DIY journalism

Um, what is this?

IF you’ve ever tried to pound a nail into your wall to hang a picture, you probably know that it doesn’t work very well. Special cement nails work for very light things, but when hanging anything heavy, especially pictures with glass, cement walls should be drilled into.

Why, yes it is. It’s a story about how to drill a hole in the wall. O.M.F.G.

‘Where Elephants Weep’

Cambodian rock opera debuts in Phnom Penh next month.

“Where Elephants Weep” is an East-meets-West blend of traditional Cambodian music and Western rock that is modeled after “Romeo and Juliet” and inspired by the Broadway musical “Rent.”

Organizers said Wednesday the show will open a 10-day run Nov. 28 in a converted movie theater in the capital, Phnom Penh, a year later than its planned debut at the end of 2007.

[...]

“Where Elephants Weep” is an operatic take on “Tum Teav,” the Cambodian version of “Romeo and Juliet.”

Nice.

Havens of safety

Camko City missed payroll this week.

MORE than three hundred angry Camko City workers rioted at the Camko City building on Monday night, demanding their late wages be paid immediately.

The workers occupied the building for two hours on Monday night, burning a company vehicle and damaging office supplies and several computers. Sok Sovandeith, president of the Cambodian National Federation of Building and Wood Workers, said that no one was injured in the riot.

Long on gloomy

From Diana in Siem Reap.

It’s started to happen. There are businesses around Siem Reap’s old market area and beyond that are closing down. One is an Indian restaurant (“Bangladesh, not Indian,” sniffs a competitor).

Today I noticed Enjoy Villa, the Australian-Khmer guesthouse around the Central Market area had a big padlock on its gate. I asked the tuk-tuk guy parked beside the guesthouse what happened? Did it shut down? He said yes. The website is still in operation, so I have no idea what’s happened. The Angkor Airways office around the same area is also up for rent, as well as numerous others.

Businesses operating on thin margins will find it harder and harder to survive. Businesses that signed on leases at high prices will also find it a challenge to make money. As businesses struggle, rents will have to fall, because otherwise landlords will face the prospect of having no tenants.

What financial crisis?

Korean bank boss and ambassador both agree that Cambodia is safe from the ravages of the global financial crisis.

DESPITE the economic crisis gripping South Korea, the head of a newly-opened Korean bank says that Cambodia offers a safe haven from the international turmoil. … Korean Ambassador Shin Hyun-suk also said the Kingdom has been largely spared from the global financial crisis.

Don’t listen to them. Bankers in the rest of the world were saying the same things until just a few weeks ago. Remember the fundamentals of U.S. economy are strong, Japanese banks are completely secure, Australian banks are some of the most solid banks in the world. Uh-huh.

(FYI Mr/Ms PP Post editor, hyphens are for compound adjectives.)

Good intentions

A former Khmer Rouge soldier stands proud.

“WE are not ashamed” to have been Khmer Rouge, Ken Pon, 51, announced during a public forum Friday. “I am proud of what I have gone through. They were true nationalists.”

[...]

Ken, who was a soldier for the movement, said he knew some people thought the Khmer Rouge “have red eyes and eat human flesh”.

But he said, in his experience, the Khmer Rouge tried to develop the country and were guilty only of a flawed ideology, not genocide.

Really, all the Khmer Rouge did was kill 2 million people and shatter the psyche of a nation. Is that such a crime? The KR meant well. Surely that counts for something.

Press freedoms at all-time low

Cambodia in 2008 sunk to a new bottom on the Reporters Without Borders annual Press Freedom Index.

The France-based organization ranked Cambodia 126 out of 173 countries, down from a respectable 85 last year. Reporters Sans Frontiers, as the group is known in French, cited the murder of journalist Khem Sambo and a pre-election media clampdown for Cambodia’s dismal showing.

Compared to its neighbors, Cambodia ranks better than many. But in a region that includes Burma, Laos and Vietnam — the latter two controlled by communist governments and the former by a brutal, military dictatorship — that makes Cambodia only modestly better than awful.

• Indonesia, 111
• Thailand, 124
• Cambodia, 126
• Malaysia, 132
• Singapore, 144
• Laos, 164
• Vietnam, 168
• Burma, 170

Iceland, Luxembourg and Norway placed first on the 2008 Index. Canada ranked 13, the UK 23, the US 26, and Japan 29.

