Sou Sdei and welcome to Campuccino, your fortnightly dispatch of key headlines in Cambodia with a dash of opinion.
To new subscribers, welcome!
This week, I’m struggling to put this issue together, not because of a content shortage but because of my own lack of motivation and energy to write up a good flow of news for you all. However, I decided to publish anyway because, while I was stuck in the loop of procrastination and self-doubt, a subscriber told me that “there is no expectation of what to say, it is a conversation with people who are glad to hear from you.”
So, here I am. I hope you find this issue informative and please excuse the lack of flow.
- Darathtey
In this issue: general Covid-19 updates, microloans, press freedom, coffee shops and more.
Covid-19 updates: it seems that we’re very lucky and the massive Khmer New Year celebration last month did not result in a bad community outbreak of the virus after all, based on official statistics. Hence, I guess it makes sense that the PM announced the lift of the outdoor mask mandate on April 26. It actually was quite nice to run without a mask the other day. For incoming travelers, quarantine for those unvaccinated has been reduced to one week, half of the previous requirement which was two weeks. For vaccinated travelers, all Covid-19 arrival requirements have been removed.
Let’s talk about loans, especially microloans. The topic has made headlines in Cambodia-related news this week. Why? Because microloans have begun to wreak havoc in the lives of the most vulnerable due to its misleading and alleged illegal practices. Essentially, microfinance institutions encouraged people from indigenous communities to take out loans using Collective Land Title (CLT) as collateral. Under the CLT are protected indigenous property and forests which cannot be divided into private individual property. However, this has been the practice of which institutional investors of many microlenders have been misinformed. If you feel a bit confused, my apology because it took me a few reads too in order to be able to do this short summary. Honestly, go read the original article. It will give you a clearer understanding. In short, borrowers used an illegal shortcut to get loans because they were ill informed. Microlenders gave out loans based on those illegal shortcuts which is considered an illegal practice to their institutional investors who are also unaware or misinformed about the whole thing.
On a similar topic, two Cambodian NGOs filed a complaint on behalf of the affected borrowers alleging that loans and investment from the International Finance Corp., the World Bank's private lending arm, led to human rights abuses and breached the IFC's own performance standards. Compliance Advisor Ombudsman, an auditing unit within IFC, will go forward with reviewing the situation. Read more on this…
Also, if you’re getting curious about the topic of microfinance and its adverse effect, the short documentary below will work well as a supplement with the case of Cambodia mentioned at 11:16.
If you want to get a glimpse of what it is like to fight against a strong current through activism, you really should have a look at this article by VOD. It is a conversation with four female protestors who came into activism due to witnessing injustice around them.
For additional readings on women and activism, check out:
Opinion: Is Protest Contradictory to Cambodian Womanhood? | VOD
The Friday wives: how a quiet picket grew to push for change in Cambodia | The Guardian
The last news-y item for this week will be the state of media freedom in the Kingdom as the world celebrated World Press Freedom Day earlier this week. Spoiler alert, our state of press freedom continues to decline. How bad, you may ask? Bad enough that a journalist was detained on the grounds that he was taking photos and videos of the immigration police operation. But hey, the day was marked by an event hosted by UNESCO attended by over 200 participants including high-ranking government officials. All is well 😉
Also, if you are curious what the abovementioned journalist, who happened to be the one and only Mech Dara, tried to cover, here’s the story: Behind Closed Gates: 200 Vietnamese Quietly Removed From S’ville Compound.
Visually Pleasing
Arts & Culture
☕ In case you haven’t noticed, Coffee shops play an increasingly important role in Cambodia’s modern culture and society, especially in the past half a decade. It’s more than just a place where people go to get their coffee. I see it as a vital hub where business deals and school homework are made, ideas exchanged, social and other issues discussed. The coffee is just the cherry on top. Recently, the role of coffee shops has extended to connecting young people to books and arts. This Kiripost article looks at two homegrown coffee shops – Swarng Café and Bookstore and The Ero Café – set up to foster reading culture and to exchange knowledge on Khmer arts and Cambodian culture.
🎤 The young folks at Focus spoke to musician Sin Sethsochhata, filmmaker Neang Kavich, and dancer Belle on the topic of bridging the gap between traditions, the contemporary and the future. I really enjoy reading this mini interview series. Check it out!
Worth Reading
This long-form reporting by Fiona Kelliher for Southeast Asia Globe gives you a glimpse into the world of Cambodia’s mega construction projects, some of which have failed to even get off the ground. This involves false advertisement, illegal fundraising, cryptocurrencies and so on. I find the article very fascinating.
Overheard on Twitter
Campuccino is a fortnightly dispatch of key headlines in Cambodia, written by @DarathteyDin.
I’d love to hear from you. If you have feedback or content ideas, please reach out via tey@wordandvisualmedia.com