នៅសល់១០ថ្ងៃទៀត ខ្ញុំនឹងកើនអាយុមួយកម្រិតទៀត (ពោលអាចថាចាស់ជាងមុន គឺនៅថ្ងៃទី៣០ ខែមិនាខាងមុខនេះ) ហើយខ្ញុំដឹងថាអ្នកទាំងអស់គ្នានឹងមានសារមួយចំនួនចូលរួមដល់ខ្ញុំ ហេតុដូចនេះខ្ញុំសូមជំនួសនូវសារឬអំណោយនានា ជាការចំណាយពេលអានសាររបស់ខ្ញុំខាងក្រោម ហើយសូមឲ្យអ្នកទាំងអស់គ្នា ជួយចូលរួមចំណែកកាត់បន្ថយគ្រោះថ្នាក់ចរាចរណ៍ ឬអាចជម្រុញឲ្យចរាចរណ៍ក្នុងប្រទេសយើងមានភាពប្រសើរជាងនេះ តាមរយៈការចូលរួមជាបុគ្គលម្នាក់ៗតាមតែអាចធ្វើទៅបាន។

មូលហេតុដែលទាញឲ្យខ្ញុំស្នើនេះឡើង គឺផ្សារភ្ជាប់នឹងបទពិសោធន៍ថ្មីៗ ដែលខ្ញុំបានពើបប្រទះ គឺ៖

កាលពីអាទិត្យមុន ខ្ញុំបានប្រទះព្រឹត្តការណ៍មួយ ដែលខ្ញុំមិនធ្លាប់បានឃើញដោយផ្ទាល់ភ្នែកក្នុងជីវិតរបស់ខ្ញុំ បើទោះបីព្រឹត្តការណ៍នេះ មិនមែនជារឿងថ្មីក៏ដោយ ហើយអ្នកទាំងអស់គ្នាពិតជាបានដឹងឮរឿងដដែលៗនេះដែរ គឺគ្រោះថ្នាក់ចរាចរណ៍។ ខ្ញុំបានឃើញផ្ទាល់ ពេលដែលម៉ូតូរបស់បុរសបីនាក់ក្នុងវ័យជំទង់បានប្រទះគ្នានឹងឡានម៉ាក់ទំនើបមួយ នៅផ្លូវនរោត្តម រំពេចនោះ បរុសទាំងបីនាក់នោះបានខ្ទាតចេញយ៉ាងឆ្ងាយពីគ្នា ហើយអូសកកិតដោយអំណាចនៃការខ្ទាតនោះលើថ្នល់ ដោយក្នុងចំណោមបីនាក់នោះ មានម្នាក់នោះបានរអិលដោយផ្អៀងខ្លួនហើយដៃហាក់ដូចជាប្រឹងទប់ រហូតដល់អាចឃើញឡើងរឹងក្រញង់ (ទំនងដូចជាស្លាប់ទៅហើយ) ខណៈដែលម្នាក់ទៀតគាត់បានខ្ទាតយ៉ាងឆ្ងាយពីកណ្តាលទ្រូងផ្លូវដែលប៉ះគ្នានោះ កកិតរហូតមកប៉ះកង់ម៉ូតូកង់បី ដែលខ្ញុំកំពុងជិះនៅសឹងតែអែបគៀនផ្លូវខាងស្តាំទៅហើយ។ ខ្ញុំមិនដឹងថាគាត់ទាំងបីស្លាប់ឬរស់យ៉ាងណាទេ ហើយខ្ញុំក៏មិនចង់រៀបរាប់ថា ខាងណាខុស ខាងណាត្រូវដែរ។ តែមូលហេតុដែលធ្វើឲ្យខ្ញុំលើករឿងនេះមកចែករំលែកនោះ គឺចង់ប្រាប់ថា ពេលដែលព្រឹត្តការណ៍នេះកើតឡើង យើងអាចមានអារម្មណ៍បានថា ជីវិតយើងគឺផុយស្រួយណាស់ ហើយវាពិតប្រាកដណាស់ថា ជាទុក្ខសោកមួយសម្រាប់គ្រួសារដែលពាក់ព័ន្ធ ហើយបើរឿងនោះកើតឡើងចំពោះយើងវិញ នោះទុក្ខសោកគឺដូចគ្នា។

