With or w/out HS in power, Cambodia will be the same...corruption. On Thursday, January 14, 2010, Bury Chau <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > THIS BOOK : " GIAI PHONG " by T Terzani. It describes a Vietnamese as THIEF, > A LIAR, A KILLER, A DECEIVER , a sleeper ...... > > > >> Date: Thu, 14 Jan 2010 12:44:09 -0800 >> Subject: Re: "KHMER RICHE" >> From: [email protected] >> To: [email protected] >> >> >> >> On Jan 11, 4:18 am, "Sam Rainsy Party of North America" >> <[email protected]> wrote: >> > http://www.camnews.org/2009/12/31/khmer-riche/ >> > >> > "KHMER RICHE" >> > Written by Andrew Marshall >> > Good Weekend Magazine for the Sydney Morning Herald >> > Sunday 12/12/09 >> > >> > They live in one of the poorest countries on earth, yet they drive flash >> > cars, dwell in mansions and scorn their impoverished brethren. Andrew >> > Marshall meets the rich sons and daughters of Cambodia elite. >> > >> >> That's right. That's the way they do it in Cambodia. Do you know how >> you get rich ? >> Ofcourse, you have to have the power or affiliated with power first. >> Then you use your preveledge to suppress others for money to get rich >> yourself. IT IS THE TRADITION OF CAMBODIA. Sam Rainsy is doing the >> same thing. How can he afford to do what he has been doing with his >> small salary? Please tell us. Do you want us tobelieve that Sam Rainsy >> is so rich and is spending all of his money for his causes? >> Paleeeeeezzzzzzzzzz >> >> >> >> > The huge Phnom Penh mansion owned by Victor's parents, General Meas >> > Sophea. (Good Weekend Magazine) >> > >> >> I think he enherited from his encient friends called stealing. >> >> >> > "I'm going to drive a little fast now. Is that Okay?" There is one place >> > in Cambodia where you can hold a cold beer in one hand and a warm >> > Kalashnikov in the other, and Victor is driving me there. We're powering >> > along Phnom Penh's airport road with Oasis on his Merc's sound system and >> > enough guns in the boot to sink a Somali pirate boat. Victor is rich and >> > life is sweet. His father is commander of the Cambodian infantry. He has a >> > place reserved for him at L'Ecole Speciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr, >> > France's answer to Duntroon. And, in his passenger seat, there is a thin, >> > silent man with a Chinese handgun: his bodyguard. >> > >> > "His name is Klar," says Victor. "It means tiger." >> > >> >> There was a story of a son of the Cambodian paratrooper commander. He >> used to eat any foods at any restaurants for free. Who dare to do >> anything to him? >> Do you know whom I am talking about? >> That's right. I am talking about him. >> >> >> > Victor is only 21, but when reach our destination-a firing range run by >> > the Cambodian special forces-the soldier at the gate salutes. >> > >> > Devastated by decades of civil war, Cambodia remains one of the world's >> > poorest nations. A third of its 13 million people live on less than a >> > dollar a day and about 8 out of every 100 children die before the age of >> > five. But Victor-real name Meas Sophearith-was raised in a different >> > Cambodia, where power and billions of dollars in wealth are concentrated >> > in the hands of a tiny elite. This elite prefers to conceal the size and >> > sources of their money-illegal logging, smuggling, land-grabbing-but their >> > children just like to spend it. The Khmer Rouge are dead; the Khmer Riche >> > now rule Cambodia. >> > >> >> Rich always rule Cambodia. >> >> >> > I first met Victor at a fancy Phnom Penh restaurant called Café Metro. >> > Outside, Porsches, Bentleys and Humvees fight for parking spaces. The son >> > of a powerful general, Victor has his future mapped out for him. He went >> > to school in Versailles, speaks French and English, and now studies >> > politics at the University of Oklahoma. "My mother wanted us to get a >> > foreign education so we could come back and control the country," he says. >> > The shooting range is where Victor and his friends go to relax. "I've >> > grown up with guns and soldiers all around me," he says, laying out a >> > private arsenal on a table: two automatic assault rifles, two Glock >> > pistols, one sniper's rifle, one iPhone. >> > >> >> Cambodians in general love to kill each other. >> >> >> > "My mother wanted us to get a foreign education so we could come back and >> > control the country". Meas Victor Sophearith (above) is one of Cambodian's >> > privileged elite. >> > >> > Victor and his generation are Cambodia's future. Will they use their >> > education and wealth to lift