Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)About Me
Sacrava's Political Cartoon: My ASEAN Family
Thursday, July 22, 2010Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)My Wat is Bigger Than Your Wat
July 21, 2010
Posted by Aron Flasher
Star Tribune Staff Blog (Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA)
Siem Reap is the stagging ground for most forays into Angkor Wat. It used to be a sleepy little river town that in the last five years or so has received the brunt of foreign investment. On my way in, I passed at least a good mile of 5 star hotels and was shocked to find a bustling city center. Still, the wooden bridges running over the lazy river give the casual observer some impression of what life must have been like when Siem Reap was still an isolated village.
After collapsing for a night in town, I set out for Angkor Wat early the next morning (but not early enough. I would recommend trying to get in at dawn as there are less tourists and you kind of have the run of the place.). Angkor Wat is more than just a city, but rather the heart of the former Khmer empire. About a thousand years ago, Angkor Wat boasted over a million inhabitants while London possessed a mere 50,000. The empire stretched from parts of Vietnam to Myanmar to Northern Indonesia and actively traded with China and the Middle East. Today, Angkor is the symbol of Khmer identity (Cambodians refer to themselves as Khmer and it is also the name of their language.) and appears on the Cambodian Flag as well as the national beer. To truly see everything would take more than a week, but honestly after a day you kind of get it. Massive stone structures covered with hand-carved etchings and statues showcase what was an extremely advanced culture. Unfortunately, since I am ignorant of most history of this time period as well as a bit behind in my studies of Buddhist and Hindu Mythology, the names of the kings and battles meant little to me. What was fascinating was the level of access; I was able to walk right into the temples and structures and stand on the ramparts (on delineated paths).
The other interesting occurrence in Siem Reap was the Cambodian new year (Chaul Chnam Thmey in Khmer). I met a Cambodian waitress who spoke descent English and she offered to take me to a party. Generally, locals work almost every day of the year except holidays. Thus when they have a holiday, they taker full advantage of it. In the case of new years, they can stay up the whole 3 days of the festival, spending time with their relatives and neighbors. The party turned out to be in the woods just outside of Angkor Wat (I could actually see the turrets of some of the towers from the party.). It looked like a carnival, complete with food stands, games and strangely enough, a dance area cordoned off by chicken wire (so I guess more like a carnival in Wisconsin). Again, I was one of the only westerners at this event so I elicited many stares and frightened more than a few children (I have got to remember to shave more often.), but again everyone was very welcoming (I also won a giant bag of candy which turned out to be the greatest icebreaker ever. Kids like candy more than they feared me and word got around fast that the white guy was passing out sweets. For about twenty minutes, I was the Pied-Piper.)
I made one mistake which was to sample a soup I had never heard of (As a personal rule, this doesn't work because I have never heard of most anything on the menus here. I was one of those suburban kids who grew up calling anything remotely Asian Chinese food). It turned out to be a collection of what had not been used earlier: blood cubes, chicken joints and cartilage and... well I stopped asking after I found out about those three. Cambodian cuisine is known for its lack of boundaries. Anything can be eaten: frogs, spiders, snake heads, fish bladders etc. After making a go of it with the soup so as not to offend my host or the chef who stood over me and watched, I made my way to the dance circle which had formed inside the chicken wire.
Cambodian dance is usually preformed in a moving circle with the men and women standing separate. The majority of work is done with one's hands and looks incredible tame by our standards of dance (A test of one's patience are the redundant Cambodian dance videos shown on most bus rides. I'll summarize the plots. Boy meets girl. Girl is sad. Boy impresses girl through song and circle dancing. Girl is happy). It was fun to watch all the young boys and girls strut about, trying to catch each other's attention... until I realized that most of the young girls were actually boys as well (Ladyboys are well known throughout Southeast Asia. Often I cannot tell a difference unless I hear them speak.)