នេះគ្រាន់តែជាឧទាហរណ៍មួយ ហើយខ្ញុំជឿជាក់ថា អ្នកទាំងអស់គ្នាបានតាមដាន និងយល់ពីព្រឹត្តការណ៍ជាច្រើន ហើយបានពិភាក្សា និងរកដំណោះស្រាយដូចគ្នា ដោយលើកពីកាតព្ធកិច្ចរបស់ស្ថាប័ន ឬ អ្នកពាក់ព័ន្ធ តែអ្វីដែលសំខាន់ ហើយខ្ញុំយល់ថា យើងម្នាក់ៗអាចចូលរួមចំណែកបាន ហើយជាសំណូមពរដ៏សាមញ្ញរបស់ខ្ញុំគឹ៖

• នាំគ្នាសិក្សា និងគោរពច្បាប់ចរាចរណ៍ឲ្យបានភ្ជាប់ខ្ជួន (ឧ.មិនមែនទីណាមិនឃើញប៉ូលីស យើងបើកបំពានភ្លើងសញ្ញាចរាចរណ៍នោះឡើយ)

• នាំគ្នាគោរពអាទិភាពអ្នកបើកបរដទៃ និងចេះអត់អោនអធ្យាស្រ័យឲ្យគ្នា (ឧ.ភាគច្រើនដែលបង្កឲ្យមានការស្ទះផ្លូវនៅស្រុកយើង មួយចំណែកធំគឺការបើកបរបំពានផ្លូវអាទិភាពរបស់ខ្លួន ពេលឃើញកកកុញបន្តិច យើងក៏បើកបំពានជែងលើផ្លូវអ្នកដទៃ ដែលធ្វើឲ្យអ្នកដទៃដែលបើកបរផ្លូវផ្ទុយពីយើង គឺមិនអាចបរទៅមុខ ហើយយើងក៏មិនអាចទៅឲ្យហួសពីហ្នឹងដែរ ពោលគឺគាំងទាំងអស់គ្នា ដូច្នេះបើយើងអត់ធន់បន្តិចហើយចាំបន្តិចនោះប្រហែលជាប្រសើរ។ ក្នុងពេលដែលអ្នកណាម្នាក់ខ្លាំងបើកបរជែងយើង ឲ្យលោកអ្នកលឿននោះគាត់ទៅមុនទៅ ព្រោះគាត់ប្រញាប់ ការធ្វើបែបនេះ គឺប្រហែលជាប្រសើរជាងការព្យាយាមយកឈ្នះគ្នា)។

• បើកបរតាមល្បឿនកំណត់ ឬបើអាចសូមកុំបើកបរលឿនបើទោះជាផ្លូវនោះមិនសូវមានមនុស្សកកកុញក៏ដោយ។ ត្រូវតោងយល់ថាការប្រកាន់លឿនមួយសមរម្យអាចជួយឲ្យយើងអាចគ្រប់គ្រងស្ថានភាពបាន ក្នុងពេលដែលមានឧបសគ្គខាងមុខ។
ខ្ញុំសង្ឃឹមថាអ្នកទាំងអស់គ្នា អាចធ្វើបានដើម្បីសុវត្ថិភាពអ្នក និងអ្នកដទៃ ហើយប្រការនេះនឹងធ្វើឲ្យសង្គមយើងមានភាពប្រសើរឡើង។

សូមអរគុណ ដែលបានជូនជាអំណោយតាមរយៈការចំណាយពេលអានសារនេះ៕

សុភាព

Cambodian Women and the Economy

A traditional Khmer saying  “sartrey bangvil cheung kran min chum”, meaning  women cannot do anything besides moving around the kitchen,  seems no longer valid in contemporary Cambodian society, at least to a larger extent.

A quick glance at some figures can show why this is so: around 65 percent of a  total of 505,134 establishments recorded in the 2011 Cambodia Economic Census by the National Institute of Statistics (NIS) are represented by women – are female-headed in other words – while some 60 percent of persons engaged therein are female – equivalent to roughly one million women.

