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Showing posts with label Political Op-Ed. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Political Op-Ed. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Sihanouk, Hun Xen, and the KR Tribunal - Opinion by Uon Sim
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Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
"Samdech Norodom Sihanouk was the root cause of 18 March, 17 April and 07 January!" - Op-Ed by Uon Sim
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Friday, August 22, 2008
Cambodia of uncertainty: economic is booming, but sovereignty is dooming
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Op-Ed by Khmer Young
On the web at http://CambodianBrightFuture.blogspot.com
Op-Ed by Khmer Young
On the web at http://CambodianBrightFuture.blogspot.com
Cambodian peoples might be so happy with the economic growth of at least 7.00% annually. But in reality, this growth is just the shadow of failure because the inflation is soaring up to 10-15%. The fruits from this growth is not equally distributed. 80% of Cambodian farmers are significantly deteriorated by this growth.
1. The social gap is appearing every aspect of Cambodian society. The poor and the rich is gradually widened from such tricky economic boom. Many poor children quit school because they cannot afford to pay tips for teachers.
Private schools are booming to attract the rich children while poor children are dooming under the act of teachers who receive unjust salary in public schools.
There are many expensive cars such as Lexus and Land Cruisers drive across dumped street children and beggar children.
2. Cambodia has become the "Police State"since the failure of UN to crack down this tactical structure. Vietnam invaded Cambodia in 7 January 1979 to structure Cambodia society as a Police State. They withdrew the uniform military because their bottom structuring was complete. Currently, this structure is gradually strengthening. Major Cambodian policemen are Vietnamese by origin who have been well trained to carry gun to safeguard Cambodian citizens.
How can we say Cambodia is free and independent when Cambodia has foreigners to safeguard our peace and security?
3. National election is just the political game to legitimize Police State leader. By conducing votes, the Police State leader can legally claim their leadership and inspire more aids to last their power.
Their power and wealth are not only gained by exploiting national treasures but also accrue from the foreign aids and loans. New acceptance of decentralization and good governance only sustain their power to last forever.
4. Cambodian peoples should not be easily deceived by the Khmer Rouge brutality. How good is it when communists come to free us from another communists? They both are communist. Their characteristic is still communist and their leadership is absolute. How is different between Khmer Rouge communist and Vietnamese communist? It is different only the color (red & white) but the nature of these two communists are totalitarianism regime.
Khmer Rouge regime is passed, no KR regime will come to power again; and during KR regime, Khmer can protect its border land. White communist Vietnam is foreigner and this country has long time attempted to swallow Cambodia. Now their ambition is on the right track.
KY
1. The social gap is appearing every aspect of Cambodian society. The poor and the rich is gradually widened from such tricky economic boom. Many poor children quit school because they cannot afford to pay tips for teachers.
Private schools are booming to attract the rich children while poor children are dooming under the act of teachers who receive unjust salary in public schools.
There are many expensive cars such as Lexus and Land Cruisers drive across dumped street children and beggar children.
2. Cambodia has become the "Police State"since the failure of UN to crack down this tactical structure. Vietnam invaded Cambodia in 7 January 1979 to structure Cambodia society as a Police State. They withdrew the uniform military because their bottom structuring was complete. Currently, this structure is gradually strengthening. Major Cambodian policemen are Vietnamese by origin who have been well trained to carry gun to safeguard Cambodian citizens.
How can we say Cambodia is free and independent when Cambodia has foreigners to safeguard our peace and security?
3. National election is just the political game to legitimize Police State leader. By conducing votes, the Police State leader can legally claim their leadership and inspire more aids to last their power.
Their power and wealth are not only gained by exploiting national treasures but also accrue from the foreign aids and loans. New acceptance of decentralization and good governance only sustain their power to last forever.
4. Cambodian peoples should not be easily deceived by the Khmer Rouge brutality. How good is it when communists come to free us from another communists? They both are communist. Their characteristic is still communist and their leadership is absolute. How is different between Khmer Rouge communist and Vietnamese communist? It is different only the color (red & white) but the nature of these two communists are totalitarianism regime.
Khmer Rouge regime is passed, no KR regime will come to power again; and during KR regime, Khmer can protect its border land. White communist Vietnam is foreigner and this country has long time attempted to swallow Cambodia. Now their ambition is on the right track.
KY
Monday, November 05, 2007
Simply branding people as "republicans" is not admissible evidence to prove that those people are republicans
OpEd by Lao Mong Hay
Simply branding people as "republicans" is not admissible evidence to prove that those people are republicans. Historical evidence has shown that royalists had started to abolish the monarchy in 1960 when King Suramarith died. We no longer had any king or queen until 24 Septembver 1993. Surprise?
