BITS FROM THE BEACH Bayon Pearnik

A
friend, who I’ve known practically since I first
came to Cambodia almost ten years ago, stopped by
in Kampot, first time for him in several years: his
observation; This town is really boutiquey. Being as
he’d just spent several months in Koh Kong, just about anything
would seem boutiquey… but still… the little Pot has definitely
become a destination for travelers and expats, indicated by the
number of shops selling trinkets, tourist clothes and Kampot
pepper that’ve cropped up in the past year or so. Kampot pepper
now has a geographic designation, which means the name cannot be used elsewhere and has considerably raised demand for
it. We’re also Cambodia’s center of sea salt production, so salt
and pepper town.
Kampot is nothing compared to the tourist/expat
Mecca’s of Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and Sihanoukville, but it’s
also far from the foreigner deserts of all the other small towns in
Cambo. A friend, who’s lived in Battambang - Cambodia’s second largest city - for quite a long time came to visit last year; he
was amazed at the number of white faces ambling around town.
There are advantages of a little boutiqueiness.
While I’m perfectly comfortable in local restaurants
and bars outfitted with plastic chairs, fold-up metal
tables, glaring bright white florescent lights and décor
consisting exclusively of beer posters and pennants,
there is some comfort in surroundings created with the
Westerner in mind. For one, in place of a TV blasting
out Khmer karaoke songs or cartoons or soap-operadramas dubbed in Khmer, you get to hear those old
familiar songs and musical styles. While I’m capable
of handling an el cheapo cup of bitter, low quality
coffee embellished with a super-sweet, pseudo-milk
dairy creamer, a real cup of quality java is a positive
treat. Kampot now has two, soon-to-be three, coffee
shops in the western tradition.
It takes a minimum of expat/travelers to support those types of venues. I don’t have any problem
seeing lots of backpackers around as do some of my
friends who get nervous and tetchy in their presence (actually,
seeing people wheeling suitcases around rough third world streets
and sidewalks looks a lot stranger to me) and I do appreciate that
there’re enough of them around to enable a variety of businesses
to sprout.
It wasn’t that long ago that I had a couple or three bars to
go to and had some days off in between. I’d get my entertainment
kicks in the capital and return for an R and R in Kampot. Now,
what with all that’s happening around town, I have to force myself
to take a night or two off.
For one there’s the Tuesday night trivia quiz at Blissful
Guest House. The quiz consists of a picture round where you need
to name people or places - one time it was boobs - followed by
two general questions rounds quick, What’s the coldest capital
city in the world? Ulan Bator,
Mongolia. How many languages
does BBC broadcast in? 27. What
century was the main temple at
Angkor Wat built? 12th. Finally
there’s a music round where you
have to identify both song and
artist from the first five or ten
seconds of the track. Since my
team is a bunch of geriatrics, we
pretty much fall down on almost
anything recorded past the seventies and eighties, so we have to
do very good on the general questions before the music round or
we’re sunk. After bringing up the
rear for a couple of weeks, and
not winning for about two
months, we’ve won twice in a
row as of this writing. Prize is a 3
-liter tower of beer.
Then there’s live music. It’s the
August mini-high season and
there are 5 nights a week of
scheduled music. A lot of the same guys are involved but there’s a
different mix on almost every occasion. Since I play conga drums
I can sit in almost any night. There are also special events; the
Greenhouse had a Saturday night 2 band party with more than 50
people attending. One friend, being too drunk to drive home,
rented a room at 2am, another found himself crashed out on the
tiny sand beach in the morning. A great time was had by all.
Continued P28
The Greenhouse is the reincarnation of the former
Snow’s bar which sat on the river in Phnom Penh for quite a
long time. It was carefully dismantled, hauled down here and
reassembled in a beautiful spot on Kampot’s river about 7 kilometers from
town. About 15% of the building had to
be replaced. Now the floor is actually
level. The building was improved by
removing the low ceiling on the front
one third of the structure thus opening it
up to the high vaulted ceiling. It’s a special place.
While I tremendously appreciate the live music and have become addicted to quiz night, the greatest improvement for me personally is Ecran,
our new movie theater. There are quite a
few things I can say I miss about living
in the states; Portland, Oregon in particular. My kids and grandkids and lifelong friends, mountains and forests and
seashore crisscrossed with well maintained and marked trails, beautifully
preserved architecture and respect for
the past, but what I’ve really been missing is intelligent, artistic, brain-teaser
flicks. Real movies, not car chase, crash and explode, shootem’-ups designed to appeal to teenage boys. Those kind of movies are slick and crafty and the special effects are spectacular, all
right, but after 3 or 5 minutes of brilliantly choreographed car
chases (or if it’s a Chinese movie, flying-through-the-air kungfu-fighting) I’m bored silly.
Well, in this case, in terms of my own preferences,
we’ve got it all. I’ve been going about twice a week since it
opened a month ago, but almost every movie is one I want to
see. The Artist, the silent movie that won lots of awards, started
it off. Then there was Mr. Nice and Blow, two big-time-drugdealer movies. 127 hours, the flick about the guy who gets his
arm wedged in between two rocks while out hiking and, after
more than five days stuck there, has to cut it off to survive. The
new Woody Allen; Dangerous Method, the film about the relationship between Jung and Freud; Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas; three music-hero movies; Bob Dylan, Pink Floyd and The
Doors: What more could you ask for? And the set up is perfect:
4-meter screen with an excellent sound system and comfortable
seating including two platforms with cushions and pillows.
For most of you out there, probably 95%, having a legitimate cinema is not such a big deal because you’re probably in the
habit of watching the latest flicks on your TV or computer. But
since I don’t do TV - I’ve only cohabited with one for a total of
four years since 1965 - a real theater is my only option. Besides,
at 71 my eyes aren’t the greatest so I miss a lot watching on a
small screen. Add the interruptions and casualness of watching at
home and I’m just not interested. I want to be immersed, I want it
to be an experience rather than time-killing entertainment. To sum
up; I’m thrilled, my prayers have been answered, I couldn’t have
done it better.
