Folk songs of protest

I just came across this group - The Messenger Band. They are a Cambodian folk group. Each member is a former factory worker. As it says on the Womyn's Agenda for Change website, singing is a safer way of advocating for change, especially in a climate that represses protest and where journalists self-censor.

Check out these videos. They are subtitled in English. Listen to the words of young Cambodian women singing about the issues that effect them.

Suffering from Privatisation



Life and land



All their lyrics are available in English here.

Border skirmishes

The border tensions between Cambodia and Thailand, which I described here, have escalated. Shots were fired and soldiers were wounded. Both sides claim that the other fired the first shot. Reuters has this:

Thailand accused Cambodia on Sunday of firing the first shots in a border incident in which three soldiers were wounded, saying it was "a brutal and aggressive act" that had violated friendly relations.

In a letter to the Cambodian government, Thailand's foreign ministry demanded Phnom Penh ensure there is no repeat of the incident near the disputed 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple.

"The shooting by the Cambodian troops against the unarmed Thai paramilitary rangers is regarded as a brutal and aggressive act and is contrary to the spirit of friendly relations between Cambodia and Thailand," the letter said.

Cambodia issued a similar protest on Saturday, accusing Thailand of "intentional armed provocation" and warning it could lead to conflict.

However, Cambodian Information Minister Khieu Kanharith told Reuters that Phnom Penh had agreed to an investigation into Friday's exchange of fire and Thailand's foreign ministry said the situation at the border was calm.

Two Thai soldiers and one Cambodian soldier were injured in what was the first clash in the disputed territory since the two countries agreed to pull back troops in August after a tense month-long stand-off.

From Xinhua Net

Cambodia protested to Thailand on Saturday about Friday's border shooting incident, which was the first clash between the two countries in the more than two-month-long border dispute.

"On Oct. 3, 2008, at 15:30, a group of Thai soldiers entered Cambodian territory in the area of Phnom Trap and fired gunshots from M.79 at the Cambodian troops stationed at Veal Intry area on Phnom Trap hill side, located approximately 2,000 meters to the west of Keo Sikha Kiri Svara pagoda (in the area of Preah Vihear Temple)," said Cambodia's Foreign Ministry in a letter to the Thaiembassy [sic] which was obtained by Xinhua.

"The shooting resulted in the injury of one Cambodian soldier from Brigade No 43," the letter said, adding that Cambodian troops returned fire in self defense, which was followed by a brief exchange of gunfire between the sides.

"The Royal Government of Cambodia considers the above act by Thai soldiers as a serious armed provocation, contrary to the commitment to exercise utmost restraint made during the Meetings of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the two countries on July 28, 2008 at Siem Reap, Cambodia and on Aug. 18-19, 2008 at Cha-am, Thailand," the letter said.

And CNN

A spokesman for Cambodia's Cabinet, Phay Siphan, said the incident began after Cambodian troops intercepted a trespassing Thai patrol. He said the Thai troops retreated in response to a warning from the Cambodians, but then fired the grenade.

Cambodian troops returned fire with AK-47 assault rifles, with the exchange of fire lasting three to five minutes, he said.

Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Tharit Charungvat said Friday evening that the Thai troops had been patrolling in their own territory when they encountered the Cambodian soldiers.

"The Cambodian troops shot at the Thai troops first, wounding two soldiers. One Cambodian soldier was also wounded after the Thais responded," he said.

Both Thai and Cambodian politicians are adopting aggressive stances. Both claim that the others' soldiers violated sovereign territory.

With Hun Sen back in power after the general election, many thought that that would be the end of the tensions because there would be no further need to pander to the nationalists. Of course with Thailand in political uncertainty, there was no certainty. Now, we'll have to wait to see if war breaks out.

More info here

Global News Blog
Real Cambodia
KI-Media
World Bulletin

The rattling of sabres

With headlines like this Cambodia on brink of war with Thailand and this Cambodia asks UN to intervene in 'imminent state of war' with Thailand people are a little nervous. Add to this the upcoming election and tensions are running high.

