Reflections from the Mirror
From 1997 to 2006, Norbert Klein edited “The Mirror” for Open Forum, providing short summaries of news articles with some extra commentary. (Also available via email).
From 1998 to 2006, the Khmer “Kanychok Sangkum (Mirror of Society)” was also produced, until funding issues caused both publications and Open Forum to close their doors.
Now the Mirror is back, as (surprise) a weblog.
http://cambodiamirror.wordpress.com/about/
Open Forum has changed hands, and re-booted CambodiaCIC.info – with new staff and change of domain name.
Meanwhile, the new local organization Open Institute is running “The Mirror”, including some prior staff from Open Forum.
Looks like Open Institute won’t have the resources to produce Kanychok Sangkum in the immediate future.
http://cambodiamirror.wordpress.com/editorial-2006-12-30-at-the-end-of-the-10th-year-of-the-mirror/
I don’t know the full story. Hopefully having two re-branded organizations dedicated to the information technology field will make even more resources available to local techies. Wouldn’t bet the farm on it though. We’ll just wait and see.
Tags:cambodia
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Phnom Penh: the ‘next Prague’
“Yo Chuck, they must be on the pipe, right?”*
http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/02/11/travel/11next.html
I read it in the New York Times, (and Cambodia Daily) so it must be true…
I suppose from street 240 and environs things do look pretty swell for visitors.
Just ignore the squatter camps on the outskirts of town.
Postscript, Feb 16, 4:05 pm: Gridskipper contributes a charming photo mashup and some well-intentioned if occasionally inaccurate elucidations on the scene. (Java/Sala Arts is not an internet cafe, and while the Pink Elephant is dear to my heart, it is not the best restaurant in town.) Meanwhile Phnomenon is keeping tabs on the ‘Phnom Penh Prague’ meme. T-Shirts, anyone?
[*Ref: P.E.] Tag:cambodia
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Glocalization – Cambodia Style
Signage in Siem Reap:
Hey, that looks familiar. I guess they open at 7am and close at 8pm?
Lorn Mart joins ‘Pizza Hot‘ and ‘BB World‘, and Palais Coffee (Starbucks clone) as another example of Cambodia’s unique approach to marketing and branding.
Cambodia is a member of the World Trade Organization but enforcement of rules such as copyright law are taking some time to be fully implemented.
The Pizza Company has bravely waded in, one of the first global franchise companies to give it a go. So far it seems to be doing well. I’m just waiting for them to offer prahok pizza.
Tags:cambodia,marketing
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Spreading The Word
From Geoff Ryman:
A short discussion about Cambodian literature will be broadcast on the BBC World Service in their regular literature programme, THE WORD. It features an interview with David Pechoux of Monument Books and a three way discussion with Theary Seng, Phin Santel and Geoff Ryman.
I hope people find it of interest. It will be broadcast on the following frequencies and times, and can be accessed for a week afterwards from the BBC website.
……
In Cambodia the World Service is broadcast on 100FM
The edition of “The Word” with yesterday’s discussion will go out on Tues 13th of Feb at 9.30am and Wed 14th at 12.30am (past midnight)
London: you can listen to the WS on DAB digital radio and on medium wave 648 KHZ. The Word will go out on Sunday 11 th of Feb at 1.05am, Tuesday 13th at 9.30am and 15.30 and Wed 14th at 14.30
New York: you can only listen to the Word on satellite radio (Sirius satellite) on Sat at 22.30pm, Sunday at 13.06 and Tues at 3.30am
Also it will be online for a week from Monday at the following website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/programmes/the_word.shtml
Postscript: February 19:
For those with a low-bandwith connection, the ‘Cambodia’ segment on ‘The Word’ is from 15:18 to 25:30.
From What’s On. Tags:cambodia,literature
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or: “Leave Your Weapon With the Guard”
“Vuth” is a common nickname in Cambodia, a shortening of a longer name like ‘Daravuth’ or “Sisavuthara”.
Anecdote: some Khmers are on their way to an office and see a sign in front: ‘Please leave your weapon (avut) at the door’. “Sorry Vuth,” they say to their friend, “we’ll have to go inside without you.”
These signs used to be pretty common just a decade ago, and you can still see a number around.
By the time I was working in Siem Reap, (2000) this sign was already pretty redundant (and now has disappeared). I’d pretend to check myself, and tell the guard I left my grenades at home.
Tags:cambodia
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