The saying becomes even less applicable when we look at at the employment figures in the textile and garment industry which has been a major growth driver of the Cambodian economy for more than a decade now. Official statistics of the Ministry of Commerce show that around 90 percent of labor in the textile and garment industry in Cambodia is female, equal to almost 304,000 women as of April 2012. This explicitly stresses the significant contribution Cambodian women make to the country’s economic development.

Women traders in a provincial market of Cambodia.Photo by the author (CC BY-ND 2.0)

According to an analysis in the 2007 report “Cambodia’s Garment Industry Post-ATC—Human Development Impact Assessment” of the Economic Institute of Cambodia, every direct job created by the textile and garment industry indirectly creates another job in other sectors – especially in the local trade (in agriculture products, food and clothing) and transportation sectors. Moreover, the textile and garment industries contribute around ten percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) of Cambodia, according to the NIS in its “National Account”. It is partly due to the role played by women that Cambodia has achieved higher growth rate in its GDP than other  countries in the region, especially prior to the economic crisis in late 2008.

All these facts, however, have yet  suceeded in bridging the gender gap in Cambodia. Female employment opportunities in Cambodia are currently highly concentrated in less skilled jobs which are highly vulnerable to external shocks like economic crises. Trade union and media sources report that some 60,000 female workers were laid off in the textile and garment industries when exports of clothing and accessories slumped in 2009. Most media reports state that while some of them decided to return to their homes to work on the land, many of these unemployed women turned to seek employment opportunities in the entertainment/service sectors which have dangerously high exposure to the flesh trade.

Women working in the  local trade sector have also shared a similar fate. Growth in the local trade sector was stunted as it was largely dependent on growth in the textile and garment industries which, as the NIS shows, experienced negative growth of nine percent in 2009.  This had a bad knock-on effect on local trading activities which are mainly handled by women.

To turn to another aspect, national figures show that the Cambodian female literacy rate stood at 64.1 percent in 2010, far below the literacy rate for males of 84.7 percent. This means there were only 66 girls to every 100 boys participating in higher secondary schooling; and only 48 girls to every 100 boys at college/university level. The obvious outcome here is that even before they enter the employment market, Cambodian women are disadvantaged by having fewer, or even lower, skills than their male counterparts.

The fact that women in Cambodia have not yet attained the same level of professional skills as men is critical and an injustice that needs to be remedied. Better education is needed for Cambodian women workers to close the gender gap and make them less vulnerable to the lure of “entertainment” work.

As a woman living in this modern age, I have entitled fundamental rights and even more privilege affirmative actions, which complimentary credit should be handed to the states and other relevant agencies for gender equality and equity, while my female fellows could not enjoy in her traditional age. With figure shown increasing number of women participation in all aspects including political, economic, and social life, comparing to previous decades, we all should applaud this ongoing successful effort.

However, after reading a well-known article by Anne-Marrie Slaughter—a Princeton University professor and the first women to serve as director of policy planning for the U.S. State Department, from 2009 to 2011—who left a position in power, titling “why women still can’t have it all,” which had been released since July 2012, it took me until now to be able to reflect her three half-truths than many women tell about how we can have it all. I shared her view that it is worth to reflect these controversial truths if we do wish for women to have it all and for professional women to be prepared for the stage she would be facing:

Having It All Myth # 1 : “It’s possible if you are just committed enough.”

Slaughter posits that the pressure from “inflexible schedules, unrelenting travel and constant pressure to be in the office,” are commonplace in the highest-level professional positions. She also suggested that “these ‘mundane’ issues-the need to travel constantly to succeed, the conflicts between school schedules and work schedules, the insistence that work be done in the office-cannot be solved by exhortations to close the ambition gap.”