For the record for posterity, when our King Suramarith died there was no election of a new king or queen to assume the function of head of state. Queen Kossamak, King Suramarith's wife and mother of our August, Great and Valorous King Sihanouk, was Queen only in name. She was not Head of State. She was made queen to symbolise the "throne" -preah reach palang- (or monarchy).
The likely candidate was our present August, Great and Valourous King Sihanouk, but had already vowed not to be ever king again when he abdicated in 1955 in favour of his father, King Suramarith. I heard him repeating that vow from time to time in public speeches broadcasted on radio in the 1950s and 1960s when I was a peasant boy attending a high school and later at a university. (I'm now an old man-63) He said the crown (makot) was too heavy and with a crown on his head he could not directly serve his people. He was right, wasn't he? And he was powerful (or a strong man), as "Father of the Nation" and head of Sangkum Reatr Nyum.
What to do then to break the "deadlock" (we faced a very similar one after the 2003 election)? In 1960 we simply amended our counstitution, as we enacted an additional constitutional law in 2004, to create the post of head of state and appointed our present August, Great and Valorous King as Head of State in 1960. He was not a constitutional, cemonial, figurehead monarch because he was not crowned king. He became effectively a president, but not a ceremonial, figurehead president, but a president with executive power. Cambodia became a republic with an executive president but name. In his own writings our August, Great and Valorous King, has also alluded ro the presidential nature of his regime from the time he had been made Head of State.
When UNTAC came to run our country and organise the election of a new government in 1992-1993, there was an attempt to get that UN body to also organise a presidential election aimed at getting our August, Great and Valorous King elected President of Cambdia. Apparently, he was willing to stand for that presidential election, and he would indeed have been elected when he was so popular that he was confined to the royal palace almost all the time after his return from Beijing 1n November 1992.
I, for one, objected to that rumoured presidential election and wrote an article for Phnom Penh Post to voice this objection. (I'm sending this article to KI-media.blogspot.com to kindly reproduce in its column). I talked to Samdech Son Sann, whom I served and from whom I have learned a lot, and also a few Son Sannist colleagues, I wanted to stand in that presidential election as well with only two-point political platform: (1) I wanted Cambodia to be a Kingdom; (2) If I was elected president, I would invite our present August, Great and Valorous King, to assume the thone, and after that I'd resign to be become just an ordinary "citizen Lao" (as a royalist called me from time to time-he was later made ambassador and since then has not returned to Cambodia). Samdech Son Sann and those colleagues were dismayed.
Back to the confication of the Free Press Magazine, the reason for it is not so much the "republican" issue as the issue of the murder of our famous actress Piseth Pilika. Some years ago, probably in 2003, a small book of the murder with the photo of our beautiful actress on its cover was published and sold in Phnom Penh. The copies of that small book were all confisticated.
An authoritiative French magazine, L'Express, published a story of her murder, citing our Prime Minister's affair with her and implicating his wife in the matter. Our Prime Minister's people vowed to sue L'Express magazine for defamation, but hey have never done so ever since.
The whole thing probably boils down to our memories (or ghosts) of our parents, relatives, teachers, friends and other fellow Cambodians who died at the hands of the Khmer Rouge, and the memory (or ghost) of our famous actress Piseth Pilika, haunting respecively those who had associated with the Khmer Rouge and those who were behind the murder of Piseth Pilika or who might know who might be her assassin yet have not acted to find justice for her.
LAO Mong Hay
For the record for posterity, when our King Suramarith died there was no election of a new king or queen to assume the function of head of state. Queen Kossamak, King Suramarith's wife and mother of our August, Great and Valorous King Sihanouk, was Queen only in name. She was not Head of State. She was made queen to symbolise the "throne" -preah reach palang- (or monarchy).
The likely candidate was our present August, Great and Valourous King Sihanouk, but had already vowed not to be ever king again when he abdicated in 1955 in favour of his father, King Suramarith. I heard him repeating that vow from time to time in public speeches broadcasted on radio in the 1950s and 1960s when I was a peasant boy attending a high school and later at a university. (I'm now an old man-63) He said the crown (makot) was too heavy and with a crown on his head he could not directly serve his people. He was right, wasn't he? And he was powerful (or a strong man), as "Father of the Nation" and head of Sangkum Reatr Nyum.
What to do then to break the "deadlock" (we faced a very similar one after the 2003 election)? In 1960 we simply amended our counstitution, as we enacted an additional constitutional law in 2004, to create the post of head of state and appointed our present August, Great and Valorous King as Head of State in 1960. He was not a constitutional, cemonial, figurehead monarch because he was not crowned king. He became effectively a president, but not a ceremonial, figurehead president, but a president with executive power. Cambodia became a republic with an executive president but name. In his own writings our August, Great and Valorous King, has also alluded ro the presidential nature of his regime from the time he had been made Head of State.
