Cambodia: Blog article leads to murder investigation [-Kudos to Khmerization!]

MP Mu Sochua vows to investigate the death of the teenager domestic worker

30 July 2011
Written by Sopheap Chak
 Global Voices Online

An investigation on the reported death of a Cambodian domestic worker in Malaysia has been initiated by the Cambodian Embassy in Malaysia in cooperation with the police, according to an article by the Phnom Penh Post.

The aunt of the domestic worker was informed by the labor recruitment firm APTSE & C Cambodia Resource Co Ltd that her 19-year-old niece died from pneumonia. However, the pre-departure medical test in Cambodia in September last year showed her health to be perfectly fine.

It's now alleged that she could have been murdered following an expose by a news aggregation website, Khmerization, which published and circulated an email from an anonymous person who reported that a maid in Malaysia is being abused by her employer.

Update on CamWatch blog

Chum Reap Sour All Khmer through out the world,

Please find below the latest update from our blog, CamWatch.

Hope everyone enjoy them.

Wish you Prosperity, success, good Health and Happiness during this upcoming Khmer New Year.

Happy New Year !!!!

Best Regards,

CambodiaWatch-Australia Team

http://camwatchblogs.blogspot.com/2011/04/pich-chenda.html
http://camwatchblogs.blogspot.com/2011/04/khmer-dance-robam-kuos-troloak.html
http://camwatchblogs.blogspot.com/2011/04/khmer-dance-robam-viay-krab.html
http://camwatchblogs.blogspot.com/2011/04/cambodias-ngo-blues.html
http://camwatchblogs.blogspot.com/2011/04/this-week-featutrethe-battle-over.html
http://camwatchblogs.blogspot.com/2011/04/phnom-penh-thousands-of-people.html
http://camwatchblogs.blogspot.com/2011/04/donors-asked-to-withhold-aid-over.html
http://camwatchblogs.blogspot.com/2011/04/century-of-women-rights-celebration.html
http://camwatchblogs.blogspot.com/2011/04/khmer-class-in-surin-book-donation.html
http://camwatchblogs.blogspot.com/2011/04/khmer-ruins-south-of-savannkhet-laos.html

Extreme Khmer Episode 24: Kounila Keo, Khmer Journalist and Blogger

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0W1XKe6POSU&feature=player_embedded

Cambodia: Mixed Views on Freedom of Expression

Thursday, February 11th, 2010
By Sopheap Chak
Global Voices Online

Author Sopheap Chak writes about the human rights situation in Cambodia focusing on the state of freedom of expression in the country.

Surya Subedi, the human rights envoy of the United Nations to Cambodia noted the progress of human rights issues in the country during his second visit in January 2010. Asked by reporters following his talk with Prime Minister Hun Sen, Subedi highlighted the general picture of human rights situation in Cambodia:

“We discussed a wide range of human rights issues. We have been making progress on freedom of expression and the NGO law, land evictions and the cooperation between civil society and the government.”

Unlike his predecessors who were harshly criticized by the Cambodian government, Subedi is apparently more acceptable to government officials including Om Yentieng, a top adviser to Hun Sen and the chief of government's human rights committee, who urged UN officials not to continue the “old way” of criticizing the Cambodian government on human rights issue. Om Yentieng reportedly claimed that the government is working hard to solve and improve the human rights situation in Cambodia. He offered an interesting notion on human rights situation in Cambodia by saying:

ប្រទេស​កម្ពុជា​មិន​មែន​ជា​ឋាននរក​ ហើយ​កម្ពុជា​ក៏​មិន​ទាន់​ក្លាយ​ជា​ឋាន​សួគ៌​មួយ​នៃ​សិទ្ធិ​មនុស្ស​នោះ​ដែរ។
“We are not a hell [like UN reports have mentioned] and we have not yet become a heaven of human rights.”

However, a human rights organization, ADHOC, recently released its 2009 report on “Human Rights Situation” by marking the year 2009 as the year when restriction on the freedom of expression increased. The usual targets were politicians and activists who are critical to the government. The report noted that the sorry state of freedom of expression in 2009 is comparable to 2005 when a number of human rights activists were arrested.

