Spinning a Dictatorship

RE: "Dr" Chhim Phalvirun heckled by protestors

by School of Vice

One was a “Doctor” of Spin, the other was a “Spin Doctor” [or is it the other way around?]; both making their living out of unashamedly repeating and selling public lies to the world and the Khmer public audience at home and abroad. At least one of these sleazy characters [Phay Siphan] has returned to his birthplace from his adopted country of America, home of Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Theodore Roosevelt and one of my favourite American thinkers – Thomas Jefferson – as well as the Statue of Liberty, gifted to that country by the French people as a token of gratitude for the sacrifice made by the American people during the last war in Europe in defence of human liberty and freedom from Nazi tyranny. In life, you would rather cross over to the other side of the street to avoid bumping into people from whom you have reasons to keep your distance, let alone invite these folks home for dinner, as some have proudly claimed to have done in the name of being a part of the ‘Khmer family’! In this case, you might be forgiven for wanting to do the reverse; no, not to give them a hug or embrace, but to get a good physical distance for aiming a salvo of rotten eggs or tomatoes at their faces!    

Siphan is by no means alone among Cambodians who had fled their native country in the aftermath of the collapse of the Pol Pot regime in search of a new life and refuge from turmoil and who had consciously offered their services to a regime – which if not quite as brazenly or madly brutal or as wholesale in its murderous treatment of ordinary people as the regime it has replaced, is still nonetheless one which is capable of, and have certainly been, committing untold heinous crimes in the book against its own population by the same magnitude and gravity. 

We know a person by the company he/she chooses to keep, in the same way that a tree is reflected in the quality of the fruits it produces. A tyrannical regime or state similarly draws or attracts to itself men of unscrupulous moral bearings; their swaying and ‘spinning’ could be quite wholly determined by the material, worldly incentives dangled before them, like certain species of flies and animals whose acute primal super sense of smell directs them to even consuming their own faeces. In some Asian cultures, the label/insult “Contemptible Dog” when applied to someone human is taken to mean a declaration of dissociation or termination of normal social intercourse with that person because he/she has lost the respect of someone else due to his/her known actions and conducts. In the above gentlemen’s case, these conducts can be said to bring shame not to one person or a few individuals, but by the nature of their immoral, unscrupulous and reprehensible associations with the said regime, the entire body of citizenry whose unhappy collective fate is in that regime’s palm by duress or coercion. Yet, ultimately, what these men have lost is not just society’s refusal to censure, but through the same unconscionable deeds and obeisance to power and material inducements or delusion, they have forfeited their very own conscience as humans and their worth and dignity as men.

So to the Khmer people and protestors: the next time you happen upon any of these spin doctors make sure you have plenty of rotten eggs or rotten tomatoes to hand, and don’t let a precious opportunity pass you by! Wear disposable gloves [if you have them] should you feel the temptation to throw one or two ‘friendly’ punches at these obnoxious breeds. Why disposable gloves? Because, so that you don’t have to wash your own hands off their contaminating impurities afterward! But, isn’t all this a bit violent, Mr School of Vice?! Err, well, these things are known to have happened in most democratic countries where even elected politicians have resorted to their use! In other words, they still fall within School of Vice’s definition of legitimate use of expressive violence in a protest demonstration... 

Also bearing in mind the authorities they devote their lives to defend and legitimise are blocking people from entering the capital to join the rally there with barbed wire barricades and heavily armed riot police just about all over and around the city, these spin doctors have no right to roam among the protestors claiming their own freedom of movement!  If they have so much free time, I suggest they spend it sipping tea [or whatever drink to their fancy] with His Majesty at the Royal Palace. No doubt the barricades outside of the royal residence would be temporarily moved to ease through their Lexus and Mercedes at their pleasure!  

*****

From KI Media reader:

To Mr. Siphan,

When you are referring to Cambodian Constitution, did you even understand or at least read the Constitution before you referred to it? Do you Sir, even know how to apply rule of law? The applicability of the law is by far must be understood. If you do not know its intention or its applicability, then I urge you Sir, to rethink your position when you referred to the Constitution. I saw a video when people are roaming you on public street and asked you many questions and you Sir, cannot even answer one question, especially when one of them asked if you have a degree because most knew that you sell coffee for a living in Long Beach and former Luna Restaurant owner. You Sir, should be ashamed of yourself when you used to live in off the greatest nation on earth and ought to know more than those who are living in Cambodia, but you Sir, have sold yourself, your dignity, your pride and above all...your conscience for a measly small change. If you have any conscience left in you, please think of the time that it took you to escape from Cambodia, crossed into Thailand, lived in Khao I Dang [refugee camp], shipped to either the Philippines or Indonesia, places such as Garland I or II, prior to coming to America; if you are not the least considering the time spent living under the Khmer Rouge regime.

Have a great life if you had any left in your soul.

Your Father, Siphon