Sou Sdei and welcome to Campuccino, your fortnightly dispatch of key headlines in Cambodia with a dash of opinion.
To new subscribers, welcome!
Earlier this week, work travels brought me to Battambang and Siem Reap. The last time I was in Battambang was seven years ago and I remembered that it was a quiet sleepy town. That wasn’t the case anymore when I got there on Tuesday. The city centre felt super lively, and there were plenty of local places to eat. Regardless of the liveliness, Battambang still maintains its charm for me. There is something about this town that calms me.
- Darathtey
In this issue: sand mining, human trafficking, doomsday rumors, stolen artefacts, and more.
This week, we begins with sand dredging. This is not a new issue but it’s an ongoing one that does not seem to improve. Mining the Mekong by Gerry Flynn and Vutha Srey takes a look at how the sand mining operation adversely impacts the communities living along the river bank in Roka Koang. Similar to many other problems caused by big businesses in Cambodia, the government continues to deny that the destruction is manmade despite all the scientific evidence. In this case, despite admitting that riverbank erosion has become more frequent, officials continue to argue that it is not caused by the heavy sand mining operations. Sigh…
Every day, more news about scam operations, torture, and human trafficking continue to emerge. In the last couple of months, I mentioned them in almost every issue that went out. If I’m being honest with you, I’m getting very tired of talking about how dire the situation has become. What really drains me when thinking of this topic is how the people in a position to better the situation seem to turn a blind eye. However, a problem is a problem and one cannot simply ignore it. Therefore, this week, I’m going to just give you a few links to VOD’s news reports related to scam operations, human trafficking and the likes in my Kingdom of Wonder Why. That way you can read it in your own time or choose to skip it for now in case, like me, you need a bit of a mental break.
This is more of a hysteria than an actual real news, in my opinion, but I think it comes to show extent of which people are willing to take action for things they blindly believe in. So early last week, I woke up to bunch of trolling statuses on my Facebook feed about a black hole. I knew it must be about something, but I didn’t pay much attention. Later on, I found out from a family member that Khem Veasna, president of the League of Democracy Party, predicted an end to the world and called all his followers to go to his farmstead as supposedly it is the only place safe from his prediction of world destruction. I know. Crazy, huh? It’s okay, you can read that sentence again. It’s true. Wonder how many people responded to that call? Around 17,000, although the number cannot be verified. Read VOD’s report on this random event here, or watch a reaction video by SEA Globe below.
Visually Pleasing
Arts & Culture
📰 Mekong Review, a Southeast Asian literary magazine, announced its closure after its 7-year operation. I still remember vividly when it first launched at the Readers and Writer Festival in Kampot in 2015. My memories of this special publication are more than a few but, specifically, I love the vibrant cover illustrations. They were something that I was always looking forward to. My favorite cover of MR has to be the aerobics Bong at the riverside that Phnom Penh dwellers know so well.
🇰🇭 Troeung Ngea, a Khmer-language author of Khmer civilisation and history of Cambodia, passed away on August 28 at the age of 83. To outside readers, you might not be familiar with this name but to Cambodian students going through public school system in the country, Troeung Ngea’s work was part of the curriculum (at least during my time).
♀️ Sometimes I wonder what difference it would make if the Cambodian public became as reactive to deforestation, corruption and other social issues as they are to what women should or shouldn’t wear. Last weekend, a pageantry known as Miss Grand Cambodia sparked discussion and controversy about culture, proper dress code for women, tradition and blah blah blah. Miss Grand Cambodia made such a big splash that they received a warning from the Ministry of Culture for inappropriate and obscene content. Look, I’m not a fan of pageantry. I think it is a stupid show that objectifies women’s bodies. Having said that, it is a woman’s choice to choose her path and if this beauty competition makes her happy, you do you. Do I like what the poor woman wore? Nope, not my style. Was it revealing? Yes, but so were the rest of the dresses on other contestants. Nevertheless, people seem to enjoy being warriors against a woman’s body way more than against a greedy, corrupted, self-serving bunch of men. If you’re curious to see what I’m talking about, you can watch the competition via this link (be warned it is a few hours long and full of ads but I put a time mark where the dress parade starts).
Worth Reading
This article about Cambodian artefacts making appearances in magazine spreads featuring rich people’s homes in America came out a while ago. If you are following stolen artefacts news, you wouldn’t be surprised if I tell you that the article also traces the artefact smuggling business back to Douglas Latchford. Read Magazine spread of ‘most beautiful house in America’ conceals allegedly stolen Cambodian relics by ICIJ here.
Overheard on Twitter
Place I Love
☕ + 🖼️ While in Battambang, I went to check out Romcheik 5 Rooftop Café. I heard myself taking a big exhale the minute I reached the space. It is run by the same folks that run the gallery downstairs but the way it is organised gives you a space to pause and relax. The fact that you need to walk through the gallery to reach the café is a huge bonus. And, if you are feeling your artsy sense awaken, you can support local artists by paying a minimal fee to visit the gallery ;)
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 by hitting reply to this email.