The big showdown

Phnom Penh Crown's squad for the forthcoming season

The football season begins in earnest again this coming Saturday. Exciting for me, most likely to bore almost everyone else to death, hence why I have a separate blog just for the football. You can read it here. The opening game of this season's Cambodian football league will be between the two teams most expect to be battling it out for the league championship....as they did last season. My team, Phnom Penh Crown, with whom I masquerade as the Media Officer, are known as the big spenders of Cambodian football but are putting their money where their mouth is, are streets ahead of anyone else in running the club on a professional footing, have just begun the country's first full-time residential academy for youngsters and will be aiming to make a big splash in Asian football this season, as well as dominating the domestic campaign. Well that's the general idea. Looking to put a stop to Crown retaining their league title will be the Military Police-backed (the thought of which makes me cringe) Preah Khan Reach team, who recently won the local cup competition, played in pre-season, and who are relying on a team of locals (Crown have 3 foreign imports) as well as stuffing their team with players who have yet to sprout any facial hair. I'm joking, but you get the picture. The two teams were due to meet in a couple of months but the football federation felt that a showdown between the two sides would be a great way to begin the new season, so they changed the fixtures for week 1, just 4 days before the season's opener. Not what anyone would call a professional approach to managing the domestic football competition but what they say goes, so it's a done deal. The match will kick-off at the Olympic Stadium here in Phnom Penh at 3pm, will be broadcast live on local television and should attract a big crowd - get along and watch the cream of the country's footballers in action if you are in the capital.

Love interest

We are well versed to seeing the wonderful Belle in the spotlight, though its usually on stage under the glare of theatre lights and performing one of her contemporary dance pieces, either here in Cambodia or overseas. However, in recent months she's taken to the small screen as a tribal woman for a television drama for Apsara TV, in which her mother, Nou Sondab also appeared, and now Belle is the female love interest in the 4-minute video that accompanies the latest track release, Bangkok Tattoo, a love song, from the local band, Krom. The footage was shot at the Raffles Hotel Le Royal in Phnom Penh and also features Chris Minko, the singer who wrote the song in memory of his wife. You can watch the video here. Ah, I nearly forgot that as part of an advertising campaign for Mekong Orchards gourmet peanuts, Belle appears on the packaging. Where will we see her next?

Belle and her mother appeared in a television drama for Apsara TV at the end of last year (pic courtesy of CS)

Charity songstress

My favourite female Khmer pop songstress, Meas Soksophea, will be making an appearance at the PSE Charity Party from 5pm on Friday (1 April) and into Saturday. PSE do great work for the former rubbish-dump children at Stung Meanchey, in giving them schooling and vocational training, and their party will be at their center near the old municipal dump. Soksophea is a great coup to get her along to sing, so that should be something to pull the crowds in. She's always on the road, traveling to locations across the country, taking her music to the masses. The party will include other music acts, traditional dance, fun and games. I hope its not an 1st April Fool's joke on me. Talking of performances, don't forget the regular show at Chaktomuk Theatre, outdoors, by the performing arts department of the Ministry of Culture, which is held every Friday evening at 7pm. Classical and folk dances in plentiful supply, by the people who do them best. On Saturday, as well as the opening match of the new football season here in Cambodia, when my team Phnom Penh Crown face Naga Corp in the opening game of the Metfone C-League (3pm), an hour later, at Bophana Center, Rithy Panh's Site 2 film will be shown in Khmer with English subtitles. I still haven't seen this 1989 movie in its entirety and I won't see it this week either. Football will always win out. For the car-freaks out there, a 3-day Autoshow is being held from Friday at Koh Pich island. I am the least bit interested in cars but the gorgeous models on show are more my cup of tea. Yesterday the appeal hearings for Comrade Duch began in earnest with his lawyers firing off as many ridiculous claims as they possibly can to get their man released. It ain't gonna happen. I also don't expect his sentence to be extended either but whatever comes out over the 3 days of the hearings, we'll most likely have to wait until the end of June for the judge's deliberations. In the vicinity of the ECCC courthouse in Chaom Chao, tomorrow evening at 7pm, a performance of the highly-acclaimed Breaking The Silence play will be put on at Wat Tikha Panhao, about 5 kms from the ECCC.

