oops, the right random picture !

Random Picture of me in Kompong Cham Province!?!

March 2005 in Cam

Wednesday the 15th
So So News
Finally had a job offer today, with this small company of Khmer consultants who provide IT advice, planning, training and project implementation.
They are imaginatively named Cambodia Information Technology, or CIT for short….

www.citcambodia.com

They seem to be very well connected in government circles, they wrote the 2003 IT Master Plan for the whole of the government IT upgrade ($10m) but it got axed by donors after the last election fiasco, but it looks like it might be back on the table again now thanks to the CG meeting last month and the new US$601m budget for the Cambodian government in 2006.

The job is a bit of a patchwork quilt, Marketing, Writing, Project Management, et cetera plus the money only just enough to live on to start with, not really any different to what I get now as a volunteer, but as of April my salary will be $0 a month, so at least I keep a roof over my head while I keep looking for a better paid job.

Poncy job title though - Head of Project Management

Which I started this week to get things rolling, alongside doing my normal job – the next 4 weeks are going to be very, very, busy!

Also have a part-time writing job coming up for a new Asian travel website (not yet online so no link yet) half the money up front, rest on completion of articles in December, better than a poke in the eye, two to four hours a week I reckon, starting next week, should be enough to meet the dead line, about 10,000 words…

Yes, going to be very busy.

Thursday the 16th to Wednesday the 22nd
I need more sleep
Work, work and more work for the last week, 15 and 18 hour days, aggghhh, roll on Khmer New Year, can not afford to go anywhere, but at least I should be able to sleep some more, sorry for the lack of updates in this month!

Had lunch today (Wednesday) with some NGO I contacted months ago about work, they have some for me, but it is only for 6 months, but the money is fairly nice, not sure what to do now, whether to take a better paying job that will only last up to 6 months, or stick with my lower paying, but permanent, job at CIT ???

Friday the 24th
Damn bike lets me down when I need it most!
Major problem with the bike today, possibly a blown head gasket. Decided to bite the bullet and take it to the one and only bike shop here not owned by a Khmer. ‘The Bike Shop’ as it is imaginatively called is owned and run by Bernard the Frenchman. He charges US$10 an hour for labour – rather than the Khmer US$3 and hour – but at least he speaks very good English and can understand what is wrong with the bike - my Khmer linguistic skills do not extend to cover words like pistons, rings, plugs, points, etc

Sunday the 26th
A half day off at last !
Not going into the office today (either old office or new office!) but need to do 3 or 4 hours research for the new Asian travellers’ website job – still, this month that almost counts as a day off!
Roll on Khmer New Year (14th April) when I finally finish my VSO contract and my old job and I only have one and two half jobs to worry about :-)
Still, all this work might mean I have a bit of extra cash for Heng’s Birthday in a couple of weeks!

Monday the 27th
Stick with the perm job
I have decided that even though the 6 month contract job would give a much needed boost to funds, I am going to give it a miss in favour or steady long term employment.

Picked the bike up from Bernard. New rings and gaskets, new fuel filter, new brake and clutch cables, replaced coolant, oil, brake fluid. Stripped, cleaned, rebuilt and balanced all 4 carburettors. Adjusted the timing, cleaned and checked plugs and points and even threw in a new key ring. All for nearly US$200 ! But now the bike is running so smoothly, so quietly, so evenly, that I have fallen in love with it all over again.

Thursday the 30th
Too much work
Too much work
Too much work
Too much work
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Hun Sen 1 UN Whiners 0

I am with the Iron Man Hun Sen on this one, all these people do is whine, whine, whine. Let us see how well they would do.


Cambodian PM waves "iron fist" back at U.N. envoyBy Ek Madra

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Wednesday the United Nations should sack a human rights envoy who suggested he was running the impoverished southeast Asian nation with an iron fist.
Hun Sen, the former Khmer Rouge soldier who has been in charge of Cambodia for the past two decades, also described the U.N human rights body and its special representative, Yash Ghai, as "long-term tourists".

"Mr. Ghai has accused me of using an iron fist to violate the independence of the courts. What he said is wrong. He should not give me advice," he told a agriculture meeting in the capital, Phnom Penh.

U.N. Secretary-General "Kofi Annan should fire him", he said.

Kenyan-born Ghai, who is on a regular human rights fact-finding trip, said on Tuesday one person continued to control all the levers of power in Cambodia despite its gradual recovery from the Khmer Rouge genocide of the 1970s.

