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Too funny, too true, too sad...

The End of Courtship?

New York Times, 14 Jan. 2013

 

. . .

 

January 7  \ 7 Makara


Cambodia with population of 5 M in 1979 (minus the half a million who risked landmines, KR, the treacherous sea to escape occupation), now almost 15 M only 30 years later -- the skin-and-bone genocide survivors becoming quite fruitful must be due to the rich nutrients of famine and provisions given by the humanitarian (sic!) invading Vietnamese forces under the guise of liberation, who conveniently decided to occupy Cambodia eternally, till the Cold War politics forced them  out (unfortunately, only of uniforms, but not presence, and not before blood-soaked K-5 Plan) more than a decade later.


"Hanoi created an elaborate blueprint for moving 10 million people from the more densely populated north to the south by year 2000. The mentality of the Red River Vietnamese had not changed. They wanted to push farther south and west--which they did, finally, not through New Economic Zones but by invading and occupying Cambodia two years later."

 

- Chapter 9 "Habits of War", p. 355, WHEN THE WAR WAS OVER by Elizabeth Becker.

 

I passionately DETEST the policy of Vietnam vis-a-vis Cambodia in its aggression throughout history to the present day. I love the Vietnamese people: I love my aunt Lan, who's Vietnamese; I love my beautiful cousins Jeanette and Rose who are of Vietnamese blood; I love my Vietnamese friends. As a Christian, I am under command to love. I am proud to know that my mom and dad gave shelter to their Vietnamese neighbors in Svay Rieng in the early 1970s during Lon Nol's shameful pogroms against Vietnamese living in Cambodia (killing/hatred was/is never justifiable, even if many were/are illegally living in Cambodia, then or now)


I passionately DETEST the idiotic policy of this Kew-Kew! Kew-Kew! that enslaves its own people, oppresses its own people; that does the bidding of ill-intentioned powers against its own people, albeit China or Vietnam, or another; that plunders and rapes Cambodia of its natural resources and in the process impoverishes Cambodians, that strips Cambodians of dignity and identity.

 

This is why I refuse to use the service of Metfone, whose parent-company is the Vietnamese military VIETTEL, even if the internet connection is a lot cheaper, has broader (possibly universal Cambodia) coverage and has more services than most other ISPs, e.g. the USB internet stick for use at remote places otherwise without internet connection. Nor, will I ever fly the "Cambodia national airlines" (sic!) that is really owned by Vietnam, even if this is the only airlines in the world; I would rather walk.

 

- Theary C. Seng, Phnom Penh, 8 Jan. 2013


. . .




CIVICUS Cambodia president Theary C. Seng, conducting a seminar on the Speak Truth To Power project, a partnership with The RFK Center for Justice and Human Rights at Bophana Center in Phnom Penh in Sept. 2012 (Image: Michael Miller, Jan. 2013)

 

. . .


Travesties of Justice run amok in the Kew-Kew! Kew-Kew! this holiday season


Yorm Bopha gets 3 years for defending home from violent eviction.


The government framed Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun as Chea Vichea's killers -- freed them n bail owith the charges hanging, now "quietly" put them back in prison (to send a clear message to would-be-agitators to keep silent)


Mam Sonando languishes in jail.

 

And the list goes on...

 


. . .

 

How many official HE asses are there in the Kew-Kew! Kew-Kew!?

 

In process of calculating and verifying the official figures.  Some guestimated at 8,000 - 15,000.  (In the millions, if we are to include unofficial ones.)

 

We know for sure that the chair of the provincial district board of governors is, by prakas, an official HE ass.

 

Remember when in the late 1990s, we had co-prime ministers, co-ministers of defense, co-ministers of finance, co-ministers of education, co-ministers of foreign affairs, co-ministers of interior, etc.  And each ministry under the co-ministers had at least 7 secretaries of state, and ab0ut 10 under-secretaries of state.  I remember randomly watching The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and a punch line in the opening act highlighted all these co-ministers and a the plethora of excellencies of the newly-installed Cambodian government.

 


He-he! He-he!  Haw-haw!  He-haw! He-haw!  I am an HE ass.  We rule the Kew-Kew! Kew-Kew!


The Koreans have their Kims; the Vietnamese their Nguyens; and we, the Cambodians, ... the Hes.


Yes, we have our Hes. I've heard varying versions but now I know the source of this story.


A while back, Son Chhay, as chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Assembly, led a 50-strong delegation of MPs to New Zealand.



H.E. Son Chhay reveling us with the original story of The Hes at a Christmas Day celebration (Kirirom, 25 Dec. 2012)


His wife went to join him from Australia, but upon arriving at the right hotel, she could not find her husband's name. The hotel looked under "Son", looked under "Chhay", no one by that name listed.