Then there’s the grass hut/karaoke bars, the small town
equivalent of big city hostess venues, which I’ve only recently
discovered after nearly five years in Kampot. They’re usually out
on the edge of town in a outdoor setting. There’ll be a row of
karaoke rooms rentable for $3 per hour and tables under thatch
roofs for just drinking. Beers range from 3000
riel to a dollar; usually served warm with ice.
Similar to the typical low-cost local restaurant,
all the décor is beer posters with an occasional
mobile phone poster thrown in for good measure. Strangely enough they often display posters
for beers they don’t sell. One has posters for a
locally brewed wheat beer! Who ever heard of
such a thing? Of course they don’t carry it.
They’re fine just for drinking but if you want
female companionship there’s a $3 charge for
her to sit at your table, but no extra cost for lady
drinks or bar fines for her to leave the premises.
Hardly any speak English, so it’s a bit of a challenge communicating. Some of the girls are
staff, most are floaters. If a venue is busy they
make a few calls and like magic, they’re
flooded with staff.
All in all a big challenge for me to stay home a
couple nights a week.
There’s been a rush of work restoring or rebuilding riverfront properties. I mentioned that to a friend who
told me the authorities told property owners to get it together or
else. Of course, I have no idea what the ‘or else’ might entail, but
we know how it works here in our adopted home. In some ways
the old derelict buildings gave the town some character. Bou-
tiquey is okay but not when it completely takes over the vibe. In
any case the renovation is happening and is taking place at the
start of a new property bubble. I’ve heard one riverfront owner
asking $250,000 for a single shophouse. That price might be
justifiable on Phnom Penh’s river, but for Kampot somewhere
in the stratosphere in terms of true value. The only way that
property could be worth that much is if you think someone else
will pay even more for it in the future.
For a simple rule of thumb, figure a
property costing $250 grand needs to be able
to garner 1% a month of that, or $2500, in
rent to justify that price. In Kampot, that’s
beyond absurd. The little burg is a special
place and growing rapidly, but the most
profitable business in town couldn’t afford
half that in rent without it eating up almost
all of its profits. Still, people with money
seem to be starry eyed about the town’s potential and so ridiculous prices are being
asked and outsize rents are being paid.
For instance, the owner of the
town’s new 8 story hotel set up his kid with
a bar on the river. It’s cool, modern, nicely
decorated but at a rent of $550 per month for
a space that doesn’t extent very far back, a
pure cash sink. With utilities and two staff,
they’d have to sell close to 60 beers a night
to break even, yet in the two months it’s been open I haven’t
seen a total of 50 customers the whole time. Sure it’s low season, but still it’s quite unimaginable how they’ll make the rent
even in high season, especially with new bars opening regularly
and with all the renovating being done, even more new spaces
are being created for competitors.
Competition will also come from the renovation of the
old market which is nearing completion. In addition to about 80
market stalls which are going for $125 month there’ll be room
for several restaurant stalls. Once again, I don’t see where the
business is going to come from, but I’ve been wrong about these
things many times in the past, so who knows?
With all the push for tourism and expats it came as a
great surprise when new directional signs - you know the ones
with the giant billboard on top - turned out to be only in Khmer.
Even the one on the way up to Bokor has no English. Those are
the only ones in the country I’ve seen that don’t include English.
What could they have been thinking?
The riverfront walkway renovation is almost complete
with a public toilet, of all things, at the north
end near the new bridge. The only public space
yet to be improved is the pond at the south end
of town. It’s 4 or 5 hectares and big enough for
boating and other water fun. Technically it’s no
longer a pond: it’s gotten so overgrown lately
it’s more like a wetland. I sure hope the city has
sensitive, green recreational plans for the space
but I fear the worst.
Finally, next to the governor’s mansion at the
southern end of town, which I understand is
slated to become a museum, a new elections
office has been constructed.
It’s been very nicely done in traditional Cambodian architecture except for two garish semicircular, three story columns of ultra modern
blue glass.
Who would do such a thing? That’s like putting
flashing electric lights on Angkor Wat… Hey,
wait… a few years ago the government did want
to brighten up the temples with colored lights, only (thankfully) to
be shot down by the Angkor Authority… Oh, well.
My friend, mentioned in the first paragraph, who only
planned to stay for a few days, stayed for more than ten. It happens a lot, people come expecting to pass quickly through, but
then don’t want to leave.
Stan Kahn
PS. Don’t forget to visit Bokor mountain if the weather is
clear or local pepper farms.
Stunning caves at Kampong Trach visit Rabbit (Koh Tonsai) island for some tranquil beach relaxation.
Or just eat crabs at the beach in Kep.
Western & Asian Culture Comparison
Visual comparisons between western and asian culture. It’s a little of
generalizing, so you might disagree to some of them. Both have its own
good and bad, like the western queues better than the asian, or the asian
is more humble etc. Left for western culture and right for asian culture.
Hope Springs
First things first. Whether it’s a piece of lightweight fluff like
“Hope Springs” or a deep, meditative movie like “Doubt”, this
is a notice to all the world. If you are alive while Meryl Streep
is performing, you MUST GO AND SEE WHAT SHE’S DOING. She is a living legend. She is perhaps the greatest actress
of all time, no hyperbole here. So if you’re sharing the planet
with her and it doesn’t take much to see what she’s doing, like
going down to the theater and buying a ticket, check it out. If I
had the chance to see Olivier on stage
or watch Lenny Bruce in a stand-up
club, I’d have done it. This isn’t much
different. Go see her.
So, is the movie any good?
