SEA GLOBE of 23 January 2020 reported: Cambodia once again ranked Southeast Asia’s most corrupt country
5. OVERSEAS PROPERTY OF CAMBODIA’S ELITE
6. Cambodian PM Hun Sen’s Niece Buys Cypriot Villas For €2.5 Million

This file will be updated with new developments as they happen in the future, bearing in mind what Ovid once said: “All things can corrupt when minds are prone to evil” to which George Bernard Shaw added: “Power does not corrupt men; fools, however, if they get into a position of power, corrupt power.”

Post scriptum: Maurice Eisenbruch’s “The cloak of impunity in Cambodia II: justice“

Three Days To Go

06 Wednesday Nov 2019

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

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My dear Kacvey,

After receiving a signal from Chheu Smaa, Phkaï Mphéy flew strait to the roof of Albert Sarrault Museum. They met and perched on a horn overlooking a garuda on the other side of the street.

Phkaï Mphéy: So, Cha Cha has just thrown you a lifeline, ha!
Chheu Smaa: I have no choice. They are carrying their plan through.
Phkaï Mphéy: Why did you suspect that?
Chheu Smaa: I misread his intention. And I tried to catch up, but it was too late.
Phkaï Mphéy: So you decided to deploy tanks, missiles, machine guns and all that shit to impress.
Chheu Smaa: It didn’t work to the level I expected.
Phkaï Mphéy: You knew from your guerrilla life experience that military force without population participation is pure BS. And then you played the civil aviation, the posters, the embassy in Jakarta, the statements by some of those idiots around you.
Chheu Smaa: It was a turmoil and then so many meetings outside the country. And the EU/EBA dateline …
Phkaï Mphéy: What did they whisper in the back door of Nonthaburi building?
Chheu Smaa: They know what’s going on, but they didn’t seem to be behind me all the way, except the usual two.
Phkaï Mphéy: Not a good sign for you in the long run.
Chheu Smaa: We’ll see, but for now there won’t be split screens on 9 November: Independence Monument on the left and Poipet on the right.
Phkaï Mphéy: Cha Cha sent you a life line. You now owe him a big one.
Chheu Smaa: I guess!
Phkaï Mphéy: Cha Cha must hate to see you on trial for masterminding bloodbath at his border; that’s why he said “he probably won’t get in”
Chheu Smaa: Got to call Cha Cha’s ambassador when I’ll get back.
Phkaï Mphéy: What are you going to do with “him” from now on? He also scored a big one against you: he did what he promised to his supporters, until Cha Cha stopped him. He shook you up badly to a point that Cha Cha threw you a life support 3 days before the promised date.
Chheu Smaa: I’m out of steam right now and hope I can recover a little bit once the Independence Day parade and the Om Touk are over. The well of ideas is totally dry.
Phkaï Mphéy: Didn’t Cha Cha send you a secret message inside his “he probably won’t get in”?
Chheu Smaa: What do you mean?
Phkaï Mphéy: Did you read the Bangkok Post Editorial?
Chheu Smaa: That also seems to be the whispers in Nonthaburi.
Phkaï Mphéy: Are you going to think about that now?
Chheu Smaa: Let me breathe for a few days and we’ll talk again after 9/11.

Then, the two swallows parted and flew off: Phkaï Mphéy towards Poipet for an on-the-spot update after releasing few droppings here and there, Chheu Smaa heading South.

Two Editorials

28 Monday Oct 2019

Posted by KhmerPAC in Issue, Politics

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My dear Kacvey,

Please share the full text of two editorials with your students and hope they would further share them with their parents, relatives and friends.

1) Bangkok Post of 26 October 2019: Hun Sen must compromise

As a result of his brutal political purge against the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) and its senior members over the past few years, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has got what he wanted. His ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) won a “fake”, uncontested election last year and he has prolonged his stay in power. But he has left the future of his country and its people in disarray.

Since the court dissolved the CNRP and banned its 118 members from politics for five years in 2017, Cambodia has become a de facto one-party state, and democracy is practically dead there. The country is facing the prospect of trade sanctions by the West which could put its economy in jeopardy.

Now opposition leaders are calling for a fresh election and reinstatement to their political roles. Their return could help rebalance power in politics, a good thing for the country. Hun Sen should have compromised to let it happen as he has done in the past.

But asking for political pluralism in Cambodia nowadays has proven to be a request too far for the strongman. Since the CNRP’s acting president, Sam Rainsy, and other exiled opposition leaders pledged in August to re-enter the country by land on Nov 9, the country’s Independence Day, Hun Sen has had dozens of CNRP supporters and leaders arrested and threatened to deploy the armed forces against those who dare to return.

The Thai government, for its part, has signalled that it will not allow the opposition leaders to execute their plan to lead Cambodian migrant workers in Thailand on a march back into their homeland as part of a “people’s movement” against Hun Sen. Last Sunday, Mu Sochua, the CNRP deputy leader, was denied entry to Thailand at Suvarnabhumi airport and has returned to the US where she is also a citizen.