their less fortunate compatriots out of >> > poverty? Or will they simply continue their parents' fevered pursuit of >> > money and power? Britain's Department for International Development >> > (DFID), which gave almost $US30 million of its taxpayers' money to the >> > country in the last fiscal year, offered one answer in June, when it >> > announced the closure of its Cambodia office by 2011. The official reason? >> > "It was felt UK aid could have a larger impact . where there are greater >> > numbers of poor people and fewer international donors," said a DFID >> > statement. But the development agency might also have tired of throwing >> > money at a nation where so much poverty can be blamed on a grasping >> > political elite-and their luxury-loving children. (Australia clearly has >> > not: it has allocated $61.4 million in development assistance to Cambodia >> > for 2009-10.) >> > >> > Depressingly, the Khmer Riche Kids sometimes seem indistinguishable from >> > the old colonial ruling class. They were educated overseas-partly because >> > their families' wealth made them targets for kidnapping gangs-and often >> > speak better English than Khmer. They carry US dollars - only poor people >> > pay with Cambodian riel - and live in newly built neoclassical mansions so >> > large that the city's old French architecture looks like Lego by >> > comparison. And their connection to the Cambodian masses is almost >> > non-existent. >> > >> > The "Paris Hilton of Cambodia", Sophy, daughter of a Deputy PM. Sophy's >> > extravagantly decorated car. (Good Weekend Magazine) >> > >> > Sophy, 22, is the daughter of a Deputy Prime Minister. Rich, doll-like and >> > self-obsessed, she could be the Paris Hilton of Cambodia. She imports >> > party shoes from Singapore, brands them "Sophy & Sina" (Sina is her >> > sister-in-law), hen displays them in her own multistory boutique. It has >> > six staff, no customers and a slogan: "It's all aboutme." Sophy's name is >> > spelled out in sparkling stones on the back of her car, a Merc so pimped >> > up that I have to ask her what make it is. "It's a Sophy!" she replies. >> > >> > We meet at her hair salon, where she is prepping a model for a fashion >> > shoot for a magazine she is starting up with her brother Sopheary, 28, and >> > their cousin Noh Sar, 26,. All three were educated abroad and prefer to >> > speak English together. Sopheary, who studied in New York state, seems >> > both amused and slightly embarrassed by his wealth and privilege. "What >> > can you do?" he asks. "Your parents give you all these things. You can't >> > say no. If someone gives you cake, you eat it." >> > >> > Talk to Sopheary and his friends, and Cambodia's tragic history seems very >> > far away. The genocidal Khmer Rouge blew up banks and outlawed money >> > before being driven from power in 1979. Later came the 1991 Paris Accords, >> > and the plunder of Cambodia's rich natural resources-forests, fisheries, >> > land -began in earnest. Cambodia's official economy largely depend on >> > garment, exports, but there is a much larger shadow economy in which only >> > the ruthless and the well-connected survived and prosper. "If you're doing >> > business, you have to know someone high up, so he has your back," says >> > Victor. >> > >> > The closer you get to Hun Sen, Cambodia's autocratic Prime Minister, the >> > better connected you are. Hun Sen staged a bloody coup d'etat in 1997 and >> > has kept an iron grip on power ever since. Opponents have been silenced >> > while loyalists have grown rich. This includes ministers, a handful of >> > tycoons and generals. Cambodians are often driven from their land by >> > soldiers or military police. Formerly a French possession, Cambodia has >> > been colonized all over again, this time by its own greedy elite. >> > >> > But the Khmer Riche have a problem. "None of them can answer a simple >> > question: where does all your money come from?" says a Western journalist >> > in Phnom Penh. Ask Cambodian ministers how they got so rich on a meager >> > government salary, and they will reply, "My wife is good at business." >> > >> > When I ask Noh Sar, whose father is a senior customs official, why he is >> > so wealthy, he gives me a slight variation: "My mother works a lot." >> > >> > Victor's mother is also good at business, according to "Country for Sale," >> > an investigation into the elite published by the London-based corruption >> > watchdog Global Witness in February 2009. "She is a key player in RCAF >> > [Royal Cambodian Armed Forces] patronage politics, holding