The Khmer Chronicles / Issue Nr 12: The Ostrich Has Blunt Scissors

hi john.

firstly i have to respect your ethics regarding the showing of work for ´night of the year´.... and also for still aiming to show the collected works at an event running alongside..

it seems odd to me that you are free to produce the website which is potentially much more dangerous politically, in terms of education and illustration, than a 12 minuet slide-show... and it has me wondering how far you are able to go with promoting the site effectively.

with the murder of khem sambo in mind, are you not walking on a tightrope between offering the truth as you see it happening around you and paying consequences for doing so?

how secure you feel to continue your work and stay in cambodia? is there a time or circumstance in which you feel it would be best to leave the country?

i sincerely hope that turning down the slide-show for ´night´ has no ill-effects for you john.. it´s obvious that to do your job effectively you will have been on the politicians radar, and i hope the relationship between you does not sour.

respect
david

Comment posted by david bowen on December 4, 2008

I hope this censorship in longtime way means nothing, otherwise it could be terrible waste of energy I felt there. The hope of change energy like in Poland after 89'. This is valuable, but fleeting.

John
"March of the Damned" is great series of photos... as usually.

Comment posted by marcin luczkowski on December 4, 2008

David: my guess is that the authorities are more afraid of some kind of a reaction from a crowd than from individuals sitting behind a computer. Both censored slideshows were shown before by Ka-set.info but these stories were also relayed by numerous local media and Human Rights organisations.

So it's not that 'they' don't know about what some people in Cambodia think about these events. And in fact I must say that the press has quite some leeway here: it offers much more personal interpretations of these events than Ka-set.info which sticks to the facts. I think that as long as we keep doing that we will not be in trouble. After all Cambodia poses as a democracy, and it knows the rules very well, even if it still has some difficulties implementing some of them. We are read by Mr Khieu Kanharith, the Minister of Information. He even corrected us on the age of the recently deceased Chief of Police Hok Lundy...

This particular censoring act was done by a sub department of a less powerfull ministry and is more the result of some thoughts like: "Oh rats, if there is trouble coming from this, I lose my job. So let's avoid ripples on the lake"...

Comment posted by John Vink on December 4, 2008

ahh - i get it.
perhaps it would be an embarrassment.. an event which could be a boon for international press and the tourist industry showing work which shows a little more than superficial culture and colour..

i´m following your blog and have to say - it´s great that you are afforded, (or take), the access to cover what you need to cover.. perhaps local journalists do not enjoy the same freedom?

democracy, as you will know well, does not always mean fair access.. even in the minority world of europe and the u.s.

good for you.
d

Comment posted by david bowen on December 4, 2008

Really good article......

Comment posted by martha on December 4, 2008

John:

David's hit on a point that i've often thought and wondered how you felt. Having been along for the Khmer Chronicles for almost three years now, I've often wondered how you felt the government/censor folk treat you, vis-a-vis, your Khmer colleagues. Are you given special lattidue because you're not Khmer, are a Westerner, etc. Since the death of Khem Sambo, I've particularly wondered about this. Though you're not the only western journalist based in PP, your work is the most far-reaching, expansive and embedded in the "place" of cambodia, as best as i can tell. And your work on Quest for Land is certaintly the kind of profound and significant journalist that makes even the most "loose" officials cringe, particularly amid a time when the nation is wrestling with the transformation of it's identity as well as mainting it's "economic" development.....it's dangerous stuff, your work, and I've wondered if you felt that you were given a certain latitude that other Khmer photographers/writers might not be afforded?...and if so, how to you reconcile this?...

