Sunset on the Mekong

It's been a while since we've seen a sunset here. After the brief lull in the rains last month, September came storming in with brilliant downpours and the energy-sapping intermittent drizzling all day long. In some provinces south and west of Phnom Penh these downpours made up for the drought. Unfortunately there was so much sudden deluge that up to 2m have been recorded in some villages around the country, and flash floods have taken about a dozen lives.

This photo above of the Phnom Penh skyline was taken from the peninsula before the rainy season started. That is the royal palace and royal viewing stage (for the November boat races during the Water Festival, or Bon Om Touk).

The riverfront is getting a massive makeover. Actually open areas around the city are getting a fantastic makeover. Khmers love it, these parks are filled every morning at the freakin' crack of dawn with groups assembling for exercises. It's the popular hangout for inexpensive dates, loitering, families taking their kids out to fly kites, getting some street food and gaping at the water acrobatics at the fountains. Aren't these colors brilliant?

Dramatic skies in rainy season

There was a brief lull in the rainy season as usual this past August. But the rains are back in full swing again. The Mekong and Tonlé Sap Rivers are swollen rich from the monsoons up north. The Tonlé Sap River, which meets the Mekong towards the south of Phnom Penh in front of the Royal Palace, reversed directions about three or four times already, but volume and flow reversal has been weak due to dam building in China and Laos, north of Cambodia.

(In dry season flow in the Tonlé Sap River is southeast to the Mekong River. But with high volume on the Mekong during wet season it backs up the Tonlé Sap River, causing it to reverse its flow and fills the Tonlé Sap Lake in the northwest section of the country. This is one of the largest freshwater lakes in Asia and is Cambodia's most prominent geographic feature.)

We have our very first skyscraper, prominent above in the first picture just to the right of Wat Phnom, against the dramatic rain clouds. The first two photos are of the Phnom Penh skyline from Maxine's Bar (or "Snowy's" to some) across the Japanese bridge, on the peninsula. The others are around our neighborhood (all were taken by Keith Kelly). Hard to capture lightning on film eh?

our resident tukei gecko

Isn't Fred the cutest tukei gecko ever?? Except he's a SHE! LOL! Just saw her little ones yesterday, they're feisty like mommy!

Fred is about 6inches around her tummy, 10inches long to the end of her tail. She's been a regular at our place for years. Or should I say, WE've been regulars at HER place for years LOL!
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Celestial dance of 22 July 2009

A dismal overcast day spawns in the Kingdom. The mighty Mekong bucks and swells with all the world's rage. Celestial beings roar.

Across the land village radios quiver with the news: the Eye of God cometh. Today a dark day falls. None shall be spared.

Humans and fortune tellers and witches scurry about their paltry rituals and offerings to stave the impending doom. But the cauldron of the heavens boils and bubbles. In just moments the essence of wrath will descend upon earth to end this corrupt age of Kali. Lesser clouds sent by a kindly small (unknown) Hindu god for Cambodia's meager comfort cower as the lunar transit arcs straight into the solar spectrum.

om shanti..... Om Shanti.... OM NAMAHO SHIVA!!

[looks to see if you, reader, are still watching....]

Well. Thunderclouds rage also in my thoughts. There goes my view of the solar eclipse. Would be nice to see the arc of the cosmos hurtling us towards our destruction, at least.

[sulks. chucks a used tissue over the balcony... and the used tissue chucked over the rail blows into my downstairs neighbor's balcony.]

[a small smile escapes.] This day may yet improve. :-)

---- update at 12:05pm, after the eclipse:

Our six and a half minutes of solar eclipse was watched by many of my friends, thanks to my news flashes on Facebook. Here below is a picture taken by Dave Coolio, since for part of those six minutes I was called into someone's office for a minor query. :-(

Also why Dave felt the need to point out the obvious in the photo is beyond me.
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California plates in the Penh

California DMV yoohoo! Anyone file missing Land Cruisers with plates 2d8514 or 4USN291 lately? They're in Cambodia LOL! (Took this shot two months or so ago and forgot to post them, though I did tweet it!)
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Traffic rules? What traffic rules?

