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.
In this issue: mass trial, opposition’s failed return, Covid-19 vaccine, waste management, Prime Minister’s new drama series and more.
Let’s start with a mass trial, shall we? 🍿
If I take a shot every time I say I’m sick of this kerfuffle, I’d have to write this newsletter from rehab. So, I settle with a few shots of espresso before writing this to keep me somewhat sane. The Phnom Penh Municipal Court begins its mass trial of over 130 opposition supporters accused of plotting to overthrow the government, reports Khy Sovuthy and Khuon Narim for CamboJANews. Two out of the 130 were questioned last week over the charges of plotting and incitement crimes related to Sam Rainsy’s failed attempt to return in 2019. The session, which lasted for three hours, mainly focused on communications via social media between the two and the party leaders. Kak Komphea and Heng Chan Sothy, former members of the now-dissolved CNRP, denied the accusations.
Meanwhile, Deputy CNRP leader Mu Sochua claimed last month that she would lead party leaders and activists back to Cambodia to stand trial, reports Sebastian Strangio for the Diplomat. Many opposition members had their passports revoked following the dissolution of the CNRP in 2017. Therefore, necessary travel documents from the government are the key for them to be able to return. Obviously, the government refuses to grant such documents. (duh!) Following Mu Sochua’s Twitter, she did attempt to return using her American passport but the trip was once again unsuccessful when she and her team were refused boarding in Singapore.
For additional read on the mass trial and government’s endless efforts to curb its opposition including an alleged cooperation from Thai authorities, check out New Naratif’s extensive piece by Matt Surrusco and Ouch Sony.
If mass trial isn’t enough to get people to shut up, a further restriction to what you can or cannot say in Cambodia, by whatever means, might just do the trick. With its growing popularity among young Cambodians, TikTok has become another source of threat to the government. How do I know? Well, the government began to warn users against illegal comedy and impersonations on TikTok, reports Mech Dara for VOD. I’m not going to even elaborate on this. Cambodian TikTok users are mostly young adults and my government is apparently scared of them. Let’s just leave it at that. 🙄
On the Covid-19 front, Sao Phal Niseiy from CambodiaNess reports that Cambodia has accepted one million doses of China’s Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine, according to the PM’s announcement on January 15. He did acknowledge that this decision contradicts his previous claim of only accepting WHO verified vaccines, but backs up his position saying that China’s Sinopharm and Sinovac have been used throughout the world.
While we’re on the health topic, Sokummono Khan, Hean Socheata and Phorn Bopha just did a rare, yet very significant piece for VOA on cancer and the lack of treatment and quality diagnosis in Cambodia. I lost my mother to breast cancer and I can tell you, it’s a bitch (apology, this one is very personal to me). The thing is, it is a very common disease, yet, it is not widely discussed in Cambodia. My family experienced everything that this article mentioned: low awareness of the disease, inadequate screening and treatment facilities, and a very high treatment cost. So, what can we do about it, you may ask? Considering state health system remains rather poor, I’m not positive that the treatment or the screening will become better any time soon. However, I will allow myself to be naïve and say that we can start talking about it, normalise the topic. This would hopefully raise awareness so that people can detect the symptoms early and can avoid going through the cancerous horrible ordeals.
Despite all the political drama happening in the background, I admire efforts at the community level to tackle social and environmental issues that are usually overlooked at the national level. Vuth Chandara, Boeur Sophea and Gerald Flynn did a great article for VOD on various community attempts to fill the gap in waste management. The article features Comped, Battambang’s grassroots composting initiative, Battambang Plastics Products, a family family-based plastic recycling factory, and Go Green Cambodia, a Phnom Penh community that gathers regularly to clean up across the city.
While communities are banding together trying to better the country’s various setbacks, the government continues to privatise more lands in the name of development putting more locals’ livelihoods in peril. The new airport development plan sees the privatisation of over 2,600 hectares of land, report Mech Dara and Danielle Keeton-Olsen for VOD. A sub-decree dated June 3, 2020 grants state land to the Cambodia Airport Investment company, a joint venture between the Overseas Cambodia Investment Corporation and the government’s State Secretariat for Civil Aviation. The development area spans across Kandal province’s Kandal Steung district and Takeo province’s Bati district. This affects people living in the surrounding areas, especially those whose lives depend on fishing in the wetlands and nearby lakes.
Arts & Culture
🎥 If you’re wondering what the arts and culture sector is like in Cambodia, this announcement encapsulates the reality really well. Prime Minister Hun Sen decided that he would like to produce a television drama series about himself. No, this is not a joke (I wish it was). A committee, headed by filmmaker and Information Ministry secretary of state Mao Ayuth, National Military Police commander Sao Sokha and Hun Sen’s bodyguard unit chief Hing Bun Heang, was established to oversee this grand endeavour. Hmmm…Can’t wait!
🎨 Sosoro Museum recently launched a fundraising art exhibition titled the Art of Sharing. It is a collaboration between Cambodian artists Chea Serey and Adana Man-Legros inspired by the concept of solidarity. Proceeds from the exhibition will go to three organisations whose works focus on social and mental health issues. The exhibition is freely open to the public at Sosoro Museum during its opening hours and will be up for the next couple of weeks. It can also be accessed virtually here.
🎨 SREY 2021 | Art 4 Women – Women 4 Art is an exhibition to showcase the majority of Khmer female artists around the theme of being a woman in Cambodia’s society as well as in the current modern world. The exhibition was launched at Meta House on January 20, 2021 accompanied by an artist talk discussing genders, norms, traditions, education, social constructions and dominations, and raising the question of freedom.
💻 ដាំដោយខ្មែរ (Planted by Khmer in English) is a movement to promote fruits and vegetables grown by locals in Cambodia. I mean how cool is that? Not only do they have a great Facebook page with very nice and consistent branding (the communication nerd in me is jumping up and down with joy), they put faces on the people who grow our food. As a younger generation who has never been through war, it is easy to take the abundance of food for granted. We tend to forget that behind every grain of rice, fruit or every piece of vegetable are hard-working human beings. (salute emoji)
Visually Pleasing
This is a new section, an improvement of what I normally include before the Arts and Culture section as a standalone Instagram post shared. Basically, I'm trying to feature works from Cambodian artists in all forms – visual arts, performing arts, photography — which I have come to admire.
If you know any Khmer artists whose work you would like me to check out and possibly feature in the newsletter, hit me up!
Overheard Tweet
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