#15 – Trouble in Town
Khmer New Year in Lockdown
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. For those celebrating, at home or not, Happy Khmer New Year.
By the time you read this email, I'll be in beautiful Queenstown taking a small break from the busy Auckland. I still count my blessings every day to be able to move around in Covid-free Aotearoa. However, I'd be lying if I told you I'm not worried about my family and friends in Cambodia dealing with a dangerous downward spiral of Covid-19 community transmissions. Then, there has been Khmer Rouge history-related news that I found mind-boggling, to say the least. As you read on, you will know what I'm talking about.
- Darathtey
In this issue: the verge of tragedy as Cambodia is dealing with its biggest coronavirus outbreak, how different sectors deal with covid-19, that VICE article and more.
Khmer New Year is one of my most favourite times of the year because it was one of the rare occasions when my mother allowed us to eat tin cookies bought for the New Year angel offering altar. I’m certain KNY is a favourite to many Cambodians for various reasons. Sadly, this year will be the first time Cambodians are urged to stay put wherever they are due to rampant Covid-19 spread. To many of you, it may be a similar feeling as spending Christmas away from your loved ones.
On April 10, the World Health Organization (WHO) in Cambodia issued a press release warning the country of impending disaster caused by the coronavirus outbreak and urged people to act responsibly. Since the February 20 incident, there has been no sign of slowing down when it comes to Covid-19 community transmissions. New cases continue to emerge at crowded places such as factories and markets sending infection numbers sky-high. In response to the outbreak, the government first introduced a partial lockdown of some areas in Phnom Penh. The lockdown has now been extended and expanded for the whole of Phnom Penh for the next 14 days, reports Reuters. There’s also been a ban on selling alcohol for 14 days. A report by Phorn Bopha for Al Jazeera sums up the entire pandemic situation in Cambodia perfectly and will bring you up to speed with what is going on.
It is heartbreaking for me to see Cambodia going through this battle with the coronavirus when they did so well for the past year. While I hate to talk about how the virus has wreaked havoc across many lives including my own, I think it is important to look at how different sectors and industries in Cambodia are coping or adapting to the situation. It is not a pretty reality but it is one we have to deal with.
Education – VOD’s Va Sopheanut, Matt Surrusco, Samoeun Nicseybon and Pork Kheuy look at how university students are learning to adapt their ways of study after being introduce to online learning for the first time last year. Many student voice the lack of concentration being a big challenge with remote learning. Some decided to pause their study and instead try to find a job to help sustain their families. Others have called for a reduction in tuition fees or tuition relief.
Informal economy – Danielle Keeton-Olsen and Yon Sineat wrote a piece for China Labour Bulletin examining how both Cambodia and Chinese construction workers are equally suffering from the slowdown of the sector caused by the pandemic.
Agriculture – Khorn Nary and Phoung Vathna from Cambodianess report on the sharply declining price of pumpkin causing concerns from farmers in Kampong Chhnang province. This is observed as a continuing trend for many agricultural products. To give you perspective, pumpkin growers are struggling to sell a kilogram of pumpkin for 300 riel which is about 0.074 USD.
Art – there is no question that the arts and culture sector was hit hard since the beginning of the pandemic. With the absence of international tourism, the sector’s biggest source of clients, artists and arts organisations have to find new ways to adapt. Cambodianess’ two-part series by Michelle Vachon and Phoung Vantha features the performing arts sector and art galleries overcoming various obstacles and shifting strategies.
Visually Pleasing
Arts & Culture
🎵 Time to Rise by VannDa featuring Master Kong Nay get Cambodia and the whole ASEAN region talking, for the right reason. This song illustrates how culture can evolve by merging tradition and modernity producing a masterpiece. It's a testament that, given the right mindset, passion to evolve, and nurtured creativity, Cambodians can create something amazing. While I lost count of how many times the song was on repeat in my house, I also noticed many positive feedbacks from across the ASEAN region in the YouTube comment section and countless reaction videos from many corners of the world. This makes me smile because for the first time, in my recent memory, we, as a region, give each other credit and encouragement for a job well done instead of tearing each other apart in debates on which culture and art form belongs to whom.
🫂 Growing up in Cambodia, mental illness was never a thing, let alone something that people actually talk about. Things have changed for the better and, as a person dealing with depression and anxiety myself, I’m very pleased to see that. These days young Cambodians are taking charge and work toward breaking the stigma surrounding mental health. One of the examples is a project called When We Listen, a digital campaign aimed at educating and raising awareness on depression disorder in Cambodia. 👏
📰 I reserved this bit of news to almost the very last because it made me wake up in the morning fuming with anger for the past few days and I’m not the only one. It’s about the colourisation and falsification of S-21 victims’ portraits by an Irish artist and an article published on VICE (the article has since been removed from VICE’s website). By the time you see my newsletter, the story has made its way across many news media outlets and dominated discussions among local and international communities on platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. For those of you who start wondering what I’m talking about, here’s a summary: an Irish colourist added colours to archival photos of S-21 victims and decided it was a good idea to make them smile as well because apparently those poor souls need a little extra humanity. And VICE thought it was a great story to cover praising this artist for his work, giving zero shits for Cambodia’s history and context, and especially the possible traumatic affect this article and falsification of history can cause to the victims’ families and my people as a whole. I’m just so tired of seeing an outsider having the audacity to tell our story for us without proper knowledge or context. Just stop. If you don’t know or not sure, shut up and listen before doing anything else. Last but not least, I gotta give credit where credit is due. For this instance, the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts has done a great job in taking quick action against the artist and VICE requesting for the article and photos to be taken down. Below are a few articles explaining the incident and discussion on various local reactions:
Photoshopping history: The true story behind the smirking man of Tuol Sleng by Southeast Asia Globe
Man Who Edited S-21 Photos Slammed: ‘Why Change the History?’ by VOD
For a more academic reflection on the matter, you can read a piece in the Irish Times by Dr Emily Mark-FitzGerald, associate professor and head of the school of art history and cultural policy at University College Dublin. I find this piece particularly interesting because it asks a different set of questions giving you yet another angle of the story. I will end this with a direct quote from Dr Mark-FitzGerald in this particular piece as a point of continuing reflection:
[…] a photograph is never a simple mimetic representation of the past. It carries with it a complicated history of who took the photograph, who looked at it, the restrictions and possibilities its technology offered, and how it produces a relationship between representation, experience, and history. Colourisation ignores the rich repository of meaning that a historical photograph offers in its original state, bypassing deeper understanding for a fleeting jolt of recognition or novelty.
📚 Worthy Read
When Clouds Fell from the Sky by Robert Carmichael looks at a diplomat’s daughter’s journey in search of her father in Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge time. I think it is a good time to recommend this book because of that VICE article I discussed above. I can’t promise you an easy read because it sure wasn’t for me. However, this book will tap into those pockets of feelings and emotions you never knew exists inside you. When Clouds Fell from the Sky follows one family’s story and a journey spanning over five decades and five lives. A quick disclaimer: the book had many detailed accounts of what’s going on inside S-21. It is a heavy read.
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