Sou Sdei and welcome to Campuccino, your fortnightly dispatch of key headlines in Cambodia with a dash of opinion.
To new subscribers, welcome!
This issue is a bit special because Campuccino just turned 1 year old! Around this time last year, I was in my apartment in Auckland searching for a meaning of my existence in the city and my connection to home. It was a tough year. I created this newsletter to give myself a purpose. Little did I know that one year later, I have a group of people wanting to read what I have to say. Some of those people even took the time to write to me, telling me their stories and connections to this crazy and lovely country of mine, and even giving me a shout-out multiple times. I would like to say I’m beyond grateful for all your support. This is just the beginning of Campuccino and there is more to come.
- Darathtey
In this issue: Pchum Ben during Covid-19, other pandemic-related stuff, Cambodia and the Pandora Papers, and more.
This week, Cambodia celebrates the three-day long Pchum Ben holiday. If you subscribe to this newsletter, I trust that you know what Pchum Ben is. Due to the pandemic, the government issued a directive banning people from going to pagodas for the occasion. This happened after the first few days of the festival saw a rise in Covid-19 cases, especially in pagodas. Cambodians are advised to practice safety measures when trying to send food to their passed-away relatives at pagodas. Hence, the running joke about the whole thing has been: you send food via Foodpanda, money via ABA (a famous bank in Cambo land with an awesome mobile app), and receive the monks’ blessings via Telegram.
I didn’t just bring this up so you can have a good laugh. I fear that the Covid-19 storm is brewing ready to cause destruction after this holiday. Why? Despite being banned from seeking good deeds in pagodas, people are not banned from traveling to provinces. Consequently, people travel, a lot of them. I let the photo in the Tweet below speak for itself.
Apparently, the government claims that they allow this to happen as a test to see if people can apply safety measures, and protect themselves and each other from spreading the virus. It’s like a sink or swim situation. Because if there was no spike in cases after Pchum Ben, the government would take that as a sign that Cambodia is ready to reopen. As much as I want life to go back to normal, I’m not sure about this. I guess we shall see.
It is worth noting that the government recently announced a new policy of scaling back on rapid testing which drove the numbers of Covid-19 cases down rapidly because only PCR tests will be counted. Please don’t ask me why because I also don’t understand, but hey, no news is good news?
On a similar note, there have been words that Cambodia will soon open for vaccinated tourists. Yes, wordssss. The government's intention is there but nothing concrete has been announced, and that frustrates the tourism industry.
Last thing on the topic of Covid-19, the Phnom Penh municipal administration announced on October 5 that people are required to present their vaccination card or vaccination letter before entering markets, schools, coffee shops, and practically anywhere. I honestly don’t see the point of this, especially when most Phnom Penh residents are already vaccinated. Once again, we shall see how long the instruction lasts and how practical it is.
Read the English version of the vaccination card requirement here.
Call me ignorant but the old saying is not wrong that “ignorance is bliss”, sometimes anyway. When the news about the Pandora Papers broke out, I was deep in my holiday hibernation at home and I preferred to do gardening rather than being informed about yet another bunch of the rich and powerful trying to get even richer and more powerful with many offshore accounts to hide their stash. However, some of Cambodia’s government figures seem to have gotten tagged in this unpleasant news that it has become a thing in Cambodia’s news cycle. I bet a lot of government officials had to work over the holidays to respond to the Guardian article which has since been amended.
However, the effect of the news can be felt within the Cambodian government and prompted the Prime Minister to push for an amendment to the Constitution. If passed, the amendment would restrict dual-citizens from holding the top leadership positions within the government.
Visually Pleasing
Arts & Culture
In the previous issue, I talked about the movie “White Building” directed by Kavich Neang and how it won multiple awards. I think this subject deserves a revisit because this article by Southeast Asia Globe takes a closer look at what inspires Kavich, former resident of the White Building himself, to make such a film.
If you’re interested to know more about ancient Khmer traditional dance and Prumsodun Ok, founder of Cambodia's first gay dance company, this event is worth checking out. The INSPIRE seminar series focuses on the role of art, artists and activism in times of violent conflict and war. For the month of October, the seminar will be under the theme of On Fearless Love: Tradition, Service, and Social Change. This is a virtual event which will happen on Wednesday 13 October 12:00-13:00 CET.
This week, Cambodia lost an iconic film director Ly Bun Yim, who passed away at 87. My earliest memory of Ly was during my high school year when I cycled past his strange-looking house everyday. Words were he was building it for his film. I didn’t think much of him or knew what film he was making at the time until years later when I saw a documentary about old cinemas and their former glory during the peak of Cambodia’s film industry called Golden Slumbers by Davy Chou. The documentary reminds me of how each individual is unconsciously shaped by fractions of memories no matter how small. I didn’t know who Ly was but I grew up knowing many of his films all along through my parents’ storytelling and old film archives played on television. Those films include Puthisen and Neang Kong Rey, Orn Euy Srey Orn, and Sobasith.
📹 Worth Watching
You do not need to be an environment expert to be able to spot how much waste we are producing, particularly since the pandemic started. Have you ever questioned where that waste would end up? Especially medical waste? If you are curious, this documentary is for you. It looks at how Southeast Asian nations such as Indonesia and Cambodia deal with their medical waste.
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