EAS confers on culture with Teri Yamada and Kho Dararith of the Nou Hach Literary Journal, which is having its annual meeting this weekend.
Isn't it an utterly unprofitable idea to publish new writing in Cambodia, one of the least literate countries in Southeast Asia?
Without some contemporary literature to read, why bother reading for pleasure?
Why the name Nou Hach?
A picture of the dead body of a young female traffic accident victim lying on the street. Is this an image from one of Cambodia's infamously graphic local newspapers? No, it is page 5 of the November 16 English-language Phnom Penh Post, and the editorial decision to use it has outraged many in the expatriate community.
Most visitors to Phnom Penh, even those on a short trip, have heard of Friends restaurant. Starting out as an NGO concerned with providing practical hospitality training to ex-street children, Friends has earned itself a well-deserved reputation for friendly staff and tasty, reliable food.
This week a woman came forward claiming to be the first female survivor of Toul Sleng Torture Center ever located. Although Documentation Center of Cambodia director Youk Chhang says doubts remain about Chim Math's story and whether she was actually staff or a prisoner, Math insists she never worked at Toul Sleng and only discovered hell when she was sent there and has questioned whether the doubts might be triggered by feelings that women like her should not have survived. People familiar with Vietnamese documentation of S-21 after 1979 say the Vietnamese would not mistake staff for victims.
The facts of Duch's capture are well documented. He was "discovered" living in north-western Cambodia by photographer Nic Dunlop, he was interviewed by Dunlop and Nate Thayer and shortly after their story was published, he was arrested by the Cambodian military.
While the ECCC examines the legal ramifications of the detention that followed that arrest, Nic Dunlop, who started the whole process, looks at the philosophical questions the trial gives rise to.
You don't meet a "founding father" everyday - but I got lucky, and met one from Phnom Penh's nascent restaurant industry. Determined to make Metro Café a success, Aussie owner - Tom - is golden. Recognizing a void of restaurants outside backpacker joints or traditional Khmer, the former chef has identified a niche.
Metro's swanky yet hospitable atmosphere allows an eclectic crowd to enjoy one thing they share - a taste for modern cosmopolitan class. If trends exist for imitation, I hope Metro is no exception.
Legal terms I've come across.
Amicus Curiae.
Amicus curiae (plural amici curiae) is a legal Latin phrase, literally translated as "friend of the court", that refers to someone, not a party to a case, who volunteers to offer information on a point of law or some other aspect of the case to assist the court in deciding a matter before it.
-Wikipaedia
Despite what my European and Aussie friends think, some people do appreciate a tinge of the American dining experience - and K-West is such a place. I mean, who is going to turn down a banana split when faced with one?
Lucky for my Aussie dining partner, K-West, pleasantly situated on the heavily trafficked corner of Sisowath Quay, does not pigeon-hole itself. It symbolizes a new Phnom Penh. A mixture of French, Khmer, and American cuisine, it capitalizes on layers of history. Feel like wonton soup followed by steak tartar and a brownie sundae? You got it.
As the afternoon draws on, just before the traffic on the Japanese Bridge reaches its crazy peak, the sun starts to throw long shadows from a grove of sugar palms and boys begin to bring their cattle back from an afternoon grazing to wash and drink at the edge of the wetlands.
It is more than 30 years since the story was last told of the Bayon, the enigmatic state temple of Jayavarman VII, the greatest king of ancient Angkor. Recently, researchers from several disciplines have again been probing the mysteries of this extraordinary monument and its giant face towers. Under an eminent editorial team, Bayon: New Perspectives brings together for the first time leading scholars whose findings and insights challenge, not always in consensus, many of the earlier interpretations of the Bayon's art, architecture and inscriptions.