“At least twenty-two complaints were filed by government officials against dissident politicians and civil organization representatives, with an additional twenty-five complaints against journalists. This year, the situation can be compared to 2005; although there has been a slight improvement in relation to sentencing in defamation cases. No one who has been accused of defamation charges has been jailed and the accused of other charges have been given more chances to escape overseas comparing to 2005. Notably, it has become a tendency to restrict this freedom right after the general elections and the formation of a new government. With new elections looming, the situation has been loosen. We expect, this time, similar tendency would be repeated.”

The report raised the alarm on the increasing number of threats against human rights defenders over the past three years. Compared to 2008 when 164 prosecutions were conducted, the figure jumped dramatically in 2009 when 235 human rights defenders were charged. Of this 2009 figure, 147 were arrested with 89 granted bails and 58 remained in custody while the remaining 88 have managed to escape questionable arrest warrants. ADHOC also raised additional concern given the fact that many threats against human rights defenders are channeled through the courts. This trend is similar to the charges against journalists who were sued for defamation, misinformation and related issues.

Coincidentally, on the same day of the news release of ADHOC's report, an activist from the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights reportedly appealed for intervention against an alleged death threat issued by members of an army unit after he took a photograph of soldiers cutting down fruit trees on a disputed land in Chumkiri district of Kampot Province.

This concern is not only raised by human rights institutions and activists, but also discussed in the blogosphere. Morn Vutha, following the chat with a student journalist, was asked an ordinary but crucial question: Are you afraid of threat warning?

“It is because that I talked more about corruption, bribery and extortion. Therefore, she asked me if I am afraid of writing articles about these issues.”

Vutha , who proclaimed his dream to own a personal blog where he can voice his opinion and disseminate news to friends, posted his reply to the question by highlighting the importance of freedom of expression through blogging.

“What I wrote about is the true things happening in the current society. I cannot shut up my mouth. I just want to share the real issues to all of you and other readers over the world […] The truth is the truth. We cannot hide it forever. In general, those who criticize the government are always getting life threat from unidentified people, especially human rights workers and politicians[…] Blog created is a good tool for sharing my own thoughts and opinions with all of you.

This sentiment is also shared by Kounila, in her post on “Politics You View in this World,”. She declared that Cambodian society might continually stay under suppression. It is just like domino effect where the old generation living in the dark period of genocide were traumatized to stay in silence and this had great impact on the younger generation who were told to follow only instructions without questioning.

“They [the old generation] are afraid to tell their real feelings. They are scared to be asked to give judgments about anything. Later, their children are taught to follow authority without questions, and after all they learn to do the same. No politics is blurted out at school or at home since their parents can blame or shoo them about any topic related to politics they talk about anywhere,” wrote Kounila.

Without letting this effect continue, Kounila started arguing with a friend and teacher about politics. Acknowledging that people perceive politics as dangerous and no ordinary person wants to be involved with politics, Kounila wonders why politicians dare to kill each other. Regardless of the threat in the political stage, Kounila still perceives that people need to act out in order that politicians will not be controlled by only a so-called elite group. She emphasizes that politics is for the people's welfare, it is therefore necessary for people to get out of political trap.

“Don’t let politics control you. You control it! Power is intoxicating but it doesn’t last long, just a blink if you think hard,” urged Kounila.

While there are mixed views on the state of freedom of expression in Cambodia, there is a subsequent tendency of internet censorship. The government plans to have a state-run exchange point to control all local internet service providers in order that internet security including pornography, theft and cyber crime can be censured. This has sparked another fear about the declining state of freedom of expression and access to information in Cambodia.

Cambodia: Bloggers promote Khmer Literature

Wednesday, January 6th, 2010
By Sopheap Chak
Global Voices Online

អក្សររលត់ ជាតិរលាយ អក្សរពណ្ណរាយ ជាតិថ្កើងថ្កាន
Aksar roluat jeat roleay Aksar ponnareay jeat thkeung thkan.
“If letters disappear, the nation will disappear, if letters are brilliant, the nation is excellent.”

This is one of the prominent Cambodian proverbs used mostly in Cambodian literature classes from primary to higher education level. It is the most influential message that inspires the young generation to promote Khmer literature. Strikingly, young Cambodian bloggers have transformed this proverb into action by promoting the achievement of past generation authors as well as creating their own literature and developing talents through the publication of digital and hard-copy materials.

