By Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)
Showing posts with label Touch Srey Nich. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Touch Srey Nich. Show all posts
Sunday, November 09, 2008
Sacrava's Political Cartoon: Tuol Krasaing's Gallery
By Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)
Monday, December 17, 2007
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Book of Dreams: A singer, survivor, determined scholar
Sunnix Touch, left, helps her father, Touch Sieng, study English in their Elk Grove home. Sunnix Touch was a popular singer in Cambodia when assassins shot her in Phnom Penh, leaving her paralyzed. (Photo: Autumn Cruz / acruz@sacbee.com, Sacramento Bee)Wednesday, November 28, 2007
By Hudson Sangree - hsangree@sacbee.com
Sacramento Bee (Sacramento, Calif., USA)
Sunnix Touch was one of Cambodia's most popular singers when assassins on motorcycles shot her outside a Phnom Penh flower shop four years ago.
Her mother died trying to shield her from the assassins' bullets.
Now 27, Touch lives with her father and siblings in a modest duplex in south Sacramento.
She is paralyzed from the neck down and gets around in a high-tech wheelchair.
Touch is able to speak with effort, but no longer has the breath to sing.
She cannot scratch her nose or read a book without help.
And she cannot pet her small brown dog, Pily, who has stayed by her side through her long ordeal.
"For now I dream that someday I will walk again and start to sing again," Touch said.
Who ordered the young singer killed remains something of a mystery, though Touch believes it was powerful people who objected to her songs promoting democracy and urging Cambodians to take back their traditional lands from neighboring Vietnam.
Touch and her family came to the United States as political refugees in 2005.
Though she recorded about 3,000 songs, the money she earned from her performing career was spent during more than a year in a Bangkok hospital, her family said.
In addition to being a singer, Touch was a scholar in her homeland.
The holder of a graduate degree, she taught Cambodian literature at a university in the national capital.
Now she wants to keep learning English and to study American history.
She said she'd just like to be able to read a book or use a computer without someone always sitting beside her.
"That's what I really want – independence – so someone doesn't have to turn the pages," she said.
Touch is being tutored by volunteer Joan McFarland, and another tutor, Elsie Feliz, helps her father learn English.
Touch assists with her father's lessons.
"Her mind is so good and quick," Feliz said. "A computer would help her explore the world."
Touch and her family have asked Book of Dreams readers to help purchase a computer with software that would allow her to control it with voice commands.
Her mother died trying to shield her from the assassins' bullets.
Now 27, Touch lives with her father and siblings in a modest duplex in south Sacramento.
She is paralyzed from the neck down and gets around in a high-tech wheelchair.
Touch is able to speak with effort, but no longer has the breath to sing.
She cannot scratch her nose or read a book without help.
And she cannot pet her small brown dog, Pily, who has stayed by her side through her long ordeal.
"For now I dream that someday I will walk again and start to sing again," Touch said.
Who ordered the young singer killed remains something of a mystery, though Touch believes it was powerful people who objected to her songs promoting democracy and urging Cambodians to take back their traditional lands from neighboring Vietnam.
Touch and her family came to the United States as political refugees in 2005.
Though she recorded about 3,000 songs, the money she earned from her performing career was spent during more than a year in a Bangkok hospital, her family said.
In addition to being a singer, Touch was a scholar in her homeland.
The holder of a graduate degree, she taught Cambodian literature at a university in the national capital.
Now she wants to keep learning English and to study American history.
She said she'd just like to be able to read a book or use a computer without someone always sitting beside her.
"That's what I really want – independence – so someone doesn't have to turn the pages," she said.
Touch is being tutored by volunteer Joan McFarland, and another tutor, Elsie Feliz, helps her father learn English.
Touch assists with her father's lessons.
"Her mind is so good and quick," Feliz said. "A computer would help her explore the world."
Touch and her family have asked Book of Dreams readers to help purchase a computer with software that would allow her to control it with voice commands.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Opposition Blasts Government For Unsolved Murders, Attacks
Mony, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
29/05/2007
Original report from Phnom Penh
29/05/2007
Opposition lawmakers Monday lambasted the government for its inability to solve the murders of or attacks on several famous singers, as debate on a legal code continued.