Only four traffic laws broken in this pic LOL (unless you count all the helmet-less heads on two wheels);
2. going the wrong way, which I suppose is subjective in this country;
3. mobile stuck to the head while driving a moto (although I guess this isn't a law in Cambodia);
4. same guy who doesn't have a helmet while yakking on his mobile is also missing his mirrors.
Did I miss any others?

I love the very specific methods for plowing straight into oncoming traffic: make eye contact and you lose the right of way. LOL!

No helmet, talking on the mobile, and obviously the point of rearview mirrors is lost on this fellow.
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Opposition views not allowed

In celebration of Cambodia's thorough crackdown on opposition views, I'd love to take up Maggie Lamb's challenge on Facebook for all of us to violate Articles 62 and 63 in the Cambodian criminal code at the same time.

Robert Carmichael in the Asia Media Forum lists some recent actions against opposition officials and members of the press, which does not include the defamation case against the Cambodia Daily:

One editor of a newspaper affiliated with the opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) is now serving a one-year jail term for publishing a story the government objected to. The publisher of another newspaper, ‘Moneaksekar Khmer’, was told this week he would be sued and could go to jail after publishing a series of articles allegedly designed to incite conflict between government ministers.

On the political front, two opposition MPs are being sued by senior officials of the ruling party for defamation after having their immunity stripped by the lower house. Their lawyer recently quit their cases and the SRP and crossed over to the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) after being told he would be sued.

Two other opposition MPs have been told they could have their immunity taken away too. Two non-government organisations have also received legal threats.

That the government beelines for the courts rather than counter criticisms via more palatable channels such as rebuttal pieces, propaganda speeches and using more of the widely popular comedy skits as they did a few weeks ago, is truly curious. See one of the videos here: Khmer Media Watch.

Oh and WWF joins the ranks of Unfavored NGO Status in Cambodia for releasing scientific data on the state of the Mekong River dolphins (the species is all but functionally extinct). To further add to the comic relief, Global Witness recently urged the UK to revoke PM Hun Sen’s visa ahead of a planned visit to the country to see his son graduate.

Wonder how the crackdown will be managed on the internet, as it will inevitably do. There are a growing number of critical voices across the various social networks...
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how tourists should not treat the natives

D and I were sitting in a restaurant nowhere near the tourist track when some kids were dropped off by a tuk tuk outside. As they wandered a few feet, gawking about with lonely planets and maps in their hands-- very comically lost-- a rude blog post title popped to mind: "You too can look .....". We stepped out to snag some quick shots, when these guys turned the tables on us. They waved and smiled really big, the kind you save for retarded people, probably thinking we were natives taking photos of foreigners. We took off before they could start talking really loud English at us.

I have never been looked at by a white person like this. My immersion in Cambodia is complete.
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Happy Burfday America!!

Cheers from this side of this rock's molten core! I was decidedly NOT too enthused about joining an event where Americans by the thousands gather at the American Embassy to celebrate this American holiday. (Seems like putting a bull's eye on ya, eh?)

But it was ok! We were safe! North Korea even kicked the celebrations off with dud scuds all throughout the morning (A for Effort!). And sheesh the number of Americans in Phnom Penh always astounds me :-)

Naturally I was there on task for the Democrats Abroad Cambodia. I was politically unaffected throughout the election season of two years until Sarah Palin grabbed the VP nomination and ended John McCain. Our little Cambodia team kicked butt of all DA groups all over the world with 100x our budget and number of expatriates. We rock, dude! And Americans abroad? You rock, cuz your votes gave the Dems six seats, plus handed the presidency to Obama!
Actually, more accurately: the vote-from-abroad reforms that were put into place in time for POTUS elections 2008 allowed overseas ballots to be counted from the get-go instead of placing them in a pile to be opened ONLY if a tie needed to be broken! We have a great team, and even though I'm not a Democrat I'm happy to work with them to change some things that adversely affect American expatriates.