Cambodia’s high mark on the Index came in 2002, when the country ranked 71.

Vespa rally

Nov 2, 2008. ThaRum has the details.

Hun Sen vs Somchai Wongsawat

VS.

WordPress recently introduced Polldaddy, which allows bloggers to create nifty little polls, such as the one above. It seems like little more than a frivolous diversion. But since it’s the weekend, a little frivolous diversion seems okay. And these techno trinkets hold some strange allure, even if their usefulness isn’t exactly clear. So vote your conscious on these important political matters.

UPDATE NOV 2: After a week the totals look like this:

• Hun Sen: 89% (92 votes)
• Somchai Wongsawat 6% (6 votes)
• Draw 5% (5 votes)

There doesn’t seem to be anyway to close the poll and just show the results. But consider the vote over.

Scambodia: home sweet home

VIA Crossing Cambodia: DS from Bloom Bags/Cambodia Calling recently returned overland from Bangkok, where she was hobnobbing with Hollywood moguls and stuff. Here she is crossing the border:

As for me, while filling in the forms, the men told me they could help me get a taxi from Poipet to Siem Reap. One of them insisted the price was USD60. I said, how can that be? I paid only USD35 from Siem Reap to Poipet. He said it is because of the police, who demand tax from the taxi drivers. I said no, the taxi is only USD40 (a French customer had told me this was the amount she had paid) . This guy then said, yes, before it was USD40, but now, it is USD60 “because of the fucking police,” he spat. He said it with such conviction I almost believed him.

[...]

When I had walked away, the guy actually drove his motorcycle up to me and tried to bargain one last time. “50 dollars ok, bong-srei?”

Of course I said no and continued walking. I was just amazed–they must make such good money from the scam they would even turn away a fair price for one of their taxis.

While walking towards the checkpoint many other taxi touts came up to us. I was so annoyed by then I said loudly in Khmer, “I always thought Cambodians were honest (smao trong), but you’re not. I live in Cambodia, helping Khmers and yet you still try to cheat me.” I was really quite pissed off. Anyway, two of the men seemed shocked and one said in Khmer, no, no, we will charge you a fair price, USD40 for the whole taxi. It was the price I was willing to pay all along so I agreed and they helped mom and I with our bags.

Taxi drivers are notorious scamsters everywhere. Cambodia is no exception. At least she wasn’t traveling on the day of the fighting, when taxis were asking US$200 for that same trip.

Moral of the story: Fly.

None of your Cham business

Over at SEAArch, Alberto, Alison and Bjorn climb into David Lempert’s response to the response. It would be a disservice to try and highlight or summarize the arguments presented, but suffice it to say, the gauntlet has been thrown down.

What do you do exactly? Where do you work? No Cham has ever mentioned you to either me or Bjørn, and while the geographic area in which I work in is relatively small I still hear about other researchers working in the region. Bjørn has worked in every province in the country and he hasn’t heard of you either. Nobody seems to know you here… perhaps you’re not making an impression… but that’s just as well. You came out of nowhere to scrawl some drivel in a local paper and insh’allah you will go back to where you came from soon – never to push your lunatic Cambodia-as-Yugoslavia thesis on us again. If you would like to post an apology for impugning the professional and personal ethics of my colleagues and me, you know where to post it. If you’re not ready to be a man and face up to the fact that your research in this country is without merit and that you are totally unable to engage in a civil discussion with three anthropologist who tried to set you straight, then please, don’t bother writing any response at all.

Eric, too, weighs in, giving this post its title and explaining the title/opening line — “Super-Limp” — on AA&B’s response, a reference to the fact that Mr Lempert likes to refer to himself as “Super Lemp.”

In related news, The Post interviews Bjorn Blengsli, who is decidedly less snarky than the above prose might otherwise indicate.

Economy Won-oh-Won

South Korea stands as one of Cambodia’s largest foreign investors, having pumped nearly $1.5 billion into the Cambodian economy over the last few years. South Korean money has largely fueled the Great Land Boom, and South Korean-backed high-rise projects in the capital are as numerous as they are well-known. So it’s no secret that problems in the Korean economy will have noticeable effects here at home.

And how do things look for the Koreans? Not so wonderful.