UNESCO designated Preah Vihear as a World Heritage Site earlier this month and a land dispute has arisen. Mix in Thai and Cambodian soldiers and the situation has escalated with neither side willing to lose face or surrender what they consider theirs. KI-Media has more details.

The problem dates back to a map drawn up in 1908 by French cartographers to define the Thai-Cambodian border when Cambodia was still a French colony. Although the French insisted the border should be defined according to the watershed - where the rain water falls in opposite directions - along the Dongrak mountain range, in their map the ancient Preah Vihear, perched on the tip of a 525 metre high cliff that is a steep fall on the Cambodian side and a gradual slope on the Thai one, oddly ended up on the Cambodian side of the watershed.

Thailand's failure to officially object to the questionable map-making led to their losing the temple in 1962 when a dispute over the temple's ownership was settled in the Hague at the International Court of Justice.

The court ruling, while in Cambodia's favour, left the dispute over the actual border line open to further discussion.

Thailand still claims that a 4.6-square-kilometre plot of land adjacent to the temple is still subject to this dispute.

Cambodia has asked the UN Security Council to intervene. And the SG has called for restraint and a peaceful resolution. The SC is going to decide whether to convene a special emergency session tomorrow.

There is a call for a boycott of Thai goods and residents of Poipet (which borders Thailand) are stocking up on necessities in case the border is closed

A Cambodian villager who crossed the border and bought food supplies said Cambodians in Poi Pet feared that fighting could break out.

He said Poi Pet residents believed that negotiations between the two neighbours' military leaders, scheduled for Monday and aimed at defusing the tensions, would be fruitless after Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen had demanded that Thailand withdraw its troops.

Cambodians believe that Thailand would not follow the Cambodian leader's request, said the villager.

The SG decision tomorrow many resolve some of the issues. People are afraid of war but embassies haven't issued any particular advice and tourists are still visiting the temples. 'Wait and see' is the policy.

Pchum Ben

It's the festival of the dead in Cambodia.

The fifteenth day, of the tenth month, of the Khmer calendar marks the Pchum Ben festival. This is a time when the spirits of the dead ancestors walk the Earth. And the living can ease their suffering by offering them food to eat. (Source)

Everyone returns to their home province to honour the dead.

I'm taking the long weekend on the coast. Just another couple of hours and I'm out of here!

The media can become "a knife that cuts both ways"

Just in case there was any doubt about freedom of the press in Cambodia, the DPM has answered that question.

Deputy Prime Mr. Sok An emphasized that media are an active agent to provide information, with the goal of providing facts and to mirror the society, in order to help correct extreme activities in society which are influenced from outside, so that they return to more appropriate ones, not to affect the value of our cultures, traditions, or the high moral of society, and to maintain national identity, so that it can survive under the influence of the currents of globalization. Due to this role, the media have to be at the same time conservers and developers of society with specific and appropriate goals.

“Deputy Prime Minister Mr. Sok An continued to point out that the media can also be a ‘knife that cuts both ways,’ because they can be an enemy of social development, and they can lead the nation into trouble, if they are not used appropriately in their role, by neglecting the aspect of the possibility of having a bad influence. Considering this, how should we arrange the media in order to maintain their role and high effectiveness in social development?

“However, Deputy Prime Minister Mr. Sok An expects that after this seminar, the media, especially radio and television, will move further to new successes in the development of the national society, the maintenance of stability and peace, and of the values of the national cultures and traditions.”(Source)

Yes indeed, how can we best control the media to reflect the opinion of the government? How can we get all these pesky reporters to go after the opposition and sing our praises? How do maintain the traditions of asking no questions, obeying orders and never questioning authority? Well how about intimidation and corruption! Or warnings from the second most powerful man in the land!

To control the media, is to control the voice of the people. Without a voice, democracy does not function. The Cambodian people want a democracy so why is the rich elite aiming for a plutocracy? Because they can, I suppose. It's really quite disheartening to see the slow careful demolition of democracy.