After thirty-one years of marriage,
Tommy Lee Jones and Meryl Streep’s
Arnold and Kay find themselves in a
marriage of routine, rather than one of
spark and romance. They go to Hope
Springs, ME, to a retreat run by a
lauded therapist (Steve Carell), to try
and work things out. I’m in L.A., anyone married for thirty-one years is
rare, so I’m already excited by seeing
something new.
Streep, in this film, plays a timid, sexless housewife, disappointed with the
state of her marriage. At first, this
shocked us. We’re used to seeing her
as “The Iron Lady”, or that shrew
from “The Devil Wears Prada”. I’m
here to say she plays dowdy just as
convincingly as she plays strong. She
can play anything, and play it authentically. She’s amazing.
Tommy Lee Jones has made a career
out of being a loudmouth, barking
orders in “The Fugitive”, “Men in
Black” and “The Client”, but he’s
been fantastic at transitioning into quiet, almost sad roles in his
late career, if you think of “No Country for Old Men”, “The
Company Men” and here he captures that really well. His character Arnold is against all the changes Carell’s therapist is try-
ing to make in his marriage, but underneath any bluster, you can
see real pain and even fear. He plays it all well.
And Carell is good, but it’s really facilitating character. Nothing
showy here, he just kinda makes the most of his goofy grin. But it
is shaggy-haired Carell, which is good, reminds you of “Little
Miss Sunshine”. Hair-cut-too-short-Steve Carell usually means
you’re gonna see “Get Smart”. Not good.
Most of the film works, although it does get a little bogged down,
plot-wise, towards the end. As if the filmmakers said, “Well, we
better wrap this up” and it stumbles a
bit towards the finish line. And prepare for old people sex. Meryl moaning, crotch shots of Tommy Lee
Jones. Just don’t say I didn’t prepare
you. Director David Frankel does
handle all the awkwardness with a
steady, adult hand. You know your
leads are old when 49-year old Elisabeth Shue is the hot, young bartender
(and she is, in fact, most hot. Praise
the gods!). Frankel puts a bunch of
pop songs in the film, not all of them
work, or are poorly placed. If you
hear the song too clearly, perhaps it
isn’t helping the drama, it’s becoming it. And you will want to go to
Maine after this film. Dang place
just looks aDORable!
In the end, Frankel is serviceable,
but not so-much a stand-out, having
direct ed the easy-t o-swall ow
“Marley & Me” and “The Devil
Wears Prada”. But wouldn’t you like
to see Streep with a GREAT director
again? It’s been a while. But rather
than work with someone to make a
perfectly likeable film, I’d like to see
her pair with Alexander Payne or
Michael Mann and see what happens.
But overall, this film is enjoyable due to the leads playing it genuine. They don’t play it funny, they don’t play it dramatic, they
play it real and end up being both those things successfully
Mitt’s insults, mistakes, and blunders abroad aren’t gaffes. They
actually represent his true worldview.
Mitt Romney’s not-so-excellent adventure abroad
(“Romneyshambles,” the Brits are calling it) has been many
things: shabby, hilarious, scandalous, an enlivening hoot to a
dreary election season. One thing it shouldn’t be, though, is surprising.
Charles Krauthammer, the right-wing commentator who usually
finds every excuse to attack Barack Obama—he took Obama’s
blinking during a tête-à-tête with Vladimir Putin as a sign of
appeasement—pronounced himself befuddled by the GOP candidate’s flare of incompetence.
These sorts of trips, Krauthammer said on Fox News Thursday
night, are easy. You express solidarity with the allies, listen, nod
your head, and say nice things or nothing at all. Instead, Romney
questioned his hosts’ ability to run the Olympics, raised doubts
about Londoners’ community spirit, and violated protocol by
publicly mentioning a meeting with the head of MI-6. “It’s unbelievable, it’s beyond human understanding, it’s incomprehensible,” Krauthammer, normally a paragon of self-confidence, sputtered. “I’m out of adjectives … I don’t get it.”
The thing that Krauthammer doesn’t get is that Romney is not
the sort of businessman—that his
brand of capitalism is not the sort of
enterprise—that requires even the
most elementary understanding of
diplomacy, courtesy, or sensitivity to
other people’s values, lives, or perceptions.
The American capitalists-turnedstatesmen of an earlier generation—
Douglas Dillon, Averell Harriman,
Robert Lovett, John McCloy, Dean
Acheson, Paul Nitze—took risks, built
institutions, helped rebuild postwar
Europe, befriended their foreign counterparts: in short, they cultivated an internationalist sensibility at
their core. Whatever you think of their politics or Cold War policies generally (and there is much to criticize), financiers formed
an American political elite in that era because finance (through
the Marshall Plan, the World Bank, the IMF, and so forth) was
so often the vehicle of American expansionism.
By contrast, private-equity firms, such as Bain Capital, where
Romney made his fortune, tend to view their client companies as
cash cows, susceptible to cookie-cutter formulas from which the
firms’ partners reap lavish fees, almost regardless of the outcome. Their ends and means breed
an insularity, a sense of entitlement,
a disposition to view all the world’s
entities through a single prism and
to appraise them along a single
scale.
How Romney should have behaved
in London may have been obvious
to Charles Krauthammer, who studies politics; it would have been obvious to politically ambitious businessmen from more traditional lines
of work or from an earlier era. But
as we have been graced to see this
week, it is not necessarily obvious to
Romney himself.
Already, Romney’s surrogates back home are spinning with
frantic intensity. In the face of merrily savage media coverage of
the candidate’s remarks and British officials’ rejoinders, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal said, with as much nonchalance as
he could muster, “The reality is, we’re not worried about overseas headlines … I think the focus needs to continue to be on
what’s happening here at home. That’s what’s important to voters.”
