Impunity
is a word that gets used often in discussions about Cambodia.
Yesterday, pop star Pov Panhapich was shot at close range, on her way to English class.
Khmer forums are rife with speculation.
Today: via text message: it seems another Free Trade Union officer has been killed. That would be the fourth since Chea Vichea. I’ll leave it to the press to cover more details on both.
For all we know, both victims could have had a dispute unrelated to their professional roles. (A gambling debt? An old grudge?)
Cambodia has an extensive legal code, but enforcement is uneven. If these two have done something wrong, they should have been taken to court.
But until there is stronger rule of law, daylight shootings will continue. And the details will never see the light of day.
Tags:cambodia,law
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Spectacle Kompong Som
Wow. I’m just going to web this up.
The spectacle is as much in the announcement as it is in the planning!
Click for larger version.
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Tags:cambodia,circus,HIV
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Literary Latest:
A busy day today just keeping track of publishing and comics and stuff.
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Lisa Mandel is on the move with her crew of intrepid art students. More via www.lisamandel.net (You’ll need flash.)
I’m hoping to set up a small talk/exhibition when the team hits Phnom Penh; right now she’s in Sisophon.
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Also on the comics front, Séra will be returning to Phnom Penh in April and will be conducting a new workshop for Khmer visual artists.
(Email if you want more details, or hit the French Cultural Centre).
Plans are also in progress to publish his ‘Water and Earth‘ graphic novel in Khmer. |
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The Nou Hach Literary Journalis out with issue #3 of their award- winning poetry and short stories. Available at Monument Books, Independence Bookshop, Peace Bookshop, and many others. (Including some material in English and Japanese as well as Khmer!)
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Caught up with with blogger/businessswoman Diana Saw & crew from Bloom for lunch today. Very interesting to hear about the ups and downs of setting up a small business in Cambodia.
I think she could/should make a book out of it. |
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| A pleasant surprise in the latest issue of jobseeker magazine ‘Search’: an interview with Belle from Sovanna Phum. (Seated, on the left.) Get your copy at any newsstand. |
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Tags:cambodia,literature,business,dance
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Siem Reap Signage:
One small step for a restaurant, one gigantic leap from Hinduism to Tourism.
Tags:cambodia
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The Perfect Phnom Penh
OK, maybe this whole ‘Phnom Penh = Prague‘ meme is a little overblown.
I shouldn’t be too critical. Phnom Penh (and Cambodia) have a lot of cool things to offer.
I just don’t enjoy seeing it oversimplified.
So: bring us your tourist dollars, hippies!* There’s a happening art scene (below – picture from New Art Gallery) and lots to discover, if you’re willing to explore.
Tharum has created a Flickr group of Phnom Penh pictures that have some great images of the city. http://flickr.com/groups/perfectphnompenh
Earth’s Molten Core has a charming appreciation of the ubiquitous Cambodian Camry.
http://earthsmoltencore.blogspot.com/2007/01/love-is-camry.html
Overseas Khmer Brenda shares the love with her Last.Fm Cambo-Pop hit list.
And Phnomenon‘s Phil ‘animates the internet with his blog consecrated to Khmer cuisine‘ (Cambodge Soir writeup today. Alas, the newspaper has no web site. Nudge, nudge.)
Tags:cambodia,photography,travel,media
*A friend old enough to have been a real hippie reminded me once that the term has been colloquialized, and that they often called themselves ‘heads’.
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