"I have been quite struck by the enormous centralisation of power, not in the government but in one individual," Ghai told reporters.

"I have talked to judges, so many people, politicians, and every one is so scared. It seems that everything depends on one individual. That is not really a precondition under which human right can flourish," he said.

He did not name the individual, but Hun Sen took it personally and said he would never agree to a meeting with Ghai, who became U.N. rights envoy to Cambodia last November.

"You don't even know about your own poor country, Kenya, in which over 50 percent of people live in poverty," he said. "You are lucky that this time a deputy prime minister met you. That won't happen next time."

Ghai also called on international donors, whose annual $600 million aid accounts for 60 percent of Phnom Penh's revenue, to push harder for reform in a country devastated by 30 years of civil war.

"I do believe the donors have a moral obligation to intervene in one way or another," Ghai said.
Although Cambodia ranks alongside many African nations with many of its 13 million people living on less than a dollar a day, Hun Sen hit back: "Don't come and lecture me. You should go back home and learn more. Your knowledge cannot work in Cambodia."

Pol Pot's ultra-Maoist Khmer Rouge ran Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, the era of the "Killing Fields" genocide in which an estimated 1.7 million people were executed or died of torture, starvation, disease or forced labour.

A frontline Khmer Rouge commander, Hun Sen lost an eye in the final assault on Phnom Penh in April 1975, but later defected and fled to neighbouring Vietnam. There is no evidence linking him to atrocities under Pol Pot.

Khmer Politics Soap Opera III

This weeks update from Khmer440

***

- FUNCINPEC nibbled to death by ducks

Wow, what a week: hiring’s, firings, surprise votes a few new names cropping up, old names moving out, and a potential new love interest has moved into the Soap Opera for a possible sex scandal.

Still, as Valery so famously noted “power without abuse loses its charm”

The week opened ordinarily enough with the King Father declining a request to get involved again. This time it was to help Prince Ranariddh regain his position as President of the National Assembly, claiming that he was retired and no longer had the power, or right, to intervene, the King Father’s refusal to bend the process to his will was issued from North Korea where the King Father is presumably studying new democratic models of government. The request did not come from Prince Ranariddh himself, but rather came from ‘a compatriot among the elite’ a phrase that the King Father has used before on his website, and has always amused me.

Another thing that amused me was the Cambodia (rarely) Daily (almost) article earlier in the week when a pair of their intrepid reporters did some ‘man on the street’ interviews about the thoughts of ordinary citizens on the political manoeuvrings; a select group of political observers and pundits were questioned, comprising of; a student, a tuk-tuk driver and a motodop.

Meanwhile, the nibbling to death by ducks of FUNCINPEC continued when the CPP Secretary of State for the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport raising questions about funds for Federation Internationale de Football Association, which prompted a surprisingly swift and strong response from Khek Ravy the President of the football federation, who threaten defamation lawsuits against anyone who accused him of corruption – I wonder where he got that little tactic from? He also followed up his defence by writing a rather good letter to the editor of the Cambodia (rarely) Daily (almost) about the achievements of the football federation and its various sources of funding. Although most of this left me in the cold as I am a Rugger fan myself. The Phnom Penh Post skipped over this though, contenting itself to a few tired quotes from The Rainman and a few others.

But this week it was not just the CPP doing all the nibbling and sniping, my second favourite Princess, HRH Norodom Vacheara, rallied the royalist troops several times by speaking out in defence of FUNCINPEC members as well as going as far as to ask of CPP ‘who does not have mistresses?’ – although I am fairly sure that she was talking about CPP parliamentarians and not herself.
She also alluded to the fact that she considered these attacks against royals to be the first steps in trying to abolish the royal family. – a clear case of Royalism in this day and age of equality, inclusion and sensitivity.

Over at the Big House, CPP President Chea Sim was easily re-elected to his position as President of the Senate. It must have been a gay old time up at the Big House as even King Norodom Sihamoni attended to preside over the swearing in ceremony, oh what larks.

Elsewhere at the kiddies table, the Rainman Party had a whip round to hold a ceremony to mark the ninth anniversary of the infamous 1997 live grenade juggling competition. Victims and victims’ families would receive between US$50 and US$100. Although some in that group were not happy about the Rainman’s recent political game of musical chairs.