This may be, but why then did Romney go abroad in the first
place? It wasn’t to watch his wife’s horse trot and dance in the
Olympics’ dressage competition (as he scoffed in another headshaking remark, certain to anger a large number of wives who
feel their husbands don’t take their interests seriously). The intent, obviously, was to demonstrate his comfort and capabilities
on the world scene—a demonstration that, at least so far, has
gone about as well as North Korea’s last few missile tests. And
London, his first stop, was supposed to be the easy part of the
trip, the place where the white, patrician candidate could forge
bonds through, as one of his spokesmen put it, their common
“Anglo-Saxon heritage.”
Not only did Romney fail at that no-brainer, he also put a foot
through stateside customs. Before leaving on his overseas tour, he said that he
would not criticize the current president
on foreign soil, a long-standing, universally respected tradition in American
politics. But then he spoke at an exclusive, closed-door fundraising dinner
(tickets went for $50,000 to $70,000
apiece) sponsored by Barclays bank,
which is currently in the middle of a
whopping financial crisis. Eleven members of Parliament wrote a letter to the
bank’s board members, demanding that
they stop swelling Romney’s war chest
and instead focus on repairing their own problems. Will Americans express outrage at this whiff of foreign influence? Obama
catches hell when he raises money from Hollywood movie stars.
What would happen if he flew to London or Paris and raised
money from European movie stars (who don’t have as much
influence as, say, European bankers).
Had Romney’s handlers dipped into their candidate’s biography,
they might have put the kibosh on this trip from the get-go.
Joshua Keating, a blogger at Foreign Policy, dug up the following passage from Romney’s 2010 book, No Apology: The Case
for American Greatness:
“England is just a small island. Its
roads and houses are small. With
few exceptions, it doesn’t make
things that people in the rest of
the world want to buy. And if it
hadn’t been separated from the
continent by water, it almost certainly would have been lost to
Hitler’s ambitions.”
Nice. Anglo-Saxon heritage indeed. Presidential material? Get
serious.
The impact of Ecuador’s decision to grant political asylum to
Julian Assange is still quite tangible internationally, a rarity in a
world where no one remembers yesterday’s news.
Even hours before it was announced, Ecuador’s decision to grant
asylum to Assange because of the lack of international guarantees of due process of law for the founder of Wikileaks, had the
effect of generating an overreaction by the government of Great
Britain, which bypassed diplomatic law and threatened to storm
the embassy of Ecuador in London to arrest Assange. This aggressive outburst by Britain against Latin America made in the
long shadow of the Falklands invasion was immediately labeled
as colonialism. It has been a catalyst to unite all countries of the
region around Ecuador.
The government of President Rafael Correa has received the
backing of the two most powerful Latin American organizations,
ALBA and UNASUR. In at least one of these institutions
are Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Venezuela, Paraguay, Uruguay,
Chile, Peru, as well as other countries in the region. In advance
of scheduled meetings of both organizations this weekend in
Guayaquil to generate a statement of solidarity with Ecuador,
several foreign ministers in Latin America have already expressed their opposition to Britain’s threat to enter the embassy
of Ecuador by force.
The U.S. State Department said that the United States “does not
recognize the concept of asylum as part of international law”
because the U.S. not a signatory to the Convention on Diplomatic Asylum of 1954. They added that this is not a matter that
should involve the OAS, although almost all of the other OAS
member countries think otherwise and voted to convene an
emergency session.
The US stated yet again that it will not intervene in the case of
Julian Assange. Yet, the US government’s repetition of “we are
not involved” fails to convince. Too many statements by U.S.
lawmakers and officials denouncing WikiLeaks and threatening
Assange with imprisonment for life and even the death penalty
have been widely disseminated in the world press. The fundamental reason that attorneys for Julian Assange believe their
client cannot accept extradition to Sweden is because from there
Assange will be almost certainly delivered to the U.S. That the
U.S. has initiated a secret grand jury proceeding to indict Assange for crimes including espionage and treason is not mere
speculation.
According to Assange’s lawyer,
Michael Ratner, President
Emeritus of the internationally
recognized Center for Constitutional Rights, a secret grand
jury in Alexandria, Virginia,
was convened to investigate
violations of the Espionage Act,
where the grand jury received
testimony including Twitter
messages related to Assange
and WikiLeaks. An FBI agent
who was a witness in the case
of detained soldier Bradley
Manning has stated that the
“founders, owners and managers” WikiLeaks were under
investigation. Ratner also noted that the FBI has compiled a dossier of 42,135 pages pertaining to Assange.
In this context, Assange’s fears of being extradited, imprisoned
and deprived of any right to a fair defense in the U.S. should be
considered well-founded and reasonable. And in the same way,
the decision to grant asylum by Ecuador should be considered a
humanitarian decision viewed within the legal framework of international law governed by the Vienna Convention.
From this context, there arises a unique situation in which a Latin
American country now stands as a defender of the human rights
of an individual against the will of two European countries, Britain and Sweden, who refuse to give assurances that Assange will
not be extradited to the United States. What irony that a small
nation which until recently was considered a mere “banana republic” today openly protects a major world icon of freedom of
expression from persecution by United States and its allies.
Ecuador’s president Rafael Correa’s grant of political asylum to
Assange has opened an international front opposing the ethical/
moral paradigm of Britain and the United States. His decision
has created some startling opposition in the north. Many still do
not believe what they have heard.
Similarly Correa’s domestic opposition has yet to assimilate this
sovereign declaration which stands in opposition to the largest
trading partner of Ecuador, the United States. Businessmen and
some former foreign ministers and other figures have made the
usual statements to The Guardian, The Economist, and Ecuador’s
El Comercio, warning of risks to Ecuador for opposing the designs of Europe and America.
So far more than two days after the asylum announcement, these
views have been overshadowed by the support generated for the
decision and in protest of Britain’s extreme reaction. This was
demonstrated in the special session of the Ecuadorian National
Assembly. With 73 votes in favor, 7 abstentions and no votes
against, Ecuador’s Parliament overwhelmingly endorsed the decision of the President to grant asylum to the creator of
WikiLeaks and strongly denounced the British threat to forcibly
enter the embassy as a violation of Ecuador’s sovereignty.