Funny, the Khmer who came to the projection i did las yhear of your work were not "stunned" but deeply moved and spoke to of being stoic...it's interesting, because in some sense the officials are "correct", it appears more dangeous to show images such as these en masse rather than to individuals (surfing/reading the web)...an insight, into the effect and efficacy of Ka-Set reaching folk in Cambodia?....

i'm thrilled it's in english now (it took me long long to read before, but i struggled)...and maybe this will have a far-reaching effect too...

and lastly john: who is the woman on the shirts and placards of the people in the last image of the slideshow...forgive me if i've missed a description...it appears to be some kind of mourning...

stay well, and be careful: the ostrich's kick can be mighty....

hugs
running
bob
,

Comment posted by Bob Black on December 4, 2008

The captions are missing in the slideshow. The portraits are those of Bun Rany, wife of Prime Minister Hun Sen. They are used often by demonstrators as an appeal for help to the highest authority in the country. The ultimate Judge in desperate situations if you wish... (by the way she just today condoned the abusive distribition of free condoms to curb the spraid of AIDS and recommends abstinence instead).

As for the latitude I have compared to Khmer journalists: I definitely risk less than they do. I think the only thing I would risk if things turn ugly is being kicked out of the country officially (although this has never happened with a foreign journalist) or compelled to do so unofficially by being dragged into a bar brawlers scheme and being threatened by thugs. If it comes it wouldn't be a frontal attack. But I never felt any pressure or threat against me (I don't go to bars). And really, I'm not sure they think what we are doing is that threatening. It's a bit annoying of course and they could do without us or many of my Khmer colleagues who are just, if not more, outspoken as us. I know of a few Khmer reporters who happened to be stumbling on a juicy piece of info and who suddenly saw the number of moto taxi drivers double in front of their house. And it is fairly easy for a Khmer journalist to be dragged in front of court for slander.

But then again: Cambodia has to keep the democratic facade nice and clean. The donor countries meeting here these days are probably going to "give" 900 million$, half of the 2009 budget, compared to 694 million$ last year. That's worth allowing a few annoying foreign journalist on your turf isn't it?

Comment posted by John Vink on December 4, 2008

John :))

thanks :))...i've often wondered how the govt perceive your work and now the great stuff being done at Ka-Set...it's always interesting to me that the perception of group meetings (like a slide show) is considered more "risky" for officials that the work being done on the web...thanks for the insight :))

by the way, i hope to god you get that Quest for Land Series into a book...any ideas/time frames....it appears, ironically, that now the world bends toward economic tumult, your magnificent endurance and the endurance of the Cambodians whove been displaced from their land and homes, may not have an opportunity to let their plight be seen...

land is a fundamental, human value: not the ownership of land, but the connection and rooting of it...and at the heart of Quest is just that...

know when you'd like to turn it into a book??

cheers
b

Comment posted by Bob Black on December 4, 2008

TYPING ERROR:

I MEANT: now more than ever, the world might be receptive to the story of land displacement...the sentence above "may not have an opportunity to let their plight be seen..."...should have been:

MAY NOW HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO LET THEIR PLIGHT BE SEEN...

cheers
bob

Comment posted by Bob black on December 4, 2008

Social behaviour is filled with mutually excusive dynamics, but the view that seems to reconcile all social behaviour best for me is by recognising the mutually exclusive motives of the government, of business and of the media; it’s truly the most elegant checks and balance system in play today to keep a complex social organism somewhat healthy.

John, I hope you don’t mind me turning your frustration upside down, but do you truly think that these three dynamics are like three legs of the stool, if one is weak or gone (say freedom of speech) the organism will be unhealthy or fail?

More specifically do you think all social organisms at any stage of evolution would be best served by excess truth and the utmost transparency?

Before I extend this line of questions, i’m going to assert that photojournalist have a preference for stories that are controversial verse stories of stable success.. So,

let’s make this a loaded question, John,… is pure, ambitious, aggressive, and at times sensational photojournalism best for all types of social organisms at all states of development or under all possible states of duress?

Ok, double-loaded, yes or no…. is there absolutely, positively no government or commercial agenda that would serve best the health and growth of the social organism by constraining photojournalist efforts? Yes or no?

Of course there is a spectrum from zero-journalism, censorship and pure propaganda. The yes/no question I’m asking you John is that of censorship; is it never appropriate for social health? Consider also that the body applying the censorship may not be the offending parties for the images censored.

By the way, thanks for the on-the-ground perspective of what it’s like to be a journalist in a country that might wish they didn’t have so many of them around ;-)
..