After collapsing for a night in town, I set out for Angkor Wat early the next morning (but not early enough. I would recommend trying to get in at dawn as there are less tourists and you kind of have the run of the place.). Angkor Wat is more than just a city, but rather the heart of the former Khmer empire. About a thousand years ago, Angkor Wat boasted over a million inhabitants while London possessed a mere 50,000. The empire stretched from parts of Vietnam to Myanmar to Northern Indonesia and actively traded with China and the Middle East. Today, Angkor is the symbol of Khmer identity (Cambodians refer to themselves as Khmer and it is also the name of their language.) and appears on the Cambodian Flag as well as the national beer. To truly see everything would take more than a week, but honestly after a day you kind of get it. Massive stone structures covered with hand-carved etchings and statues showcase what was an extremely advanced culture. Unfortunately, since I am ignorant of most history of this time period as well as a bit behind in my studies of Buddhist and Hindu Mythology, the names of the kings and battles meant little to me. What was fascinating was the level of access; I was able to walk right into the temples and structures and stand on the ramparts (on delineated paths).
The other interesting occurrence in Siem Reap was the Cambodian new year (Chaul Chnam Thmey in Khmer). I met a Cambodian waitress who spoke descent English and she offered to take me to a party. Generally, locals work almost every day of the year except holidays. Thus when they have a holiday, they taker full advantage of it. In the case of new years, they can stay up the whole 3 days of the festival, spending time with their relatives and neighbors. The party turned out to be in the woods just outside of Angkor Wat (I could actually see the turrets of some of the towers from the party.). It looked like a carnival, complete with food stands, games and strangely enough, a dance area cordoned off by chicken wire (so I guess more like a carnival in Wisconsin). Again, I was one of the only westerners at this event so I elicited many stares and frightened more than a few children (I have got to remember to shave more often.), but again everyone was very welcoming (I also won a giant bag of candy which turned out to be the greatest icebreaker ever. Kids like candy more than they feared me and word got around fast that the white guy was passing out sweets. For about twenty minutes, I was the Pied-Piper.)
I made one mistake which was to sample a soup I had never heard of (As a personal rule, this doesn't work because I have never heard of most anything on the menus here. I was one of those suburban kids who grew up calling anything remotely Asian Chinese food). It turned out to be a collection of what had not been used earlier: blood cubes, chicken joints and cartilage and... well I stopped asking after I found out about those three. Cambodian cuisine is known for its lack of boundaries. Anything can be eaten: frogs, spiders, snake heads, fish bladders etc. After making a go of it with the soup so as not to offend my host or the chef who stood over me and watched, I made my way to the dance circle which had formed inside the chicken wire.
Cambodian dance is usually preformed in a moving circle with the men and women standing separate. The majority of work is done with one's hands and looks incredible tame by our standards of dance (A test of one's patience are the redundant Cambodian dance videos shown on most bus rides. I'll summarize the plots. Boy meets girl. Girl is sad. Boy impresses girl through song and circle dancing. Girl is happy). It was fun to watch all the young boys and girls strut about, trying to catch each other's attention... until I realized that most of the young girls were actually boys as well (Ladyboys are well known throughout Southeast Asia. Often I cannot tell a difference unless I hear them speak.)
Khmer Rouge jailer verdict due
Bou Meng (Photo: AFP)
Theary SengJuly 22, 2010
ABC Radio Australia
The international war crimes tribunal in Phnom Penh, will hand down its verdict on its first defendant. Former khmer rouge prison chief Kaing Guek Euv, better known as Comrade Duch suprised court observors by changing his plea, then sacking his international legal counsel.
Presenter: Robert Carmichael
Speakers: Theary Seng, president of the Center for Justice and Reconciliation; Anne Heindel, legal adviser for the Documentation Centre of Cambodia (DC-Cam); Bou Meng, s21 prisoner
CARMICHAEL: The man whose voice you can hear is called Bou Meng. He is an artist who last year gave testimony against his former jailer, Comrade Duch. In this clip Bou Meng is telling the international war crimes tribunal in Phnom Penh about appalling conditions at a Khmer Rouge prison called S-21. Bou Meng was lucky - he is one of perhaps a dozen survivors of S-21. At least 20,000 others who passed through the prison were executed.
It was the signature of Comrade Duch that appeared on many of those execution orders. Comrade Duch, whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav, was one of the regime's most valuable implementers of its policy towards suspected traitors. As the head of S-21, his role was to oversee the torture of all who were brought there, extract confessions, and then sign off on their execution. The confessions - made under terrible torture - would see yet more people arrested, brought in, tortured and executed as the revolution began to consume the country. Duch was tried as one of those who are considered 'most responsible' for the crimes committed under the Khmer Rouge regime, which ruled Cambodia between 1975 and 1979 and left 1.7 million people dead from execution, starvation, overwork and disease. When the verdict is pronounced on Monday, Duch will be the only Khmer Rouge member to have been judged by an international war crimes tribunal.