Nothing says I love you like rape

In Cambodia women are not even allowed to hand an object to a monk because women are impure and might contaminate the holy man. They place the object on the table and only then does the monk pick it up. I'm surprised that they do not have to sterilise it first. That's just a little background info on the sexism is Cambodia before it horrible story that follows.

There is a story today in the Cambodia Daily that is utterly repellent. A monk raped a 13 year old girl, got her pregnant and threatened to kill her if she told anyone. Eventually the girl's father found out because of her pregnancy and reported the monk to the police. And as if all of that wasn't bad enough, the monk says he did it out of love

He did confess to police, that he had raped the girl because he loved her. The victim is now 5 months pregnant. (Cambodia Daily 27/08/2007)

He was a monk. She was 13. He raped her because he loved her. Why did he threaten to kill her? Where is the logic there? Why is rape so acceptable in our society? Where is the outrage? Rape is a violent crime and not one you do to someone you love. Most of the time rape is about power and this girl was utterly powerless. How dare that monk say he loves her?

This makes me sick - what happened, the attitude towards women, the sick excuses and explanations and more importantly the utter acceptance of our rape culture. The more I read I think it was always like this. The media has pushed it out into the light of day, like a monstrous fault on our stained inhumanity. Why are we not shocked and appalled at such violence day after day?

Cambodian youth

Radio Free Asia is talking about being young in Cambodia and it is not a pretty picture...

One NGO involved with the youth, indicated that 70% of the youth are jobless and are now involved in criminal activities.

During the day commemorating the 8th International Youth Day, Long Khet, the president of the Youth Peace organization, said, on 10 August, that 70% of Cambodian youth ranging in age between 18 and 30-year-old, are facing joblessness and these youth are currently involved in drug use, gangs, delinquency, creating unrest in the society, and are providing bad influence to the younger generations.

Long Khet added that the reason these youth are struggling in the society is because they are very poor and they did not get any education. (Source)

There are no jobs and few role models. In a society that has such an unemployment rate, it is not surprising that people turn to drugs, violence and crime. This is a challenge that the government needs to face. What future can the majority of young people have in such conditions?

Well, good governance, education and job creation would seem to be a start. I have written at length about the governance in this country and so will not do so here. The educational system is full of problems.

Where to begin? Teachers are not paid enough so many impose illegal fees on students. Many students cannot afford $1 a month for education and so miss out on the opportunities that should be available.

The other major problem is cheating in exams and buying good marks.

Multiple choice question # 1: Which of the following explains why rampant exam cheating and bribery are making a mockery of Cambodia's education system?
- (a) teachers are profiting from it
- (b) students see no shame in cheating
- (c) the government says the problem does not exist
Sadly the answer is all of the above.

According to the teacher..., A and B grades have a fixed rate of $2 000 and $1 200 respectively. The cost of a C is negotiable but generally costs $700-800

Socially cheating is just another form of corruption. It's a reflection of the larger context of society.

The schools of the country are its future in miniature. (Source)

With schools like this, students unable to afford an education, and parents willing and able to pay for diplomas, there is and will continue to be a serious lack of trained professionals. It seems that once again corruption is at the root of the issue.

Violence and sex

There is a fundamental lack of understanding in Cambodia as to what rape is. Rape in Cambodia depends on your profession, marital status and public standing. Having talked to underage sex workers, they do not understand the concept of rape. They have no power to say no or escape their fate.

Only 13 percent of young men and women surveyed by the group recognized forced sex with a prostitute as a crime, while women perceived as having broken from Cambodia's conservative social norms are also targeted, Licadho said.

"Gang rape ... is perpetuated by common attitudes and beliefs among young men that promote the myth that any girl who is not considered 'good' is available for sexual intercourse without her consent," the group said.

The trend towards increasing violence is not restricted to sex crimes, according to Licadho.

Despite the passage of domestic violence legislation in 2005, the laws have yet to be widely enforced, and reported crimes like beatings and abandonment have gone up since then.