This is the first time I've ever had a corndog can you believe it? The Embassy special-imported these from the US. I now know why I never bothered to try them in the first place :-)


Keith's basketball buddy here onstage rallying the crowd. That was an awesome crowd (over 1500!). Great event, good to get in touch with Americana. Got my homesickness over with for a little while :-)

BudLite Presents: Real Men of Genius. . . Today we salute YOU Mr. . . . .

. . . Asian Correspondent Extraordinaire!!!

[♫ in the background] While correspondents coagulate on the beaten path, you strut the high- the low- and parlous track. Remote bird flu hot zones, bullet-ridden conflict areas—- the very bowels of hell itself!!—- You have conquered them all, with stealth by your side and twinkle in your eyes. Because of you, o mad-dog maverick bandit traversing the ruthless Indochine geography, adventures in pandemic scourges and war know no bounds. (You take my breath away) Who is Nirmal? Who cares? Lordy Lordy have mercy, it is imperialism on the nomen nudum scale!! So, crack open an ice cold Bud Light, o Marauder of the Landmasses, and don’t wander too far from your fantasies of Nirmalian imperialism, because your greatness is ever so inspiring!!!!

Today we salute YOU, Mr. ASIAN SUBCONTINENT CORRESPONDENT EXTRAORDINAIRE!!!!

♫ Reeeeal men of geeeeeniouuuus!!!! ♫

Note:
I came across this old email and had to post it for nostalgia's sake. I'd written it in jest to the BudLite ad track many years ago for Nirmal Ghosh. He was my first and only friend here in Asia for a short while when I first landed in Bangkok. I was staying with an old friend Doualy Xaykaothao who's a reporter for NPR, but she promptly traipsed off to chase a story too soon after I landed, and I was alone in her Bangkok pad. She introduced me to her friend and colleague Nirmal, and he smoothed the bumps of transition to SE Asia! Great friends, both of them. And it doesn't hurt that both can spin art out of the written and spoken word. Inspires me silly, these guys!

I completely forgot about it until just now, cleaning out my email boxes. Oh memories... Love you guys.
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THIS just in: We interrupt this regularly scheduled rioting for...

LOL this last entry in Nirmal Ghosh’s live-blogging on 14 Apr 2009 upon the Red Shirt leader's call for an end to the protests:

The reds are dispersing, to rousing music and dousing each other with water to celebrate Songkran. A potentially disastrous situation has been averted.

The Songkran Festival was extended two days, for “cleanup”. [[Straight face: pelt water not tear gas! Smirk, enter stage right.]]] … Kum.ba.ya.my.lord… kum.BA.YAAA…

Thaksin vs the King?

Ousted PM Thaksin Shinawatra

The Yellow Shirts are advocating for a roll-back of "democracy". From Der Speigel, The King's Silence (09 Dec 2008):

The airport occupiers and their supporters (Yellow Shirts) are revolting against a democratically elected government whose political base consists of the poor rice farmers of northeastern Thailand. They are leading the fight for a middle-class minority with allegiance to the king and pro-military views, which calls itself the "revolution of the middle class." If it comes into power, it will do away with democracy and allow only one-third of the representatives of the people to be elected by the people. This comes as no surprise, given the fact the representatives of this segment of society lost the last four elections....

... More and more Thais wonder what the king's silence means. Could it be a sign of division within the royal family? Queen Sirikit was once spotted at the funeral of a member of the opposition. The Reds, however, hope that the king himself is on their side -- that of the poor.

This time Thaksin outright called for the Red Shirts (pro-Thaksin majority rural poor) to dissolve the country into a revolution, and levied accusations against the Privy Council, advisors to the King, for their part in the 2006 coup. Red Shirts rallied behind this call, rushing the parliament house and by the hundreds of thousands incited violent clashes throughout Bangkok and the country. From The Economist, A Right Royal Mess (08 Dec 2008):

The rage of Bangkok’s traditional elite against Mr Thaksin stems partly from embarrassment at having originally supported him...