Cambodian-American Theary Seng was the first person to file as a civil party at the tribunal. She spent much of last year observing Duch's 77-day trial. What were her impressions.
SENG: The Duch trial was a test run, and it went overall very well. It went very well in creating and generating the interest among the larger population and giving out information to the public about the Khmer Rouge era. It was interesting in hearing and seeing Duch himself speak in person. So overall it was a good test run for the core trial - and that's of the senior Khmer Rouge leaders in case.
CARMICHAEL: In the face of overwhelming evidence, Duch's defence strategy was one of mitigation: He would accept responsibility, express remorse, cooperate with the court, and hope for a reduced sentence.
The strategy was laid out over nine months of hearings by Duch's international defence lawyer Francois Roux. It is worth pointing out that the tribunal has a hybrid structure, which means Cambodians and international staff work in tandem in key roles. For that reason Duch has one international lawyer and one Cambodian lawyer, both with equal standing. In the final days of the trial, the defence team self-destructed. With Duch's blessing - and without Roux's knowledge - his Cambodian lawyer told the court that international law did not apply, that Duch had merely been following orders, and that the tribunal should release him.
It was a remarkable turnaround. The reasons behind that dramatic change remain unclear, not least since international law clearly does apply. Earlier this month Duch's capacity to surprise surfaced again when he fired Francois Roux as his international defence lawyer. Anne Heindel is a legal adviser at the Documentation Center of Cambodia, an archive of papers on the Khmer Rouge period. She thinks firing Roux - who was widely seen as having done a good job - could be a way for Duch to prepare for an appeal.
HEINDEL: It could either be a strategy for claiming ineffective assistance of counsel on appeal, or it could be something totally different and personal. It's just really hard to say.
CARMICHAEL: As a seasoned observer of the court, what stood out for her during the trial?
HEINDEL: The interesting thing I think was at the end when Duch decided to have his last statement be a history of the Communist Party since the 1950s. It didn't seem like a statement of remorse - one would have thought he would have used the opportunity to again apologise to the victims. But instead he ran through a very academic piece that only experts in the topic would have found of interest. But that seemed to be what he wanted people to understand - that was his truth of why things happened.
CARMICHAEL: Monday will reveal what the judges think of Duch's version of the truth. He is now 68, so if he is found guilty - as most people expect - any sentence longer than 25 years will probably amount to life.
Presenter: Robert Carmichael
Speakers: Theary Seng, president of the Center for Justice and Reconciliation; Anne Heindel, legal adviser for the Documentation Centre of Cambodia (DC-Cam); Bou Meng, s21 prisoner
CARMICHAEL: The man whose voice you can hear is called Bou Meng. He is an artist who last year gave testimony against his former jailer, Comrade Duch. In this clip Bou Meng is telling the international war crimes tribunal in Phnom Penh about appalling conditions at a Khmer Rouge prison called S-21. Bou Meng was lucky - he is one of perhaps a dozen survivors of S-21. At least 20,000 others who passed through the prison were executed.
It was the signature of Comrade Duch that appeared on many of those execution orders. Comrade Duch, whose real name is Kaing Guek Eav, was one of the regime's most valuable implementers of its policy towards suspected traitors. As the head of S-21, his role was to oversee the torture of all who were brought there, extract confessions, and then sign off on their execution. The confessions - made under terrible torture - would see yet more people arrested, brought in, tortured and executed as the revolution began to consume the country. Duch was tried as one of those who are considered 'most responsible' for the crimes committed under the Khmer Rouge regime, which ruled Cambodia between 1975 and 1979 and left 1.7 million people dead from execution, starvation, overwork and disease. When the verdict is pronounced on Monday, Duch will be the only Khmer Rouge member to have been judged by an international war crimes tribunal.
Cambodian-American Theary Seng was the first person to file as a civil party at the tribunal. She spent much of last year observing Duch's 77-day trial. What were her impressions.
SENG: The Duch trial was a test run, and it went overall very well. It went very well in creating and generating the interest among the larger population and giving out information to the public about the Khmer Rouge era. It was interesting in hearing and seeing Duch himself speak in person. So overall it was a good test run for the core trial - and that's of the senior Khmer Rouge leaders in case.