As these events and nibbles unfolded, the Little House on Norodom Boulevard turned up for its scheduled vote on Prince Sirivudh and H.E. Nhiek Bun Chhay removal from the Ministries of the Interior and Defence, only to find that an extra sacking had been added to the list, Prince Sirivudh was also getting canned from his role as Deputy Prime Minister – oops, what did I say last week, I really should be more careful!

After that small kafuffle CPP’s boy Heng Sam was elected to Prince Ranariddh’s former position as President of the National Assembly.

All of which lead to Prince Sirivudh resigning from the position of action President of FUNCINPEC – maybe he has a teaching job in France too?

The resignations did not stop there though, the Don Juan Sammoun, Secretary of State for Rural Development called it a day as well, but not without taking a final swipe at the Minister for Rural Development, H.E. Lulu Laysreng, it just makes you want to kick your heels up and shout, come on everybody now shout…

So with the Royalist Party busy snapping at each other heels like nervous chinchilla’s on a drunken night in Tijuana, the CPP and the Iron Man even had a couple of days off nibbling them like ducks. Although they did start the grouse shooting season early by picking off some of the lower ranks, a swift removal of a few FUNCINPEC Governors and Vice Governors; Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, Kandal, Banteay Meanchey. The CPP network of senior staff has never been so solid, or so indebted to the Big Man. People living in Phnom Penh often overlook just how powerful provincial governors are, within their fiefdoms, they have extraordinary powers and are perfectly placed to interact with commune and village chiefs – thus the electorate.

Yet again, throughout the week everyone’s favourite Princess Vacheara, was the only one talking about Party unity, unfortunately, nobody was listening. This might be just as well, since she switched songs halfway through the week to start singing about hidden republican conspiracies within FUNCINPEC. Ah, well, I had high hopes for her, however, like Queen Boudicca’s rebellion against Governor Gaius Suetonius Paulinus and the Roman occupation of England; beautiful, brave, imaginative, yet ultimately flawed.

All of which has me begging the question, where is the leadership? While Prince Ranariddh is kicking back in the French countryside, his Party is infighting, squabbling and losing ground almost by the hour. Political parties, like any large organisation, need strong and decisive leadership; decisions need to be made, strategies envisioned then enacted, not too mention the fact that loyalty is often a lot stronger face to face. Surely all these French speaking, French educated, Royals know the phrase coup d’tat? Or they learnt a little French history about, say, Louis the XVI?

Finally, in just about every article written this week, various spokesmen from the Neutral and Impartial Committee for Free Elections in Cambodia have given quotes; I doubt that they have ever been so popular over at NaICfFEiC outside of an election year. I bet those boys really know how to party on a Friday night.


Lord Playboy
Monster Raving Fish Party Party

Post Script: I was joking at the beginning about a sex scandal
Post Post Script: Spot the deliberate mistake in the above article and win a free beer.

Khmer Politics the Soap Opera: Week Two

This week in Khmer Politics the soap opera, we have seen some swift and fancy foot work, a hydra-headed assault and some back-peddling, all happening at a breakneck pace.

The field was mudded initially by Prince Ranariddh himself, after first nominating one successor, his half brother Prince Ping Pong, then the next day suggesting his Aunt Princess Norodom Vacheara, could do it instead, then the following day announcing it was going to be Prince Norodom Sirivudh, before Prince Ranariddh finally started packing his bags and catching a flight to France. But not before he had to lay off over 100 ‘advisors’ that he had working for the office of the President of the National Assembly. Well, I am sure that the Prince is sadden by so much sudden unemployment, it will probably weigh heavily on his mind as he spends the next two weeks in Aix-en-Provence, I am also almost certain that former Princely advisor Pok Thareth will be working it into his Ken Dodd style stand-up routine.

Anyway, I guess that Prince Sirivudh has some spare time since the Iron Man fired him from his former position as co-Minister of the Interior. His other job as Deputy Prime Minister can not take up to much of his time

All the while the Iron Man is asking public questions about the Olympic Panel and its accounting during the 2005 South-East Asian games, followed by the Iron Man’s pre-emptive body blow, the cancelling of Cambodia to host the 2011 South-East Asian games.

Then came the questions about the location of hundreds of tractors and water pumps and machinery for some NGO project.