Looking back

As I couldn't watch the bosbaPANH Masters concert on CTN at the weekend, here's a chance to see some of the action through Voice of America, including interviews with my pal Sarah O'Brien and Nam Narin, who is carrying on a tradition forged by her wonderful grandmother Em Theay and mother, Preab.

Party Spacers

Srey Thy in party mode during the last CSP gig on Cambodian soil

The Cambodian Space Project have been on the road for much of the past few months, whether its Australia, Hong Kong or China. However, they are coming home soon enough. They will return from the United States in time for Khmer New year in the middle of April and are hosting the Srey Thy Cosmic Cambodian Village Party in Prey Veng province on Saturday 16 April in the lead singer's village. It's not the first time that CSP have played in the middle of nowhere, having done similar gigs in Prey Veng and Kompong Speu before. A bus will leave the capital early that morning if you are interested in joining the party. Looking ahead to September, CSP will be heading over to the UK for the End of the Road summer music festival in Dorset, for their first trip to Blighty.

Side by side

Meeting with Brendan Moriarty earlier today

I enjoyed a very interesting lunchtime chat with film director Brendan Moriarty today. Brendan already has one completed film under his belt as producer/director, is in Cambodia to scope out his next movie and has a lot of other irons in other fires as well, including a story set in Angkorian times. Amazingly, he's just 22 years old and when you are that age and so full of enthusiasm, and have the right contacts, you can get things done. Which is exactly what he did when he shot The Road to Freedom in July of last year and which should be released in a few months time. Inspired by the disappearance of journalists Sean Flynn and Dana Stone in Cambodia in 1970, Moriarty, who spent some of his childhood here, shot TRTF entirely in Cambodia, particularly around Kep and Kampot, and is keeping his word to use Cambodia as the backdrop for his future productions. His next feature will be based on the Mayaguez Incident, the last official battle of the Vietnam War (or the American War if you are Vietnamese) that took place off the coast of Cambodia, with filming due later this year once the high profile cast have been finalized. Watch this space for more on his latest project as it happens.

Face-to-face

Rob Hamill (above), a former Olympic rower from New Zealand and brother of Kerry Hamill, one of the foreigners murdered at Tuol Sleng is making a return trip to Cambodia in an attempt to meet with his brother's jailer, Comrade Duch, who was the convicted in July last year of crimes against humanity, war crimes, premeditated murder and torture. Whilst giving his testimony at Duch's trial, Hamill told him; "at times I have wanted to smash you, to use your words, in the same way that you smashed so many others. At times I have imagined you shackled, starved, whipped and clubbed viciously. I have imagined your scrotum electrified, being forced to eat your own faeces, being nearly drowned and having your throat cut. I have wanted that to be your experience, your reality." The appeal hearing for Duch is coming up next week and Hamill is determined to get some face-to-face time with the former chief of the notorious S-21 prison, also known as Tuol Sleng. Duch's lawyers claim he was not the most responsible senior oficial at S-21, while the prosecution want to extend his jail-time. A documentary film, Brother Number One, is being made that follows Rob's journey to Cambodia to find out the truth about what really happened to his elder brother, and should be released later this year.

Follow me

Em Theay (middle) leads The Like Me's in a dance for the cameras at Angkor

The Like Me's and Cambodia' s iconic classical Tenth Dancer Em Theay are two of the well-known acts that will be on show on local television channel CTN this coming Saturday (26 March) at 9.30pm, as the recent bosbaPANH concert at the Bayon in Angkor gets an airing.

Filming the Mayaguez Incident

Here's a bit of film news, from an official press release issued earlier today, though I hope to find out more tomorrow when I hook up with the film's producer Brendan Moriarty. The film Mayaguez is an action war film in pre-production for filming in Cambodia later this year, and a cinema release in mid-1012. Written by James Larson, the son of legendary Glen Larson, it's being produced by the director of the film The Road to Freedom, Brendan Moriarty. The latest movie's timeline was May 1975 and the last official battle of the Vietnam War when an American merchant ship was seized by Khmer Rouge forces off the coast of Cambodia and the subsequent controversy over the handling of the crisis by the US military. 18 US personnel (plus another 23 in a helicopter crash) lost their lives in the Mayaguez Incident. Producer Moriarty's last film The Road to Freedom was based on the final days of Sean Flynn and Dana Stone, two photojournalists who disappeared in Cambodia in 1970.