Established in 2007, Khmer Youth Writers is initiated by young authors who are talented in Cambodian literature with the purpose of promoting and improving Khmer literature and its market. Many of the young team members have won in the National Khmer Literature Competition, which is annually organized by the Ministry of Education.

Also, they were further trained by literature associations like the Nou Hach Literary Association whose motto is to strengthen and promote Cambodian literature. Their publications have gained admiration from readers who are curious to know more about how to become talented authors.

Asked about his interest in writing and becoming a literature author, 26 year-old Chanphal Sok, who claims to be the oldest in the team (the average age in the group is between 19 to 22), replied in Khmer language:

ខ្ញុំ!ចាប់អារម្មណ៍ព្រោះយល់ថាជាសិល្បៈដែលមិនងាយនឹង
ធ្វើបានទាល់តែមនុស្សពូកែទើបអាចសរសេរស្នាដៃបាន
ចង់ក្លាយជាមនុស្សពូកែក៏ចង់ក្លាយជាអ្នកនិពន្ធគិតថា
មិនមែនមនុស្សគ្រប់គ្នាអាចអ្វើការងារនេះបានទេ
បើខ្លួនឯងមាននិស្ស័យអាចទៅរួចគួរតែខំប្រឹង
I am interested in this work for the fact that literature is a difficult artistic task. Only few talented people can do so. With special talent in literature, I therefore want to become an author.

Sophal also expresses the significance of his team’s literature work on Khmer reader and the whole society:

ទីមួយ ខ្មែរមានអក្សរសិល្បអាន។
អប់រំតាមស្នាដៃនិពន្ធ។មនុស្សអាចសិក្សាពីសង្គម
មួយតាមស្នាដៃអក្សរសិល្ប៍ ។ខ្ញុំសង្កេតឃើញថា
បើប្រទេសណា មានអ្នកនិពន្ធពូកែច្រើនប្រទេសនោះ
ក៏រីកចម្រើនដែរ ។ មនុស្សរៀនតាមសៀវភៅ
បើមានសៀវភៅល្អច្រើនប្រាកដជាល្អ។
Firstly, Khmer readers can benefit from Cambodian literature. It can be used for educational purposes. People can understand a society through literature. I observe that a country is prosperous when there are many talented authors. People learn by reading books; therefore, it is great if there are many books published.

Some members who live in the provinces could not join the team meetings regularly. The internet facilitates instant communication in the group. Sophal considers blogs as great communication tools. “A blog is like our officewhich we can share and make our works widely visible,” said Sophal.

One of the initiators of this Khmer Youth Authors, Archphkai or Asteroid, in his profile gave a brief history of the group as the following:

«ក្រុមអ្នកនិពន្ធវ័យក្មេង»
ត្រូវបានបង្កើតឡើងដោយក្រុមសិស្សនិស្សិតមួយក្រុម
ក្រោយពីបាន ឆ្លងកាត់វគ្គសិក្សារឿងខ្លីនៅសមាគម
អក្សរសិល្ប៍នូហាចរួចមក។ ក្រោយមកក្រុមនេះត្រូវ
បានដូរឈ្មោះជា «ក្រុមយុវអ្នកនិពន្ធខ្មែរ»
វិញម្តង ដោយបានទទួលការផ្តល់យោបល់ពី
អ្នកស្រីប៉ិចសង្វាវ៉ាន អ្នកនិពន្ធខ្មែរនៅប្រទេសបារាំង។
“Young Authors Group” is established by a group of students who took literature training course at Nou Hach Literary Association. This group later changed its name to “Khmer Youth Authors” with the advice of Khmer author, Mrs. Pich Sanvavan.

Here are the links to the blogs of these young team members as well as literature authors who have written various short stories and poems: Archphkai, Boran, Chanphal Sok, Chetra, Khmeng Toch , Narath , Nimol

Notably, Cambodia is fortunate to have many scholars and authors who are talented in literature. These writers employ chbap, or didactic codes, Reuang Preng, or folktales, and novels, for example, in order to educate and reflect the reality of society during their lifetime. For instance, the most popular novels published during late 1930s, which have been used as main school texts are Phka Srapon or Faded Flower by Nou Hach, Sophat by Rim Gin [KI-Media note: Rim Kin] and Koulap Pailin or Pailin Rose, by Nuk Thiem [KI-Media note: Nhok Them]. These novels have film adaptations. Also within the period of 1950s to 1975, about 50 books per year were published (Nepote, Jacques and Khing Hoc Dy, “Literature and Society in Modern Cambodia,” 1981: 64).