CARMICHAEL: In the face of overwhelming evidence, Duch's defence strategy was one of mitigation: He would accept responsibility, express remorse, cooperate with the court, and hope for a reduced sentence.
The strategy was laid out over nine months of hearings by Duch's international defence lawyer Francois Roux. It is worth pointing out that the tribunal has a hybrid structure, which means Cambodians and international staff work in tandem in key roles. For that reason Duch has one international lawyer and one Cambodian lawyer, both with equal standing. In the final days of the trial, the defence team self-destructed. With Duch's blessing - and without Roux's knowledge - his Cambodian lawyer told the court that international law did not apply, that Duch had merely been following orders, and that the tribunal should release him.
It was a remarkable turnaround. The reasons behind that dramatic change remain unclear, not least since international law clearly does apply. Earlier this month Duch's capacity to surprise surfaced again when he fired Francois Roux as his international defence lawyer. Anne Heindel is a legal adviser at the Documentation Center of Cambodia, an archive of papers on the Khmer Rouge period. She thinks firing Roux - who was widely seen as having done a good job - could be a way for Duch to prepare for an appeal.
HEINDEL: It could either be a strategy for claiming ineffective assistance of counsel on appeal, or it could be something totally different and personal. It's just really hard to say.
CARMICHAEL: As a seasoned observer of the court, what stood out for her during the trial?
HEINDEL: The interesting thing I think was at the end when Duch decided to have his last statement be a history of the Communist Party since the 1950s. It didn't seem like a statement of remorse - one would have thought he would have used the opportunity to again apologise to the victims. But instead he ran through a very academic piece that only experts in the topic would have found of interest. But that seemed to be what he wanted people to understand - that was his truth of why things happened.
CARMICHAEL: Monday will reveal what the judges think of Duch's version of the truth. He is now 68, so if he is found guilty - as most people expect - any sentence longer than 25 years will probably amount to life.
Report: Police Abuse of Sex Workers in Cambodia Made Worse by US Policies
July 22, 2010
By Melissa Ditmore, Independent consultant
RH Reality Check
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has released a report documenting abuses of sex workers by law enforcement in Cambodia, including rape and beatings, unlawful detention and deprivation of medical care. The report also indicates that opportunistic abuse of power is endemic: “Every sex worker that we spoke to, including children involved in such work, had paid bribes to the police at some point.”
The US government is implicated in these abuses. The US government’s Trafficking In Persons report grades nations on their responses to human trafficking. Nations that receive low marks for a few consecutive years are threatened with economic sanctions. Cambodia’s government relies on foreign aid, and the US is one of its largest donors. When sanctions loomed, Cambodia passed an anti-trafficking law that additionally criminalized sex work and police declared open season on sex workers.
This is not uncommon; it’s a pattern seen in many places. In Cambodia, where the rule of law is weak, abuses included extreme torture and even deaths in custody. In addition to detention and abuse by law enforcement, sex workers were also unlawfully detained by anti-trafficking NGOs. One bright spot is that these organizations say that they have changed their policies and HRW says that no reports of detention by NGOs have been received in 2010.
Unfortunately, abuse by law enforcement continues.
In response to these abuses, the report recommends suspending the provision against soliciting in the anti-trafficking law because the provision “gives police more leverage to extort money and commit violent acts against sex workers and has facilitated abuses.” Instead of arresting and abusing sex workers, the report recommends consulting sex workers to “jointly develop programs and services that can empower sex workers and accurately reflect their needs.”
This is the strongest language from HRW yet that criminalization of sex work contributes to violence and abuse of some of the most vulnerable people. This same sentiment was expressed yesterday by Mandeep Dhaliwhal of UNDP during the International AIDS Conference (IAC) happening now in Vienna. These recommendations are only a first step to better policy to promote and ensure the human rights of sex workers. Sex workers at the IAC have been protesting US foreign policy that prevents sex workers from being the kind of partners HRW recommends. US funding restrictions include an anti-prostitution pledge that promotes discrimination against sex workers by prohibiting empowerment programs for sex workers. But in order to combat human rights abuses of sex workers and HIV among sex workers, sex workers must be part of the solution, rather than as target populations for programs designed and implemented without input from the people they seek to affect.