On the streets of Quito, the common denominator has been the
proverbial caution. At first sight, neither enthusiasm for or opposition to the grant of asylum to Assange could be perceived. However, everyone seems to be carefully following reports of international reaction. On the radio, on television and in
print, there are detailed reports of the reactions of every
international government and
political institution. People
listen attentively, as though it
is hard for them to believe
that their government has
created such an international
stir. And that this was not
caused by the price of oil or
bananas or drug trafficking in
neighboring Colombia. Some
have abandoned their reserve
and openly demonstrate their
pride as citizens of a sovereign nation. Others still remain cautiously silent.
Missing the obvious
Senator Kok An said the pair
embezzled more than US$58
million from Anco Brothers,
which is run by his wife Sok
Im.
He was referring to the December 7 verdict that found former
rector Tep Kolap and her husband Heng Chheang guilty
based in part on two controversial audits. Both were sentenced to near maximum sentences of four-and-a-half years
in jail.
Their defence lawyers told the
Post that the Appeals Court had
been unusually slow in hearing
the numerous appeals they
made to it since the two were
arrested last June, including
appeals
against the refusal to grant
them bail.
Tep Kolap’s husband Heng
Chheang had been the treasurer
of Anco Brothers, which used
an account registered under the
names of Sok Im and Heng
Chheang.
About $60 million was transferred from the account to another registered under the
names of Heng Chheang and
Tep Kolapbetween 2001 and
2010.
Heng Chheang has said the
same amount was transferred
from the account he shared
with his wife back to the one he
shared with Sok Im, and his
lawyers have provided transaction records they say verify
this, as well as other records
showing funds being transferred to overseas accounts in
Sok Im’s name.
A PPIU student following the
case with an accounting team,
reviewed the ledgers pertaining
to the embezzled money and
was incredulous that the case
continued.
“If the appeal court had read all
the bank documents and strictly
considered the case, [they
would see] there was no
money missing from Kok An’s
companies.”
A defence lawyer for tycoon
Kok An revealed that the
senator had filed lawsuits in
March against six relatives of
Heng Chheang and his wife.
Long Dara, a lawyer for Kok
An, said that the six defendants were sued for defamation and receiving stolen
goods, namely money – and
goods bought with money –
that had been stolen from the
senator’s company.
Sounds like a normal story
here (power versus justice).
One intriguing thing is that
apparently there was no company account and all this went
on in private accounts.
So was there any tax paid?
Doubtful!
Maybe the authorities need to
look into that aspect of the
case!
KR crunch
The extraordinarily expensive
chambers will run out of
money at the beginning of
September and are busily running around trying to get donors to cough up pledges they
have already made.
Even if they do, the money
won’t last until the end of the
year such is the rate they get
through it!
New draft in the pipeline
A draft amendment to the Land
Traffic Law has been finalized.
When the new draft is approved,
the fine for not wearing a helmet
will be increased to 21,000 riels
(about $5), and will also be applied to passengers who will be
required to wear helmets.
Contrary to popular belief there
is no law against using your
lights during the day!
Phone use is prohibited whilst
driving unless it has a hands free
equipment (just like all the motorbike drivers running around
on the phone. My hands are free
of the handlebars! Must be a
local interpretation)!
In towns the use of high beam is
prohibited but outside towns
high beam can be used so long
as it will not interfere with the
vision of other drivers coming in
the opposite direction.
Tell that to the drunk twat in a
Lexus screaming down the road
late at light blinding everyone!
Oops night time = No cops!
words and cartoon provided by:
Maggie Huff-Rouselle, MA, MBA
& Ton van der Velden, MD, MPH
Cambodia has hit headline news in the United States with stories
in the Washington Post, the New York Times and even the Wall
Street Journal about the innovative new family planning
program, funded by a foundation based in New York, the
Chutzpa Institute.
The pilot program,
based in Phnom Penh has
introduced oral sex as a lowcost effective method of birth
spacing. While offering no
potential for pharmaceutical
and medical supply companies
to increase their profit
margins, the birth spacing
method is readily affordable to
Cambodians, as it requires
equipment that almost all
Cambodians currently have in
their homes; access is
therefore not limited by
transportation or economic
costs.
Oral sex, when
practised exclusively, is also a
relatively effective (although
not foolproof) way of
reducing the spread of
sexually transmitted diseases
(STDs) and HIV/AIDS. With
the exception of condoms
(which are less effective as a
birth spacing method), this is
not true of other birth spacing
methods; indeed, some
modern contraceptive methods
which rely on drugs or
medical devices may actually
contribute marginally to the
spread of STDs and HIV/AIDS.
The method is easy and a group of educators in Sangkat
Boeung Pralit, Helpers Applying Remedial Learning in Oral
Tenderness (HARLOT), has been so wildly popular that they are
now being imitated by a grassroots organization, Gents Into
Giving Oral Love Often (GIGOLO). Both groups have achieved
financial sustainability through direct client fees.
In addition to these economic and public health benefits,
initial studies conducted by Sexual Health through Avanteguarde Methods (SHAM), an international NGO with
Headquarters in Phnom Penh, have indicated that the method is
gaining popularity among Cambodians and enlightened
foreigners. No formal public campaign has been conducted, and
the program is growing entirely by word of mouth.
The popularity of the method increases one or the other
partner’s sexual pleasure. This is largely due to the indirect
effects of decreased anxiety about the risks of pregnancy. By
contrast, oral sex seems to have had a direct effect on sexual
pleasure, particularly for women.