However, much of Cambodian literary heritage was destroyed during the rule of Democratic Kampuchea (1975-1979) when the National Library was maintained to raise pigs instead. It was estimated that about 80 percent of written works in Khmer were destroyed (read “A Building Full of Books” by Ledgerwood in Cultural Survival).

Cambodia lacks its own text materials, especially since the fall of the Khmer Rouge Regime. Hopefully, the inspiring works of young Cambodian authors will help reawaken the past golden era of Khmer literature.

Cambodia: Female Voices in the Blogosphere

Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009
By Sopheap Chak
Global Voices Online

“Through observation and research findings, women are more likely to post their ersonal issues, so to say, while men tend to talk about politics or technology in their blog which sometimes, if i have to say, catches attention from the mainstream media,” said a Cambodian commentator, named Lyda whose thesis is related to gender and blogging, commenting on a post entitled “Digital Democracy Emerging in Cambodia.”

Yet, her remark is not surprisingly new as this has been raised by other writers who tackled the gender question on blogging:

“[…] Why men are more likely than women to write about news and politics is a question that existed long before the dawn of the Web […],” reported by Lisa Guernsey, journalist of the New York Times who maintains a blog herself as well.

There are some who highlight the cultural link of the gender issue while others blame mainstream media which puts too much attention on the male group of bloggers.

21 year-old female blogger, Kounila Keo, now senior student of Media and Communication at the Royal University of Phnom Penh and who began blogging in the late 2006 with emphasis on Cambodian lifestyle and social politics, posits that the above view is witnessed in a male dominated world.

“Usually, men are seen as strong and superior and their words usually touch on politics or technology while women are seen as soft and inferior so to talk about politics or technology will put them in a weird ‘tomboy’ situation,” said Kounila.

Kounila also shares a similar observation that the gender gap in blogging is due to the traditional gender roles. However, she adds the blame to the lack of political and institutional role of women in Cambodian society:

“I think traditional gender roles have been a force that keeps men doing the same thing: write about political matters and women, their personal life. Of course, a lot of women I have known like posting their personal issues because it is much easier. I see this as a lack of encouragement in political involvement from educational institutions.”

Recently, Kounila observes that there is an increasing number of women who blog about social issues and politics.

“Cambodia might not now be a place where the majority of women blog about politics or technology as yet; however, I strongly hope that in the years to come, more women are educated and there, we will see political content on blog mushrooming.”

While Kounila firmly believes that women can be empowered by blogging and using technologies, Sidaroth Kong, 27 year-old female blogger who have actively worked for more than 7 years with NGO sectors mainly promoting ICT projects for social development and gender mainstream, believes that women themselves are the agents of change.

“Empowerment doesn't come automatically, you need a good plan and a good strategy to do so. If women keep conservative ideas and surrounded by strict culture and mindset, blogging will still be hard to be used as a tool to empower them. Empowerment and impact of empowerment rely on willingness to change, shift of mindset and appropriate use of technology with specific strategy and goal,” said Sidaroth.

These two active female bloghers shared a similar belief that the high internet cost plays a role in limiting people to blog. They also note that a favorable environment that will benefit bloggers is lacking in the country. Kounila asserts that the gender role still plays a critical role in obstructing women participation in blogging:

“In Cambodia, we still have a higher internet cost, and voicing concerns over politics or anything in general is just considered as a funny or deceitful act by men who take women for granted. Traditional gender roles are still quite prevalent in Cambodian society while women, I believe, have to be strong and vocal to break all the barriers.

Sidaroth, on the other hand, emphasizes the need to adopt a favorable political environment for bloggers in general:

“I think there is one main challenge that worries others and myself for blogging: how safe is the protection of the social environment for our blogging. We do not dare to blog any critical issues against government because of our concern about our safety or law suits that allow individuals to charge bloggers with defamation suits. Therefore, the social sphere of a country does pose less or more challenges for one to really blog freely or not”

Asked about what they want to see more on the net and if blogging can change Cambodian society, Sidaroth insists to have more people blogging with higher standard of reliable and objective information. Also she hopes that more hidden stories will be revealed through blogs.