Opposition leader Sam Rainsy said the new penal code would be good for justice in Cambodia, but he criticized the government's apparent inability to solve the murders of several famous singers, some believed to be mistresses of high-ranking officials.
Unsolved cases include those of Pisith Pelika, who was killed in 1999, That Marina, who survived an acid attack, Touch Sreynich, who was paralyzed after a shooting and the most recent victim, Pov Panhapich, who survived a shooting in February.
"The prosecutors did not file lawsuits, the victims did not dare file lawsuits. So it is the end," Sam Rainsy said. "The cases were closed. They killed them according to their whim in Cambodia. Impunity is the culture of the people with power, with money. They kill according to their whim, and they always get away free."
Opposition leader Sam Rainsy said the new penal code would be good for justice in Cambodia, but he criticized the government's apparent inability to solve the murders of several famous singers, some believed to be mistresses of high-ranking officials.
Unsolved cases include those of Pisith Pelika, who was killed in 1999, That Marina, who survived an acid attack, Touch Sreynich, who was paralyzed after a shooting and the most recent victim, Pov Panhapich, who survived a shooting in February.
"The prosecutors did not file lawsuits, the victims did not dare file lawsuits. So it is the end," Sam Rainsy said. "The cases were closed. They killed them according to their whim in Cambodia. Impunity is the culture of the people with power, with money. They kill according to their whim, and they always get away free."
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Song After the Shooting: Touch Sunnich's American Life
Touch Sunnich was spared death, but others, like Piseth Pilika, whose funeral is pictured, were not so lucky. Touch Sunnich said Cambodia's entertainers would do well to steer clear of affairs.Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
11/05/2007
Click here to listen Sok Khemara reports in Khmer
(Real Media Player required)
(Real Media Player required)
[Editor’s note: this is the second in a two-part series]
Touch Sunnich, the Cambodian pop singer who was shot in the face by unknown attackers in 2003, told VOA Khmer this week she had been disheartened by some Cambodian magazines that had made fun of her after her recovery and denied reports that an affair had led to her attack.
A 20-minute interview of the singer, who is paralyzed from the neck down, and her father, Seang Touch, paints a cruel portrait of the country she left behind.
“Some magazines said that I weighed 135 kilograms, even though I myself didn’t know my weight,” she said.
Magazines had distorted her image to make her appear larger, an act she called “unreasonable.”
“This is a sad thing,” her father said. “It’s not a joke.”
Touch Sunnich’s tragedy underscores the tenuous position of Cambodian women, especially entertainers, who are often victimized in a lawless country of powerful men and killers. No one has been arrested in the shooting, which killed Touch Sunnich’s mother.
No arrests have been made in the recent shooting of another singer, Pov Panhapich, who is hospitalized in Vietnam. And no arrests have been made in the murder of popular star Piseth Pilika in 1999. Piseth Pilika’s family claimed she was having an affair with Prime Minister Hun Sen when she was killed.
Touch Sunnich said she would never have an affair. The singer, who was also a university professor, had been raised in a traditional family, she said. She urged all Cambodian singers to follow such a path—and to steer clear of affairs with men.
A 20-minute interview of the singer, who is paralyzed from the neck down, and her father, Seang Touch, paints a cruel portrait of the country she left behind.
“Some magazines said that I weighed 135 kilograms, even though I myself didn’t know my weight,” she said.
Magazines had distorted her image to make her appear larger, an act she called “unreasonable.”
“This is a sad thing,” her father said. “It’s not a joke.”
Touch Sunnich’s tragedy underscores the tenuous position of Cambodian women, especially entertainers, who are often victimized in a lawless country of powerful men and killers. No one has been arrested in the shooting, which killed Touch Sunnich’s mother.
No arrests have been made in the recent shooting of another singer, Pov Panhapich, who is hospitalized in Vietnam. And no arrests have been made in the murder of popular star Piseth Pilika in 1999. Piseth Pilika’s family claimed she was having an affair with Prime Minister Hun Sen when she was killed.
Touch Sunnich said she would never have an affair. The singer, who was also a university professor, had been raised in a traditional family, she said. She urged all Cambodian singers to follow such a path—and to steer clear of affairs with men.
