Inspiration: "The unexamined life is not worth living." - Socrates
"I don't consider myself a politician or a hero. I'm a messenger. If Cambodia is to survive, she needs many voices." - Dith Pran
"Why don't you really know what you want? Two reasons. Number one: you have it. Number two: you don't know yourself." -Alan Watts
Last summer, I had the opportunity to spend time in Cambodia. Each day was an adventure into a new village or temple; the photos are some of my favorites. The heat was sweltering, the food was delicious (the bugs were not to my liking) and the people were extraordinarily kind. Unlike other tourist destinations in Asia, there is a pervasive and peaceful calm to Cambodian culture. That's one reason I immediately took to the country.
In addition to exploring the city of Siem Reap and surrounding temples, I was lucky to stumble upon Dani. Dani, an eccentric beekeeper by trade, had come to Cambodia via Michigan (I think...) in the 1990's and never looked back. Dani runs a touring company (worth checking out when you're in Cambodia) that specializes in eco-aware and hyper local spots outside mainstream tourism. Suffice to say, when Dani first rolled up to the hotel at 8am, scraggy beard and napkin scarf at the ready, I knew I was in for adventure.
Dani delivered. He took me deep into local wet markets where I met fish, meat and bug vendors, sampled a few delicacies (and photographed them all.) I stepped over and around booths selling virtually any animal imaginable. Dani took me into local villages where I met generations of families - mothers, daughters and grandmothers, sharing homes. I met local vendors who earned income by handcrafting incense, stonework and delicacies. We stopped for lunch at a variety of roadside food vendors and ate lunch with locals on their lunch break. On our last day, Dani took me out to the Tonle Lap (the largest lake/river system) in Cambodia and we toured the floating villages and water ecosystem. Just writing these words brings back the full-sensory experience of those days in such vivid and positive detail.
While touring, a curious thing started happening with each village and family visit. Unprompted, the locals would talk to me about the Cambodian government. Cambodia, with about 15 million citizens, had their local elections coming up in a month and the incumbent Prime Minister Hun Sen - the longest serving Prime Minister in the world - was poised to win (spoiler warning: he did.) These partisan conversations occurred at almost every stop. It was both mystifying and intriguing. My curiosity piqued, I would go back to my hotel at the end of the day and research the modern state of the Cambodian government. To be clear, there was real risk in searching these kinds of query terms in a country with a national internet firewall. With only two major airports, tales of tourists getting stopped when leaving the country for "suspicious behavior" were common.
What I learned was tragic. When the Khmer genocide ended in the early 80s, the country was meant to be on the path to a democratic monarchy. This path was recognized in the 1991 Paris Peace Settlement, which gave the UN oversight power to restore a monarchy after years of turbulent Vietnamese and Chinese occupation. At the time, the UN held elections which resulted in a hung parliament. In a kind of default choice, Hun Sen - acting PM and former Khmer Rouge general - was chosen to continue leading the country. Today, he is officially the leader of the Cambodian People's Party (CPP) - the only state party legally recognized in Cambodia.
I had known about Cambodia's genocide, but what I hadn't realized is that the political party (Khmer Rouge) that operated it effectively ended up winning control of the country. In exchange for stopping state-sponsored genocide, Hun Sen quietly ran the country as a democracy in name only. He was, effectively, a dictator. While I was there, in the run-up to the 2018 elections, Hun Sen had outlawed the last of the Cambodian free press, outlawed the existence of an opposition political party and had jailed an outspoken Australian journalist among other locals. Hun Sen's family ran most government ministries and instead of using Cambodia's native currency, the Riel, everyone uses untraceable US Dollars; I heard more than one story of banks accepting suitcases of US Dollar deposits in local corruption cases.
I asked Dani about this and he largely corroborated what I had learned on my own. Two dynamics also become clear. First, the dark history of violence in Cambodia kept the national culture in a kind of fearful, traumatized paralysis. The threat still loomed and nobody dare speak for fear of lighting the wick. Second, in exchange for corrupt rule, Hun Sen ran a growing economy that provided an influx of US dollars built on a booming tourism industry and textile manufacturing utilized by US and Chinese companies. It was a kind of economic bargain with the people. I can vividly remember the roadside billboards featuring heroic photographs of Hun Sen and his political party.