While some doubt whether Sam Rainsy’s plan could succeed, it does not supersede the fact that Cambodia and its people would be better off if the opposition party were reinstated and its members allowed to participate in politics again.

For Hun Sen, he cannot overlook the fact that his political crackdown and the flawed election could cost his country trade benefits from the EU and the US. The EU is considering whether to scrap trade preferences — duty-free access for all exports to the EU, except arms — which are vital to Cambodia’s economy, while the US has already begun introducing diplomatic sanctions and reviewing its preferential trade scheme with the country.

Hun Sen may have banked on investment from China over the past few years, but there has been growing unease among many Cambodians regarding Chinese influence, especially given that the benefits of these deals have not been widely shared with local people.

Some may hail Cambodia’s “political stability” as a boon that has helped spur economic growth, but such stability was the result of Hun Sen’s ruthless crackdown on his rivals. Deep down, there must have been resentment among many Cambodians.

Hun Sen should stop gambling on his reliance on investment from, and trade with, China. There is no need to risk losing trade benefits with the West.

To most outsiders, as well as many Cambodians, the political purge against the CNRP is politically motivated and unjustified. Hun Sen should start letting the opposition leaders reenter politics before sympathy towards them grows further — not just among their supporters but also from within the ruling CPP and among the military top brass. A return to democracy will benefit his country politically, socially and economically.

2) The Washington Post of 27 October 2019: Cambodia’s strongman wants ‘democracy’ without competition

HUN SEN, the authoritarian prime minister of Cambodia, is worried, and is using every trick in the book to threaten Sam Rainsy of the banned opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, who plans to return to Cambodia from exile on Nov. 9. Mr. Hun Sen dominates parliament and politics — his ruling party won all 125 seats in parliament in the 2018 election — but still shows signs of insecurity over the return of Mr. Rainsy, an exponent of democracy, returning for the first time in four years.

Mr. Rainsy’s supporters have been flashing a nine-fingers sign to mark the date. The prime minister told students during remarks at a recent graduation ceremony, “Don’t ever join the nine-fingers campaign. If you dare do it, you should have one of your remaining fingers cut off.” Speaking of Mr. Rainsy, he added, “It is a plot to carry out a coup d’etat, for regime change! Millions of people and armed forces are waiting for you on November 9. Your head is not made from iron.”

Mr. Rainsy, who led his party to large gains in the 2013 and 2017 elections, has also been blunt about his intentions, telling Radio Free Asia’s Khmer Service that the goal of his return is to lead a “tsunami” of his followers to restore democracy and arrest Mr. Hun Sen. He also vowed to “liberate” Kem Sokha, a co-founder of the banned party, who has been under house arrest since 2017 on fabricated charges of treason.

Since Mr. Rainsy’s return was announced in August, Cambodian authorities have launched a fresh crackdown on members of the outlawed party. More than 50 have been charged with crimes, and 31 have been jailed, according to Human Rights Watch. All the charges “appear to be baseless and politically motivated,” Human Rights Watch said. Ideally, Mr. Rainsy’s return should be an opportunity to breathe some competition into the political scene. Mr. Hun Sen prefers “democracy” in which voters have only one choice.

Not surprisingly, the prime minister would also prefer to be unbothered by independent journalism. A trial of two journalists has moved from being unjust to being just farce. Espionage charges should never have been brought against Uon Chhin and Yeang Sothearin, who worked for Radio Free Asia. Their trial concluded Aug. 9. Instead of a verdict, the judge ordered a new investigation. The case stems from Radio Free Asia’s closing of its bureau in Phnom Penh in September 2017, following threats from the government. Three days after the bureau’s closure, the reporters filed one more story, which was published. Nevertheless, the Cambodian government warned that any journalists still working for Radio Free Asia would be treated as spies. In November 2017, the journalists were charged with “illegally collecting information for a foreign source,” and a charge of producing pornography was later added. The journalists say they are innocent and have appealed. The case is a travesty of justice and should be dismissed.

Dirtier-Than-Dirt Hypocrites

20 Sunday Oct 2019

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

≈ Comments Off on Dirtier-Than-Dirt Hypocrites

My dear Kacvey,

Hope your students have now learned where Cyprus is, its history that dated back eon years BC, its present relationship with Greece and Turkey, its difference between the Northern part under Turkey administration and the Southern part Cypriot etc …

If they don’t, this Special Report from Reuters will give them a hint how Cyprus has become a heaven for the dirtier-than-dirt hypocrites that pretend to serve the country under the weak strongman ex-KR-turned-autocrat.

In fact the Reuters Special Report complement the 2 previous reports by Global Witness and Human Rights Watch. The 3 reports are now put together for your students to have a comprehensive picture of the magnitude of corruption and deceitfulness that “those dirty guys” are destroying Cambodia and maximizing their personal interests immorally and devilishly. One can wonder are these guys openly betray the hands that feed them with corrupt wealth and power and the corrupter is so blind that he doesn’t feel that the rugs have been pulled away from under his feet? Autocracy also has big corruption problems inside its cancerous body.