When UNTAC came to run our country and organise the election of a new government in 1992-1993, there was an attempt to get that UN body to also organise a presidential election aimed at getting our August, Great and Valorous King elected President of Cambdia. Apparently, he was willing to stand for that presidential election, and he would indeed have been elected when he was so popular that he was confined to the royal palace almost all the time after his return from Beijing 1n November 1992.
I, for one, objected to that rumoured presidential election and wrote an article for Phnom Penh Post to voice this objection. (I'm sending this article to KI-media.blogspot.com to kindly reproduce in its column). I talked to Samdech Son Sann, whom I served and from whom I have learned a lot, and also a few Son Sannist colleagues, I wanted to stand in that presidential election as well with only two-point political platform: (1) I wanted Cambodia to be a Kingdom; (2) If I was elected president, I would invite our present August, Great and Valorous King, to assume the thone, and after that I'd resign to be become just an ordinary "citizen Lao" (as a royalist called me from time to time-he was later made ambassador and since then has not returned to Cambodia). Samdech Son Sann and those colleagues were dismayed.
Back to the confication of the Free Press Magazine, the reason for it is not so much the "republican" issue as the issue of the murder of our famous actress Piseth Pilika. Some years ago, probably in 2003, a small book of the murder with the photo of our beautiful actress on its cover was published and sold in Phnom Penh. The copies of that small book were all confisticated.
An authoritiative French magazine, L'Express, published a story of her murder, citing our Prime Minister's affair with her and implicating his wife in the matter. Our Prime Minister's people vowed to sue L'Express magazine for defamation, but hey have never done so ever since.
The whole thing probably boils down to our memories (or ghosts) of our parents, relatives, teachers, friends and other fellow Cambodians who died at the hands of the Khmer Rouge, and the memory (or ghost) of our famous actress Piseth Pilika, haunting respecively those who had associated with the Khmer Rouge and those who were behind the murder of Piseth Pilika or who might know who might be her assassin yet have not acted to find justice for her.
LAO Mong Hay
Friday, August 17, 2007
Khmer Young's Political Opinion
Click on the letter in Khmer to zoom inMonday, August 13, 2007
Op-Ed by Khmer Young
On the web at http://cambodianbrightfuture.blogspot.com
TRANSLATION:
Announcement
This time Khmers must wake up, unite and direct the right thinking:
- Khmers must not look down or create hate towards the monarchy because Cambodia is the Kingdom
- Khmers must not revenge Khmer Rouge (Pol Pot) because this regime has already passing away. We must presently concentrate on the interests of the nation. If we still have hate or revenge towards Khmer Rouge or its cadres in the moment, it is just the personal affair, not national affair. We just try to prevent it not to allow any new regimes with the same manner happen again.
- All Khmer leaders in all parties and tendencies must prioritize the interests of the nation. The conflicts, opposing, criticizing or competing is not the cause of national declining, but the conflicts, opposing, criticizing or competing is the driving force leading to the progress of whole nation.
- Khmer leaders must not effort to gain self-interest, self-power and brag himself as superior than others that no body can lead the country like him because these attitudes make himself evil as well as the whole nation.
- Prime minister must not play his role of both prime minister and King. For example, the graduate ceremony must be presided by neutral person such as the King, not the prime minister because the King is a symbol of unity and neutral person. Doing so the international community and intellects praise us.
- All gifts to poor people or emergency supplies to those victims of the natural disasters must not on behalf of prime minister or official elites because doing so not reflect the willingness to comply to the national law, dignity of leadership and good example leadership for Cambodian young generation.
- Monarchy must not express any special favorite or praise any political leaders because doing so will destroy his reputation and he is not being neutral as he must be.
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Walking Backward
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
By Jayakhmer
Op-Ed posted online
By Jayakhmer
Op-Ed posted online
"Khmers are the gentle people." For the most part, I think, we are, but that quality is hard to trace nowadays. The impending Khmer Rouge trial reminds us that being gentle is a thing of the past. The Khmer Rouge era also reminds us that if we are not careful our gentle quality can be diminished and we can become very brutal.
It is unfortunate and shameful that I have to make such a gross generalization about my own people when I say "we." Of course, I do know that not all of us are Khmer Rouge, and I also know that brutality usually is exercised by those who are in power. For example, Khmer Rouge who was in power from 1975- 1979 committed the worse brutality in our recent history.
In the present time, if we look around us, we are not quite out of the woods yet. Journalists who tried to perform their due diligence as reporters are being threatened. Government critics are being warned. I think we are reduced to our lowest common denominator, when Buddhist monks are being used to act against other monks just to please our international neighbor. The fact that Vietnam is a friend of Cambodia does not mean that everything it does is right and just.