As a further slap on the wrist the Iron Man also cut off FUNCINPEC’s supply of free Government diesel – next week it will be the immediate cessation of chocolate biscuits during their tea breaks.

Then another front is revealed, the Ministry of Finance ups its attempts to get Prince Chakrapong to pay up US$1.4 million worth of back taxes from the last 5 years for the Princes failed vanity business that was Royal Phnom Penh Airways.

Hot on the heels of that press release came Prince Chakrapong’s announcement that he was withdrawing his appointment as Secretary-General of FUNCINPEC.

Now the party is bickering amongst itself as to whether it should elect a new Secretary-General or whether one should be appointed – claiming that an election would divide the party, unlike the argument about Appointment Vs Election which I am sure is creating nothing but party unity.

Watching last week’s machinations reminded me of the 1984 Chess World Championship, Kasparov’s deadlocked with Karpov, external forces halting the championship, it restarting in 1985 when Kasparov finally beat Karpov with some highly spectacular variations on the Sicilian Defence.

But if truth be told, Prince Ranariddh is no Karpov, he is not even a Viswanathan Anand; in the uneven chess match of Khmer Politics it is more akin to Kasparov beating Bob the Builder
The Iron Man is the Super Grandmaster of Khmer Politic: the Soap Opera™, I wonder if he would have had the support of Tsar Nicholas II for such a title?

During most of last week the words that crept into my mind were the ones from the Roman poet Marcus Annaeus Lucanus, “There will be no common faith between those who share power, and each man will be jealous of his associate”, now he may well have written that under the patronage of Nero, with regard to his Senate, but it holds just as accurate now in 2006 Cambodia as it did in 60AD Rome.

All of which kind of makes me wonder if that Sum Sitha, the Khmer American (Khmerican?) really knows what he is letting himself in for now that he started pushing his Khmer National Party more into the spotlight, does he really think that he can make any changes in Khmer Politics from his home in Long Beach, California? Surely as a former FUNCINPEC member, former Khmer National Party Member, former Sam Rainsy supporter and former Khmer Citizens Party (Mk1) member you would have thought that he had learnt some lessons about Khmer Politics? Is his new role a supporting one on this Soap Opera, or is it just a character appearance that will stay on air for a season and then vanish into a subplot somewhere? Is there a Khmer version of Josh Lyman lurking somewhere out there in the wings?

And when will we see some press releases from the Khmer Front Party translated into English, I thought that we all had to be super Inclusive and Sensitive to the needs of others these days ?

Cambodia's Favourate Car

Quick Cambodia Conquest Q&A

http://www.quizyourfriends.com/yourquiz.php?quizname=060309210506-510029&

Just for a laugh, I cobbled together a quick quiz (10 questions) on ‘My Life in Cambodia’

This should tell me who reads my monthly updates and who just hits delete !

Khmer Politics Soap Opera

Those of us who are keen observers of the great Asian soap-opera that is Khmer politics have had an interesting month or so to say the least.
A chain reaction of events, some moving so swiftly and fluidly that it was almost difficult to keep up with them.
Specific events to include would be :
• Sam Rainsy returns to Phnom Penh and says ‘oh so sorry’ to the Iron Man.

• The Sam Rainsy Party then tables a motion that election rules should be changed to 50% plus one; rather than the existing two-thirds threshold required to establish a ruling party – which in real terms is now just 62 seats out of the 123 in parliament. Under the old rules, the Iron Man’s 73 seats from the 2003 general election was not enough to rule without forming a coalition government to bring him up to the requisite 82 seats

• The Iron Man then had a period of making public attacks and comments on nameless politicians and nameless mistresses of politicians (plus power-broking and political favour) - now, you just know that a whole bunch of Khmer politicians from all parties went home after those speeches to get the third degree from their wives!

• Parliamentary Immunity is restored to Sam Rainsy

• The new 50% plus one rule is passed into effect in record time.

• Senior FUNCINPEC co-Ministers of the Interior and of Defence are fired by the Iron Man, although interestingly enough retain their roles as Deputy Prime Ministers.

• Prince Ranariddh resigns as Chairman of the National Assembly.
Of course, the back drop to all of the above events was the 2006 meeting of the Consultative Group, who in the last few days has pledged US$601 Million in direct aid to Cambodia for 2006; up US$97 Million from 2005’s US$504 Million.

