Sou Sdei and welcome to Campuccino, your fortnightly dispatch of key headlines in Cambodia with a dash of opinion.
To new subscribers, welcome!
First of all, a big shout out to a subscriber who wrote me expressing an intention of buying me a coffee. It means so much to me.
Cambodia being in the FATF grey list makes it very challenging to set up a mechanism to receiving small token of appreciation such as Buy Me a Coffee, Stripe, or Patreon. Instead, I encouraged the person to donate to an animal charity, should they wish to. My point of bringing this up is not to makes you feel like you need to give me anything. Campuccino remains a free newsletter for all to enjoy. I’m telling you this in case other subscribers would like to also buy me a coffee in the future, please instead consider donating to these animal organizations. This is one of the cause that is very close to my heart.
Animal Rescue Cambodia (applicable for local and international donation)
Paw Family Cambodia (local donation only via ABA, Wing, Aceleda)
Dirty Paw Kampot (local donation only via ABA)
Thank you very much,
- Darathtey
In this issue: commune election, forest clearing, mass trials and more…
The commune election wrapped up nicely, or shall I say normally? The winner never changes, surprise surprise. I did enjoy the days off that come with whole ordeal though. How do I feel about it? Well, think of a straight line, no spike up or down, that’s how I feel. In a nutshell, the CPP won landslide. The amazing Erin Cook from newsletter Dari Mulut ke Mulut did a nice round up of the election (so I don’t have to!) in her free version, go check it out.
Also, the CPP just sued the Candlelight Party (CLP) for $1 million for their allegation of vote stealing. Consequently, the CLP’s vice president flew to Australia on June 11. I’m gonna just leave that there.
The sore subject of Ream Naval base came up again because it seems that the controversial military base get an expansion. The news has caused the Western countries such as the US and Australia dissatisfaction, again. And still, Cambodia shrugged it off denying everything, and life goes on. Personally, do I believe that there’s nothing beyond Cambodian naval capacity building? Probably not. Do I think Cambodia cares what the US think at this point? Also, probably not. I mean the naval base came from nothing to something and now it got expanded. That should illustrates Cambodia’s stance in this entire ordeal. At this point, I do feel bad for Cambodian diplomats who still need to put on a nice diplomatic smile to deny this. Tough job! I honestly wonder sometimes why Cambodia defense budget keeps getting larger and larger…
Brace yourself because I’m going to hit you with another environmental destruction story that makes you question the limit of human greed. Reporters Meng Kroypunlok and Roun Ry from VOD covered a clearing of Metta Forest in Kampong Speu Province. Beside its name which translates to “loving kindness”, the forest was a home to wildlife and an ecotourism site for those who seek peace and tranquility. A big chunk of the forest was given to dozens of veterans from the military’s tank unit through a sub-decree last year. Since then, members of the military were seen overseeing the forest clearing activity and intimidating community members using threat of violence and ammunition. Read more…
Alright, let’s look at a mass trial. On Tuesday morning, my Twitter welcomed me with photos of Seng Theary dressed up as “Lady Liberty” in front of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court. She was convicted, along with other former CNRP members, for plotting and incitement to overthrow the government. In this round of mass trial, around 20 members of the dissolved CNRP were sentenced to six years in prison, while another 20 had their jail terms suspended to five years, according to CamboJANews.
Read additional report on the topic by VOD here.
Visually Pleasing
Arts & Culture
🏳️🌈 Pride Fest 2022 is happening on Saturday this week (18 June) at Friends Future Factory. There will be live music, drag performances, food and drinks. The admission is free. See you there?
📽️ To all film lovers, Cambodian International Film Festival is back! The festival will commence on 28 June and end on 3 July, 2022. Despite the press conference, they have yet to announce their full program. So, for those in town, keep your eyes on their Facebook page for the program announcement.
🖌️ If there is one thing that Phnom Pen needs more of is spaces to contemplate and create. So, imagine my excitement when I came across an article about tiSamjort , a collaborative work space, gallery, and short-term residence for artists and cultural practitioners founded by four amazing female artists: Say Tola, Neak Sophal, Tan Vatey and Sao Sreymao. Read this article to find out more about their journey.
🎙️ I’ve been waiting for this interview to drop for weeks and I’m glad it finally did. Focus Cambodia’s The Open Room brought three artists — filmmaker Neang Kavich, dancer Chumvan Sodhachivy (Belle), and musician Sin Setsochhata, together to have a conversation on the topic of “Khmer Identity: bridging the gap between Cambodia’s proud historic culture and its contemporary and progressive future”. Researching identity, I did find myself internally changing the term from Khmer to Cambodian identity though, but I’m glad the topic of identity sparking more dialogue more frequently now. I really enjoyed the interview because I could see that the host and the artists were able to get comfortable and share their thoughts freely. The interview also encapsulated the artists experiences in contemporary Cambodia very well. The conversation is in Khmer accompanied by English subtitle.
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