... Some of Mr Thaksin’s voters must be contemplating the flip-side of the PAD’s (yellow shirts) argument: if the monarchy is against the leader they keep voting for, maybe it is against them. Such feelings may only be encouraged by the PAD’s condescending arguments that the rural poor (Mr Thaksin’s main support base) are too “uneducated” to have political opinions, so their voting power must be reduced.

King Bhumibol Adulyadej

Thailand is experiencing the deep social and ideological divides of a feudal society’s transformation into a modern democracy. The crown’s role as a stabilizing factor in the country’s politics faces its greatest challenge yet. King Bhumibol is widely worshipped as god-like. He facilitated the country’s transition to democracy and has used his considerable influence to arbitrate during periods of political turmoil.

But the crown’s legitimacy may soon see an end, as the King’s health is quickly deteriorating and the next in line for the throne has no command of the hearts of his people. Heir Prince Vajiralongkorn of the patrilineal monarchy lacks the current King’s compassion and devotion to duty, and his suitability for the throne is consistently questioned. One wonders what is in store for Thailand, long the region’s beacon of stability.

Effects on Cambodia?

Regional proverb: When elephants fight, the grass is trampled.

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Where is Khmer culture going?

Terminalnomad Photography

With such rapid pace of progress, Cambodia eagerly embraces a bright future. That's the upside. What's disheartening is that it's a future that chases inspiration externally-- specifically from the West, while rejecting its own rich legacy and heritage.

Silence about the Khmer Rouge period

With the KR trials commencing, spotlight is on the reaction of the Khmer population. But collective suppression of this period in history is the prevailing practice. Even the international community avoids the issue: aid funding for mental health has been nil, despite numerous requests and rampant indication of need. What little dialogue is had about tribunal activities is mostly aimed at foreigners and international scholars, researchers, interns.

Khmer kids have not an inkling of the import of the Khmer Rouge period. It's not taught in school, barely mentioned in the home, and no discourse is had in the public sphere. To be ignorant of it is one thing, but I was shocked on arrival that my new friends flat-out deny these atrocities ever even occurred. They say it's just old people talking to scare them... Here Seth Mydans reports on how Cambodia's youth know little about the Khmer Rouge atrocities (NYT):

Some older people get so upset at their children for not believing that they say, ‘I wish the Khmer Rouge time would happen again; then you’d believe it,’ Mr. Ty Leap said.

Thought leaders, influencers and the professional cadres were largely eliminated during the KR period, true. But a complete dismantling of the Khmer social infrastructure is reinforced by this large-scale avoidance of the topic. It is a rift, chasm, disconnect that winds and rends through the entire fabric of Khmer society.

Frayed social networks

For thousands of years Buddhism has been the pillar of social cohesion-- a vanguard of Khmer culture and moral authority in matters of social and even political affairs. But the abbots' and monks' relevance has deteriorated, largely from decimation of the top ranks of the Buddhist order. This left a fragmented social system and a void, at a time it is most needed.

We're witnessing the extinction of many art forms, from music to fine arts, with little local advocacy. Such cultural expressions usually boom after conflict periods; it is part of a society's healing process to document memories. But the arts are unsupported, even from the royal family, many of whom including the King are gifted artists. This point is very telling by itself. The royal family does not reside in-country, and the King is (was?) a dance professor in France who spends little of his life here. What better way to convey the message to your people that Khmer culture is sub-par than to abandon the very channels for social expression.

My colleague's father was a renowned painter prior to the Khmer Rouge period, and his works hang in the National Museum in Phnom Penh. Thoroughly impressed, K requested an interview. Her response? His art is so old, why would he be interested in it when she can introduce him to more exciting contemporary artists instead. She was sure to add that good artists have had training in the West or from Westerners-- her father "only" knew Angkorian style.

These are just a few instances of the absence of pride among Khmer for anything Cambodian.

