The Golden Handshake
Nov 21st, 2007 by Jinja
The Cambodian People’s Party is Cambodia’s largest political party, and a shiny watch like this shows that you’re in tight with the establishment that’s been running Cambodia’s government for the last few decades. (Left to right: Chea Sim, Hun Sen, Heng Samrin.)
These watches are supposed to be given as gifts, but there is a regular trade in knockoffs which can be bought for about $10-$12 dollars. (Someone with a real CPP watch will delight in telling you the difference in quality an authentic one and a copy.)
CPP regalia takes on the status of a brand; activists have been seen to flourish signs/shirts/pictures to confuse police and photographers. Is this appropriation appropriate? I’ll leave that discussion for the pundits.
[...] The Golden Handshake [...]