The staff booking the hotel for the delegation had forwarding the names of everyone as His Excellency this, Her Excellency that, or "HE" This, "HE" That, so that Son Chhay acquired a new surname of HE Son Chhay in the hotel listing, along with the other 49 members of the delegation.


So, you see, we are the land of the Hes.


In Khmer, "excellency" is "ek-a-dom" which sounds like the word for dung.


So, with many HEs in the Kew-Kew! Kew-Kew!, there are many asses bellowing "He-he! He-he!  Haw-haw! Haw-haw!  He-haw! He-haw!" producing a lot stinky dung.

 



. . .

 


FREE Bopha and Sakmony! demonstration between Olympic Stadium and Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Wednesday, 26 Dec. 2012.


Security chief in civilian clothes monitoring the crowd.  I'm more and more convicted to pray for each of the security faces I remember; now I make a point of taking photos of the security honchos, to pray for them, for their hearts to be soften, for them to be shown divine mercy.


The chubby guy in white on the big mean bike is a security chief in civilian clothes... I have seen him at other demonstrations and recently my personal stand off with them near Wat Phnom. But all of them, after awhile look the same to me with their chubby-ness / pot belly, their mean look and certain air (sp?) of commie-brand of authority. Recently, I've felt a strong conviction to pray for these pot-bellied ones, as I can't imagine a more worse punishment on earth than to be trapped in a lifestyle of violence.



The indomitable Tep Vanny of the Boeung Women, and the fearless Sia Phearum of Housing Rights Task Force (Freedom! demonstration near Municipal Court, 26 Dec. 2012)


The first demonstration I encountered (1:50 p.m.)  I went up to the demonstrators and asked them if this is the Bopha and Sakmony gathering. No, they said. We're motordops and tuk-tuks demonstrating for road safety. I looked at the banners for confirmation, and the ones I saw had heads and limbs severed from bodies, with blood splattered across the gruesome scenes. I saw military police beyond the barricade. Huh! Did we get the wrong court? Is the municipal court still at the otemporary building? Why are the tuk-tuks and motor dops demonstrating on the same day and near same location as Boeung Kak demonstration? And why is there an eerie calm and order of an orchestrated manner, lacking passion and conviction?! Because THAT'S WHAT IT WAS!! A counter "Don't Release" fake demonstration!  About 4:30 p.m. my driver told me as I got into the car, that the broadcast of a counter demonstration is on right then, with someone calling into the very popular ABC station (with play-by-play live broadcasting of road accidents and thefts) describing the demonstration as if it's a genuine one.  Of course, other news outlets, even legitimate ones (e.g. The Phnom Penh Post, 27 Dec. 2012) included it in the story as if it's a genuine demonstration.

 

This Kew-Kew! Kew-Kew! wants us to forget these courageous women fighting for their basic livelihood--their homes--in the Christmas/New Year celebrations. Let us give this Kew-Kew! Kew-Kew! something to think about with their LOUD presence, with your cameras, your iPhones, your Androids and a ready-to-blog selves.


Mark your calendar:


WEDNESDAY, 26 December 2012

2 P.M. at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court


 

. . .

 

Click to listen the LIVE conversation


BBC World Service

(Weekend Programme) LIVE radio interview with me for about 10 minutes


YOUTH in Cambodia

2:20 p.m. Phnom Penh time, Saturday, 22 Dec. 2012


. . .

 

Flat Stanley in the Penh

 

. . .


Obama, in Cambodia for a Meeting,

Sidesteps the Ghosts of History

 

International Herald Tribune (Peter Baker, November 20, 2012)


Theary Seng, president of the Association of Khmer Rouge Victims in Cambodia, said, “President Obama should have met with the human rights community and activists challenging the Hun Sen regime, and while then and there, offer a public apology to the Cambodian people for the illegal U.S. bombings, which took the lives of half a million Cambodians and created the conditions for the Khmer Rouge genocide.”

 

Click here to read this complete news analysis

 

. . .

 

Kissinger in Cambodia:

Protests Greet Obama's Visit

International Herald Tribune / New York Times


PHNOM PENH — Theary Seng was taking aim with precision and anger. The 41-year-old U.S.-trained lawyer and a regular on Cambodia’s crowded protest circuit was about to throw a dart at a poster of former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.


Kissinger is one of 13 politicians and senior Khmer Rouge leaders in a dart game created by Poetic Justice, a nongovernmental organization run by Theary Seng that highlights deficiencies of the special U.N.-backed tribunal judging the Khmer Rouge’s crimes. Each player gets five throws. A bull’s-eye is worth seven points. The highest score wins.


