I Dare You!

19 November 2012
By Heng Soy

Dear Readers,

“For those who speak ill, mocking and swearing to Theary Seng [are] ought to be a shame of themselves.
Theary may not be a perfect being but she has guts to confront the cowards government and you all the pathetic bloggers who are just like leeches in any society.
Despite intimidation with violence or anonymously criticize her, she doesn't back down, and that shows her courage with enormous strength. Do you "leeches" here who keep writing with slur comments on Theary's works know what leeches are used for?
Only to suck puss and infected blood from wounds after surgery.
Leeches are commonly living in the swam, dirty water and useless to other nature around them. They are parasites that live to be annoyed by others beings. It's very clear that you are the pests for this blogger and using every pathetic opportunity to pollute and confuse readers.
Readers of this blog are not stupid like you, they have the ability to understand, analyze and follow on every event. Your tactic to confuse readers here won't work. Your actions are the same as the government's which in turn causing many terrible effects at a very high cost than you all could ever imagine.

Yeay Tep”

I am really shocked by the wild and vile attacks against Theary Seng in the comment section following the video of police violence against her to confiscate the dart boards she displayed along Quay Sisowath on 18 November 2012. One reader, a man – I presume, went on to claim that “តែង្វៀងសេង ធារី វិញ POLICE, ទាហាន, PM អាឆ្កែហ៊ុន សែន មករារាំងដែរ, តែធ្វើលេងៗ មានវ៉ែ.. មិនមាន ចាប់ទ្បើយ!” (But, for “Nguyen” [derogatory] Seng Theary, the cops, the soldiers, the military police who serve the dog Hun Xen, they did come and prevent also, but it was like a game, they beat up … but they did not arrest! –sic!–). I am not sure if this man or mouse realized the enormity of his claim, to be satisfied, seeing the beating by the cops was not enough for him, let alone a scuffle or a confiscation of simple posters, there must be more than that, is he expecting blood to flow, somebody being shot, horde of people being arrested and taken away, just like the days of the Khmer Rouge regime when family members were being taken away for re-education and never to be seen again? Oh, by the way, reading the comment, I also presumed that he was the one who commented – prior to watching the video of the violence – that no cops would come and disturb this exhibit. Ironical, isn’t it?

Not only was Theary Seng accused of serving the Vietnamese interest (cf. the Nguyen name used for her above), a man went on to say that she is also serving the interest of China (“Don't you see she's a PolPot's offspring who wants the US out and Chen in?”). If indeed this is case, I can assure that Cambodia is in very great shape: quite simply, where can you find a Mata Hari who can deal with both Vietnam and China at the same time? Shouldn’t we worship such Mata Hari if one were to exist? As for being a Pol Pot offspring, that reader should find out more about Theary Seng before spewing out foam of misconceptions: based on the very little I read about her, her father was an army officer of the Lon Nol regime who was killed by the Khmer Rouge when they came to power. If anything, that alone should make her a Lon Nol offspring, shouldn’t it? But, of course, I can’t guarantee the answer of the confused reader, after all, both Lon Nol and Pol Pot contain the letter “O” (as in O! Good grief!) in the middle and they can be so easily confused, isn’t it?

However, they both agreed that Theary Seng was out there to humiliate President Obama, and the US in particular. One reader wrote: មីសេង ធារីស្រីយួនយៀកកុង, មីរមិលគុណ USA នេះ, កំពុងវ៉ែក្បាល OBAMA ហើយតើ!!!!! Sic! (Mee [derogatory for women] Seng Theary, the ungrateful to the USA, you are beating on Obama’s head, aren’t you? Sic!), while the other reader claimed that [Theary Seng] wants the US out [of Cambodia]. One reader was able to clearly express his mind: “During the visit of the president Obama in Cambodia, she ought to promote about the democracy in Cambodia in revealing about the corruption, the land grabbing, and the criminal act that Hun Sen regime has done to Khmer people. In contrast, she plays her dart game in order to serve Vietnamese atrocity behind the Khmer Rouge. This is shown that Séng Theary is a Vietnamese element to swallow Cambodia. All Khmer must think deeply about her role in Khmer politics.” After reading this comment, I started to have doubt about democracy as viewed by the reader above. To me, democracy is when one is allowed to speak freely one’s mind, is it not? If one can speak freely about one’s mind, then why can’t Theary Seng express her opinion in her own way? Can anybody help me resolve this dilemma? Can’t this reader have the decency to define “democracy” for me?

Again and again, the theme of Theary Seng’s scheme to serve either Vietnamese interest is coming up and the reason behind that idea is very simple: she only displayed pictures of Khmer Rouge leaders involved in the atrocious killing of nearly 2 million Cambodians. Granted that she displayed the picture of Henry Kissinger and Richard Nixon as part of her exhibit, this display is taboo because we may hurt the US’ feelings, but her main fault was her refusal to show Ho Chi Minh’s picture as well. For the record, I am surprised nobody hit on her for not displaying former King Sihanouk at all. I am not here to defend Theary Seng’s omission in displaying the portraits of Uncle Ho and his nephew Sihanouk, but, from the very little I know, Theary Seng’s action followed her irritation with the work at the Khmer Rouge Tribunal, and as such, only a limited number of former KR leaders were brought in to face justice and they were the ones shown on her dartboards. It’s a fact that she expanded her portrait to collection to include Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger, but I seriously doubt she will find a print shop in Phnom Penh that will be willing to print the portrait of Uncle Ho and Nephew Sihanouk on a dartboard. But, I could be wrong, if any readers can find one in Phnom Penh, please let me know, for I am willing to shell out the cost of printing these portraits myself, please don’t be shy now!

I am also flabbergasted by the sexual innuendos used against both Theary Seng and Yeay Tep. Words like “whore”, “self promoter”, “sick in the head” are flying all over the place. But, more viciously is this comment by a mouse named “Passer By” who stated: “When was the last time you were given a toy you can play with except yourself huh? This holds true for Yeay Tep also, ok?” I find this comment very debasing and sexist for its author, for one thing, the man has no respect for women whatsoever and I can’t even begin to imagine how he treats his mother, grandmother, let alone his wife and daughters should they have dissenting opinion from his. Shame on you, Mr. Mouse, I really feel sorry for your poor Mother!

Another reader went to warn: “It makes me feel like either she is close to KI or she own this blog. (sic!)” As I mentioned several times in the past, we at KI-Media, would be delighted to see her becoming part of our team members, but unfortunately, that is not the case, but we tried.

As I read through the mount of filth and some very rare gems, I couldn’t agree more with some of the readers: if you have a genius idea to confront this autocratic regime, why don’t you come down in Phnom Penh, today (Monday) and Tuesday, to show us what you can do to solve Cambodia’s problem and to get the attention of world leaders who are visiting Phnom Penh. Residents of Boeung Kak Lake, Borei Keila, Pochentong, Prey Lang would welcome you with open hands. Please come over instead of hiding behind your computer screen and criticizing, we want to see your action. Tep Vanny from Boeung Kak Lake stated that she is running out of ideas on how to hold a protest, please DO come to teach her a lesson or two. She is waiting for her savior to show up, but so far I have not seen any of you, Great Men (or is it Great Mice?), showing up yet. Tep Vanny and her neighbors have been the sole recipient of the brunt of the beating and jailing. There were no men, where are you?  

I dare you to come over!

I, Heng Soy, am the sole responsible of this opinion.

Sincerely,

Heng Soy