The US government is implicated in these abuses. The US government’s Trafficking In Persons report grades nations on their responses to human trafficking. Nations that receive low marks for a few consecutive years are threatened with economic sanctions. Cambodia’s government relies on foreign aid, and the US is one of its largest donors. When sanctions loomed, Cambodia passed an anti-trafficking law that additionally criminalized sex work and police declared open season on sex workers.
This is not uncommon; it’s a pattern seen in many places. In Cambodia, where the rule of law is weak, abuses included extreme torture and even deaths in custody. In addition to detention and abuse by law enforcement, sex workers were also unlawfully detained by anti-trafficking NGOs. One bright spot is that these organizations say that they have changed their policies and HRW says that no reports of detention by NGOs have been received in 2010.
Unfortunately, abuse by law enforcement continues.
In response to these abuses, the report recommends suspending the provision against soliciting in the anti-trafficking law because the provision “gives police more leverage to extort money and commit violent acts against sex workers and has facilitated abuses.” Instead of arresting and abusing sex workers, the report recommends consulting sex workers to “jointly develop programs and services that can empower sex workers and accurately reflect their needs.”
This is the strongest language from HRW yet that criminalization of sex work contributes to violence and abuse of some of the most vulnerable people. This same sentiment was expressed yesterday by Mandeep Dhaliwhal of UNDP during the International AIDS Conference (IAC) happening now in Vienna. These recommendations are only a first step to better policy to promote and ensure the human rights of sex workers. Sex workers at the IAC have been protesting US foreign policy that prevents sex workers from being the kind of partners HRW recommends. US funding restrictions include an anti-prostitution pledge that promotes discrimination against sex workers by prohibiting empowerment programs for sex workers. But in order to combat human rights abuses of sex workers and HIV among sex workers, sex workers must be part of the solution, rather than as target populations for programs designed and implemented without input from the people they seek to affect.
Survivors of Khmer Rouge torture centre await justice
Thu, Jul 22, 2010
Patrick Falby
PHNOM PENH, July 22, 2010 (AFP) - In January 1979, as the Khmer Rouge regime collapsed and its leaders fled Phnom Penh, invading Vietnamese troops stumbled upon an abandoned prison with fresh corpses chained to iron beds. It was Tuol Sleng, or "Hill of the Poisonous Trees", the most infamous of all of the jails run by Pol Pot's murderous regime.
Next week the prison's former chief Kaing Guek Eav, better known as Duch, will hear the verdict in his trial at a UN-backed tribunal where witnesses have recounted the horrors of a place from which almost no one came out alive.
Norng Chan Phal, 40, is one of just a handful of survivors to emerge from the Khmer Rouge regime's main torture centre, liberated by the Vietnamese invasion.
He told the trial last year how, as a child, he saw Tuol Sleng guards threaten, beat and photograph his mother. Soon afterwards she disappeared and was never seen again.
"I want Duch to be locked in prison for the rest of his life and forced to work farming in a prison field," Norng Chan Phal told AFP ahead of Monday's verdict. "I want him to feel what he did to others."
Prosecutors have demanded Duch, 67, be sentenced to 40 years in jail on charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity, premeditated murder and torture for overseeing the execution of some 15,000 prisoners.
Most were forced to confess as foreign spies and taken to a nearby killing field where executioners delivered a blow to the base of the neck with a steel club, then sliced their bellies open, former prison staff testified.
Duch, a former mathematics teacher, has said his orders were for all those imprisoned at Tuol Sleng to be killed to ensure "secrecy and security".
"No one was entitled to release them, (not) even Pol Pot," Duch said.
Prisoners at the interrogation centre, a former high school, suffered beatings, electric shocks to their genitals and had plastic bags tied over their heads, witnesses said during the nine-month trial.
One former Tuol Sleng guard even testified that many prisoners were drained of their blood.
The staff dared not refuse to work. Investigators estimate 200 of them even became prisoners there, facing certain execution.
Led by Pol Pot, who died in 1998, the Khmer Rouge emptied Cambodia's cities in a bid to forge a communist utopia. Up to two million people died of starvation, overwork and torture or were executed during the 1975-1979 regime.
Prosecutors assert Tuol Sleng, also known as S-21, was the regime's main killing apparatus among 198 prisons throughout Cambodia.
Duch has apologised for his past but many Cambodians doubt his sincerity since he consistently rejected allegations that he held a central leadership role in the Khmer Rouge, and said he never personally killed anyone.
These days the prison is a dilapidated genocide museum that displays mug shots of doomed inmates.