The argument that monks should not be involved in politics or international affairs, I agree wholeheartedly. However, if you blame our monks, you are missing the big picture. The question is how did it get to this point?
If democracy is the system we are striving for, is it wrong that people are struggling for freedom? When Khmers are being oppressed everywhere, it impacts Khmer everywhere. All Khmers should care, be vigilant, and condemn any violent acts against any Khmers.
An argument that a monk can ruin a good relationship between two nations and therefore he must be oppressed is ludicrous. When is the Cambodian government going to understand that we, Khmers, do not trust the Vietnamese government? If the Vietnamese government is a true friend, ask them to give Kampuchea Krom back to the Khmer people. If they can do that, then and only then can trust be restored. Otherwise, we are not going to understand the Vietnamese government the way the Cambodian government does.
If the Cambodian government does not understand this point, it is out of touch with its people.
Am I advocating that we should fight with our big and strong neighbor? Not at all, all that I am saying is that we, Khmers, love the have peace with our neighbors. Perhaps, asking for Kampuchea Krom back from the Vietnamese government is too extreme, we simply ask that the Vietnamese government behave as good friend should behave; that is, the Vietnamese government respects the Khmer people who rightfully live in their land that belong to their ancestors. If the Cambodian government is truly a friend on equal ground with the Vietnamese government, do advocate for all the Khmer in Kampuchea Krom; otherwise, the Cambodian government will always be viewed as a servant to its counterpart.
The fact that a monk is missing, it is safe to assume that the culture of fear is being perpetually fostered. There are those who love to please. If the leader or a boss says, "jump," they say, "how high?" They would go to any length to threat or even kill just to make their leader or boss happy. Ethical and morality have no place in their psyches.
If this kind of activity is allowed to continue, we are taking one step forward and ten steps backward. While the country seems to move forward economically, in humanity, we are getting further and further away from the rule of law society and going back toward our recent dark history. Walking backward should be a great concern to everyone.
------
KI-Media note: We apologize to the author of this Op-Ed for taking the liberty to make some minor typographic changes.
It is unfortunate and shameful that I have to make such a gross generalization about my own people when I say "we." Of course, I do know that not all of us are Khmer Rouge, and I also know that brutality usually is exercised by those who are in power. For example, Khmer Rouge who was in power from 1975- 1979 committed the worse brutality in our recent history.
In the present time, if we look around us, we are not quite out of the woods yet. Journalists who tried to perform their due diligence as reporters are being threatened. Government critics are being warned. I think we are reduced to our lowest common denominator, when Buddhist monks are being used to act against other monks just to please our international neighbor. The fact that Vietnam is a friend of Cambodia does not mean that everything it does is right and just.
The argument that monks should not be involved in politics or international affairs, I agree wholeheartedly. However, if you blame our monks, you are missing the big picture. The question is how did it get to this point?
If democracy is the system we are striving for, is it wrong that people are struggling for freedom? When Khmers are being oppressed everywhere, it impacts Khmer everywhere. All Khmers should care, be vigilant, and condemn any violent acts against any Khmers.
An argument that a monk can ruin a good relationship between two nations and therefore he must be oppressed is ludicrous. When is the Cambodian government going to understand that we, Khmers, do not trust the Vietnamese government? If the Vietnamese government is a true friend, ask them to give Kampuchea Krom back to the Khmer people. If they can do that, then and only then can trust be restored. Otherwise, we are not going to understand the Vietnamese government the way the Cambodian government does.
If the Cambodian government does not understand this point, it is out of touch with its people.
Am I advocating that we should fight with our big and strong neighbor? Not at all, all that I am saying is that we, Khmers, love the have peace with our neighbors. Perhaps, asking for Kampuchea Krom back from the Vietnamese government is too extreme, we simply ask that the Vietnamese government behave as good friend should behave; that is, the Vietnamese government respects the Khmer people who rightfully live in their land that belong to their ancestors. If the Cambodian government is truly a friend on equal ground with the Vietnamese government, do advocate for all the Khmer in Kampuchea Krom; otherwise, the Cambodian government will always be viewed as a servant to its counterpart.
The fact that a monk is missing, it is safe to assume that the culture of fear is being perpetually fostered. There are those who love to please. If the leader or a boss says, "jump," they say, "how high?" They would go to any length to threat or even kill just to make their leader or boss happy. Ethical and morality have no place in their psyches.
If this kind of activity is allowed to continue, we are taking one step forward and ten steps backward. While the country seems to move forward economically, in humanity, we are getting further and further away from the rule of law society and going back toward our recent dark history. Walking backward should be a great concern to everyone.
------
KI-Media note: We apologize to the author of this Op-Ed for taking the liberty to make some minor typographic changes.
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