Filmed in Kep

This music video was filmed very recently in Kep and along the south coast. The band are Australian pop punkers Short Stack.

2nd chance

I didn't manage to get up to Siem Reap for the recent bosbaPANH concerts involving a host of performers including renowned cellist Sarah O'Brien, French jazz musician Jean Marc Padovani, folk singer Ieng Sithul, Laura Mam and The Like Me's, Chinese flautist Liao Qi Cheng, the sounds of composer Ung Chinary, mixed with music from King Father Norodom Sihanouk, Sinn Sisamouth and classical Cambodian dance choreographed by Em Theay and performed by her grand-daughter Nam Narin but I'll have an opportunity to see what I missed as the concert is being replayed on local television channel CTN this coming Saturday (26 March) at 9.30pm.
Thinking of coming to Cambodia? Air France's first Paris to Phnom Penh via Bangkok flight is set to launch next week. And hot on its heels is a feasibility study being conducted to look at direct flights between the United Kingdom and Cambodia. We received 10,000 British tourists in Cambodia this January. None of my family made it.
I went along to the prehistory talk by Andreas Reinecke from the German Archaeological Institute at Meta House tonight about recent excavations and findings at a site called Prohear in Prey Veng province. It's a significant site that has thrown more light on early Cambodian history around the Bronze and Iron Ages but like any of these sites, once they are known about, the looters move in and destroy much of the evidence. It's so sad that the historical fingerprint of the country is disappearing before experts get the chance to study it in full. At least in Prohear they have managed to establish part of the picture.

Digging deep

Gold objects found at Prohear

A lot of international concentration is focused primarily on the Angkorian period of Cambodia's history but evidence from the prehistory period throws new light on where the Khmer people came from and a talk at Meta House tomorrow night (Tuesday 22 March) at 7pm will look at archaeological excavations from the Iron and Bronze Ages. Looting of these prehistoric sites has been rife in Cambodia in recent years and the burial site at Prohear in Prey Veng was one such location. However, the looters didn't take everything and three rescue excavations were conducted by a German-Cambodian team in the spring of 2008, 2009 and 2011. In his talk, Andreas Reinecke from German Archaeological Institute will report on the latest excavation results and their significance for a new look at the prehistory in this region. You can read more about the remarkable site at Prohear, where gold objects, bronze drums, skeletons and much more were found here.

Community relations

The students of Sampeau Meas await their gifts

A 5am start in the dark for me this morning, set me on my way to accompany the Academy boys from Phnom Penh Crown as they did their bit for community relations on the Cambodia-Vietnam border at Chrey Thom, on the banks of the Bassac River. The visit was to help recognise and reward the students at Sampeau Meas school located in the border town. A few hundred yards from the school stands the Crown Casino and Hotel and the family of Crown president Rithy Samnang offers support to the school each year, with a reward for the top students and gifts for the remainder, totaling some 700 students. The Academy boys were called in to help distribute the gifts and to show the students that there are now opportunities if you excel at sports, as well as highlighting for the Academy boys another facet of their education; giving back. Local officials and the Academy staff of Bouy Dary and Kao Kiry also took part and I went along for the ride. As well as the distribution of gifts - the top 15 students each got a new bicycle - everyone at the ceremony got an ice-cream or two, which went down really well, and then the Academy boys returned to the casino property where they were allowed to enjoy the jet-skis and banana boat belonging to the casino, on the Bassac river under supervision. They loved it. Following lunch in the casino restaurant, it was back on the bus for the two-hour drive back to the capital. The Academy students were very well-behaved and they've quickly become a real credit to the club. Until a few weeks ago, they could've been one of the school students sat in the audience awaiting their own gift, but they have been given an opportunity of a lifetime to become a professional footballer and they are taking to it with relish.