"Some people come here and when they see their parents in photos, they're shocked and collapse," said Chum Mey, 79, another survivor who now works as a tour guide at the museum.
Chum Mey testified that interrogators beat him for 12 days and nights as he pleaded for his life. He shuddered in pain after they pulled out his toenails, he said, and was subjected to electric shocks.
The agony finally ended when he falsely confessed to being a CIA and KGB agent, Chum Mey said, and his life was then spared because he was put to use repairing sewing machines and a water pump.
During Duch's trial, his defence team mostly focused on getting a lighter sentence, by downplaying his position within the regime and by highlighting his remorse, his time already served and his cooperation with the court.
Duch made further apologies for his crimes in a statement on the final day of arguments in November, but enraged many victims when he unexpectedly asked to be acquitted on the grounds he was not a senior member of the Khmer Rouge.
Next week the prison's former chief Kaing Guek Eav, better known as Duch, will hear the verdict in his trial at a UN-backed tribunal where witnesses have recounted the horrors of a place from which almost no one came out alive.
Norng Chan Phal, 40, is one of just a handful of survivors to emerge from the Khmer Rouge regime's main torture centre, liberated by the Vietnamese invasion.
He told the trial last year how, as a child, he saw Tuol Sleng guards threaten, beat and photograph his mother. Soon afterwards she disappeared and was never seen again.
"I want Duch to be locked in prison for the rest of his life and forced to work farming in a prison field," Norng Chan Phal told AFP ahead of Monday's verdict. "I want him to feel what he did to others."
Prosecutors have demanded Duch, 67, be sentenced to 40 years in jail on charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity, premeditated murder and torture for overseeing the execution of some 15,000 prisoners.
Most were forced to confess as foreign spies and taken to a nearby killing field where executioners delivered a blow to the base of the neck with a steel club, then sliced their bellies open, former prison staff testified.
Duch, a former mathematics teacher, has said his orders were for all those imprisoned at Tuol Sleng to be killed to ensure "secrecy and security".
"No one was entitled to release them, (not) even Pol Pot," Duch said.
Prisoners at the interrogation centre, a former high school, suffered beatings, electric shocks to their genitals and had plastic bags tied over their heads, witnesses said during the nine-month trial.
One former Tuol Sleng guard even testified that many prisoners were drained of their blood.
The staff dared not refuse to work. Investigators estimate 200 of them even became prisoners there, facing certain execution.
Led by Pol Pot, who died in 1998, the Khmer Rouge emptied Cambodia's cities in a bid to forge a communist utopia. Up to two million people died of starvation, overwork and torture or were executed during the 1975-1979 regime.
Prosecutors assert Tuol Sleng, also known as S-21, was the regime's main killing apparatus among 198 prisons throughout Cambodia.
Duch has apologised for his past but many Cambodians doubt his sincerity since he consistently rejected allegations that he held a central leadership role in the Khmer Rouge, and said he never personally killed anyone.
These days the prison is a dilapidated genocide museum that displays mug shots of doomed inmates.
"Some people come here and when they see their parents in photos, they're shocked and collapse," said Chum Mey, 79, another survivor who now works as a tour guide at the museum.
Chum Mey testified that interrogators beat him for 12 days and nights as he pleaded for his life. He shuddered in pain after they pulled out his toenails, he said, and was subjected to electric shocks.
The agony finally ended when he falsely confessed to being a CIA and KGB agent, Chum Mey said, and his life was then spared because he was put to use repairing sewing machines and a water pump.
During Duch's trial, his defence team mostly focused on getting a lighter sentence, by downplaying his position within the regime and by highlighting his remorse, his time already served and his cooperation with the court.
Duch made further apologies for his crimes in a statement on the final day of arguments in November, but enraged many victims when he unexpectedly asked to be acquitted on the grounds he was not a senior member of the Khmer Rouge.
Srey Thy: Living a better life as a Cambodian rock singer
House of the Rising Sun by the Cambodian Space Project
Srey Thy
The Cambodian Space Project from left to right: Davis Zunk Julien Poulson, Irene Choun, Dan Schwarzlose, Srey Thy, Scott Bywater, and Ken White.We talk with Srey Thy about her escape from a life of poverty and abuse to become the lead singer of one of Cambodia’s hottest bands, the Cambodian Space Project
22 July, 2010
By Charlie Lancaster
CNN Go
Srey Thy is an artist struggling to make ends meet, but her confidence and beaming smile suggest that after years of difficulty she is finally on the right track. Hailing from Prey Veng, one of Cambodia’s poorest provinces, life has thrown Thy some curve balls.