a fearsome >> > reputation among her husband's subordinates on account of her frequent >> > demands for money," says the report. "RCAF sources have told Global >> > Witness that military officers sometimes bribe [her] in order to increase >> > the chances of her "close connections" to a major timber smuggler. >> > >> > It is only in the past few years that the children of Cambodian's elite >> > have grown confident enough to show off their family's wealth. "If you >> > want people to respect you in Cambodia, you must have a good car, good >> > diamonds, a good cell phone," explains Ouch Vichet, 28, better known as >> > Richard. "It's an I'm-richer-than-you competition." Richard is quite a >> > competitor: he drives a $US150,000 Cadillac Escalade and wears a $US2,500 >> > Hermes watch and a $US13,000 2.5-carat diamond ring. He doesn't have a >> > bodyguard, although some friends keep them as status symbols. >> > >> > "Crazy money": (above) Ouch "Richard" Vichet is surprisingly candid about >> > his wealth. (Good Weekend Magazine) >> > >> > Richard was sent to New Zealand to be educated after a gang tired to >> > abduct his brother. He is a short, affable man with an impish grin. In a >> > city where the elite have a tribal suspicion of outsiders, he is >> > refreshingly candid about his wealth. "My money is from my parents," he >> > says, and then breaks it down. They gave him a villa, half a million US >> > dollars, and a 400-hectar rubber plantation that will generate income for >> > the rest of Richard's life. His parents-in-law gave him $US100,000 in cash >> > and another villa, worth $200,000, which he sold and invested in real >> > estate. Richard also runs a busy Phnom Penh nightclub called Emerald - his >> > parents made their first fortune in gems - which provides him with "pocket >> > money". A party of rich kids can spend $US2,000 on drinks in a single >> > night, more than an average Cambodian earns in 3 years. >> > >> > His parents' second, much larger, fortune comes from real estate. A few >> > years ago they bought about five hectares of land just outside Phnom Penh >> > for $US14 a square metre, then sold it for $US120 a square metre two years >> > later, making more than $US5 million in profit. "Where else can you make >> > profits like that?" grins Richard. "It's crazy money." He has a daughter >> > called Emerald and a son called Benz. (His other Benz is a GL450.) They >> > all live with his parents in a newly built mansion. >> > >> > Yet Richard's house is modest by the operatic standards of Phnom Penh's >> > Tuol Kuok precinct, part of which was once a notorious red-light district. >> > A taxi driver shows me the neighborhood - it's like a "homes of the stars" >> > tour in Beverly Hills, except that Tuol Kuok's backstreets are piled with >> > rubbish. My driver points out giant mansion after mansion, and tells me >> > who lives there. Hun Sen's son, Hun Sen's daughter, Secretary of State at >> > the Ministry of Labour. A Deputy PM-Sophy and Sopheary's dad. A >> > four-mansion compound with lots of razor wire, and a gate guarded by >> > special forces soldiers - Victor's family. >> > >> > Tuol Kuok's houses are well-guarded for a reason: until there was real >> > estate to invest in, many wealthy Cambodians kept their money at home in >> > bricks of cash. "We don't trust banks," says Richard. "The old generation >> > kept their money under the bed. The new generation keep it in safes in >> > their houses." Victor says his family also stays away from banks, but for >> > a slightly different reason. "If you put your money in a bank, everyone >> > will know how much you have," he explains. >> > >> > I had also heard that rich Cambodians had repatriated hundreds of millions >> > of dirty dollars from Singapore banks after a post-September 11 shake up >> > of global banking, and that his money had helped fuel the land speculation. >> > >> > For the children, the wealth comes with one big condition: they must do >> > what Mum and Dad tell them. "I wanted to go to art school but my parents >> > wouldn't let me," says Sopheary. Most kids dutifully join the family >> > business-Richard translated for his father during overseas gem-buying >> > trips. For some, that business is politics. Concept like nepotism and >> > conflict of interest don't count for much in Cambodia. Commerce Minister >> > Cham Prasidh-whose giant house resembles an airport departure hall, one >> > with its own jet-ski lake - gave a ministry position to his wife and made >> > his daughter his chief of cabinet. Cambodia's ambassadors to Britain