The Academy boys pose before getting wet on jet-skis and a banana boat

I take a moment to chat to Srey Mom, one of the school students

Sospiri(t)

Yon Chantha (left) and Sam Sathya after their wonderful performance

Fabulous. Two fantastic dancers, mixing and matching classical movements with contemporary ideas, up close and personal, frenetic moments followed by serene and measured poses, the Sospiri performance at Meta House tonight had it all. The combination worked a treat for the full house who'd come to watch this, the 2nd night of a performance which is the tenth collaboration Bob Ruijzendaal has brought to Cambodia, with a variety of dancers. Tonight's partnership saw the doyenne of classical dance, Sam Sathya, in tandem with one of the most vibrant and electric of the current crop of contemporary artists, Yon Chantha. It was a match made in heaven. The theme running through Sospiri was rituals and generations and the two performers gave it everything, as Sathya demonstrated the artistic proficiency that she has performed to audiences across the world for more than twenty years, with Chantha, at times dazzled and beholden to her teacher and at others, working herself into a frenzy of motion. I didn't want it to stop. The music from Franz Liszt even included a tune from Robinson Crusoe, a television series from my childhood. The merging of old and new worked for me, to see the country's best classical dancer at such close quarters reveling in her art and a blossoming talent in Chantha who simply gets better with each new performance.

An opening scene from Sospiri after both dancers began by chanting

Both dancers in unison

Sam Sathya with her ball of cotton string

More traditional classical moves from Sathya

Sam Sathya has perfected every female classical dance move

Chantha's facial expressions are a joy in themselves as she ties up Sathya

Sam Sathya held back by a cotton rope

A tender moment between teacher and student

Both dancers demonstrate precise hand movements

Chantha tries to break free from her cotton chains

The last moments of the Sospiri performance in front of a full house

The two dancers take their bows at the end of their show

An evening of inspiration

Sue Guiney with Princess Bopha Devi, the guest of honour

Imagination is the best power. This was the title of a magazine of poems and short stories by teenagers from Anajli House that co-shared the evening at Van's restaurant in Phnom Penh last night with the opportunity to meet author Sue Guiney and to hear more about her new book, A Clash of Innocents. Guest of honour was Princess Bopha Devi who was joined by the likes of Ambassador Roland Eng, artist Chhim Sothy and many more to celebrate the launch of the 20-page magazine, together with four of the Anjali youngsters who had traveled from Siem Reap to read extracts of their short stories to the audience. The magazine arose from a creative writing program that Anjali, who provide free food, healthcare and education to street children, had arranged and which Sue Guiney had led only last week. The author, whose novel is set in Cambodia and centers around an orphanage in the capital, is now researching a second book, which will be based in Siem Reap. You can find out more about the good works going on at Anjali House here.

Attending the evening was my opportunity to meet Sue in the flesh

Sue with four of her students, Sreyline, Srey, Saroun, Sopheak

Sue Guiney read two excerpts from her book, A Clash of Innocents

Don't miss Sospiri

Sam Sathya, kneeling, in teacher mode during my recent visit to the University of Fine Arts

I can't make it to tonight's opening performance, but I'll bust a gut to get there tomorrow to see the wonderful Sam Sathya and Yon Chantha in a contemporary piece they have developed with theatre facilitator Bob Ruijzendaal. The performance is called Sospiri and will feature piano works by composer Franz Liszt. It's being hosted tonight at Meta House and tomorrow night at the same venue, starting at 7pm and with free admission. Chantha is an artist I have great hopes for in the contemporary scene that is taking off here in Phnom Penh, she's full of energy and vivacious enthusiasm, whilst Sathya has been the country's prima ballerina for more than twenty years and is always keen to try something new, whilst continuing to teach the classical dancers of the future at the Royal University of Fine Arts. It promises to be a meeting of the traditional and the new, with Chantha a regular face in Ruijzendaal's productions whilst Sathya is no stranger to appearing in contemporary shows like Where Elephants Weep and Khmeropedies. I urge you to attend. You can read more about Sam Sathya in this article.

1930s Cambodia

To take you back in time to Cambodia in the 1930s, here are two short videos from YouTube that you might enjoy. The commentaries are typical of the Pathe News style of the time. Sometime in 2012, a novel by my good friend Kim Fay, called In Yellow Babylon, and set in Cambodia around this period, will be published. I know it'll be just as evocative as these newsreels of the time. I can't wait.