Just wondering if some of your students might be related one way or another to these dirtier-than-dirt hypocrites!

1. Reuters
Special Report: Khmer Riche – How relatives and allies of Cambodia’s leader amassed wealth overseas

2. Global Witness
HOSTILE TAKEOVER – How Cambodia’s ruling family are pulling the strings on the economy and amassing vast personal fortunes with extreme consequences for the population.

3. Human Rights Watch
Cambodia’s Dirty Dozen

To paraphrase Mike Quigley, Cyprus has now a reputation as a laundromat for the corrupt group of Cambodians who are betraying and trying to escape the autocratic rule of their own corrupt leader.

One Month To Go

09 Wednesday Oct 2019

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

≈ Comments Off on One Month To Go

(continued from Two Months To Go)

The two swallows met again on the roof of Albert Sarrault Museum to chat. Both seem anxious and nervous.
Phkaï Mphéy: How did you hold it up with the trip to Inner River?
Chheu Smaa: Not great but OK. They were not as warm as before.
Phkaï Mphéy: No surprise. NXP is the 7th while you’re the same since ever; the other one is not that “sTrong” either.
Chheu Smaa: Not fun anymore. 1977 in the jungle was better than last week’s stiffness in the state buldings of the capital.
Phkaï Mphéy: Did you get their full support for 9 November issue?
Chheu Smaa: Not really. They implied that it’s my business; I’ve to handle it alone.
Phkaï Mphéy: Bad news, then?
Chheu Smaa: Not an encouragement.
Phkaï Mphéy: That’s why you started swinging like a mad man as soon as you got off the plane or as we talked last time about your « plan ».
Chheu Smaa: I don’t have many alternatives. Neither Duck nor White can assure that their men are all in the game.
Phkaï Mphéy: Your game?
Chheu Smaa: Yes, my game plan.
Phkaï Mphéy: Didn’t I warn you, did I?
Chheu Smaa: Yeah, that’s why I now have to use tough war language.
Phkaï Mphéy: Do you think that your words now have more salt than before?
Chheu Smaa: I know they don’t, that’s why I’m doubling down with the arrests.
Phkaï Mphéy: How are the judges are going to handle those cases without evidence?
Chheu Smaa: Look, arrest them first “chap veer sen” and will see after 9/11.
Phkaï Mphéy: That’s a dead game plan! Don’t put a nook around your neck!
Chheu Smaa: I’ve been very patient since 2013, and there it is: my patience has been burnt out.
Phkaï Mphéy: So, you think that bringing out big guns against EWA is the only answer to your solo stratagem!
Chheu Smaa: Who or what is EWA?
Phkaï Mphéy: “Everybody Without Arms”
Chheu Smaa: Look, Pol Pot did it, and nobody can tell me I can’t do it. Who rules the ECCC?
Phkaï Mphéy: Yes, so far nobody yet, but how certain are you that soldiers or policemen will press the triggers?
Chheu Smaa: Get to check it again with the intelligence son.
Phkaï Mphéy: You know what: you have not thought through yet. You let your emotion run your fear of defeat and your thirst for blind vengeance.
Chheu Smaa: I have thought through, and that’s what I’m going to do.
Phkaï Mphéy: One simple question: What if you can’t catch him but he is inside the country?
Chheu Smaa: He can’t enter the country without being detected.
Phkaï Mphéy: How did Yingluck flee Thailand?
Chheu Smaa: He can’t hide as I have eyes everywhere.
Phkaï Mphéy: Are you sure what your “eyes” could truly see or they would only see what you want them to see? If so, what have they seen?
Chheu Smaa: Nothing critical yet.
Phkaï Mphéy: You still haven’t t thought through and your “eyes” need serious amounts of eye-drops. What if thousands of EWA spontaneously and simultaneously showed up like mushrooms throughout the country and marched towards one specific destination?
Chheu Smaa: That’s a different equation. What is your own plan?
Phkaï Mphéy: My kids will skip classes and will fly to join them. My wife and few relatives will do shopping in neighboring capitals. I’ll be near Poipet with multiple-entry visa to Espace Schengen, and the stars on my shoulders will be at Psar Thméy pawn shop. I have enough for the family to hang around in Espace Schengen for a few Years and waiting to see how the future of the country will turn to be.
Chheu Smaa: You’re deserting me.
Phkaï Mphéy: Not deserting you, but you isolate yourself from your true people that have been with you through thick and thin, and you seem to be totally lost in your own new universe with unprincipled sycophants.
Chheu Smaa: I don’t have my universe.
Phkaï Mphéy: Because nobody dare talk to you the way I do. You own them. Outside of your universe, it’s EWA that owes you nothing.
Chheu Smaa: Time for physical therapy and I will send you a signal for our next chat.

One flew back to its nest in Old Man Khmao, the other to join the swarm of conscientious swallows near the bank of Tonlé Buon Mouk.

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