In South Korea, a $130 billion government effort to inject liquidity into the country’s banks failed this week to stabilize markets or prop up the country’s currency.

Stocks have fallen about 35 percent this month and the won continues to be worst-performing major currency in the world, down about 35 percent against the dollar this year.

Much of the decline in the won and of stocks in Seoul has been triggered by foreign investors pulling their money out of the country’s stock market. Foreign ownership of Korean stocks has fallen to less than 30 percent after peaking at about 42 percent four years ago, according to the Yonhap news agency.

The Bank of Korea said Friday that growth in the country’s export-driven economy has fallen to the lowest level in four years. With high levels of corporate and household debt, South Korea is regarded as perhaps the most fragile major country in Asia. Analysts say a collapse in export earnings could cause a cycle of bankruptcies and business failures.

Several South Korean-backed construction projecst already have been put on hold indefinitely. Rumors swirl over at least one South Korean construction company pulling up stakes all together. And while it’s no surprise that economists are worried, even NGOs are now afraid that donors may be too cash-strapped to continue putting petrol in the Land Rovers Cruisers.

How the other half serve

Up on the border, the rank and file find comfort in old beliefs.

Cambodian soldiers have long employed magic to ward off bullets and landmines, inking their skin in intricate patterns, memorizing spells to help them in combat and investing themselves with protective scarves, belts and amulets.

Soldiers on the border say they have sought these old methods anew to protect them in potential battle with Thai adversaries, following a deadly outburst of violence last week at Preah Vihear temple.

In Siem Reap, the 4-stars play with a different kind of iron.

Cambodia’s defense minister teed off with Thai military officials Thursday in a spot of golf diplomacy ahead of talks aimed at resolving a fierce border dispute.

A meeting of mid-level officials in Cambodia’s northwest tourist hub Siem Reap was meant to pave the way for substantive talks on Friday between senior commanders on tensions that erupted into deadly clashes last week.

While their juniors met, Cambodian defense minister Tea Banh arrived a day early for a round of golf with Thai military men.

Diplomacy is necessary, of course. And given the intensity of the situation, a little levity among military leaders is probably not a bad thing. But still, playing a round of golf while three military families grieve seems shockingly callous. Disposable heroes, indeed.

Scenes of ruins

More awesome temple photography from Stuck in Customs.

Hell on earth

Absolutely heartbreaking.

That’s Missus Deputy Prime Minister

Gender equality proponents rejoice.

Cambodia has appointed former soldier turned journalist Mem Sam An as its first female deputy prime minister, the politician confirmed Thursday. The 55-year-old, who represents the south-western province of Svay Rieng, was a senior minister in the previous cabinet and said she is honoured by the promotion.

Mem Sam An became part of Cambodian folklore in the 1970s, marshalling troops on the Vietnam border against the Khmer Rouge with what her comrades describe as extraordinary bravery.

It’s a shame that so much of Cambodia’s history isn’t better documented. Mem Sam An sounds like an extraordinary figure.

NatGeo to Phnom Penh: You suck!

National Geographic’s annual poll puts Cambodia’s capital at the bottom of the pile.

The 2008 “Places Rated” Destination Stewardship survey, announced this week by National Geographic Society’s Center for Sustainable Destinations, based its ranking on how well cities endured the pressures of mass tourism, the ravages of nature and the onslaught of global development.

According to the iconic magazine, the charm of Phnom Penh has been “lost to uncontrolled urban growth and the outright greed of land speculation”, one of the judges said, adding it was a “very sad story” its astute colonial urban planning had now all but disappeared.

Maybe next year.

SK construction starts stop

To a one, every major South Korean construction company swears that stalled construction schedules have nothing to do with the global financial crisis.

A source close to one of the developers, who asked not to be identified, named World City’s Camko City, GS Engineering and Construction’s International Financial Complex (IFC) and BK Global’s Pharos Mekong Towers as the most prominent of the affected developments.

[...]

Kheng Ser, assistant to World City vice president DK Kim, strongly denied that the company had any concerns over financing or the housing regulation. … The Mekong Pharos Towers development, which will include five 25-storey residential towers on Phnom Penh’s Chruoy Changvar peninsula, was due to open a showroom in December and begin construction this month. BK Global marketing manager Kheang Piv refused to discuss the issue but confirmed construction had not begun as scheduled.

