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.
This week is going to be a short one because I have multiple deadlines giving me death stares. Recently, I've been slightly obsessed with Kun Khmer, both training and watching fights. Kun Khmer (or Muay Thai as most people know it) brings me joy and I often share this joy with my non-boxing friends. More often than not, many of those that have never tried say the same thing: that boxing is not their jam because they're not the violent type. That was my response, too, before I decided to give it a try. After over a year of training, I can tell you that throwing a proper punch is harder than you think, and every time you're going for an attack of any kind, you're compromising your defense, and in return, open yourself up for a possible attack as well. It's a bit like life.
- Darathtey
In this issue: beef between the Ministry of Environment and CamboJA, indigenous people's rights, Southeast Asian arts censorship database, and more.
Sometimes I wonder if ministries in Cambodia were to save their energy from picking a fight with journalists who are trying to do their job and direct that energy to serve the people, what would happen? Wouldn’t that be a win-win situation for everyone? But no, that would be a utopian Cambodia. Overly sensitive government officials expressing their concerns over evidence-based news reports is a common occurrence in my country, but this last one got me a bit railed up because the reporter who wrote the story was left hanging and thrown under the bus by the very outlet he wrote the article for. This case is CamboJA’s article on a violent attack on a government critic which railed up the Ministry of Agriculture. Strangio summarised the whole thing in his write-up for the Diplomat. In short, the ministry voiced its dissatisfaction using the threat of closure of this news outlet. Sounds familiar?
I do not blame CamboJA for being concerned about possibly facing the same fate as VOD, but throwing their journo under the bus is not the way to do it. CamboJA could have worded its statement differently. I’ll let this Twitter thread explain itself to you. My sympathy to you Jack Brook 🙏
Speaking of overly sensitive reactions, here’s another example. Remember the Chinese blockbuster about cyberscams and human trafficking I mentioned in the previous issue? Well, the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts is not amused, and requested the Chinese Embassy to review the film and refrain from showing it in Cambodia. Anybody wants to guess why?
Because the movie can negatively affect Cambodia’s image. A little too late, me thinks.
Although I’m usually the bearer of unpleasant news from Cambodia, I do look for good news, trust me. This next one is definitely good news despite it being born out of difficult and heartbreaking circumstances. Cambodia’s most prominent environmental activism group Mother Nature Cambodia was recognised as one of the Right Livelihood’s 2023 laureates on September 28. I applaud the group for their tenacity and resilience in advocating for their cause despite all sorts of intimidation.
Visually Pleasing
Arts & Culture
🇰🇭 Koh Ker has been inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage site – Cambodia’s fourth after Angkor, Preah Vihear, and Sambor Prei Kuk. This makes my people very proud. I do not have much to say about the temple itself. The last and only time I’ve been there was during a drought in 2016. It was, of course, beautiful but I hate to tell you that the only thing I remember from that visit is how hot it was.
📖 Arts Equator recently launched the Southeast Asian Arts Censorship Database 2010-2022. The report gathers information about attacks on freedom of expression of arts and culture in Southeast Asia and identifies recurring patterns and common features of arts censorship. For the Cambodia Artistic Freedom report, check here.
🎶 Elec(ទ្រ)Tro is the theme of the French Institute’s fourth cultural season, exploring the connection between tradition and technology through electronic music. This sounds super intriguing to me because I remember writing in my Cambodia 2040 paper about a reimagined scenario in which there was a psychedelic Kse Diev concert. I can’t wait to check this one out!
Worth Reading
Want to get a better idea about how indigenous communities in Cambodia are getting stuck between a rock (big cooperation) and a hard place (development sector)? Read this article.
Years-Long Mediation Leaves Bunong Farmers Indebted to Multinational Rubber Firm by Jack Brook and Khuon Narim follows the strenuous journey of the Bunong communities in the mediation process with an international company that displaced them from their lands.
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