Innocents abound

Phew, just made it. Author Sue Guiney and her publishers Ward Wood Publishing in London sent me through a copy of her novel, A Clash of Innocents a few weeks ago and because of one excuse and another, I have only just finished reading it. Pretty good timing I reckon as Sue is in Phnom Penh as I type and I will be meeting her tomorrow evening for the 1st time, at a 'meet the author' session at Van's, next to the post office. As for the novel, I loved it. Yes, really. Novels about Cambodia are rare, novels set in an orphanage in the capital are rarer still, but this one hit the nail on the head in terms of sucking me in to keep reading until I found out the answers to all the questions that kept building in my head, the more I read. I must admit I've never got into the orphanage thing, I've never seriously thought about helping out or 'doing my bit' even though I do find Cambodian youngsters absolutely adorable, but as I'm a big softie at heart I'm not sure I would cope very well at having to walk away. I do know a few people who've run or worked at orphanages and so could see a lot of them in the main character Deborah, I didn't really believe in Kyle, the do-gooder Aussie de-miner with a hint of mystery but teenage Sam, the adopted daughter of Deborah, the head of the orphanage, was the true star of the book. Her character was so akin to a few wonderful Khmers that I've met personally, that she resonated with me throughout the eight chapters and 250-odd pages. As bright as a button and so wise beyond her years. There are many like her in Cambodia, just waiting for the opportunity to shine. And of course it was set in the place that I live, warts and all. I recommend you grab a copy of this novel. Two other books that are worth getting hold of that touch on similar topics are Kari Grady Grossman's Bones That Float and Geraldine Cox's Home Is Where The Heart Is. Very different books from the one I've just read but all three are great reads.

Hairbrained

You've got to hand it to Cambodia's officials for some hairbrained declarations, like the one I read today which effectively bans marriage for any foreign male over 50 years old and who doesn't earn at least $2,500 a month take home pay. If you fall down on either count, you won't be able to marry a local gal. A government spokesman said, "we do not want young Cambodian girls getting married to an old foreigner. I want a couple to look like a real couple, not like granddaughter and grandfather." Though of course getting married to a fat, old Cambodian government spokesman is not a problem. And the rules don't apply to foreign women marrying eligible Cambodian men. For the record, I'm 51. So it seems I've missed that particular boat. No unmarried Khmer girl will look at me twice if I mention my true age, not that any do now, but you get my drift.

On an entirely unrelated topic, 50 years ago today, Don Revie was appointed player-manager at Leeds United in a move that would have an effect on mine and many, many other lives. I was a Leeds United 'nut' as a kid and that was well and truly cemented when in 1970 my mum secretly sent a birthday card and a photo of me decked out in my Leeds kit to Don Revie and he arranged for the whole team, the Leeds team of legends like Billy Bremner, Jack Charlton, Terry Cooper and all, to sign my card - it was the best birthday present I ever had. I still have the card all these years later and the photo, signed on the back by The Don. I get a lump in my throat just writing this down. Few childhood memories have stuck with me, but that one is the one that comes to mind first.

For my 11th birthday, my mum sent this photo to Don Revie, which he sent back signed

Choice to make

Two events this coming Friday (18 March) clash and something will have to give. There's the meet the author session with novelist Sue Guiney at Van's restaurant next to the Post Office, which I'm told is now booked solid. Sue's novel called Clash of Innocents is a story set in Cambodia and the session will include readings from the novel as well as involvement from her pet project here, Anjali House. At the same early evening time, Sam Sathya and Yon Chantha will be presenting a new contemporary dance piece called Sospiri at Meta House, which I really want to see. The performance is under the tutelage of Bob Ruijzendaal and fortunately will be performed again the following evening, so that's my decision made for me. Try and get along to Meta House to support Bob and the dancers, especially as Sam Sathya is the best known classical dancer in the country and is always keen to try something new and Chantha is one of the most vibrant of the new breed of contemporary performers.