Comment posted by Joe on December 4, 2008

Joe: for me it is NO. There should be no constraints.

How can truth be excessive? I feel this is an unachievable paradox.

As for utmost transparency: how far does one go? One side will want to have less of it because it solves a few accountability issues, and the other will want more of it because it (the elector) feels it should be represented properly by the elected, or at least work in the interest of the whole community. Does it weaken the process of representation? No, it strengthens it by increasing dialogue. Journalists are only the catalysts in the process.

A foggy governance (in a democracy) results from those who are in power considering those who elected them as being immature, irresponsible. That is sort of biting its own tail isn't it?

Bob: no dates yet, no schedule for the Quest. There are a few more evictions pending anyhow. And then I'll have to assess if the bulk of work will be transcending the Cambodian context. Not so sure about that though...

Comment posted by John Vink on December 4, 2008

Thanks John, you’re right about excessive truth, my sentiment with excessive truth would be to air your own dirty laundry to the public, does it achieve anything?…

but it’s clear you understand the mine-field with leadership when you say with regards to transparency…

One side will want to have less of it because it solves a few accountability issues…

Some people move in spaces very sensitive to communication John, if you want to achieve any long term campaign its filled with ups and downs and it’s universally human for the people important to the march to focus on the downs and forget about the ups, hence sensitivity to letting the downs surface.

The dialogue you mention is a luxury that is not always fluid enough to re-rail those derails in event interpretation, so if all parties don’t have fluid access down that communication correction avenue then the original mis-interpretation can sometimes be irreparable.

Most of the time the seeds are planted without the people best able to correct them ever knowing about it and the forward formation breaks down in the future because of a misread event in the past, no band-width of communication is immune to this risk and the less band-width, the great propensity.

That being said, i wonder if while negotiating your presentation’s content someone on the decision making team understood that you were providing a well balanced set of images showing healthy signals with the appropriate amplification as the unhealthy signals and by showing this balance the healthy ones seem more valid; but I’m certain I’ve oversimplified it and that ’dialogue’ wasn’t possible. But, would you describe your presentation as fairly balanced amplifying appropriately the healthy and unhealthy signals John?

Thanks again for the response John.

Comment posted by Joe on December 4, 2008

JOHN :)))

Dima and I will be at the front of the store when that happens....by the way, as to the statement about Quest "I'll have to assess if the bulk of work will be transcending the Cambodian context. Not so sure about that though.."....please.......the work "transcends", because it is only because of the detail of the SPECIFIC that speaks to the detail of the UNIVERSAL....dont let me lecture you on how universal and important that story is, for Cambodia and for ALL OF US :))))))...

JOE/JOHN:

about your discussion, have a look: maybe some insight :))))

enjoy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNpNzDoH1II&feature=related

running, scanning to do...

bob

Comment posted by bobblack on December 4, 2008

or, maybe this is a better beginning

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ug7Pkf2SsuA&feature=related

ok, that's enough from me and my soap box ;)))

b

Comment posted by bobblack on December 4, 2008

great links Bob.

Comment posted by Joe on December 5, 2008

Sorry Bob, can't download those from here: too much bandwith...

Comment posted by John Vink on December 7, 2008

To put things into perspective: so I did show these slideshows at an off venue of the festival. A newly created agency organised some screenings AND also a transvestite show. There were 80 people watching the transvestite show and about 8 watching the slideshows screened after that... Sometimes you wonder if it is all worth it...

Comment posted by John Vink on December 7, 2008

John, I sympathise with you, but it just shows…Context is King.

The best place for a visual show to air is likely the place that it will raise the most emotion.

As you mention, the original context was probably the best place to stir thinking ;-(

To convince you and console you….. you only need to read this:

Pearls before Breakfast….

..

Comment posted by Joe on December 8, 2008

Thanks Joe. So shooting with a Stradivarius will not help... Thought buying one. But I'll postpone...

Comment posted by John Vink on December 8, 2008

Thanks Joe!!

Comment posted by Nike Kobe IV on June 10, 2009