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. Learn more about my work here.
How are we almost near the end of 2023 – I do not know. This year sped right past me, but as we are approaching November, I am very excited. I will be attending Splice Beta again this year in Chiang Mai. Beta has become this thing I do annually to get inspired with new ideas, learn about independent media in the region, and simply catch up with old friends and make new ones. On another note, I recently tried out Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. It’s one of those things that really pushed me out of my comfort zone but I wanted to see if I could overcome my fear of being pinned down. Not only did I overcome the fear, but I bloody love the sport! This is just a quick reminder to you all to try the things you’ve always wanted to.
- Darathtey
In this issue: microloans and suicide, Cambodia Microfinance Association’s beef with a Youtuber, new Siem Reap airport, review of theatre performance, and more.
I will start this week’s news on a bit of a heavy note because I think it is an important issue that is often not thought of, guiltily even by me. I read reports about microloans and how predatory they are to the Cambodian working class. However, I didn’t think to consider that the issue is even harder for the already under-represented indigenous communities in the country. Therefore, I find this article by Jack Brook on microloans and indigenous suicides a very important read. As the title suggests, the article looks into the suicide rate among indigenous communities in Ratanakiri.
I took the liberty to assume that this article prompted a locally renowned US-based Cambodian Youtuber known for her channel called the Kanitha Show to produce a video about the micro debt crisis in Cambodia. The video prompted a response from the Cambodia Microfinance Association accusing Kanitha of referencing unreliable sources (i.e. LICADHO report) and alleging that her video could cause social unrest. Kanitha fought back defending her statement in a response video calling out the CMA’s head of communication for lying and twisting her words. Her response video ended with Kanitha saying the CMA should fire the dude for lying. This is a mic-drop moment right here 👏🏽
PS. I am not a fan of her robotic, emotionless way of delivering content, but many Cambodians seem to love her videos, my father included.
The next item is not new, but it is something that people should remind themselves of when thinking about Cambodia, its leaders, and their political patronage. RFA recently published an interactive piece mapping out a web of nepotism in Cambodia’s current cabinet. Can’t say that I am shocked 🤷🏽♀️
Since we’re on the topic of the new Prime Minister,, you might as well check out this piece by David Hutt on foreign governments’ perceptions of change that Hun Manet’s government might bring. Remember I was on that train once? Perception of change, hope, or whatever you might want to call it, seems to be fading on my end, but hey, who’s complaining? I’m very thankful for peace…
Speaking of peace, Cambodia ranked last place for access to civil justice in the latest World Justice Project rankings. Is this the right time for me to yell out Khmer pride?
The last bit of news is a good one, I guess. Siem Reap welcomed the opening of a new airport on 16 October. Being a party pooper, I’m one of those people who question the existence of this new airport that is located some 40km+ away from Siem Reap town, especially when there is clearly a lack of affordable transportation to get there. On Cambodia Facebook, there has been criticism and discussion around monopolised taxi service from the new airport into town. Hopefully, this will get better if more operators are allowed to compete. Cambodia Post announced that the Airport Shuttle Services by Cambodia Post which will commence on 06 November 2023. Now, the funny thing is that people from the nearby vicinity flocked to see the new airport – just because (most of them are not actually flying). The crowd makes for quite a sight, from overcrowded escalators to people having a full-on barbecue on the airport pavement. 😅
Visually Pleasing
Arts & Culture
🎭 Thoughts on a theatre performance
Last Friday, I saw a spoken theatre piece performed by artists from Khmer Art Action (KAA). The piece was a one-hour-long dramatised version of the Khmer literature classic “Countryside Teachers”. It was nice to see that there was a full house. I loved that KAA stayed very focused on their target audience – young Cambodians – as the performance was all in Khmer with no subtitles despite it being held at the French Institute. For the performance itself, I think it was a good effort but it could be improved. There were parts in which the artists had complete control of their stage presence and the audience, and it was amazing and captivating. However, there were also parts where I felt I just watched the artists reading off a paragraph from a textbook. For that part, I didn’t think it was as engaging. Now, here is the part where I do my little rant. Call me un-Cambodian if you please, but I am so over the fanfare of MC-ing and speeches. I wanted to see a play and I didn’t need to be told how to watch the play. For this particular show, the MC-ing part was too long and too loud. Not to mention, the MC made a really terrible joke which got me fuming by comparing “the film people” (I believe she refers to Kampucheers, the event’s media partner) with “the theatre people”. This was an excerpt of what she said (more or less):
[...] For the audience who would like to discuss having more theatre performances, please contact KAA’s focal person. He might be able to give you a discount. If you contact us we are more expensive because we’re the film people. Theatre people are cheaper. [...]
WTF was that? Saying shit like that at a theatre event. I’m sorry but that was offensive and not the least bit funny. Even my sister could tell it wasn’t the right thing to say, so she looked at me and said: “You’re gonna write about this in your newsletter, aren’t you?”, and write about it did.
🎨 Metaestetica Lab@Museum at Meta House Phnom Penh claims to be Cambodia’s first contemporary art mini museum. I’m not gonna pretend I know much about this place as I haven’t been and stumbled upon Marissa Carruthers’ write up on the place by accident. Nevertheless, now that I know it exists, I will definitely check it out.
🖼️ About two weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to catch an amazing one-time exhibition on experiences captured on camera by Cambodian female migrant workers. Full disclosure, Charles Fox, the consultant behind this three-year project is a dear friend of mine. So, I knew the exhibition was going to be great before I saw it. But when I actually saw the photos, some of them blew me away. We oftentimes let the nominal profession of a person influence our perception of skill and quality of (artistic) work. For example, if you see a great piece of photography, your immediate response would often be that it must come from a professional photographer. However, I am a deep believer in welcoming various perspectives. Some of these photographs captured by the project participants were extremely powerful, especially because it was them who chose to capture and tell their own stories in a beautiful, sometimes, heart-wrenching way.
Worth Reading
Counting on coal: Cambodia’s fossil fuel push flounders with delays
By Anton L. Delgado
This long-form report is for those interested to know more about fossil fuels in Cambodia. I know, I also don’t get why we’re talking about fossil fuels in 2023 when our earth is decaying, but what do we know? The article looks at three coal power plants in three provinces – Oddar Meanchey, Koh Kong, and Sihanoukville. Two of the three power plants are at various stages of inactivity while one is fully operational.
Notable
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Campuccino is a fortnightly dispatch of key headlines in Cambodia, written by @DarathteyDin.
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