International flavour

Today had an international flavour to it whilst I was awaiting the results of the draw for the AFC President's Cup, contested by the football champions of the countries flagged by the Asian Football Confederation as emerging nations. Cambodia is one such nation, emerging from the doldrums of decades past and at last beginning to make up for lost time. Their reigning football league champions are the team I act as press officer for, namely Phnom Penh Crown. It's unusual for a Cambodian football team to have a press officer full stop. But Crown are no ordinary club. They are intent on going places and making a splash in regional Asian football circles is one of their goals this season. The AFC President's Cup is one such competition where they can raise the profile of not just the club, but for Cambodian football too. So intent are they that they have taken the unprecedented step of hosting one of the three groups that make up the competition. And joining them in late May, with all six matches to be played at the Olympic Stadium in Phnom Penh, will be teams from three other emerging nations, Kyrgyzstan, one of the breakaway Stan republics, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Whilst this added burden may give Cambodia home advantage in their quest for glory, it will also bring the spotlight of Asian football onto the country and their ability to host such a competition. The country's football federation and the club will be under scrutiny, so the pressure is on. I don't know the extent of my involvement yet but it looks likely that I'll have my work cut out. Fortunately, we have just published a sixteen page yearbook that is also a first in Cambodian football and this will stand us in good stead in publicising the team abroad and amongst the international media. You can read the yearbook here.

Party to finish

A light-hearted moment as Bory takes the microphone at tonight's party. His wife and my landlady, Oun is standing next to him, with Nalux and Lalune next to her.

All Khmer weddings have an evening party to round off the festivities and allow the friends and families of the happy couple to let their hair down. Tonight was no different for newlyweds Nalux and Lalune as they were joined by a few hundred of their nearest and dearest at a restaurant in the center of the city. As is the usual course of events at these parties, the food arrives once all the places at a table have been filled, it keeps coming until about half a dozen or more courses have been consumed, though for the men its more a point of consuming as much Johnnie Walker Red Label whisky as they can, clinking glasses and getting redder in the face by the minute. Most of the ladies present sit demurely and watch as the men stand up, shout at each other, as presumably whisky deadens their hearing, and gulp down more Red Label and a few cans of beers. The happy couple whizzed around the tables thanking everyone for coming and receiving small red envelopes in return, containing donations to their wedding fund, there was the usual aisle-walk into a hail of confetti and flower petals before announcements and cake cutting preceded the dancing. I stayed for a quick madizon, a form of line dancing, and then headed home. Considering there was a marquee, tables and chairs and a small restaurant for most of the day, there was nothing left at all by the time I returned home. I had to pinch myself that a wedding had taken place in my house at all that day.

The radiant Nalux with two of her attendants

Nalux and Lalune walk down the aisle of confetti and flower petals

A face in the crowd: Rumnea in the center wearing white and pink

A wedding on home soil

My landlady Oun, her husband Bory, and the bride and groom

It's mid-day and the music has been bursting my eardrums since around 6am this morning. The reason is that one of the daughters of the family, in who's house I live, Nalux, is getting married today. So it was an early start to join the long line of guests for the procession of gift carrying, with Rumnea getting up just as early to join in. After porridge for breakfast in the middle of the road, under a giant awning, it was the usual costume changes and photo-calls for Nalux and her husband Lalune, including the part where two comedians get everyone in stitches with their comedy routine followed by the hair-cutting ceremony. It'll be lunch soon as the bride and groom sit for yet another round of photographs. So I'll take a break too until the party in a restaurant later this evening to round off the day and a half of festivities. I must say that Nalux looks completely transformed, as most Khmer brides do on their special day. No doubt her hair and appearance will change again by the time of tonight's party. And why not.

Lalune, the groom and Nalux

Proud mother and father of the bride during the hair-cutting ceremony

The parents of the happy couple behind the procession gifts

The photo advising everyone of the love match

Rumnea and my next door neighbour - both girls speak great English

Sister in law of the bride with her daughter

Rumnea showing off her own handiwork in dressmaking

Rumnea's smile is big enough for both of us

More from Chaktomuk

One of the Apsara handmaidens

The classical and folk dances at Chaktomuk Theatre on Friday evening was too good an opportunity not to snap away with my camera, so here are a few more images from what was the first of a regular Friday night performance by the artists from the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts' Department of Performing Arts. Get along and see it for yourself.

Two of the Apsara dancers on stage at Chaktomuk

The Apsara dance is one of the most recognisable of the classical dances

Poise and beauty, a combination that has captivated people all over the globe

The dancers complete the Apsara dance

Some of the Praying Mantis folk dancers - the dance originates from Svay Rieng province

One of the Tep Monorom dancers

Female and male roles are enacted in the Tep Monorom dance

The divine beings of the Tep Monorom dance end their piece

All of the company's dancers appear on stage to receive the audience's plauditsTwo of the dancers pose for a photo with Jasmine (left) and Linda