#06 - This Mess We’re In
How long will it take for the Cambodian government to maintain its biggest Covid-19 outbreak yet?
Sou Sdei and welcome to Campuccino, your fortnightly dispatch of key headlines in Cambodia with a dash of opinion.
A warm welcome to new subscribers, thank you for allowing me into your inbox. It’s nice to have you here. A big fat thank you to Travelfish for giving Campuccino a shout out. 🙏
In this issue: first Covid-19 community outbreak, new casino law, government’s new “palm leaves” policy, an elephant, food and more.
Opening a newsletter with a Covid-related story is not my preferred choice because I get it, we are all sick of it (pun intended). However, the latest community transmission of Covid-19 in Cambodia is too prominent to miss. So, I’d rather give you the bad news first and the less bad news afterward (don’t worry, I have some dessert in the Arts & Culture section to cheer you up!). Here we go:
Cambodia witnessed its first Covid-19 community transmission case known as the November 28 event, reports Shaun Turton for Nikkei Asia. The outbreak emerged from prison director Chhem Savuth whose four family members tested positive for Covid-19. The government acted quickly to contain the outbreak by banning gatherings of more than 20 people for two weeks and ordered schools, museums, and cinemas to temporarily close again. Bear in mind that this happened only weeks after the November 8 event caused by a visiting Hungarian delegation. Now, the Ministry of Education announced a two-week closure of private schools and an early finish to the academic year for public schools. Grade 12 national exams are also rescheduled from December 21 to mid-January. According to CamboJAnews, as of December 6 there are 11,305 people from Phnom Penh and seven provinces connected to the November 28 events. So far, there have been 32 positive cases and at least nine infection sites across Phnom Penh. Ministry of Interior has been temporarily shut down after an official tested positive. All officials at the ministry were asked to get tested.
What makes me cringe throughout this whole ordeal is how Cambodia is doing its contact tracing. Basically, infected people have their photos and details released by the Ministry of Health. I guess the logic behind this is so that people can identify if they have come into contact with those who are infected. It is a stark contrast to what I know of contact tracing in New Zealand, where I reside at the moment. Protecting the privacy of Covid-19 patients is crucial to shield them against discrimination, abuse and stigma. I’ve always been cynical about efficiency of my government in implementing such processes, but to see photos of infected people plastered across social media and chat groups really had me worried. On top of that, it seems that the government has really fast access to security footage of venues across Phnom Penh. On Facebook, I came across a security camera footage of two siblings shopping after they tested positive for Covid-19.RIP privacy…
With all those efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus, no prisoners have been tested for Covid-19 despite some coming into contact with the prison’s director, reports Tran Techseng for VOD. Only prison officers at the same Phnom Penh facilities have received the tests. Ahh…the irony.
In the midst of a pandemic and economic downturn, the government enacted the Law on the Management of Commercial Gambling in November, reports Nikkei Asia. The law replaces the existing mishmash of legislation and ad hoc agreements previously used to govern casinos in the country. The law requires both integrated resorts and standalone casinos to pay taxes based on gross gaming revenue. It is worth noting that the new law allows existing agreements to remain effective until they expire.
While we’re contemplating how much Cambodia will benefit from casino taxes with the flashy new law, let’s also look at the government’s new policy of “using palm leaves for package [sic] palm sugar”. According to VOD’s report by Mech Dara, the government is looking for a way to save costs by swapping state land with investors for road construction. How that fits in the palm leaves vs palm sugar analogy, I’m not sure. According to the government spokesperson, the “palm leaves” policy is about providing existing lands to private businesses and receiving both investment and infrastructure in return. Guess what else we might be getting in return? Deforestation (if there’s any forest left), land eviction, and disappearing wetlands. Cambodia’s national-level revenues are estimated to drop 14 percent while expenditure will drop by 2 percent. In the same article, VOD includes two interactive graphics of budget trends 2010-2021 and a breakdown of the national budget for 2021. I find it fascinating. So, check it out if you’re interested.
On the political front, CNRP leaders plan (again) to return to Cambodia on January 4, 2021, report Phoung Vantha and Gerald Flynn for Cambodianess. Many leadership members of the outlawed main opposition announced the plan on the grounds that they are coming to participate in court hearings. Over 100 CNRP members were summoned by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on November 3 to stand trial for conspiracy and incitement to commit a felony. Honestly, I’m sick of this kerfuffle. I’m tired of the same old stories where the government has nothing better to do but to oppress the opposition party, some of whose leaders keep lying to their own supporters.
My government is very talented at swapping resources if you haven’t noticed already. Other than lands, wetlands and forests, we also swap sand. Andrew Haffner’s article for Southeast Asia Globe titled “A Kingdom of sand” explores the sand dredging industry and its impact on the Mekong River and the lives of people living along it.
On a separate note, Kaavan, the world’s loneliest elephant, found a new home in Cambodia! Local and international media were quick to cover this feel-good news. Videos of Kaavan playing with a tyre, Kaavan finding a new friend, Kaavan enjoying his food and so on, are all over social media. I’m happy for Kaavan but I couldn’t help but notice the same old narrative of a famous person coming to save the day and, all of a sudden, Cambodia has magically become a wildlife sanctuary (it’s not). This article written by David Hutt for The Diplomat sums up my sentiment perfectly.
Arts & Culture
🎥 The sand article mentioned above reminds me of a documentary by filmmaker Mam Kalyanee: Lost Worldis a 15-minute short film spotlighting one woman’s relationship with a place she calls home faces a threat of erasure caused by sand dredging. It is a beautiful, yet heart-aching documentary that allows you a lot of space to pause and reflect not just on the topic of sand dredging presented but also on the ideas of home and what it means to your identity. (the film is free to watch on YouTube)
🎭 Cambodian Living Arts and Art Emerson are organising Bangsokol Virtual Festival. The festival will consist of a two-week series of online performances, film screenings, and conversations, inspired by the production Bangsokol: A Requiem for Cambodia, a multi-disciplinary stage production combining music, film, movement and voice. I’ve seen Bangsokol live, and it was indeed a masterpiece. I know a virtual screening cannot imitate an experience of live performance but I still recommend you to watch it. It is one of those performances that I would describe as heartbreakingly beautiful. If you watch it, I’m curious to know what you think, write me!
🍳 With lots of information to process in this week’s newsletter, I would like to end with happy content. Food! I’m a food enthusiast and I find great pleasure in traveling for food as well as cooking. For a while now, I’ve been following a local channel called Expressions Hub which claims to focus on education, environment, culture and communication. Sounds vague, I know. However, they mostly produce this video series called “Let’s Get Fat” which features a Cambodian young woman travelling across Cambodia to taste different dishes. I think it’s a great guide if you’re looking to try out locals’ favourites. The content was only in Khmer up until this month. Now, English subtitles are provided. (Available on Facebook and YouTube)
🎥 If you’re also a food lover and curious about Cambodian food. Check out The Fresh and the Fermented, a Cambodia-focused episode of CNA’s documentary series Slumfood Millionaire. I’m not the biggest fan of the name of the series but the episode is worth watching. It shows perseverance of my people and their passion to maintain the flavour integrity in some of Cambodia’s humblest dishes.
Overheard on Twitter
Campuccino is a fortnightly dispatch of key headlines in Cambodia, written by @DarathteyDin from Word & Visual.
I’d love to hear from you. If you have feedback or content ideas, please reach out via tey@wordandvisualmedia.com