A source close to South Korean developer Daesan Cambodia, which is building a 45-storey condominium tower adjacent to the IFC site and overlooking the Tonle Bassac river, said the company had also delayed plans to start construction. The source said the company, which is backed by Posco Engineering and Construction, a subsidiary of the Korean steel giant, had no concerns over financing but had halted construction until uncertainty over the new finance ministry regulation, or prakas, on housing development financing was resolved.

That must be one mighty bad prakas. Because as everybody surely knows by now, banks of the world are lining up trying to get in on the global real estate boom.

Stock market

The Asia File wonders if Cambodia is ready for a stock market.

After all, this is a country where business and personal disputes are still routinely settled with a late night shoot-out in the capital, Phnom Penh. Is Cambodia really ready for the wild fluctuations, the speculators and the scams that typically dominate new equity markets in developing economies?

Despite the silly “shoot-out” line, it’s a valid question. Specifically, will market regulators be able to keep powerful interests from manipulating stocks for personal advantage. AF looks to a recent story in the Bangkok Post for an answer.

“On any given day, investor cliques can join hands, even sometimes with company management and major shareholders, to push share prices one way or the other,” the article notes. “For these investors, fundamentals are meaningless – indeed, the larger and more prominent the company, the less attractive it is for speculators, due to the greater difficulty in manipulating prices for large-cap stocks.” While Southeast Asia’s comparatively inexperienced and poorly funded regulators do their best to get on top of these types of market abuse, they are generally fighting a losing battle against the better-funded and more powerful crooks.

Law enforcement, it might be noted, is not particularly a Cambodian government strong suite. So there’s virtually no reason to believe that a local stock exchange will be free from corrupt influences. Savvy investors will surely know this, and invest accordingly.

Calls for a Cham homeland

PhD anthropologist and Luce scholar David Lempert suggests the idea of a Cham homeland.

Estimates of the suffering of the Cham under the Khmer Rouge differ, with Ben Kiernan suggesting that up to 100,000 of 300,000 in Cambodia were killed. Michael Vickery estimates less. Whatever the numbers, the Cham remain without a homeland and vulnerable. … It may not be feasible or possible to “buy” a homeland for the Cham on their ancestral lands or to establish an autonomous region for the Cham in an area between Cambodia and Vietnam, such as Kampong Cham, but the idea at least deserves to be on the table.

Preeminent Cham scholar Bjorn Blengsli, along with Alison Carter and Alberto Perez-Pereiro, argue that that’s not such smart idea.

Lempert ignores what reaction the Khmer public would likely have if his suggestions were to be implemented. Even talking of a Cham homeland would strengthen fears that the Cham are not loyal citizens. Attributing joint Khmer-Cham authorship to the architectural legacy upon which much of Cambodia’s sense of nationhood is constructed would also be poorly received. We need only recall the firestorm of criticism unleashed when last year it was suggested that king Jayavarman VII might have been half-Cham to predict what the probable reaction will be.  Khmers already feel embattled enough holding off the Thais at the border. They are unlikely to appreciate yet another rival making claims to their cultural patrimony.

Lempert is either dangerously clueless, or he is purposefully trying to stir unrest. Not only is his idea  guaranteed to be met with resistance from inside Cambodia’s borders, it is all but certain to attract unwanted attention from outside groups with agendas incompatible to the welfare of Cambodians. It’s hard to imagine a more patently terrible idea for the Chams to get behind.

Cambodia captures Thai soldiers

Thai officials have consistantly denied that Cambodia captured several Thai soldiers during the border clashes on Wednesday. They should see the internets.

Calls for peace

From Reuters:

Rasmei Kampuchea, Cambodia’s largest circulation paper, also ran a front-page government appeal for Thai businesses and people to be left alone in the capital.

And The China Daily:

Sar Kheng, Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister, has asked to the provincial authorities to take care and guarantee the safety of Thai business people and civilians living in the country, the Raksmey Kampuchea Daily reported on Thursday. …

“I just wrote to inform all our provincial and city governors near the border to keep the good relationship as normal and protect all the Thais,” he said, adding that about 1,000 Thais live in Phnom Penh and about 800 in Siem Reap province.

Thais are still fleeing.

Ahoy, mate

You gotta love the editing at the Phnom Penh Post.

