#62 – (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction
Life under the new government
Sou Sdei and welcome to Campuccino, your fortnightly dispatch of key headlines in Cambodia with a dash of opinion.
To new subscribers, welcome! I’m Darathtey, a communication consultant, writer, and researcher.
It’s been a minute since I wrote you last. I spent some quality time in Sabah and hiked Mount Kinabalu. I only made it to base camp because I got very sick. What I thought was an altitude sickness (because base camp was already at 3000+ meters above sea level) was actually dengue fever. I spent most of my holiday sick and the week after recovering from dengue. That was the second sickest I’ve ever been and it was a reminder to not take health for granted. I’m not going to lie I’m glad I took the newsletter break as long as I did. But hey, I’m glad to be back, and we have a lot to catch up on. Let’s go!
- Darathtey
In this issue: new government, minimum wage, protected forest, China’s blockbuster about scam syndicate, and more.
I’ll cut to the chase and start with an update on what life has been like since the new government started their mandate. Honestly speaking, things feel as they were before. I’m aware that it will take some time for changes to start showing if there are any, but there are signs that tell me not to hold my breath. One of the signs is this list of Ministers and their family connections. Regarding the roster of lawmakers during this mandate, it consists of the new and the old with CPP holding 120 seats and Funcinpec holding 5 seats in the National Assembly. If you put a gender lens on this, it also doesn’t get better. According to Kamnotra, women only make up 15% of the top ministry officials.
How does this translate to the day-to-day in the Kingdom of Wonders?
Politically, it seems that the new government also doesn’t like the idea that there might be competition. One would have thought that after the national election, things would be a bit more relaxed for any opposition. Nope. Police detained six members of the Candlelight Party for rallying for support to create a new political party.
Economically, it doesn’t seem like garment workers get a reasonable pay rise any time soon. Garment worker unions had been campaigning for a USD215 minimum wage, a $15 increase, to cope with the current high inflation. So far, no agreement has been met as employers only offer to increase their minimum wage by $1.
In other news, Cambodia’s reputation as a hot spot for scammers seems to extend far and wide. This has caused fear among travellers, especially those from China. This is a bummer, of course, because the Chinese were one of the top visitors fueling Cambodia’s tourism industry. This is not a new problem, but the scale of scam syndicates has grown and it has become a global threat. You know bad things become really bad when the UN starts doing a report on it. The fear among Chinese travellers was amplified by China’s popular blockbuster film "No More Bets". I mean if this is not a perfect case study of a very successful awareness-raising campaign, I don’t know what is. The trailer looks very enticing!
Now, an update from Cambodia feels incomplete without some news about the rampant destruction of natural resources and violations in some forms in many local communities. This next piece will make you question many things about morality and the development sector. Wildlife Alliance, a leading local conservation NGO, was reported to destroyed farmers’ homes and shelters, and allegedly beat up a villager in Knong Riel. Khnong Riel is a contested land area located in Phnom Kravanh district of Pursat province. Wildlife Alliance whose works heavily emphasise on law enforcement and territorial control responded that they simply assisted local authorities to do their jobs.
To me, this is not a case of defining who is the good or the bad guy. If you read through this long-form investigative report, you will learn that it illustrates many more complex issues ranging from unclear demarcation of protected areas to inconsistent application of the law, and to inconsistent law enforcement, to name only a few. In the middle of all this mess, or what some people would like to call work in progress, lies many groups of marginalised and vulnerable communities whose future and livelihood are constantly in jeopardy.
Visually Pleasing
Arts & Culture
🎭 This panel discussion between some of the most prominent Cambodian contemporary artists provides a glimpse of what it is like to create and operate in a country where there is still a strong tension between preservation and development. (Khmer language only)
🪴Phnom Penh Plant and Garden Fair is returning for the second time this weekend. If you know me and my love for plants, you will know that I’m super excited about this! The festival will be at Friends Future Factory. There will be a lot of activities, food, and music. For more details, check out their Facebook page.
🎨I love visual arts especially when it involves the movement of colors and lights. That’s why this exhibition titled “Moment in Light” by Kong Siden caught my eye. I can’t wait to go see this one because the exhibition’s teaser brings back my fond memory of the immersive Van Gogh exhibition I visited a few years ago in Paris. The exhibition will be at Sa Sa Art Projects from 14 September to 30 November.
Notables
Southeast Asia Globe announced the suspension of its publishing earlier this month. This is sad news for me because the publication was one of my go-to sources of quality news reporting. SEA Globe has been around for so long that I never thought that it could cease to exist. I still remember the old days of flicking through their print magazines. SEA Globe, you will be missed.
Read their farewell letter here.Asian Centuries is a newly launched podcast on Asian history by journalist David Hutt. Check out its first episode on Cambodia under the former PM Hun Sen.
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 write to me at hello@darathteydin.com
I'm glad you survived dengue fever. It's a rough one!