and >> > Japan are brothers, and their boss is also their father: Foreign Minister >> > Hor Namhong. He says he hired his sons on merit. "It's not nepotism," he >> > insists. >> > >> > Their parents also expect them to marry young-men in their 20's, women in >> > their teens-and strategically, meaning to someone from a rich and >> > influential family. These marriages are often arranged. "It's like >> > medieval times in France," complains Victor, still a bachelor. This means >> > that many high-society Cambodians soon find themselves trapped in loveless >> > unions; affairs are common. Sophy was married off at 17 to the son of the >> > rich and powerful Interior Minister. >> > >> > The web of marriages binds together Cambodia's political and business >> > elite and ensures the ruling Cambodian People's Party's stranglehold on >> > power. At the centre of the web sits Prime Minister Hun Sen. His three >> > sons and two daughters are all married to the children of senior ruling >> > party politicians or, in the case of his son Hun Manit, to the daughter of >> > the late national police chief. Now in his 30's, Hun Manit is being >> > groomed to succeed his father. He graduated from West Point, the US >> > military academy, in 1999, amid protests by members of the US Congress >> > over his father's human rights record. In July, Global Witness urged the >> > British Government to revoke the visa of the Cambodian Prime Minister, who >> > visited Bristol University to watch Hun Manit receive a doctorate in >> > economics. >> > >> > Senior Khmer Rouge figures such as Comrade Duch, the mass-murdering >> > commandant of Tuol Sleng prison, are currently on trial at a United >> > Nations-based tribunal in Phnom Penh. The Khmer Riche, on the other hand, >> > remain above the law. Victor displays a military VIP sticker on the front >> > dash of his Mercedes. "It means the police cannot touch me," he says. >> > Richard is an advisor to a military police commander, which also >> > effectively grants him legal immunity. >> > >> > Many of his generations abuse such privileges. Last August Hun Chea, a >> > nephew of the Prime Minister, hit a motorcyclist with his Cadillac, >> > ripping off the man's leg and arm. Hun Chea tried to drive off but >> > couldn't because the accident had shredded a tyre. Military police >> > arrived, removed the car's license plates and, according to "The Phnom >> > Penh Post", told Hun Chea: "Don't worry. It wasn't your mistake." Hun Chea >> > walked away. The motorcyclist bled to death on the road. >> > >> > Hun Sen has yet another bad-boy nephew, the widely feared and mega-wealthy >> > Hun To ("Little Hun"). In 2006 a newspaper editor filed a lawsuit against >> > Hun To for alleged death threats, then fled overseas to seek asylum with >> > the United Nations' help. Hun To was also once spotted sitting in his >> > luxury speedboat, its sound system cranked up high, being towed around >> > Phnom Penh by a Humvee. A few weeks before, Victor had been in Los >> > Angeles, where he test-drove Hun To's latest acquisition before it was put >> > in a Cambodia-bound shipping container: a $US500,000 Mercedes McLaren SLR >> > supercar." He has already built a special garage for it," says Victor. >> > >> > Victor will not - dare not-criticize Hun To. But he is critical of >> > Cambodian society. "From top to bottom, everyone is corrupt," he says. He >> > hopes to one day set up a foundation to help poor Cambodians send their >> > children to study overseas. "We want to change things, but we'll have to >> > wait until our parents retire," he says. >> > >> > But older generation shows no sign of retiring - not when there's so much >> > cake left to eat. In January, foreign donors pledged $US1 billion to >> > Cambodia, its biggest aid package yet. The Government relies on foreign >> > aid for almost half its budget. It could break this reliance by exploiting >> > its reserves of oil, gas and minerals: the International Monetary Fund >> > estimates Cambodia's annual oil revenues alone could reach $US1.7 billion >> > by 2021. Could, but probably won't. Why? Because the same elite who cut >> > down the trees and sold off the land are now poised to extract the oil and >> > minerals, with the help of their children. >> > >> > Some Hun Sen loyalists have already been allocated exploratory mining >> > licences. One of them is General Meas Sophea, the army chief. He recently >> > hired a temp to act as his foreign liaison officer. The temp is his son. >> > His son's name is Victor > >
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