Foreigners' role in advocating Khmer culture

The generations after the KR only ever knew to aspire to the whims of endless armies of westerners bringing our ideas to them, experimenting on a societal scale at will and for the most part unchecked. Khmers are conditioned to worship the power of the dollar. They're exposed to and want the excesses they see on the pirated Hollywood blockbusters: fast cars, fast money, throwaway relationships, soundbyte politics and a consumption lifestyle-- all a complete flip of the essence of Cambodian philosophy towards life. China, India, Thailand, etc, have all chosen to embrace modernity. But their quest for progress is continuously negotiated against the substance of their cultural identity. Khmers seem not to have this.

Instead of coming from within, foreigners (for lack of elder Khmer mentors) are showing the youth what's cool about their own Khmer culture. Through the filters of foreign taste, Khmer are learning to appreciate the finer elements of their own traditions. The context is displaced, disconnected, inorganic.

For me, growing up in the US, I was taught the essence of my Filipino heritage in the home, and learned my new country's cultural nuances through social situations. Most of us have the luxury of this foundation from which to forge our identity, whichever direction that may go. I reject some Filipino and American traditions on the basis that I had grasp of the context. Cambodian kids are given little context from which to move forward.

So what's in store for Cambodian culture?

Mentors from within the country are still few relative to the boomer population post-KR, but this cadre is steadily growing, (thankfully) embracing their Khmer identity and taking the lead to advocate for it. Ever so slowly, foreigner guidance will give way to this new generation of elders. But it'll take entire lifetimes. In the meantime, a cultural schizophrenia guides the direction of progress in Cambodia...

something i came across at the store...

Check this out. There's no shortage of fascinating things here to keep the western consumer amused. The seeds keep their suspension with the jelly-like juice. It's very strange. (Google it, there are lots of photos.) It's almost like a lava lamp except they aren't moving. Oh and the taste? Not something to write home about (although I guess that's what I'm doing eh). It's syrupy sweet, and no I didn't crunch down on the seeds. After the novelty, it isn't something I'd purchase again. But it does have a great fan base, especially for fresh-made ones.

Banana leaf books

Since deciding to leave 'civilisation' I hardly much missed the comforts I was luckily blessed with. Lord knows my parents are confuzzled why I chose to go to a country worse off than the one they took me out of! I guess that choice is a luxury they passed on to us, but that's where we see things differently... So instead there's a daily onslaught of novel situations-- sights, smells, tastes-- not all good! But more often than not it's a memory to put in that bottle.

Here we saw an old man who lives at the temple on Phnom Chisour (2hrs' motorbike ride from Phnom Penh). He writes Buddhist teachings on dried banana leaves cut into uniform 'pages', which are then tied together into a 'book'. The implement is a branch with a sharpened end, and he fills in the strokes by rubbing a crushed leaf across the page. One book takes him a week to complete, and this he sells to tourists for $2. The skeptic in me wonders in which part of the pagoda do they mass-produce copies of these little books, and then age them over a fire or something. But as K and my photographer friend traipsed off to shoot all manner of inanimate curiosities, I stayed behind and watched him at length (like for 2hrs) painstakingly scrawl his messages. I even helped him pick leaves for ink (only the young leaves will do).

Yes, I bought one book from him. I have no idea what to do with it, so it sits with other dust-collecting ethnic baubles I purchase for the sake of stimulating the local economy.

View from shotgun

I don't like riding in the back of the SUV like I have a chauffeur, but I also really hate traveling shotgun here for many reasons. The probability is high for anyone living here for being in an accident. Here are some photos why:
Roads in developing countries aren't the safest, so you can't sit back and relax in the car. Almost every trip I make I pass an accident. On the national roads it's even worse. Against your better sense of humanity, foreigners are advised never to stop and help, even if you're with a local who can communicate. You can easily take the heat for the accident even if you arrive long after the event. And without an underlying structure of order, mob justice prevails. You're on your own if any danger comes to you from being a good samaritan.

