#76 – Sleepwalking Through the Mekong
The future of a canal and coastal communities
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.
You know how you sometimes have one of those work weeks in which everything seems to be happening all at once? This has been that kind of week for me. I had to keep reminding myself to sit down and stay still doing nothing for a couple of minutes each day because I felt like I was drowning under piles of work that just happened to be all due this week, this newsletter included. Anyway, it is Friday now, so yay!
I’ve also been pondering a solo trip to a city that has a direct flight from Phnom Penh. The idea is to go somewhere quaint, calm, and charming, somewhere with enough coffee shops whose tables I can hog for an hour or two with my laptop and my battered Moleskine, and write. If you have any suggestions, do share by replying to this email 🙂
Once again, welcome to new subscribers. I see you tickling in from various sources. Thank you for allowing me space in your busy inboxes.
- Darathtey
Alright, the Funan Techo canal project. Yes, we are still talking about it because it is kinda a big deal. However, this time around, I am borrowing the voice of my dear friend Erin Cook to do the talking for me because she already published an insightful piece on the canal. Below is a small excerpt from her piece which you can read in full on her newsletter here.
There are two things that I knew about the Funan Techo Canal in Cambodia. 1) the name was often misspelled as Funan Techno Canal, which would’ve been a great electroclash band in 2006 and 2) it is very complicated but very, very important.
So I thought I better call Brian Eyler, who has been doing brilliant work sharing his observations and wisdom about the canal and the broader Mekong through his work at the Stimson Centre.
This is a story that’s only going to get bigger and I feel much better equipped to understand it all now after our conversation, and I hope you do too!
Despite how complicated the matter is, PM Hun Manet recently announced that the Funan Techo Canal is scheduled for construction in August 2024.
Now, the former PM and current President of the Senate Hun Sen thought that this whole canal story was what caused the Vietnamese trolls to invade his Tik Tok space leaving derogatory comments. This prompted Cambodia's Deputy Prime Minister on Monday to summon the Vietnamese Ambassador to Cambodia to discuss such comments citing that they “caused bad feelings among the royal government and the people of Cambodia". 😁
Since we’re on the topic of the former PM. Here’s another one.
Earlier last week at a the Future of Cambodia Without Genocide conference, Senate President Hun Sen proposed that a new law be drafted to punish people who claim that Cambodia did not experience a genocide and wanted to start a “color revolution”. I find this to be a good example illustrating that he still holds so much power despite stepping down. I find it interesting though that he tried to establish a connection between a history of genocide and the colour revolution because I struggle to see that they have anything to do with each other.
Next up: scam compound rescue and cyber crime because I have not talked about this for a hot minute. According to an article in Deccan Chronicle, thousands of Indians are trapped in Cambodia and forced into conducting cybercrime. These people were lured by the promise of data entry jobs. This issue has come to light after about 60 Indians were rescued from Cambodia and transported back to India recently.
The irony is not lost on me when I read the news reporting that a local NGO LICADHO filed complaints against a giant UNDP SDG project on the grounds of lacking due diligence. The complaint alleged that UNDP failed to conduct the monitoring of its environment and social policies during the creation of the “SDG Investor Map for Cambodia”. UNDP’s selected partners for the project are private companies who were allegedly involved in coerced land sales, forced evictions, deforestation of protection areas and indigenous lands, child labour, trafficking in persons, and other harms. To make things worse, these companies are being publicly promoted by the UN agency’s investment plan on the SDG Investor Map for Cambodia. Ouch!
Visually Pleasing
Arts & Culture
📹 Tep Boprek, a famous Cambodian pop star, just released new music video – Devarāja. Long time readers, I’m sure you know why I take note of such things. For new readers, I happen to have a research interest in Cambodian pop music culture and identity. Anyway, if I have to describe this MV in one sentence, it would be: Cambodia at the peak of maximalism of all traditional things. The only part that briefly caught my attention is the futuristic scene in the National Museum which made an intriguing juxtaposition, but the rest was just a big list of cultural heritage one after another. This put me into a cultural headache! Don’t get me wrong. I admire the artist for her effort. The production looks like it cost a lot of money. However, I think it is an unnecessarily and unintentionally wasteful display of many beautiful cultural elements, each of which has significance and deserves a moment of their own. The Cambodian public on social media seems to love it. So, maybe it is a me problem. Maybe I’m not cultured enough. What do you think?
🎤 This might be a bit late for those who are in town and want to go see it, but it is a very unique performance that I must include. Ayai is one of Cambodia’s traditional music styles involving improv performance and singing. “Ayai 5G: Top Teacher Super Student” is a unique performance aiming to revitalise the Ayai scene through modernisation. Continuing the legacy of her teacher, comedic maestro Prum Manh, the Ayai enthusiast Neang SouSou, formally known as Lim Solinn, promises to bring the audience a symbolic and subversive act, where a female performer will now take centre stage over the male lead. Neang SouSou is hoping to shift the norm in which the female Ayai counterpart is no longer the butt of all jokes. This is exciting! I honestly cannot remember the last time I listened to Ayai, but it has always been one of my favourite art forms, especially with Prum Manh in it.
🥋 This is a personal shout out because I love Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and I believe the sport has potential to grow in Cambodia. Ju-Jitsu Federation of Cambodia is looking for sponsorship to bring the Cambodian national athletes to international events. I saw some of the national athletes compete, and they were great! (In case you’re wondering if I consider signing up to be part of the national team: I did, but apparently, I’m too old as they cap it at the age of 29 🥲).
Worth Watching
Illegal fishing and land grabs push Cambodian coastal communities to the brink
This is not an easy documentary to watch because it’s another hopelessness add-on to many existing adverse impact developments in Cambodia that local communities have to deal with. However, the least I can do is to keep myself informed and I think you should too. Amazing work as always Gerry Flynn, Andy Ball, and team.
Campuccino is a fortnightly dispatch of key headlines in Cambodia, written by @DarathteyDin.
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