Friday, May 11, 2007
Paralyzed Singer Recounts Her Life After Being Shot
Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer Original report from Washington
10/05/2007
Click here to listen Sok Khemara reports in Khmer
(Real Media Player required)
(Real Media Player required)
[Editor's note: this is the first in a two-part series.]
Touch Sunnich, the Cambodian singer who survived a murder attempt in October 2003, sang into the phone Wednesday, an unaccompanied, haunting melody describing a lover who keeps the house dog away whenever a young girl comes to visit.
"When I go to see you," she sang, "you help by keeping the dog on a leash."
The song, which came unprompted during an exclusive interview with VOA Khmer, proved the young woman still had her singing voice, even though she had to sing from bed, paralyzed from the neck down.
Touch Sunnich, who survived a shooting in the face by unknown assailants, said she relived her own fear when she learned another singer, Pov Panhapich, was shot in February.
"It's the same thing that happened to me," Touch Sunnich said.
Touch Sunnich lost her mother in the 2003 attack. They were shot by four men on motorcycles after a shopping trip in Phnom Penh.
Pov Panhapich remains in treatment in a Vietnamese hospital after she was shot in the throat. Her condition is improving, but her recovery is likely to be long and expensive, and she is trying to move to another country.
The motives for those shootings are unknown.
Actress Piseth Pilika, who family members claim was having an affair with Prime Minister Hun Sen, was murdered in 1999. That murder, too, has gone unsolved.
"When I go to see you," she sang, "you help by keeping the dog on a leash."
The song, which came unprompted during an exclusive interview with VOA Khmer, proved the young woman still had her singing voice, even though she had to sing from bed, paralyzed from the neck down.
Touch Sunnich, who survived a shooting in the face by unknown assailants, said she relived her own fear when she learned another singer, Pov Panhapich, was shot in February.
"It's the same thing that happened to me," Touch Sunnich said.
Touch Sunnich lost her mother in the 2003 attack. They were shot by four men on motorcycles after a shopping trip in Phnom Penh.
Pov Panhapich remains in treatment in a Vietnamese hospital after she was shot in the throat. Her condition is improving, but her recovery is likely to be long and expensive, and she is trying to move to another country.
The motives for those shootings are unknown.
Actress Piseth Pilika, who family members claim was having an affair with Prime Minister Hun Sen, was murdered in 1999. That murder, too, has gone unsolved.
Thursday, March 08, 2007
SRP on Int'l Women's Day: End Impunity for Violence Against Women and Girls; Give Justice to Victims
Phnom Penh, 8 March 2007
International Women’s Day 2007
“End Impunity for Violence Against Women and Girls;
Give Justice to Victims”
“End Impunity for Violence Against Women and Girls;
Give Justice to Victims”
On March 8, International Women’s Day 2007, the Sam Rainsy Party joins women across the globe in calling for an end to violence against women and girls by bringing perpetrators to justice.
Domestic violence, sexual exploitation, trafficking and rape can be stopped, given the necessary political will and resources.
The SRP calls on the government to show progress on the recommendations made in the January 2006 report of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women of Cambodia. These recommendations include:
To provide impunity to perpetrators of violence is to deny a woman’s natural right to live in dignity and in peace.
General Secretariat
Contact: 012 831 040
Domestic violence, sexual exploitation, trafficking and rape can be stopped, given the necessary political will and resources.
The SRP calls on the government to show progress on the recommendations made in the January 2006 report of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women of Cambodia. These recommendations include:
- Effectively prosecuting and punishing perpetrators of violence against women and girls with speed and seriousness;
- Training the judiciary, law enforcement officials, legal professionals, social workers and health providers on the new Law on Prevention of Domestic Violence and Protection of Victims;
- Providing legal aid to victims in both urban and rural areas, and providing free of charge the medical certificates required as evidence in court;
- Increasing the number of female judges and law enforcement officials as a means to increase women’s access to justice and trust of the judicial system.
To provide impunity to perpetrators of violence is to deny a woman’s natural right to live in dignity and in peace.
General Secretariat
Contact: 012 831 040
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
