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.
Last week, I ran a quick poll on Twitter asking if people would like to take a bit of a break from Covid-19 news coverage. 6 out of the 11 people who took part in the poll said yes. I know this is not a fair representation of my readership, but it gives me a nudge to switch things up. Therefore, I will move things around this week trying my best to talk about non-pandemic-related news for the most part but still give you a bit of an overview of the coronavirus situation in Cambodia.
- Darathtey
In this issue: sexual harassment, the crime of environmental activism, SARS-CoV-2, and more.
Not long ago, Cambodia’s social media was flooded by the news of a powerful rich man beating his wife. I vividly remember my long rant in issue #13. This week, a sexual harassment case exploded once again in Cambodia’s Facebook orbit. Earlier this week, Mean Pich Rita, a 19-year-old former Miss Grand Cambodia contestant, artist, and TV host, was sued by tycoon Heng Sier for theft and the use of violence. She was shortly put into pre-trial detention. Rita, then, countersued the tycoon for sexual harassment and attempted rape. Due to social media outrage, the government and the Prime Minister’s office had to do something, and Rita is finally allowed bail. For a full coverage of the case and an analysis of Cambodia’s poor justice system, read a full article on CamboJA News.
Why do I talk about this? Well, how could I not? This story is not the first of its kind. It is the reason behind a common tale told by many Cambodian caretakers to their offspring: “Do not enter a career in performing arts. Do not become an artist. They will see you and you can’t say no when they want to have you.” My own grandmother made this tale very strict by threatening to disown any of her granddaughters should anyone of us enter the industry. We, women, must hide ourselves and give up our dream because rich and powerful old men cannot keep their penis in the pants. When is this going to stop???
If Greta Thunberg were a Cambodian, she would have been jailed for incitement for speaking up for the environment long ago. This is what happened to three Cambodian environmental activists. Last week, the Cambodian court sentenced three Mother Nature environmentalists to 18 to 20 months jail time for incitement over their attempted march to the Prime Minister’s house to express their concerns over Phnom Penh’s lake filling, reports VOD. Two more members, one of whom is the founder, of the organisation were also found guilty in absentia. The three activists are Thun Rotha, 29, Long Kunthea, 22, and Phung Keo Raksmey, 19. See additional reporting on the crackdown of Mother Nature in this report by Al Jazeera. This is unjust but it didn’t come as a surprise to me. Again, it wasn’t the first time such thing happens. It breaks my heart to see young people being legally punished for simply voicing their opinions. What is life anymore if we are not allowed to think and voice our views? I just wish that this kind of unfairness would bother as many people as the sexual harassment case above. The outcome might have been different.
A while back, Southeast Globe published an article looking into book piracy in Cambodia. It takes a dive into the country’s low-cost copy culture that now stifles the growth of the publishing industry. Book piracy that was once the main factor that kept education afloat for a war-torn Cambodia, is now one of the biggest obstacles for those who are trying to build a modern literary culture. The issue makes it quite discouraging for many who want to become a full-time writer, myself included. Hence, word is that Cambodia lacks quality books by locals. Now you know why. One part of the story that I found captivating was the past of hand-copying books. My mother used to tell me about her love for reading fiction in the 80s. Books were scarce back then, and people made a living off copying books by hand and renting them out. Intellectual property issue aside, I found that very impressive. When was the last time you wrote down something with an actual pen on an actual paper?
I keep the Covid-19 story for last because I want to make a point that although the pandemic has caused serious disruption, other issues continue to happen in the Kingdom of Wonder. Those issue are serious and disruptive to lives, too, just in different way, and I believe you can’t solve those with a vaccine. Hence, we still need to pay attention to them and talk about them. Now, onto the infamous SARS-CoV-2 related news.
I’m going to just do a very quick run through because I have no thoughts left to give on the situation. As of May 13, there are 21,141 total cases, 446 new cases, 9,519 recovery and 142 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health. It is worth keeping in mind also that Cambodia’s population is around 16 million. On May 3, the government announced an end to the lockdowns of Phnom Penh and Takhmao; however, some areas still apply the colour code system as numbers of new cases continue to rise, reports VOD. The good thing is that Cambodia’s government is ramping up their vaccination efforts. Cambodianess reports that 1,123,726 people have been fully vaccinated while 1,877,840 people have received one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine as of May 12. Unfortunately, the food shortage issue persists. This was reflected in a recent survey conducted by VOD which finds that the majority of Phnom Penh’s vulnerable communities are experiencing food shortage.
Visually Pleasing
Arts & Culture
📷 Contemporary Breath is a photo exhibition by Mech Sereyrath looking at air pollution in Phnom Penh. The work was Sereyrath’s bachelor thesis in media management. The artist also curates the work with her own voice in a YouTube video.
📷 ART4FOOD is a campaign initiated by Cambodia-based photographers to raise funds for Local4Local, a youth-run food drive that provides food for the cyclo drivers and the underprivileged on the street of Phnom Penh.
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