"Beliefs about the inferiority of Cambodian women make if difficult for domestic violence to be recognized as a serious problem that families, friends and authorities should intervene in," Licadho said. (Source)

The madonna/whore complex is captured perfectly in Licadho's report. Be a good girl or a bad girl; there is no in between. Unfortunately this mentality is ostracising many. The flip side is that it is completely acceptable for men to visit prostitutes. These men make the point that the prostitutes are not Cambodian because no Cambodian girl would so sex work. Of course, such an assertion is far from logical, and the women pay the price.

Poor girls from the countryside are sold to brothels in the city that sell their virginity to the highest bidder. Because of the HIV/AIDS crisis, and the mistaken belief that having sex with a virgin will cure HIV/AIDS, virginity is highly prized. Of course, after the girls lose their virginity they can never get married. They will be vulnerable to violence for the rest of their lives. Not that marriage is a safe haven...

Women are treated appallingly here. Last year I gave a presentation on sexual harassment to a mixed group of national and international staff. I explained what harassment is and that it is not acceptable. After I opened the floor to questions, a Cambodian man stood up and said that no Cambodian woman would ever report a man harassing her. None of the women in the room contradicted her.

Another story I heard was a man working in women's rights, telling his wife who was suffering from post-natal depression that if she wouldn't have sex with him, he was going to visit prostitutes. How can progress be made if that is the attitude of women's rights activists?

The human rights of women in Cambodia must be protected. More political representation might be a start. One of the major problems, however, is the anger that boils in the country after the KR and the Vietnamese occupation. This anger is coming out as violence, gender based violence and child abuse. Until that is resolved the crimes will continue to increase.

How do you spend your money?

I am absolutely disgusted with this article from the Economist

If women decide to spend their 20s clubbing rather than child-rearing, and their cash on handbags rather than nappies, that's up to them.

The author's attitude is appalling. Not only does he (assuming gender) demonstrate a profound disrespect for women through his clubbing and handbag remark, but he also reduces women to baby making machines.

There are a number of issues to be tackled here. Firstly women have the right to spend their money on whatever the hell they want and should not be reprimanded by some patriarchal notion or by paternalistic second rate hacks. How magnanimous the author is with "that's up to them". Yes how we spend our money is up to us and no permission is required. Who the hell do you think you are to label women as either "baby maker" or "superficial and selfish" and then presume to permit us to choose how we spend it?

Secondly how dare he assume that women have the sole responsibility for spending their money on childrearing. Is childrearing not supposed to be a partnership? It seems to me that this is the kind of attitude that wants the little women barefoot and uneducated in the kitchen. I am not amused.

As a women in her twenties, I reject utterly his puerile statements. I, like the majority of women I know, spend my hard earned cash on further education and my career. I live in developing countries from from my family to do so. I do not intend to make babies just because I can. Apart from the other issues, it is irresponsible to bring a child into the world without proper consideration. Just because something is possible, it does not mean that one should engage in it - armour-piercing bullets for instance.

Let's all write letters to the editor and express outrage at the attitudes towards women. I've already composed mine.

Officials complain as usual

Cambodian officials (CPP lawmakers and the Culture Ministry) are bitching about not winning a spot on the New Seven Wonders of the World competition. They claim that that the competition is illegitimate and unjust as Angkor Wat did not win a coveted spot.

Yeah the voting was done by internet and telephone so it was an uncontrolled popular vote but the people were urged to vote by the posters and the papers that have littered the streets for quite some time now. Unfortunately Angkor Wat did not win, perhaps because of the telecommunications in Cambodia or perhaps not enough people have visited the site.

This was a worldwide vote and the vast majority of countries did not have an entry in the competition and were voting for Wonders that were not their own. So perhaps Cambodia's telecommunication standard played less of a role. Rather than bitch about justice and legitimacy for a largely irrelevant competition why not accept defeat graciously.

Perhaps the government could use this competition as a wake up call and put fast affordable internet connections in place. $40 a month is the cheapest broadband access in Phnom Penh but that is too expensive for schools and most households. It is interesting to note that in Vietnam, a household can get broadband for $5 a month, which would permit thousands more people to vote for Angkor Wat in the next popular vote.