Last Sunday afternoon, Theary Seng and three members of her staff were playing on Phnom Penh’s riverfront opposite the storied Foreign Correspondents’ Club. On this occasion — the fourth time the game has been staged in public — the point was to draw attention to the narrow scope of the Khmer Rouge tribunal ahead of President Barack Obama’s visit for a summit meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.


Click here to read full article.

 

. . .

 


Interview by Mike McRoberts of TV3, New Zealand standing on what was formerly the capital's largest natural lake, place of violent forced evictions (Phnom Penh, 20 Nov. 2012). Theary: "The international community gives muscles to this dictatorial regime to repress its own people. Before the government represses with Cambodian riels; now it's empowered and given muscles with NZ dollars, US dollars, Euros..."


Watch the TV3 New Zealand broadcast

with Mike McRoberts (aired 21 Nov. 2012)

At ASEAN summit, trade overshadows human rights



In solidarity with courageous protestors of Boeung Kak Lake, here sitting on what was formerly the capital's largest natural lake, with Council of Ministers facing it, with Bopha's mom and son (Phnom Penh, 20 Nov. 2012)

 

. . .

 


Open Letter

to U.S. President Barack Obama

Published in The Phnom Penh Post, 20 November 2012

Read letter in KI-Media

 

. . .

 


CJOReillyGlobal: #Theary Seng being questioned by Police of her possessions ahead arrival of #Obama. If only they knew her rights. http://t.co/88lyV2C3 Nov 19, 2012, 10:23 UTCMs.

Theary Seng and some 30 security (plus more embedded in Wat Phnom Penh and Sunway Hotel)


Narrative of harassment and images of

Ms. Theary C. Seng's stand-off

with at least 30 big bulky, heavily armed security

in front of US Embassy Phnom Penh

(Tuesday, 19 Nov. 2012)

 


Theary Seng (reddish-orange blouse to right) and 30+ security next to US Embassy Phnom Penh, 19 Nov. 2012


. . .

 


Emotional Violence of Past Poetic Justice Dart Games

flared into Physical Assault on Ms. Theary C. Seng

and those around her

along the Riverfront, Sunday, 18 Nov. 2012



A plain-clothes Cambodian police officer, left, pushes away Theary Seng, center, an organizer who was about to stage a protest in Phnom Penh, Cambodia Sunday, Nov. 18, 2012. Cambodia broke up a protest organized by her Sunday that was meant to highlight the alleged oppression of Cambodia's people by political figures, including former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and the late despot Pol Pot (AP Photo).


See more photos


See film of violence


See Opinion by Heng Soy on the vulgarity attempting to undermine Ms. Seng and the global attention on the Poetic Justice dart games



Theary Seng and Poetic Justice dart game (Photo: John Vink / Magnum Photos, 18 Nov. 2012)

 

. . .

 

. . .Spirit of Humanity Forum

 

Reykjavik, Iceland

SESSION 3: CALLING

4.15 - 5.45 pm Led by Miriam Subirana, Foundation for a Culture of Peace

The session includes:

Theary C. Seng, Founder, Centre for Justice and Reconciliation, Cambodia



Theary Seng with Princess Martha Louise (only daughter of Norwegian King and Queen), a genuine "people's princess" full of warmth and personality (Reykjavik, 15 Sept. 2012)

 

. . .

 

 


"Take that, Kissinger!" Poetic Justice dart games filming for ABC News.

More at Association of Khmer Rouge Victims in Cambodia...

"Cambodia's Khmer Rouge Court 'Dying'

ABC News film, aired 16 Oct. 2012

 

. . .

 

Khmer Rouge defendant Ieng Thirith ruled unfit for Cambodian genocide trial due to dementia

The Washington Post, 13 Sept. 2012


Of course if she is seriously ill with Alzheimer’s, she should be released. There is no point in trying an incapacitated person,” said Theary Seng, a human rights advocate representing some victims who are allowed a role in the proceedings. “The point is the (tribunal) is so late in coming. The political foot-dragging and inertia has caused this travesty of justice.”

 

 

. . .


 

Poetic Justice

and Civil Party Withdrawal

in the News

Nov. 2011


Ex-leader: Khmer Rouge atrocities are 'fairy tale'

AP Newswire, 23 Nov. 2011


"I'm not surprised that Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan and Ieng Sary continue to deny their crimes as the charges against them of genocide, war crimes are very serious," said Theary Seng, a Cambodian lawyer and human rights activist who lost family members under their regime.


"Even if I am not surprised, I am however disgusted by their lack of remorse for the suffering they caused. They are delusional in their denial in light of the weight of evidence against them - the mounds of skulls and bones, the horrific testimonies from every survivor of cruelty, the magnitude and scope of evil unleashed by them across the whole of Cambodia."

 

. . .