During focus group
discussions, researchers found that as many as half of the men
reported increased sexual pleasure. However further probing
during the focus group discussions revealed that, while some men
experienced increased pleasure directly, most derived indirect
pleasure from the increased pleasure of their partners. Roughly
seventy percent of the women in
the study reported an increased
ability to achieve single or
multiple orgasm during love
making.
The results of the pilot
program and related research
could have both profound and
highly controversial effects on
population programs worldwide.
“This information is potentially
explosive,” said Dr. Donald
Wienerburger, speaking on
behalf of the Chutzpa Institute.
“Pharmaceut-ical and medical
supply companies will be
concerned about protecting their
market shares in the modern
c o n t r a c e p t i v e i n d u s t r y.
Conservative politicians par ti cular l y Repu bli can
congressmen in the United
States - may block foreign aid
funding support even more
agressively than they have for
other family planning activities,
notably abortions. Oral sex and
puritan values do not mix well.”
Bu s i n e s s a l a l ys t s
working with the Chutzpa
Institute think the biggest barrier
to this innovative contraceptive
method obtaining a lion’s share
of the world’s contraceptive market may be that there is no
tangible product to sell and no diagnosis or prescription needed.
The lucrative medical technology business gets no piece of the
pie. Illiterate men and women can be trained as Professional Sex
Tutors (PSTs), and this is theoretically all that is needed to
increase the method’s prevalence. “Doctors and pharmacists licensed or unlisenced - don’t like this at all,” said Ch’nguñ, a
PST who has been working for HARLOT since it was first
established. “They are beginning to realize that they are being by
-passed. Their clients are coming directly to us now.”
The small group of PSTs have already obtained brand
recognition for PST in the streets of Phnom Penh via simple
word of mouth advertising. “We just say, PST, PST,” says
Ch’nguñ, “and people know what we’re selling.” Business
analysts may have blown the concept away too quickly.
O
n the heels of his comment that "legitimate" rape is
"really rare" and that "the woman's body has ways to shut
that whole thing down," U.S. House Science Committee
member Representative Todd Akin(R-MO) schooled newsmen
today using the same sex education course curriculum he says he
has taught to Liberty University students for years.
"As terribly enjoyable as rape must be for the slutty woman," he
said, "the true victim here is the rapist's sperm. Totally tortured by
the confusion and utterly lost in the tangle of lady parts by misdirection and false signage, only the little guys with the keenest
sense of direction in the dark have any hope of ever seeing the
light at the end of the tunnel emitting from the baby place," he
explained to newsmen now staring incredulously at one another.
"The poor sperm, created by the Almighty to do it all without
seeking help or directions, might as well be searching for the legendary holy grail instead of the lady gold. The calculating wench
simply overwhelms the little tykes with mystery, obstacles and
subterfuge.
First, there are the three swimming pools, two of which lead to
fool's gold - one yellow like gold the other not even close. The
sperm that dive into the correct pool must first deal with the erect
clitoris. Right in the middle of the way, it might as well be the
Great Wall of China. Then there is the long and winding absolutely unlit passage with no guardrails to prevent wild mishaps
and spinouts. All 'Welcome' signs are covered by shocking pink
or teal drapes. Signage is redirected in opposite or multiple direc-
tions. Green light signal heads beckon the guileless sperm forward only to crash into brick walls disguised as elegantly
adorned egg look-a-likes," Akin lectured to the dumbfounded.
"Upon reaching the great lady chamber that some call the uterus,
the naked sperm are turned away by the lying receptionist citing
a nonexistent 'dress code' while the clothed sperm are told they
have no 'reservation' or 'ID' when such sperm suppression tactics
are unheard of outside the rape sex community.
Even if a brazen few get past the conniving moody receptionist
and make it to the room housing the egg, they must then guess
which among the hundred or so imposter eggs is the one true
zygote personhood material. Of course, the siren secret service
unit are all crack gymnasts each willing to take a sperm for the
egg she protects from unwanted fertilization by diving in front of
any sperm projectile.
Any invaders that succeed in making actual contact with the
matching 23 chromosome cell egg are rewarded for their efforts
with the final indignity of being hurled from the pool to certain
suffocation by a girl."
Akin concluded his interesting press conference by smiling happily and telling reporters he enjoyed teaching sex ed at Liberty
and found it "exhilarating" to share his "vast stores of knowledge" of what he called "down there dirty lady stuff" with "the
young people... I find that I learn more from them than they
learn from me," he said to nodding newsmen.
W
elcome to my first Pub Page. How did a happy
and lazy bar troll like me write this piece ... I was
propping up a bar – a bit too late in the evening
and a few too many drinks already consumed –
minding my own business and watching a lovely and culturally
significant Khmer tripudiary performance when someone approached me.
Much to my surprise, he offered to pay me to go drinking;
with the only condition being that I had to write about where I
went (and make frequent references bar called Skirts). Normally
when men approach me at bars and offer me money I am far
more leery, but this seemed to be too good to be true so I suspended disbelief and here we are.
In order to write this, I faced my own Kobayashi Maru. As I
laboured to get a proper feel for each bar, the drunker I became
and the less I remembered about where I went and what happened. Thus forcing me to keep going out and trying again – I
suspect I went to the same places more than once as more and
more people seemed to know my name as the week went on.
This month we will start with some hostess bars...
136 st – a few changes lately - 69 Bar has closed down for
renovations. For any customers looking for their favourite drink
vacuums, they have been re-distributed temporarily among Mr.
Butterfly, Candy Bar and Singer. Enjoy the hunt and be warned
– with all the shifting around that normally goes on between
these bars and the 69 Bar staff redistribution, you may find a
number of your one and only’s working in the same bar temporarily.
I am really looking forward to watching a friend be extra uncomfortable in Singer where four of his usual admirers could be
found as of writing. Both Singer and Candy Bar are fun places to
go but are more so as they are now extra staffed. Generally
Singer has been the least attractive of the hostess family due its
relative under-staffing. Mr. Butterfly is also a pretty decent
place, but the bottleneck at the entrance way and the lack of
space to walk through are huge draw backs.