Kounila, on the other hand, wishes to see more variety of content produced by not just men but also women. She stresses that women should be encouraged and given opportunities to talk about politics, social matters and whatever comes into their minds. She also believes that blogging helps her to communicate within herself, so that she can know who she is inside and it provides this chance besides a social tool to boost freedom of expression.

Notably, these two vocal bloghers have written a post appealing for more blog discussions on politics and active public participation in elections. Konila posted an interesting article on “Politics You View in this World” which is a must-read. Solidaroth urges her readers to use their right to vote in last year's National Election, in her post on My 1st time to Vote-27 July 2008. This apparently indicates that blogging has been used as an advocacy tool for political discussion, especially from the view of female bloggers.

*The two female bloggers were interviewed via email.

Chak Sopheap and “clogging”: “in the digital age, freedom of speech should be guaranteed”

Clogger Chak Sopheap (Photo: Oso)
Click here to read Sopheap's ifocus blog

02-03-2009
By Corinne Callebaut
Ka-set

In 2008, KI-Media posted an article reporting about Chak Sopheap. To this article, an anonymous reader posted the following "warning/threat": "Would you like to lengthen your life expectancy? Stay away from politics. Would you like to shorten your life span? Keep practicing politics." Nevertheless, we are very glad to see Sopheap's blog thriving and that she did not back down from any intimidation. Thank you Sopheap for continuing to share your opinion! - KI-Media team

Twenty-four years old and born in the Kampong Cham province, Chak Sopheap was awarded a scholarship program to pursue a Master’s degree in International Relations, specialising in Peace relations, at the International University of Japan. Live from the land of the rising sun, she runs a blog on which she shares, without any taboo or waffling, her committed impressions on the new environment that surrounds her, and her homeland, Cambodia. Unabashed and free, she is now among the most popular “cloggers” on the Web and in the Cambodian media. Interview with Chak Sopheap... via the Internet, of course.

Click to Read More...

Cloggers: young Cambodian voices find their own way on the Web [... as it should be]

Phnom Penh (Cambodia), 23/02/2009. Young Cambodian woman checking her e-mail in an internet café (Photo: Vandy Rattana)

02-03-2009
By Corinne Callebaut
Ka-set

They are young, free and feel like talking about anything without any taboo. These young people are Cambodian bloggers, also known as “cloggers”, the way they self-named themselves. Through the medium of a simple keyboard, they write what very few Cambodians can or dare express openly. Contemporary social issues, love, sex, political opinions, forced evictions... Cloggers will tackle any subject, sharing stories and chatting together without measure, making the most of the Internet, that so-called free space, almost exempt of censorship. The government is only slowly starting to take an interest in that space and would like to see it more regulated via a law, currently under preparation. But till then, the Khmer blogosphere, home to and incredible and surprising breeding ground of opinions, keeps organising itself like busy bees.

Click to Read More...

Cambodian bloggers opening up conservative society

Clogger Chak Sopheap (Photo: Oso)
Click here to read Sopheap's ifocus blog

06/18/2008
Agence France-Presse

The majority of Cambodian bloggers write in English so they can reach a global audience, but very few touch on one of blogging's most popular topics: politics.

'If I were you, I would run. Otherwise you will be killed' - Threat received by clogger Chak Sopheap who still continue to post her views

PHNOM PENH--When Hor Virak started blogging three years ago, he was one of only a handful of bloggers in Cambodia and quickly gained a following for his frequent postings on technology.

At first, he said, "I just rode my motorbike around and took interesting pictures to post on my blog."

But by the beginning of last year, he was attracting several hundred readers a day and now says he is thrilled with his new-found celebrity.

"When I started it, I had no idea it would take me to this level of fame," he said, sitting at his laptop in a Phnom Penh cafe.

If Hor Virak's idea of fame seems modest, it's because government data show only about 10 percent of Cambodia's 14.4 million people have Internet access.

He is among a lively group of Cambodian bloggers -- or "cloggers" as they call themselves -- who are opening up this tiny, conservative country to the wider world and potentially bringing in unprecedented social change.

Cambodian bloggers are keeping online diaries which they use to reflect on personal relationships, school and social issues, expressing opinions that are traditionally kept private.

"This kind of public expression is a new thing that never happened in our society," said Be Chantra, who trains bloggers through a non profit organization called the Open Institute.