I am not yet a mum myself, but a married woman with somewhat demands a housewife role at some point, which I have never imagined when living separate from my parental home. Although I have learned and committed for better time management as instructed in my first year bachelor degree, I still found it challenging to meet a time balance between my routine civic engagement, blogosphere, and families. My mother used to say to me once during my younger age when I involved much with youth engagement “home is just like a guest-house where I visited only night time while daytime, she could not find me at all.” When I have now tried to balance that family time, I have lost time for social life given the fact that I have to visit them on weekend. Is marriage an obstacle or would it be different if I would not be married? It partly yes and no: It is ‘no’ when it is rather a life choice to make time balance between work, society, and family and it is ‘yes’ as more attachment requires more allocation to each piece of that attached.

Having It All Myth # 2 : “It’s possible if you marry the right person.”

This remind me “The Lady” film which shows how supportive Aung San Suu Kyi’s husband is to support her political affairs. As Slaughter asserts such supportive spouse is necessary, yet it is not sufficient condition to “having it all.” While Slaughter stress much important role of a mother to take care her children and it is worse feeling for a mother being a way of children due to work obligation, I would stress beyond the mother responsibility, but also as a wife or a child of our parent or our closed relatives. Being married to the right person also demand us to take care more that we need to treat him/her the same way. As Slaughter writes: “Why should we want leaders who fall short on personal responsibilities? Perhaps leaders who invested time in their own families would be more keenly aware of the toll their public choices-on issues from war to welfare-take on private lives.”

Having It All Myth # 3 : “It’s possible if you sequence it right.”

Probably this is where I come to point of prioritizing the sequence of life ambition. As Slaughter warns “young women should be wary of the assertion ‘You can have it all; you just can’t have it all at once.’ ” You may choose carefully to sequence career advancement, family planning or getting a lower pressure job while kids are young and then lift up your career profile. Some friends suggested that having kids young is good for us in the future, but I found it similar to what Slaughter warns the challenges with financial means or career successes; while delaying child-bearing can also lead to infertility struggles or age discrimination. She asserts that “Neither sequence is optimal, and both involve trade-offs that men do not have to make.”

By raising these three half-truths about women having it all, Slaughter offers recommendations for structural and societal changes needed to finally give working professionals especially working mother—some hope of achieving work-life balance, such as: 1) changing the culture of face time; 2) revaluing family values; 3) redefining the arc of a successful career; 4) rediscovering the pursuit of happiness; 5) innovation nation; and 6) enlisting men. Find detail of these recommendation in her article.

On top of what she has recommended while giving myself reflection in Cambodian context, I would suggest the following recommendation that should apply internally rather than waiting for external factors:

Recommendation # 1 : “Dare to Dream”

“Women still cannot have it all” if she stop dreaming. My argument, although acknowledging the challenges as mentioned, is to dare to dream. Dreaming is not about to go to bed and dream during our sleeping time, but to plan our ambition.

Recommendation #2 : “Walk your life dream” 

The question, “Can Women Still Have it All?” seems ambitious but useful guide for women to plan a head or start planning now to “have it all.” Daring to dream alone is not enough; it is like you are dreaming in your sleeping time, nothing could not happen if you would not walk that dream out or wait other to hold your hand to walk that dream.

Recommendation # 3 : “Bringing others into your dream”

Family—either parent, husband/wife, or children—work, or what else you could think of as your life balance obstacle to success, I would suggest you to start touring them around your dream, make them understand about you, your personality, and your own dream. Once they understand your own dream, more or less toleration and support they could give lend to you. The challenges that most people including I myself used to face is the communication barrier, which I was not confident or fearful to speak my mind out. However, only when we could break that barrier to communicate our dream with our surrounding, we could get more support than misjudgment that hinder our dream.

In a tourist van, sitting on the first row of left-side, near the window area, your heart and soul would just repeating calling your mother to help due to road condition which was just fit your van’s vehicles and looking down on the hill, you could see dept forest where you could not imagine what would happen if your van would just miss its route. However, only one car was able to move forward; luckily, there was commonality that car arrival is permitted in the morning and car departure route is allowed in the afternoon to avoid the movement dilemma. While fearing about the route, the fresh air flowing through all opened window relieved much stressful moment and it is just so fresh and healthy cold in which no international air-con system could compete, not to mention the current equipped Panasonic in a room I am sitting now. When stopping in the middle of the road, while our van was not about to move due to high hill and everyone was advised to walk a bit to reduce the weight in the van, you could smell the forest flowers and other nature combination in mixed colors. What impressed me the most is the huge tree along the way that I had never ever seen them in my life (it could be 5 or 6 person to be able to round that tree up). Up to the hill, I could view the forest coverage while the cloud was so near to my head and my body was about to freeze due to light-clothes dressing. I was at that time so proud to be a Cambodian where my leaders and nation left me such a great nature legacy.