136 Bar has closed and moved around the corner to 130 st
making the name a bit more confusing. Prices seem about the
same, a lot of the staff moved over, but the new digs are much
bigger and more comfortable. Looks like 136 Bar still intends to
have live music, very popular with a lot of their regulars, and the
new location is much better suited.
Of course, no one wanted 136 st to have a hostess bar deficit
so, much to our relief, Best 136 Bar opened in the old 136 Bar
space showing incredible ingenuity and creativity. Actually it
seems to be a decent replacement without the stage area and with
the new paint job; the bar was much more enticing. Drinks were
about average for hostess bars and the staff was friendly without
being too annoying. Regular 136 st hounds will see a number of
familiar faces. Skirts (just a gratuitous reference for contractual
purposes).
Many more bars on 136 st but to mix it up, lets jump over to
104 st for a bit. Not many changes there – although there seems
to be a dearth of customers most nights – good for those who like
bars with lots of unoccupied staff. It appears that Air Force is the
current star of the street – tons of energy, a large and varied staff
and generally the most customers.
The classics: Rose, Zanzibar, 104 Bar were all moving along
with what seems to be occasional waves of customers but none
of them were crowed during my week of intensive research. If
you visited any of those three bars in the last five years, you
would not be surprised during your visit now although with so
much more competition these days, none of them have the cachet
of yesteryear. Rose Bar seemed to have the greatest number of
staff on hand over the past week with enough for multiple
swarms in the pool room and at the front bar to operate simultaneously. 104 Bar still has an amazing selection of video/mp3
and the front couple of tables are excellent places to down a few
while listening to some offbeat and lesser known tunes.
After a hard evening of hostessing – what to do? Golden
Sorya Mall is located across the street from Heart of Darkness on
51 st and has Pontoon on one of its corners. While many bars are
open at different hours, the mall comes alive in the middle of the
night; sometimes it seems that everyone who is out partying late
walks through or by the mall.
The central court yard has been growing more popular with
two new bars opening in the past few weeks. I won’t bother with
individual bar reviews this month but as a whole, the mall has an
amazing assortment of places with cheap drinks, pool tables, a
couple of convenience stores with outdoor tables selling alcohol
and even one Cat Walk-style hostess bar. It is also the home of
great late night food: pizza, kebabs, burgers, subs, Khmer food,
Thai food and even a dim sum place that may actually open one
day. Not to forget three meat wagons and long lived Khmer
place across the street from the mall between the new mai Lien
and White Cobra.
Next month – if my liver holds out – more hostess bars, a few
other places that serve drinks and Skirts .
Fan Man
BITS FROM THE BEACH
T
he USNS Mercy visited Sihanoukville this last month.
It was the Mercy’s 2nd visit to these shores the first
coming in 2010.
USNS Mercy is a hospital ship and has a crew of
1200. It has an on board helicopter to transport patients and
supplies to the mainland. They provided free optometry, dental,
pediatrics, and general medicine. Also, veterinary services for
small animals.
They also found time to visit our local brewery and
beaches for a little R&R.
The only minus about their visit was the behavior of the tuk
tuk drivers and bracelet and sun glass sellers who hounded the
crew as they were getting off the buses that transported them
from the port to either Victory Hill or Golden Lions roundabout.
There were no police of any description any where near these
drop off points and it caused upset and anarchy.
Many thanks to Sean Gleeseon for his article on Ochheuteal
beach last month in the Phnom Penh posts 7days mag from all of
the local business’s Your article was very positive and a great
advert for Sihanoukville, NOT..
Next time spend a little more time on your research and get
both sides of the story. Absolute bloody garbage.
A few bars celebrated their anniversary this past month Kong
Bar on Serendipity beach road and Charlie Harpers in town
both did well in their first year. A favourite with backpackers
and expats, Monkey Republic was celebrating 7 years in
business, well done to you all.
A 5 meter long whale shark was found floating dead off the
coast of Sihanoukville recently. The fish weighed over a tonne
and fed a lot of locals.
One of Sihanoukvilles super tuk tuk’s had a big crash up on
Victory Hill. Traveling at excessive speed down past all the
girlie bars.
Bayon
Pearnik
®
Adam Parker, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief
A. Nonnymouse, Wordsmiths
Sharpless, Photos
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A. Fortiori, Dan Meat, Etta Moga, Assistant Associate Deputy Editors
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Dim Sambo, Systems Support Chubb, Reception
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The Bayon Pearnik is an independent magazine dedicated to raising beer
money as well as encouraging debate over standards of taste, humor and
journalistic ethics. Published every month or so in Phnom Penh. Not to be taken
seriously or while driving or operating heavy machinery. Always consult your
doctor first because we're not responsible for what happens to you.
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
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E-mail: [email protected] www.bayonpearnik.com
“We accept anybody’s ravings—we often print them!”
As it tried to negotiate the Corner bar corner he got it all
wrong. Crashing into the Novo a long running French Bar next
door. Thankfully the bar was shut so nobody was injured. The
super tuk tuk and the bar however were a real mess. The driver
repaired all the damage to the bar.
The Queens hill headland route to get to Otres beach has
been closed and they seem to be building on the disused beach
front which you had to ride through. No worries though the
authorities have paved the road nearly to the end of Otres beach
(after god knows how long). They have nearly completed the
public park area in the middle of the beach and are rumoured to
be surfacing the beach front road in the near future but we’re not
holding our breath for that one!
Development of Otres seems to be steaming ahead with
plenty of new resorts being constructed. One westerner is
reported as having purchased 6000sqm of land to construct a
200+ room hotel and casino!