At 19, she was kidnapped and brutally forced into the sex trade. She says her escape is one of the defining moments in her life. Another moment was a chance meeting with Australian musician Julien Poulsen. Together they formed The Cambodian Space Project, and their 1960s Cambodian-rock Western fusion has been rocking the capital ever since.
Having played 20 gigs in the kingdom, Thy, at 31, recently received her first passport -- to Hong Kong -- where The Cambodian Space Project played its first international gig.
CNNGo: When did music first become a part of your life?
Srey Thy: I used to listen to my mother sing as a child at home and at school, where she used to perform for the students during recess. My parents couldn’t afford singing lessons, but I practiced by trying to sound like her, and after a while, I was singing in local restaurants in my home province Prey Veng.
CNNGo: How did a girl from one of Cambodia’s poorest regions become a lead singer of one of the hottest bands in the country?
Thy: Just over five years ago, I moved to Phnom Penh to escape a life of poverty and a violent husband to pursue a career in singing. I began working in karaoke bars, but it was a difficult time. I earned less than US$100 a month and sent what I could back to my ageing parents and young son. I worked for different people, many of whom swindled me of my money. Then one day last year, I met Australian musician Julien Poulson while I was singing in a bar. We got talking and our mutual interests and talents led to the creation of the cross-over 1960s Cambodian-rock Western fusion style music that is the Cambodian Space Project.
CNNGo: Many people compare your voice to the 1960s legend Ros Sereysothea -- do you think this is a fair comparison?
Thy: I hope so. I love all the pre-war music and Ros Seretysothea is probably Cambodia’s greatest female singer. Cambodia was ahead of its regional neighbors before the Khmer Rouge killed many of the singers and destroyed much of their music, and I am pleased to honor their legacy while at the same time pushing musical boundaries within the country today.
CNNGo: While you sing covers from the 1960s, you mainly write your own music. Please talk a little more about your music and the symbolism of your lyrics.
Thy: My voice suits rock music -- I’m not so good at love ballads for example -- which is why I sing rock. To some degree or another, all my songs are related to family problems, love, dishonesty and desperation. Sometimes, I use traditional folklore to address some of these issues while the message in other songs isn’t as subtle! CNNGo: You mentioned desperation, what have been the most desperate moments of your life?
Thy: Being in an abusive relationship and being kidnapped. When I moved to Phnom Penh, I was duped into working in a brothel posing as a massage parlor. I still have a scar on my wrist from being handcuffed in a room. But I was lucky, as one of the other girls helped me escape and gave me US$2.50 to run away with. I don’t know what has happened to her since.
CNNGo: How has the band changed your life?
Thy: I am more famous now, happier and my English has improved. The public support has given me hope for a better life. But I am still struggling to make a decent living; my income depends on the number of gigs we play.
CNNGo: What are the challenges of playing in Cambodia?
Thy: There is a real thirst for live music in Cambodia, but the live [English-language] music scene remains largely neglected. It is a small city, so it is important to balance a need to make a living while avoiding over-exposure.
CNNGo: How many gigs have you played to date and which were the most memorable?
Thy: Since we started in December, we have played over 20 gigs in all sorts of locations from private parties to concerts. I’d say as far as unusual goes, singing at an elephant’s 40th birthday party probably tops the charts. Playing in my hometown was an amazing experience -- the whole village came. I think they liked the music, but the pink suit drummer Scott Bywater was wearing distracted many people! And of course playing at the Hong Kong music festival 2010 was special.
CNNGo: Yes, you recently got your first passport, boarded your first flight and played your first international gig in Hong Kong -- how did it feel?
Thy: I was nervous checking in for both flights. I was scared. It was my first time flying and I cried all the way to Hong Kong.
CNNGo: How did performing in Hong Kong compare to performing in Cambodia?
Thy: It was very different. I found it hard to express my feeling or emotions, perhaps because everything was so new to me. Unlike in Cambodia, the audience didn’t know who I was and weren’t familiar with Khmer music. I didn’t enjoy the first or second day, but by the third day the audience applauded me and enjoyed the music, so I was much happier. I didn’t see any Khmer people there.
