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Posted by: | Posted on: October 19, 2016

Xi Jinping visiting Cambodia is to engaging between state and state, not the people

Political Paradigm of Pragmatism from the Khmer Youth part 81

This part (81), broadcasted on Sunday and Monday of October 9-10, 2016, Mr. Sophan described the two important events: the official visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping, and the pausing of going back to parliament of CNRP law-makers.

Chinese President Xi Jinping will pay a state visit to Cambodia on Thursday, marking the first visit to the Southeast Asian country since he took office in March 2013. Many Cambodians expect the landmark visit will further deepen all-round cooperation between the two countries. Courtesy: sea-globe.com

Chinese President Xi Jinping will pay a state visit to Cambodia on Thursday, marking the first visit to the Southeast Asian country since he took office in March 2013.
Many Cambodians expect the landmark visit will further deepen all-round cooperation between the two countries. Courtesy: sea-globe.com

According to observers, China’s foreign policy is depending on non-interference package and tight relationship shall happen in between state and state primarily. Thus, the core issue on people favourite and disfavourit towards their leader(s), has also taken into consideration for China’s leadership. Best friendship that China has viewed on Cambodia is through lens of supporting China’s core policy such as one-China state policy by disregarding Taiwan, bilateral solution regarding schemes on Sprately islands, and natural resources investment in Cambodia. Thus, China shall not pay much attention the attempt of Vietnam’s influence to maintain its status quo towards its clientele, CPP and Hun Sen leadership.

CNRP decided to postpone the parliamentary meeting is taking into understanding of vital threat by Hun Sen’s leadership that cannot protect the law-makers. Hun Sen’s attempt to intimidate CNRP’s law-makers through direct physical abusing and indirect messaging is to test the people power of Cambodia especially the half of total Cambodian population who voted for the CNRP. More than this, the postpone shall impact bad image on Hun Sen’s attempt to ensure his strong power base while Xi Jinping is coming to shake his hand.

Overall, China’s leadership with Cambodia is to maintain its traditional tie between the two country established during the King Norodom Sihanouk rather than between China and Hun Sen as well as his CPP party.

Posted by: | Posted on: October 9, 2016

Problems of unfair election procedures in Cambodia are rendering

Political Paradigm of Pragmatism from the Khmer Youth part 79

Op-Ed: The CEROC

This part (79), Mr. Sophan commented on tricks in details that are possible to happen during this voters registration that means too much for the controlling party.

HelloVOAFirst, the notice of computer system has been fabricated as many expertise have asked the same questions on why voters must be regulated to register in place where they vote? What astonishing is the regulation that people can register whatever place they want but they must vote in that place. Prime Minister Hun Sen did appeal people to register their names at place they like or they can easily access to.

Secondly, voters registration in each commune or sangkat could be easily pre-counted by such easy hashtag code solely owned by the president of NEC. Feasible pre-screening of voter lists leaking to third party shall enable such party to predict the result of this commune or sangkat election, and such powerful party can play around with the number. So, it might be common to see a trucking policemen or military to dispatching to different communes or sangkat to register for voting during this 3 months voters registration.

Thirdly, Tep Nitha has got great privilege to oversea the security unit of the NEC. Cambodian voters were historically frightened by the presence of arm-forces especially the pineapple eyes of village chiefs and their subordinates during ballot casting.

In inclusion, above preliminary finding shall shed some light on how the controlling party can freely trick around with the election procedures and distract them to their benefit. Millions of overseas Cambodians have already been marginalized from this unequal level playing field of election procedures, and the CEROC is very appreciate to all Cambodians overseas who have made great volunteering to fly to Cambodia to register to vote and to vote for a positive change of Cambodia.

Posted by: | Posted on: October 5, 2016

Don’t think we’ve forgotten: why Cambodia’s leadership needs to change its tune

Don’t think we’ve forgotten: why Cambodia’s leadership needs to change its tune

Hobbes’ state of “continual fear, and danger of violent death,” prevails for those thinkers and artists in Cambodia who dare to dream a different future.