Blogging in Cambodia did not have an auspicious start. In 2003, Be Chantra and two other colleagues travelled the country training 2,000 students to blog in an initiative funded by Microsoft and United States aid agencies.

"It was not successful," Be Chantra said, shaking his head.

Fewer than five percent of his students were able to keep a blog afterwards as they could not access the Internet, he said.

Since then, however, more than 1,000 Cambodians have turned to blogging and most of them are students who began by their own initiative, said Be Chantra.

Cambodian bloggers now meet regularly and hold workshops to teach each other about new software applications. Most see this as great progress as the Internet only arrived here a little more than a decade ago.

"If the Internet was cheaper, faster and easier to access there would be even more bloggers," said Be Chantra.

Despite patchy access to the Internet, 20-year-old university student Keo Kalyan has begun earning an income from her blog musings, written under her online identity as "DeeDee, School Girl Genius."

More than 200 visitors per day check out her postings, which are usually written in pink, and the Indian cosmetics company Shaadi has begun buying advertising space on her site.

"The money isn't much, but I'm happy my voice is being heard," Keo Kalyan said.

The majority of Cambodian bloggers write in English so they can reach a global audience, but very few touch on one of blogging's most popular topics: politics.

Be Chantra's Khmer-language comedy blog is read by the Cambodian diaspora in the US and Japan but those hoping for something beyond humor are confronted with a banner on his site that reads: "No Politics Here."

"Politics could easily hurt you and it is nonsense," he said.

Last year Radio Free Asia reporter Lem Pichpisey fled to Thailand after receiving anonymous death threats for his reports alleging Cambodia's political elite were involved in illegal logging.

Attacks against journalists in Cambodia have fallen in recent years as the government has turned to the courts to punish reporters or publications it feels have violated the press law, critics say.

Although defamation, the charge most frequently leveled against journalists, was decriminalized in 2006, stiff fines now discourage aggressive reporting.

"The good thing about a blog is that it can be anonymous and you still can be contacted," said Gary Kawaguchi, a digital media trainer at the Department of Media and Communications of Cambodia.

"But the press here is very controlled and people still find out who you are so bloggers still have to be careful," he added.

Chak Sopheap, a university student who started a blog in her own name last year to draw attention to Cambodia's impoverished rural communities, said she was threatened for criticizing the ruling Cambodian People's Party.

"The message said, 'If I were you, I would run. Otherwise you will be killed,'" Chak Sopheap said.

While her fellow bloggers have vowed to keep their political criticism anonymous, Chak Sopheap said she will continue to post her views, claiming her blog affords more freedom of expression than Cambodia's mainstream media.

"Through blogs people change their attitudes and open their closed-lip habits. They can talk about how society can be developed," she said.

Cambodians of post-Khmer Rouge era embrace new cultural revolution — the blog

Chak Sopheap, a Cambodian Web log user, or blogger, surfs her blog during the Cambodian Bloggers Summit in the capital Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on Aug. 31, 2007. Many young, tech-savvy Cambodians are now embracing the blog as a popular medium for socializing and expressing themselves. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Thursday, September 20, 2007
The Associated Press

"I feel so shameful of our Prime Minister Hun Sen. We are begging the world for money, ... (His) government is too corrupt. Without corruption, I know our Cambodia can be free from the abyss of this poverty" - Vanak Thom at "Blog By Khmer"

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: A Cambodian blogger asked recently whether former King Norodom Sihanouk should be considered the country's founding father of blogging.

He got no definitive answer. Cambodian blog watchers say the 84-year-old monarch may not have known he was blogging when he unveiled his Web site, updated daily by his staff since 2002 with his views on national affairs, correspondence with his admirers and news about his film-making hobby.

But it is clear that young, tech-savvy Cambodians are joining Sihanouk in embracing blogs. The trend is changing their lives and their communication with people abroad — even as electricity remains an unreachable dream for most households in this poverty-ridden nation of 14 million.

"This is a kind of cultural revolution now happening here in terms of self-expression," said Norbert Klein, a longtime resident from Germany who is considered the person who introduced e-mail to Cambodia, through a dial-up connection in 1994. "It is completely a new era in Cambodian life."

Cambodians with the skills and the means to blog are discovering a wider world and using the personal online journals to show off their personalities and views about the issues facing their country, from corruption to food safety.