As per usual nobody has died down here for months as the
local constabulary seem to be enforcing the no reporting policy
quite well. Just remember: Strange white powders may not be
what you think they are and Viagra etc along with large
quantities of alcohol can stop your ticker dead in its tracks!
This months Casino review is the Kompong City Casino.
Dress Code $$$$$ Table Games $$ Service/Hostess $$
Free Beer $ Slot Machines $$$
From the outset when the King and I rocked up to the next
Casino near the Golden Lions roundabout we could have thought
we were in Vegas with all the flashy and neon lights out the front
we knew we had arrived at the Kompong Som City Casino but
how we were deceived!
Steeping onto the main gambling floor we parted through the
wall of secondary cigarette smoke by the hundreds of
punters scrawling around.
I personally had flash backs and really thought I stepped into
the real 'Fear and Loathing in Sihanoukville'
The usual spread of Baccarat tables (7), solitary Black Jack
table and 5 Automated Roulette tables! We made our way
through the thick traffic with hands in pockets as just about
every moto dope seemed to be on the floor (they must have been
having a Union meeting) and plonked down onto the Roulette
table.
Finally after some hand waving we got served and was
instantly told that there was a three beer policy, which just didn't
work for the King & I naturally.
After once again donating to the Casino we had a wee walk
around and came across a food stall we jumped the queue and
waited in line and low and behold there was free food. (penny
drops that’s why every moto dop was here). Not that the food
was special just a whole lot of noodles which we didn't mind at
the time, anything really to start soaking up the free Angkor that
we had consumed already.
All in all not a must see Casino unless your've got no cash
and need a free feed and three beers to wash it all down.
La Dolce Vita, that’s why we live in Asia isn’t it? Lazy
days whiled away in the sultry pervasive tropical heat, time to
enjoy life, and drinking, and eating. Well an Italian eatery on
st172 has taken the name, does it indeed help us to reach the nirvana its name suggests, perhaps through the sublime art of pizza
making?
A small shop front restaurant, among many others that
offer budget food and drinks, it doesn’t transport you to Italy
with its aesthetics. Though, it does certainly benefit from the lazy
and relaxed vibe of a street which enjoys comparatively less traffic than those around it. A simple rattan seat, alfresco on the
curbside, and an ice cold beer do bring a mellow smile on
though, as does a flick through the menu which has a good selection of pizzas and pastas, as well as a selection of Asian dishes
that are a staple for many of the backpackers passing through
trying to connect with the country by eating semi-authentic food
in backpacker bars. Pizza was why I came though, and I ordered
the most meat laden.
Served on a thick wooden board initial impressions were
good, with the exception of the base that had a glossy sheen like
an Indian Roti, ghee perhaps? It was well topped though with just
about enough cheese, and plenty of sauce in the places where the
cheese wasn’t. The sauce and toppings matched their first impressions, as did the base. The sauce was the star, rich and flavorful, and complementing the toppings, it brought together the flavors for a nice little party on the palette. The base was not to the
detriment of the well topped pizza, but it did fail to ice the cake.
It was crisp enough, but lacked any doughy textures. As I remember it was good value, and I left a little unsure as to whether
I’d be able to do as I planned and head to Sundance and try
something on their new menu.
I went over for a beer, had a few, and easily regained
my appetite. Having never had a corn dog I couldn’t turn one
down at the first opportunity, or the rest of them as they are actually served as a plate of mini dogs. I didn’t even really know
what they were, although I did know they were somewhat popular at baseball games. For those who share my ignorance of US
fast food gastronomy it’s a hotdog in a cornmeal batter. Simple
and effective, dip it in mustard, and consume with beer, I did, and
I enjoyed it.
Something else I hadn’t tried was TGIF at the Kingdom
brewery. Unfortunately we arrived late so we didn’t get a tour of
the brewery, and more worryingly we were informed they were
out of food. This had however changed by the time I came out of
the toilet and I bought a full price ticket for drinks and food.
Walking in the bar was packed. I opted for the pilsner to start
which I had high hopes for directly from the tap at the brewery. It
was cool and refreshing, but a little lacking in the vibrancy of
flavor I was hoping for, still well worth hammering a good few
back and of course the Kingdom dark still remained to be tried.
Then it was outside to locate my companions and check out the
spread of food, well at least its remains. All that was left was a
big pile of sauerkraut, and some bratwursts. Oh well, what to do?
I slathered a big scoop of the sauerkraut onto the plate and
topped it with half the sausages, two. I tucked in greedily, and
wouldn’t share my sausage when asked, though putting it like
that who would. Still did feel a bit guilty when I found out my
mates hadn’t got food tickets.
What to be done then? Have another beer of course, it’s
all included. I had a couple more pale beers and then switched to
the dark which was being served from the bottles. This was also
a little lacking in depth, but that of course had the advantage of
making it go down quicker. My issue with the beer is I guess a
matter of personal taste. I believe both the pale and dark beers
were substantially more flavorsome when they were launched,
but were softened to broaden their appeal. It would be nice
though if some of that flavor could just make it into the draft taps
at the brewery, just my suggestion.
The bar itself was pretty sharp with copper and brass
fixtures behind the bar and some alluring green leather couches
along one wall. Whilst I was inside admiring it something else
caught my attention. A plate of food was wandering around the
bar lost, in the hands of a staff member, a full plate with kebabs
and bread, and more sausage and bratwurst. Initially it didn’t
have my name on it, an oversight that was swiftly corrected with
a whinge and a little begging. My appetite fulfilled, thirst returned with a vengeance and we set about slugging back the lager
until the final bell rang. Definitely recommend visiting once, and
I guess you should arrive on time to ensure you get food, and a
tour, and of course you will then have more drinking time too.
A tuk tuk got us back into town and deposited us outside Ben’s Bar. Between there and Starlight we had a good few
night caps and enjoyed their warm and titillating service til the
early hours. The Dolce Vita indeed.