By Dipika Kohli Northwest Asian Weekly Our giant French doors are open today. There aren’t many other things in the room to distract, but even if there were, the balcony and the white rain beyond it command all of one’s attention. It looks and sounds like a television set that’s always on with loud static […]
Cambodian Minister of Commerce comes to town
The new Cambodian Minister of Commerce, Chanthol Sun, visited Seattle on June 17, where he spoke at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel. He was accompanied by U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia William Todd. Sun has been traveling the United States on a mission to promote increased trade between the two countries, and to attract more foreign investment […]
NONPERMANENT RESIDENTS (Part 2) — Local Cambodian men are facing deportation for crimes from their youth
By Stacy Nguyen Northwest Asian Weekly (Read part one.) Rithy Yin, 33, was born in Cambodia in 1980. His memories of the country are foggy at best, though over time, the sequence of events have been repeatedly recounted to him by his family members, so much that he has adopted their memories as his own.<!–more–> […]
Nonpermanent residents — Part 1 of a three-part series on Cambodian men who are facing deportation for crimes committed when young
By Stacy Nguyen Northwest Asian Weekly “I burglarized a gas station. I was young, naïve. I just — wasn’t thinking,” said Ram Son, a Cambodian man who lives in South Seattle. <!–more–> Son’s parents fled Cambodia’s killing fields and the genocidal Khmer Rouge. He was 7 years old when their family arrived in a Thai […]
Life at War — Book recommendations
By Samantha Pak Northwest Asian Weekly Cress By Marissa Meyer Feiwel and Friends, 2014 The Lunar Chronicles continue in this third installment right where the previous one ended. New Beijing cyborg mechanic Cinder and Captain Carswell Thorne are now fugitives on the run from the law — both on Earth and on the moon. And […]
SE Asian CD set defines musical era
By Andrew Hamlin Northwest Asian Weekly With its four compact discs of material covering six decades of music, plus a 272-page book of liner notes, “Longing For The Past: The 78 RPM Era In Southeast Asia,” released by Dust-To-Digital, will probably remain the definitive word on that musical era, covering traditional and more modern music […]
Cambodian opposition makes gains at polls
By Sopheng Cheang The Associated Press PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia’s opposition appeared to make impressive gains in July 28’s general election, though the ruling party claimed a victory that would extend the mandate of longtime Prime Minister Hun Sen. The results, if confirmed, lend support to opposition contentions that the vote could usher […]
Cambodian opposition leader pardoned ahead of vote
By Sophen Cheang The Associated Press PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen engineered a pardon for his most prominent rival July 12, clearing the way for the self-exiled politician to return home and campaign in this month’s general election.
Cambodia passes bill against genocide denial
By Sopheng Cheang The Associated Press PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia’s National Assembly approved a bill on June 7 making it a crime to deny that atrocities were committed by the country’s genocidal 1970s Khmer Rouge regime, a law that critics allege will be used as a weapon against the political opposition.
Sam Ung tells his story from the Cambodian Killing Fields
By Stacy Nguyen Northwest Asian Weekly In 1975, after five years of civil unrest and increasing cruelty, the Khmer Rouge became the ruling party of Cambodia. <!–more–> Battambang, the city where Sam Ung was born and where his family lived, combusted on April 15. The Khmer Rouge launched missiles into the city center, and Ung, […]