A True Fighter

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Cambodia: Vanny Tep, former pinup model, rages against cronyism

Tep Vanny leading a protest (Photo: The Phnom Penh Post)

Tep Vanny during a protest

In a country where dissent can bring death, one woman fights against the destruction of homes to make way for Chinese development projects.

May 6, 2012

Terry McCoy

Global Post

But, really, in Cambodia only one person has power: Hun Sen. With a cultural fatalism that pervades Cambodia, Vanny says her story has a clear trajectory if Hun Sen sticks around. Last Wednesday, another protest leader, Chut Wutty, who’s inveighed against the government for years for illegal logging, was shot dead by the military in Koh Kong Province. Vanny says the same could happen to her, or she’ll end up with the others who have dared to question Hun Sen’s authority.

“In a black cell.”

Cambodia's government destroys the homes of poor residents to make way for upscale developments, often financed by rich Chinese investors. This excerpt from the Kindle Single "Playground" tells the story of one woman's bold struggle against the destruction. 

 

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