 

"Khmer Rouge trial is failing Cambodian

victims of Pol Pot's regime"

Human Rights Watch Brad Adams' editorial

The Guardian, 26 Nov. 2011


. . .


"Justice Denied"

Douglas Gillison, Foreign Policy Magazine, 23 Nov. 2011


. . .


Deputy President of Victims Association, a Civil Party of the Orphans Class, Mr. CHEY Theara, Withdraws Civil Party Status, Denounces ECCC as Political Farce

_______________________

PRESS RELEASE

_______________________

 

Full statement in both Khmer and English in KI-Media.

Here, if ISP censors in Cambodia.

 

. . . . .

 

Khmer Rouge Trial Missing a Marquee Defendant

Wall Street Journal, 21 Nov. 2011

“The release of Ieng Thirith is only one reflection of how incredibly late these trials are coming into place,” said Theary Seng, founder of the Cambodian Center for Justice and Reconciliation and herself, too, a victim of the Khmer Rouge regime, having lost her parents and spent five months in prison. She has withdrawn from the tribunal process, and instead put her energy into organizing public games of darts featuring the faces of the Khmer Rouge leaders along Phnom Penh’s riverfront – a “way of release” following victims’ frustrations with the trial process, mixed with “dark humor,” she said.

 

Theary Seng BBC News filming, Nov. 2011

Watch the BBC News coverage

But the trial - a joint enterprise between the UN and Cambodia - has been heavily criticised. Theary Seng, whose parents were killed by the Khmer Rouge, said putting three people on trial for the deaths of 1.7 million simply wasn't enough. (BBC News, 21 Nov. 2011)


Poetic Justice German Filming, 18 Nov. 2011
Filming for German DW-Global with Bastian and Sarin, 18 Nov. 2011. More photos...


Filming by BBC with Guy DeLauney, 17 Nov. 2011. More photos...

Khmer Rouge Trial: Cambodia Awaits Answers

BBC News, 21 Nov. 2011

 

. . .


Crying for Justice

AFP, 21 Nov. 2011

Khmer Rouge survivor Theary Seng told AFP she was "frustrated beyond words" that only Khieu Samphan looked likely to shed light on what happened. "The people want to know who is behind the Khmer Rouge, we want to see and understand the larger picture and we're not going to get that," she said.


From Tragedy to Sham in Cambodia

Asia Times Online, 19 Nov. 2011

In KI-Media

Others have gone further, arguing that the time might be ripe for the UN to pull the plug on the controversy-plagued court altogether. Last week, Theary Seng, a Cambodian-American survivor of the Khmer Rouge regime and a prominent advocate for victims' rights, withdrew her status as a civil party to the court, describing the proceedings as a "complete sham".

She said the UN should threaten to withdraw after setting some clear conditions for its continued participation. By pressing ahead, Seng said, the world body runs the risk of rubber-stamping a flawed process and further embedding cynicism in the Cambodian population.

"I understand the unwieldiness of any large bureaucracy, but at the end of the day it comes down to personalities, and there have been extremely weak personalities," she said. "In this regard, the UN is complicit."

 

 

In the End, Loss of Faith in Tribunal: Former Complainant

Hello VOA Special with Theary Seng, 16 Nov. 2011


Khmer Rouge Victim Quits Tribunal Saying UN-backed Court is a Sham

DPA, 15 Nov. 2011

 

Prominent Victims' Advocate Quits Khmer Rouge Tribunal

VOA International/English, 15 Nov. 2011


KRT Critic Offers 'Poetic Justice'

The Phnom Penh Post, 16 Nov. 2011


Theary Seng Denounces Tribunal; Introduces Dartboard Scheme

The Cambodia Daily, 16 Nov. 2011

 


Theary Seng's Press Conference, 15 Nov. 2011
More photos from Poetic Justice/ECCC Withdrawal Press Conference, 15 Nov. 2011



Poetic Justice
Front pages of The Cambodia Daily and The Phnom Penh Post, 16 Nov. 2011

 

. . .



Click here to read the full press release...


 

More information at "ECCC Civil Party"

More information at Association of Khmer Rouge Victims in Cambodia

In KI-Media



Theary Seng Criticizes KRT

as "Political Farce"

The Phnom Penh Post, 10 Nov. 2011

 


Radio Free Asia (both AM and PM broadcasts on 10 Nov. 2011)

 


Cambodian-American Lawyer Withdraws her Civil Party Status

Voice of America Khmer Service, 10 Nov. 2011

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

* * * * * *

 


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Theary's BLOG

Published Articles of Vietnamization

Vietnamization: Military Occupation - Present
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 Francois Ponchaud, a French Jesuit who had diligently chronicled the destructiveness of the Khmer Rouge in his book "Cambodia: Year Zero," maintained that the Vietnamese were conducting a [ ... ]


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