Motorbikes are used to transport anything and everything. These guys are each carrying two beds strapped precariously to their motos, traveling about 35km/hr for about 3 hours to Phnom Penh.
Sights like these are common and, likelier than not, no matter how high a vehicle is packed, there are people sitting (or sleeping) on top of the cargo.

the health insurance debate

There is so much dialogue on the issue of health insurance coverage, on FB, the blogosphere, tweetscape, news. Everyone has an opinion on the best system (popular option seems to be single-payer) and so much energy is batted around the design of a universal scheme.

What I want to see is a growing dialogue on the root issue, which is the big pharma-medical financial incentives megastructure. From the agriculture policy to who funds continuing medical education to lobbying heft on the Hill, there is NO ONE AREA of lifestyle NOT touched by this monied interest. Look around, do some research, and you will find that even the most innocuous facets of life and decisions made is heavily if not directly influenced by Big Pharma.

Those who insist that there are laudable national health insurance designs in France, Scandinavian countries, and Japan (or elsewhere beyond the top 3 in coverage schemes) must look at the books. Populations in these universal coverage programmes are ageing, expecting more high-tech innovations in care, demanding more options and access. These lead to increased financial liabilities to the health system. They are all to one extent or another unsustainable in their current form in the long run. And that is with regulation in place for big pharma much more stringent and patient-focused than we have in the US.

Dialogue--and legislative action-- has been taken up in these oft-cited "model" countries on how to make access to health and medical care affordable without bankrupting the system. There needs to be a sound legislative and policy framework before we can talk about coverage and financing designs.

Durian: It's that time of year again

The hot and sticky summers in April, May and June bring the season of the best fruits of the tropics. This naturally includes durian, which of course you must eat with mangosteens (arguably one of the better things about Asia) or else your body temperature rises too much. But then again, this is when mangoes are falling off the trees on the roads and there's just too much for consumption including exports. So I guess I can handle that waft of durian odor once in a while....

Engrish Signs

I love these signs. And this one's in only three languages. It's at the landing of Sydney Supermarket right next to the Ministry of Health on Kampuchea Krom.

Websites for Khmer Rouge tribunal updates

A few people have asked for some news feeds of the proceedings, now that the Khmer Rouge tribunal has finally begun. Here are some blogs, news coverage and expert commentaries on the Extraordinary Chamber in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC):

Cambodia Tribunal Monitor, with webcasts of the proceedings and video commentaries, by Western legal and academic experts on the Khmer Rouge or Genocide.

Ka-set is the Khmer-ization of the French word for newsmagazine. This news website aims to promote quality journalism, and is a project started by four journalists (Cambodian, French and Belgian), affiliated with Cambodge Soir (French-language newspaper in Phnom Penh), in 2007.

Documentation Center of Cambodia is a rights group advocating for greater access to information.

From the Phnom Penh Post (the English language newspaper of Phnom Penh) is the Khmer Tribunal Report, a blog on progress at the ECCC.

This is the official site of the Extraordinary Chamber of the Courts in Cambodia (ECCC), in English, Khmer and French. Unfortunately it is down quite often (but that may just be for connections in Cambodia).

And here is the controversial website of Ieng Sary's defense. It fuels debate about confidentiality in the UN-backed court. Ieng Sary was the former Khmer Rouge's Foreign Minister.
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what liberal media bias? ;-)

And here I thought there'd be no fodder for comedy under an articulate, competent African-American president! Not that I'm a Democrat, but the GOP sure is providing a good stream of material these days!

Rachel Maddow on (what I didn't know was a liberal-leaning) MSNBC about Bush and Cheney being wanted men in the State of Vermont. It's the only state not visited by Bush during his administration... 06 Feb 2009

Jon Stewart eviscerates Rick Santelli and CNBC 05 Mar 2009

(@jayrosen_nyu) Rush as the face of the GOP brand. Good for the Democrats. "No, I am" Steele says. Better! "No, social conservatives are the brand." BEST. LOL!!! 28 Feb 2009