Why should Mekong youth meet and talk to each other more?

Opinion, Khmer Times, 23 May 2023 (Link)

There are three main reasons that Mekong youth should meet and talk with each other more.

Firstly, there is a need for us to invest in the future in terms of creation of common memory and maintenance of peace.

Our parents’ generation and grandparents’ generations, they have strong historical connection through past struggles for independence, peace and stability when the region  wreaked with havoc by the Vietnam War followed by Cambodia’s decades-long civil war.

Laos and Cambodia helped Vietnam’s reunification, without which Vietnam would probably have faced the same fate like the two Koreas that still cannot unify. Later on, Vietnam helped Cambodia back in liberating the latter from the genocidal regime of Pol Pot. And then, we have Thailand that helped provide platforms for peace negotiations of Cambodia, and took care of Cambodian refugees.

Through these struggles, senior generations have been treasuring long-term common memories together.

But, how about us, the new generation? What common memories do we have together?

We probably don’t have memories of struggles but we have inherited peace in common. But that peace cannot be taken for granted because it was the peace that was earned through blood and sacrifice by our senior generations.

But then how do we benefit from the so-called peace dividend? How do we create memory from the current peace together?

Unfortunately, sometimes when we got peace, we tend to care less about its value. We don’t even really know our neighbors. This can be dangerous for the region when the next generations take peace so lightly, and do not make efforts to create regional solidarity to protect peace.

That is why youth in the Mekong region need to meet and talk with each other more.

Secondly, it is important that the new generations need to overcome historical prejudices against neighboring countries.

We all have a lot of negative historical narratives against our neighbors.

What did Vietnamese teachers tell their students about China? What did Cambodian history teachers tell their students about Thailand and Vietnam? What did Thai teachers tell their students about Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos? What did Myanmar teachers tell their students about Thailand?

Cambodia’s record of peaceful democratization

Opinion, Asia Times, 5 July 2023 (Link)

Despite criticism, there are reasons to believe that the July 23 election will be legitimate

On July 23, Cambodia will witness another historical milestone, the seventh quinquennial national election.

This election further reflects the peaceful democratization in Cambodia based on the rule of law.

Cambodia is a rare example among post-conflict nations in three aspects.

First, it is among the few post-conflict countries that did not fall back into civil war.

From a historical perspective, peace is the most important prerequisite for Cambodia as it continues to develop into one of the most successful post-conflict nations. Many nations, such as Afghanistan, Congo, Haiti, Lebanon, Somalia, Sierra Leone, and Sudan, that received United Nations peacekeepers in the 1990s are still in conflict.

In contrast, since the UN-brokered election in 1993, Cambodia has been generally peaceful without large-scale conflict.

After the integration of the remaining Khmer Rouge forces in late 1998 through the “win-win” policy of Prime Minister Hun Sen, Cambodia united its national army for the first time. That was key to eliminating a structure of violence that had existed in Cambodian politics for a long time.

For instance, until late 1998, Cambodian political parties still controlled different factions of the army, and therefore the system provided room for violence when different parties could not reconcile their differences. The clash in July 1997 was the prime example of armed struggle between troops that were loyal to the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) and the FUNCINPEC party.

Therefore, for a country like Cambodia, achieving unity of the national army cannot be underrated in terms of its contribution to peace.

It is important to note that all previous Cambodian governments had never been able to control the whole national army, and to occupy the whole sovereign territory without guerrilla forces or autonomous regions.

Constitution supports democracy

Second, Cambodia’s democratization is peaceful and irreversible.

America needs more leaders like Kennedy

Opinion, Khmer Times, 26 June 2023 (Link) 

As the current global geopolitics evolves into a darker and tensed moment, we are trying to seek the spirit of hope, the hope for peace, especially from the leadership of the US, the most powerful state on Earth.

We think of the late President John F. Kennedy. We think of his spirit of peace.

We remember his peace speech delivered on 10 June 1963 after the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962 which was a direct and dangerous confrontation between the US and the Soviet Union during the Cold War and was the moment when the two superpowers came closest to nuclear conflict.

But the nuclear war was evaded. Kennedy knew so well the power of nuclear, total destruction “in the first 24 hours”.

Peace for all men and women, peace for all time, was what Kennedy called for. A peace that addresses security concern not only of the Americans but also other people in the world.

“What kind of peace do I mean? What kind of peace do we seek? Not a Pax Americana enforced on the world by American weapons of war. Not the peace of the grave or the security of the slave.

“I am talking about genuine peace, the kind of peace that makes life on earth worth living, the kind that enables men and nations to grow and to hope and to build a better life for their children–not merely peace for Americans but peace for all men and women–not merely peace in our time but peace for all time.”

We need this kind of spirit from American politicians to help put a brake on wars and tensions that the US has been playing a part for reasons that it considers as national security concerns, protection of human rights and democracy, and protection of its status as the strongest superpower in the world.

When the US condemns Russia for invading Ukraine, and China for its assertiveness, we can understand the role the US intends to play: that is to put a check on abuse of power by powerful states.

But then who is in the position to put a check on the conduct of the US?

Many believe that the war in Ukraine is becoming a de facto proxy war between the US and Russia. Many analysts, including the CATO Institute in Washington DC, believe that the US was also part of the blame in igniting the war through repeating abuses against Russia’s security concerns.

What if Cambodian Oknhas buy Japanese tech companies?

Khmer Times, Opinion, 2 August 2023 (Link) 

This is a dream.

We have been waiting for the Japanese to come for so long but their investment is still not significant.

Japanese companies often complain that they have difficulties in finding trustworthy Oknhas (tycoons) that they could work with. They can raise all the problems when they don’t want to come to Cambodia, like lack of skilled labor, electricity, middle management, small market, informal fee, etc.

So, the idea is that if the Japanese does not come, why don’t we go and bring them to Cambodia by buying their technologies or companies?

Technologies are not for free. Technology transfer is just a nice word to say but it is never a charity.

It does not have to be Japanese. It can be European, Korean, Chinese or Thai.

There are technologies and companies that investors can buy to expand the horizon of their investment.

It is a risky business, not fun and not easy like speculative real estate business. But one way or another, Cambodian Oknhas will need to move away from the following three business patterns.

Firstly, the tendency to do “me-too business”. Beer industry is the most visible example. Many Oknhas have beer factories, and they are competing in a small Cambodian market. Cambodia is often raised as a country with leading alcohol consumption in the region but this ranking is not a number that we should be proud of because this trend would create future burden for the health sector, and most important of all it weakens the active power of the Cambodian young labor force, especially male. Whenever there is a long holiday, parents in the countryside often complain that they need to take care of the leftover debts from their children’s drinking after a few days of their home visit. This is not a good sign at all for Cambodian society.

Secondly, the tendency to focus on speculative real estate business.

Thirdly, the tendency of “waiting for the return of the Chinese investment”.