Flickr/Michael Coghlan. Some rights reserved.

Flickr/Michael Coghlan.

Some rights reserved.“I am thankful for Hun Sen,” a Cambodian actress once told me. “Without him, the Khmer Rouge would have killed off every last one of us.” Her gratitude is no platitude. It is anchored in grief for the countless theatrical kin she lost to a regime that epitomised Hobbe’s leviathan: “No arts; no letters; no society.”

The Khmer Rouge regime was (per Hobbes), “nasty, brutish and short.” Founded in April 1975, it was toppled on 7 January 1979 not through international action but by a renegade movement, backed by Vietnam and spearheaded by three ex-Khmer Rouge cadre. The most junior in age and rank was Hun Sen, who is now in his thirty-first year in office and Asia’s longest serving prime minister.

The actress who expressed her debt to Hun Sen was speaking from the heart. From such sentiments,

About the author Penny Edwards is Associate Professor of Southeast Asian Studies at the University of California, Berkeley.

About the author
Penny Edwards is Associate Professor of Southeast Asian Studies at the University of California, Berkeley.

Hun Sen and the Cambodian People’s Party have carved their redemption narrative. The message is clear: we have saved you from terror, and if we fall, Cambodia will return to darkness. A major plank of propaganda in the 1980s, this mantra of self-sacrifice has been a mainstay of the Party’s campaign trail since the UN-sponsored election of 1993. A keynote of this anthem is that the Khmer Rouge killed off Cambodia’s artists and intellectuals, reducing a once glorious culture to rubble.

The message is clear: we have saved you from terror, and if we fall, Cambodia will return to darkness.

One such artist was singer and songwriter Sinn Sisamouth (1932-1976), whose genius is celebrated in the 2015documentary Don’t think I’ve forgotten: Cambodia’s lost Rock and Roll. If digital retouch has restored fresh intimacy to Sinn Sisamouth’s voice, the passage of time has worked a different magic, rebirthing the title love-song as a posthumous threnody to its creator and, by extension, to all artists killed by the Khmer Rouge.

“Don’t think I’ve forgotten” Sinn Sisamouth croons, “I remember everything, so many stories.” The Khmer word for “stories”(roeung) has a wide range. It can also refer to “events”, including those of a political nature. To “seek” (rook) roeung means to look for trouble or stir things up.

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Posted by: | Posted on: September 26, 2016

Political Paradigm of Pragmatism from the Khmer Youth part 76

Political Paradigm of Pragmatism from the Khmer Youth part 76

This part (76), Mr. Sophan described the relationship between Cambodia and Vietnam after many harsh exchanges of attack through Hun Sen’s facebook page as a new show Hun Sen has drawn attention his electorates.

"Cambodia-Vietnam War Monument" is standing majestically in centre of Phnom Penh. Courtesy: horchange.blogspot

“Cambodia-Vietnam War Monument” is standing majestically in centre of Phnom Penh. Courtesy: horchange.blogspot

Interestingly, the war of pen through social media is just an individual exchange of idea and opinion. Cambodia foreign ministry also wrote letter to Vietnamese government through their embassy in Phnom Penh to seek explanation and punishment about this Vietnamese citizens facebooking expression. Vietnamese government responded with its political maturity by stating that the matter is just an individual freedom of expression. It is not representing Vietnamese government at all.

The exchange of attacks through social media intrigued Chinese State military news outlet penned down the brusk as a good step of Prime Minister Hun Sen and praised of his leadership including mentioning his Chinese blood descendant.

He concluded that foreign policy Hun Sen is conducting right now has truly reflected Cambodia’s political turmoils during the cold war: Khmer Rouge was established and trained by Vietnam but took China as its ally to counter-strike Vietnam. But this time, Vietnam has worked to gain many allies and it has achieved more than during that time. This reality shows how Hun Sen’s foreign policy is dangerous for Cambodia?