Incensed, my research led me to learn about Sam Rainsy, the leader of the now-outlawed Cambodian National Rescue Movement (CNRM.) Mr. Rainsy had successfully organized a political party against Hun Sen, secured 55 seats in the National assembly and given the Cambodian people a choice in their elections. Mr. Rainsy advocated the principles of a free democracy. Ultimately, Hun Sen outlawed his political opposition as a terrorist organization and put out an arrest for Sam. After a life of political activism, Mr. Rainsy fled to Paris to live in exile.
Paris was the next stop on my trip and Sam is very active on Twitter. Never one to shy away from reaching out to public figures, I wrote Sam a letter sharing my Cambodian experience (excerpt at the end of this piece.) To my surprise, Sam replied the next day. A week later, I met him and his wife, Saumura in their flat a few blocks from the Eiffel Tower.
Sam Rainsy, June 2018, Paris, France.
As it turned out, Sam was running a kind of digital opposition from Paris. Armed with Facebook, Twitter and a small team of legal and digital experts, Sam had continued advocating for the Cambodian people from afar. He was also working to get his party co-founder, Kem Sokha, out of Cambodian jail.
Sam and his wife were incredibly kind, curious to hear about my experience and to share theirs. Inspired by his life of activism, I asked Sam how he keeps going in the face of these challenges. He joked that he occasionally needs police escorts due to threats on his life. Then he shared 3 simple piece of advice: 1) stay alive 2) be clear with your word and 3) spread your word. I certainly saw myself in his words. In the broadest sense, these principles have applications to anyone's life.
Sam had expanded my reality and appreciation for the global challenges facing equality; and that any one individual can work to solve them. When I left, I remember being very clear with myself that I would never go back to the tech industry in quite the same capacity as I left. That is to say, I wasn't going to be the so-and-so of User Acquisition for so-and-so.
Months later, back in New York, my mind kept drifting back to my conversation with Sam and my time in Cambodia. The experience still generated a strong emotional charge. The injustice made me angry.
As they say, the unexamined life isn't worth living. Eventually, I began to wonder why it hooked me so thoroughly. How did a kid from NJ end up having lunch with an exiled political dissident in Paris? Why did I quit my job and end up thinking about corruption in Cambodia?
These questions led to one of the most valuable personal insights I've ever had. More on that in the next piece.
.JC
Excerpt from mail to Sam Rainsy, June 8th, 2018:
_"Dear Mr Rainsy,
If you’re reading this, I’m already in appreciation of your time.
I’m writing this from Siem Reap and will send it when I arrive in Bangkok tomorrow. I have spent time in your country. It is difficult to express the beauty of Cambodia: it lives in the air, the culture, the history. Most importantly, it lives in the people. They are compassionate and kind beyond measure. Their grace is instinctive.
I spent a good bit of time touring and talking to Cambodian locals. They tell me your efforts are good and you are a good leader. Given the chance, they quietly voice contempt for Prime Minister Hun Sen. I’ve talked to locals whose friends have been corrupted, threatened or gone to prison. I have heard stories of human rights violations. Coming from America, I was shocked. It is not clear Cambodia is in trouble from an outside perspective. I asked everyone I met, “Do you have hope for your country?” They pause, unsure of their answer. The upcoming elections and Hun Sen’s threats loom large. Beyond America, I am equally convinced that individuals around the world have no idea what is occurring in Cambodia. I don't pretend to know the answer, but I do know the answer starts by empowering the free people of your country. I also know the outside world would help if they understood what was at stake.
The people of Cambodia deserve hope. The country of Cambodia deserves a democratic government .The world deserves the truth. I want to use my resources to help make change; to help empower the free people of Cambodia to be free. Never could I imagine a place so full of loving people who live so peacefully under such corrupt threat. Never could I imagine a place so beautiful and rich in history, the world unaware of the danger. In speaking with so many, I understood how dire the situation is. I also believe they spoke freely with me as I am a foreigner. "_