At the end of the day the digital divide creates more inequalities and the only way to overcome it is to provide cheap or free broadband internet and training.

Alcohol doesn't kill brain cells

NEW research, to be revealed at a conference of some of the world's top neuroscientists in Cairns today, has found alcohol does not kill off brain cells as always thought.

For years imbibers have been told a big night on the drink wipes out entire sections of human brain cell function with much the same destructive equivalent as a napalm bombing strike.

According to Queensland Brain Institute director Professor Perry Bartlett, this is not true.

There is no evidence drinking alcohol leads directly to the death of brain cells, he said.

"Some of the best studies, done in Italy, show a bottle of wine a night can reduce the risk of dementia in old age," Professor Bartlett said.

In moderation, alcohol has positive benefits for blood vessel health and stroke prevention. And, as an added bonus, new brain cells are generated every day of our lives.

Research by Professor Bartlett and his team has found we all have an inbuilt repair kit replenishing the more than 100 billion cells - or neurons - in our brain. (Source)

Yay and here's to a bottle of wine a night to beat dementia!

New wonders

The news is out. There are seven new wonders of the world. These are, in no particular order, *drumroll*








Of the old wonders of the world only the Great Pyramid of Giza still stands.

Dying to be white?

In Cambodia, one has to search very hard to find creams / shaving lotion / deodorant without whitening cream. The elite have very light skin and the poor have darker skin. I'm generalising, of course, but for the majority it is true. Many Cambodians, especially young women, use whitening cream to attain the whiteness of the elite. However the creams and treatments they use are not great for one's skin.

Then there’s hydroquinone, a chemical used in photo processing that has become a common active ingredient in skin whiteners. Extended exposure to hydroquinone can backfire, leaving large dark patches of skin, or possibly worse: It has been shown to cause cancer in lab animals. In 2005, a pair of Dutch researchers referred to the widespread use of hydroquinone in skin whiteners as “a potential time bomb.” Accordingly, the chemical is banned for cosmetic use in the European Union, but is widely available elsewhere, especially in Asia. Hydroquinone is legal in concentrations of up to 2 percent in the United States, but the FDA is considering banning its use altogether in over-the-counter skin products. (Source)

Some of these young woman are literally dying to be white. White is seen as wealthy and desirable. They wear long sleeved gloves outside and walk with umbrellas to protect their skin from the sun. They gaze in astonishment at expats lying sunbathing, expats that are trying to tan. Culture clash.

The seven wonders of the modern world

Has everyone cast their vote for the new seven wonders of the world? There are only 17 days left to do so. From the Acropolis of Athens to Timbuktu, and Angkor Wat to Neuschwanstein Castle many cultures are represented. So will you pick Machu Picchu, the Statue of Liberty or the Sydney Opera House? Perhaps you prefer your wonders ancient in which case you can choose between Petra, Stonehenge, the Colosseum or the Great Wall of China. It is such a educational and democratic process that I recommend you to look it up even if it is just to see how many of the nominees you have visited or know of!

One of the aims of the competition to to draw attention to the destruction of cultural heritage that is taking place all over the world. Highlight you willingness to preserve the wonders of this world through your vote.

Preah Vihear as World Heritage

Sources: KI Media and Wikipedia

Phnom Penh (dpa) - The Cambodian government has renewed efforts to have Unesco classify the ancient Preah Vihear temple as a World Heritage site, government spokesman Khieu Kanharith confirmed Monday.

Kanharith confirmed reports in the Khmer-language Rasmei Kampuchea newspaper that the important 11th to 12th century temple, which lies in the far north of the country perched on the Thai border, should be recognised as a World Heritage monument to help assure its continued preservation.

Royal decrees passed by Cambodia with guidance from Unesco since 2002 have helped the Cambodidan government model ways to better manage and preserve the remote and partially ruined temple, assisting its current chances of finally being granted World Heritage listing. Read more...

Positive governmental intervention with regard to Cambodia's heritage is a rare occurrence but definitely to be lauded. As a World Heritage site, Preah Vihear temple may be able to secure funding towards its maintenance but more importantly it will be protected.