"Blogging transforms the way we communicate and share information," said 25-year-old student blogger Ly Borin.

To his surprise, a recent blog post of his on poor food safety in Cambodia drew a comment from an international traveler. He said interaction with a stranger living perhaps half a world away was unimaginable in Cambodia just a few years ago.

Cambodia became one of the most isolated countries in the world during the late 1970s, when the communist Khmer Rouge were in power and cut off virtually all links with the outside world as they applied radical policies that led to the death of 1.7 million people. The Khmer Rouge were ousted in 1979, but the country is still struggling to rebuild. Fewer than one-third of 1 percent of Cambodians have regular Web access.

If the Internet opened a path for news from outside Cambodia, blogging is turning the path into a two-way street.

"Having a blog brings me up to date with technology," said Keo Kalyan, a 17-year-old student whose nom-de-blog is "DeeDee, School Girl Genius! Khmer-Cyberkid." "I can do social networking and contact other bloggers" around the world.

She and three peers organized the first-ever Cambodian Bloggers Summit — the "Cloggers Summit" to the cognoscenti. Foreign professional bloggers and 200 university students took part in the two-day meeting in Cambodia last month to trade ideas.

Her team also has conducted 14 workshops for 1,700 students to share their knowledge about digital technology.

Raymond Leos, an American professor of communications and media arts at a Phnom Penh university, said Sihanouk showed his countrymen blogging's broad potential.

After seeing TV images of same-sex weddings in San Francisco in 2004, Sihanouk posted a statement expressing his support for gay marriage. When a foreigner allegedly wrote him an e-mail criticizing his stance on the subject, Sihanouk shot back on his Web site, saying "I thank you for insulting me" but "I am not gay."

"We can learn from him that blogging can be fun, interesting and provocative," Leos said.

One politically conscious blogger rapped Prime Minister Hun Sen's government over its failure to curb chronic corruption.

"I feel so shameful of our Prime Minister Hun Sen. We are begging the world for money," Vanak Thom wrote on his "Blog By Khmer." "(His) government is too corrupt. Without corruption, I know our Cambodia can be free from the abyss of this poverty."

Human Rights Watch continues to criticize the Cambodian government's treatment of dissent, but bloggers are able to express at least some overt criticism. And there is no official censorship.

More to the point, said John Weeks, an American who runs the House32.com Web design firm in Phnom Penh, blogs are not yet relevant to most Cambodians.

"I don't see blogs where farmers talk about rainfall, or where (motorbike-taxi drivers) complain about gas prices," he said.

Cambodia's Internet penetration is among the lowest in the world, in part due to high electricity and Internet connection costs. An hour of access at an Internet cafe here costs about 2,000 riel, or 50 cents, while 35 percent of Cambodians make less than the poverty-level income of 45 cents a day.

While only a tiny proportion of Cambodians go online, the Pew Internet and American Life Project says more than 71 percent of American adults use the Internet. About 13 percent of residents of neighboring Thailand and 19 percent of people in Vietnam have regular access, said Preetam Rai, Southeast Asian editor of Global Voices.

Seeking to reduce poverty and encourage economic growth by narrowing the digital divide, Cambodia's government has made national computer literacy a priority. It is linking local governments and national agencies to a main government data center, using a US$50 million (€35.6 million) loan from South Korea, said Soung Noy, deputy secretary-general of the official National Information Communications Technology Development Authority.

Blogger Ly Borin said modern technology such as computers are simply too advanced for many older Cambodians, who have mostly just been struggling to survive for the past 30 years. The new technology, he said, "is hard for them to follow."

Cambodia's violent past also has made many older people — though not Sihanouk — fearful of speaking their minds, said Klein, the early Internet user.

Less elevated Cambodians than Sihanouk meanwhile said they hoped to use their blogs to show how far their country has come from its troubled past.

"Cambodia is not just about Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot," said Bun Tharum, 25, referring to the now-defunct radical communist group and its late leader. "Now we have a tool to inform the outside world about how we are thinking and progressing."
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On the Net:

Keo Kalyan: http://deedeedoll.blogspot.com
Vanak Thom: http://blogbykhmer.blogspot.com
Bun Tharum: http://www.tharum.info
Norodom Sihanouk: http://www.norodomsihanouk.info
Government's ICT development agency: http://www.nida.gov.kh