Elsewhere, in a distant despot background, the King Father Sihanouk claims he is homesick for Cambodia, but afraid to return to his homeland for fear of ‘something bad’ happening to him or his Country, in his words “ Currently, if I dare return back to our country, there will be bad problems [for me] that will force me to leave our country again.”
* * *

So what does all this mean?

To my mind, it means that there is now every chance that the 2008 elections will result in the CPP party having a full control of the government without any form of coalition being necessary.
Or, in the unlikely event that they only just fall short of the 62 seats needed, they are no longer restricted to just forming a coalition with FUNCINPEC, it is possible that the Sam Rainsy party might pick up enough votes to be used to form a quorum with CPP – thus allowing the Iron Man to play the Sam Rainsy Party off against FUNCINPEC.

Although it is more likely that the CPP will win an outright majority under the new system.
With Prince Ranariddh out of the Chair at the National Assembly, FUNCINPEC loses some of its current political power in the short term, however, if he is going to devote all of his time now to strengthening FUNCINPEC prior to the 2008 elections – as some news reports have quoted him as saying – then there is a good chance that he might regain some of the former strong following that FUNCINPEC enjoyed back in the early 1990’s.

Exciting times as I said, and the general election is still over a year away.

P.S.
The political house spring-cleaning continues today;

Ranariddh loses his co-chairmanship of the Council for the Development of Cambodia, Sao Rany, the FUNCINPEC deputy police commissioner is out of a job and all is quiet today at the National Assembly – hardly a person here.

Movie Star Gossip

Poor country, rich country; Hollywood or Hollyoaks… Same Same but different...

*** *** ***

Duch Sophea, 20, one of Cambodia’s most popular young actress of movie and karaoke video, is under fire from common people for two events occuring last two weeks. On February 16, she drove her luxury white car, Lexus, persuading hight-school girls at Watt Koh high school, and then she went off her car to slap school girl student. She claimed that the girl always threaten her niece.

A few days later, there was other incident happening to her after she did not stop her car when traffic police flagged her dow to check on February 20, 2006. Later, it took her 4 hours to be questioned at police station at Daun Penh district about allegations that she slapped a fellow high school student and was suspected of refusing to stop for a traffic police officer. She told police that she did not drive car, the car driver was her older sister. Her cases were finished.

Recently, grossip about her is that she has been romatically involved with Senior government official. After the speech of prime minister, he warned government officials not to lavish money on their mistress. If they do, they will be investigated and punished.

Duch Sophea’s comments came one day after Prime minister accused the mistress of a senior government officials. Meanwhile, she also said that there are many people being jealous of her career, so they spreaded false rumors that she have romatice relationship with hight-range official in an attempt to damage her reputation and life.

“I swear to Buddha to be struck by lightning” if the rumors are true, she added. She said Hun Sen may have comfused her with her older sister, Duch Chan Samphors, who she said was guilty of not stoping when flagged down by traffic police. Cambodia Daily reported.

On behaft of her sister, she said, “The problem is solved, it is finished. I apologize to the prime minister. I apologize to the traffic police.” Cambodia Daily reported.

Look on the bright side...

Okay, after last months upsetting news, I decided to make a list of good things about living in Phnom Penh, Cambodia …

1. where you earn a salary of US$1,000 a month, and can afford a cook, housekeeper and a big motorbike easily

2. where the longest possible commute to work is a leisurely 15 minute ride

3. where a beer costs US$1

4. where a main course in your average Khmer restaurant costs US$1 (chicken fried rice, pork and veg stir-fry with rice, tom yam soup and rice, et cetera

5. where the latest movies on DVD cost less than US$2

6. where the beach is a 3 hour drive away

7. where you have 26 bank holidays a year

8. where the weather is; a) bloody hot b) very bloody hot c) very bloody hot and raining

9. where everyday legal problems (traffic) can be solved for US$1 or less

10. where you can have cases of beer delivered to your home by just leaning out the window and shouting your order to the guy sat on his mopo opposite (not just beer, anything and I mean anything; phone cards, bottles of water, ice, cigarettes, potatoes, iced coffee…)

11. where a new, two-bedroom, air-conditioned house with off street parking can be rented for US$200 a month

12. where you have over 100 restaurants from a dozen different countries, from Chinese to Russian to French to British pub grub to vegetarian to deep fried cockroaches…

13. where a bottle of Bombay Sapphire costs less than US$10

14. but most of all, because it is where I live