CNNGo: What are your ambitions?
Thy: To pay back all my debt to my mother; to own a house; and to have a happy family.
CNNGo: What can we look forward to in the coming months?
Thy: More gigs, I hope, and possibly a tour to France in August -- if I can get a visa.
For more information on the Cambodian Space Project and their upcoming gigs check out: myspace.com/thecambodianspaceproject
Court sent letter to NatAss to impound Mu Sochua’s salary in exchange for her jail time
Friday, July 16, 2010
16 July 2010
DAP news
Translated from Khmer by Socheata
Phnom Penh – A reliable source form the Phnom Penh municipal court indicated the court sent a letter to the National Assembly (NatAss) to impound SRP MP Mu Sochua’s salary, who lost her lawsuit case to Hun Xen, in lieu of jail time.
Nevertheless, CPP MP Cheam Yeap, the chairman of the economic and finance of the NatAss committee, declared that, up to now, he did not see any letter from the court yet.
Mrs. Mu Sochua told DAP news on Friday afternoon that she did not receive this information yet, but according to SRP officials, Mrs. Mu Sochua will receive this resolution to her case.
Mrs. Mu Sochua declined to comment at this time, explaining that she will wait until she receives this letter first.
Nevertheless, CPP MP Cheam Yeap, the chairman of the economic and finance of the NatAss committee, declared that, up to now, he did not see any letter from the court yet.
Mrs. Mu Sochua told DAP news on Friday afternoon that she did not receive this information yet, but according to SRP officials, Mrs. Mu Sochua will receive this resolution to her case.
Mrs. Mu Sochua declined to comment at this time, explaining that she will wait until she receives this letter first.
On the ban of books deemed critical to Strongman Hun Xen ... read on KI-Media
Friday, July 16, 2010
Opinion by X-Men, and Anonymous KI-Media Reader
Books are a compilation of personal experiences good and bad, thus in the free world these personal experiences help shape the future so one may prevent such reoccurrences in one's nation or country. Should students become limited with their search for the truth then knowledge itself has been kept away from what will be told. This behavior is not a good way for anyone, not to mention the country. I think the reason why free speech is not allowed in a country such as Cambodia is because of enormous wealth to be discovered and to be made. When people are free to speak and to offer their opinions which translates that the government itself is not doing an exceptional job thus it will lead to a replacement of the government itself. And when those who are at the top of the food chain seem that the public have intervened it will become a huge problem for them. When it becomes a problem to them it means that their personal interests have become inconvenienced. Knowledge also means wealth. The more you know the more you earn the less you know the less you earn. Because of this simple expression the government prefers to keep the public at a distant path of knowledge, thus it leads to a very minimum of personal expressions. Education is the key to solve many problems because it is human that creates all of these problems among themselves. Those who have power want more power while those who have less power also want more power as well. Having said that, I urge the government to really encourage people to speak more based on the actuality of the reality and not based on defamation and accusations. When we learn to criticize anyone we must have everything in our perspective before we begin to judge and vice-versa. In addition, I urge the Ministry of Information (MoI) to focus on what they can do to work with the public working together in reshaping Cambodia into a better place and less focus on trivial issues. We are still facing with many great challenges ahead in the coming years, thus the MoI should learn to accept that some criticisms might actually do some good for their future growth and not just fear and be intimidated by what is meant to be well thought expression and not just a lousy worrysome over some odd trivial opinions.
Hope to speak again soon.
X-Men
Hope to speak again soon.
X-Men
Chea Xim earned another PhD for his numerous corruption talents?
Chea Xim receives honorary doctorate from China
16 July 2010
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Socheata
Based on his so numerous talents in leading the country to development, Chea Xim, Senate president, was recognized by the People’s Republic of China’s Research Institute of World Culture with an hormonary doctorate in “political science”. The event took place on 15 July at the Senate building. Chea Xim’s family members and several high-ranking officials came to cheer this honorable vent. Wang Hong Lee, the executive director of the People’s Republic of China’s Research Institute of World Culture, was also present during the ceremony. Mrs. Pheng Kantheaborey, Chea Xim’s protocol director, indicated that the People’s Republic of China’s Research Institute of World Culture is recognized by the UN and it used to dole out hormonary doctorate to high-ranking leaders all over the world before it decided to hand one down to Chea Xim.
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