Pascal Deyrolle, general manager of La Residence d’Angkor hotel, said the imperiled stock market would affect some travellers, and the negative news coverage of the political situation in Thailand would have an immediate and direct effect on tourism.

Imperiled stock market? What’s that about? But this one’s even better.

Although there were more travellers entering Siem Reap by land and sea, and more business travellers entering Phnom Penh, a decrease in those coming to Siem Reap by air would affect higher-end hotels, Deyrolle said.

Entering Siem Reap by the sea? Ahoy, mate.

Poipet border closed

People in Siem Reap say the Poipet border is closed. For how long is anybody’s guess.

UPDATE: The border is open again.

Fighting erupts on border

From AP:

A gunfight broke out between Thai and Cambodian troops at a disputed border zone Wednesday, escalating a conflict that officials from both sides fear could result in a war between the neighbors.

Cambodian army commander Brig. Gen. Yim Pim said the fighting stopped about an hour after it began while commanders from both sides tried to negotiate a cease-fire. There were no casualties on the Cambodian side, he said.

Thai Foreign Ministry spokesman Tharit Charungvat said seven Thai paramilitary troops were wounded in the gunfight. Yim Pim said there were no casualties among Cambodian troops.

Each side said the other fired first.

CNN and The Bangkok Post both quote Thai sources saying one Cambodian soldier was killed. Reuters has an interesting Q&A that gives the background on the conflict in short, easy-to-understand, um, questions and answers, such as “1) If war broke out, would Thailand easily defeat Cambodia?”

UPDATE: The Post says two Cambodian soldiers were killed.

Leading the charge

Prime Minister Hun Sen has had enough.

“They must withdraw,” Hun Sen said [Tuesday] during a speech at an economic conference in the capital, Phnom Penh. “I have set the timeline for them to withdraw by 12 o’clock.” Noon in Cambodia is 0500 GMT.

“At any cost, we will not allow Thai troops to invade this area. I would like to be clear about this,” Hun Sen said, adding that he had ordered Cambodia’s army chiefs to “take full responsibility over this area. It is a life-and-death battle zone.”

That was this morning. This afternoon VOA and AFP began reporting that Thais troops had retreated. But by evening time, Thai officials were calling those reports poppycock.

Cambodian army Gen Chea Mon told the Reuters news agency: “They (Thailand) pulled out from our land” shortly before the so-called Phnom Penh ultimatum at noon. “The situation seems to have returned to normal. Our troops are occupying the area where the Thai troops have pulled out.”

Sheer nonsense, said Thai officials.

The Christian Science Monitor has the latest. Far from pulling out, Thai troops at the border are digging in.

“The situation is quite tense at the front line,” Lieutenant-General Vibulsak told Channel 3 television.

“We have mobilised more troops and heavy artillery to the area, just enough to resist and retaliate.”

KR henchmen guilty in deminer’s death

More than a decade after the killing, four ex-Khmer Rouge soldiers have been convicted for the murder of British deminer Christopher Howes.

Strength in diversity

In the face of the planet’s worst financial crisis since The Great Depression, the leader of the government’s National Banking Committee says not too worry.

Cheam Yeap, chairman of the National Banking and Finance Committee, said the global finance crisis might affect the real estate market, but not the economy as a whole as it is sufficiently diversified in tourism, agriculture and garment manufacturing to withstand the downturn.

The Cambodian economy is many things. Diversified is not among them.

The Chams

VIA Allison: This is a few weeks old, but if you’re at all interested in the Chams, Eric has a very worthwhile post authored by Alberto Perez-Pereiro, a learned student of Cambodia’s Muslims.

Garment buyers still keen on Cambodia

Some good economy related news, for a change.

“Twenty-eight representatives from leading garment brands came to Cambodia last week for the two-day meeting of the International Buyers’ Forum organized by the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC)” and stated “they are recommending that their companies continue sourcing from Cambodia,” said the release.

Forum participants remain very optimistic about Cambodia’s garment industry, Tuomo Poutiainen, Chief Technical Advisor of ILO’s Better Factories Cambodia program, was quoted as saying.

Sixty percent of Cambodian-made garments are bought by forum members. So their vote of confidence offers some reassurance that buyers are not planning on abandoning Cambodia for cheaper manufacturers elsewhere.