Today, in early 2013, I revisited Bokor National Park; it was totally new in shape and nature. What I should thank to current development would be road condition which I had not to pray to mother to help like in the past, but somehow, I would wish to see some old structure to be kept so that it give a sense of nature to Bokor condition. Even surprising me the most, the huge trees which I had witnessed are gone. I did not know where they were, whether they were old and death or they are logged. Even worse, the old building in red or green color due to the old condition (under sun and rain for long), has been renovated into new and concrete color. It was a sad moment to see such beautiful heritage has been changed in shaped, similar to other buildings or structure, like the well-known Angkor Wat, which the restoration work by the Indian archeologists and engineers in removing the vegetation surrounding the temple had been controversial of either being restored to a lost glory or is being irreversibly damaged.

The disappearance of enriched nature combination that I have witnessed in past 10 years ago and later concerned with the development plan back in 2008 has been taken placed and I do hope the development makers would balance its further strategy to environment and natural preservation. Development that fails to take care its environment and the legacy for next generation is not a sustainable development itself.

Note: I could found a useful blog by Constructing Cambodia who has observed and shared great photo of old and new Bokor Mountain.

While reviewing my past, especially the resolution note in 2010�my first ever resolution note�Akon�s lyric is still relevant and I still want to borrow this sentiment to express my feeling for now.

• I have learned more and more about responsibility from my late grandfather who left a great lesson that I coined a quote for him��I have fulfilled my responsibility� ~Sean Chak (unknown-24 December 2011:8pm).

24 December 2012, my parents together with all relatives organized a one-year memorial ceremony for my late grandfather in a form of Sangkatean�a Buddhist ceremony routine. Once all arrangement were offered to my grandmother before then transferring to the monks while all her children pay respect to her at the same time, a moment of exciting she had which I could feel of her as she changed her tone [like crying] and I could understand clearly that she was happy to have family reunion with all her children and grandchildren while she was also missing my late grandfather who often stayed with her while their children offered them gift�a Khmer tradition to give parents gift ranging from money, fruits, food and so on during home visits. I then realized how reward parents would be proud when they could see their raising children grown up with pride and integrity. My grandfather�s quote �I have fulfilled my responsibility� does reflect the value from both side of the parents and children and I believe this would apply in every aspect of life ranging from individual�s working responsibility to country leadership.

• Life exposure in 2012 remarkably taught me to learn to forgive. Martin Luther King once said �forgiveness is not an occasional act; it is a permanent attitude.�

A recent article I had read giving me much insight about way to forgive which I would like to cite them here: �Sometimes we need to forgive without reconciliation: forgiving for the mere purpose of forgiving. Certainly, what we strive for is to reconcile all conflicts, clear the air, and understand one another. But there are times this is impossible – with a parent who has passed away, with someone who has wronged you and is long gone, with someone who is unwilling to communicate. These are the times we must dip deep into our own souls and see if we are willing to forgive anyway.�

With these two major reflection of life�s lesson-learned, my ongoing resolution for upcoming New Year, 2013, would be:

• To fulfill my responsibility with things I have to fulfill as a daughter, sister, wife, and associates whom I have received with great love and care from them. Last but not least my responsibility as a Cambodian citizen.

My favorite photo collection of the year 2012:

sopheapfocus.com on tuk tuk during BlogFest Asia 2012 in Siem Reap, Cambodia (November 2012)

A Clogher with free the bee campaign! Free Mam Sonando. (Oct 2012)

Sopheapfocus.com, a Cambodian Internet Freedom Fellow, together with Voice of America (VOA)’s Staff at its US headquarter in June 2012.

Internet Freedom Fellows Press Conference at UN (June 2012), Photo taken from US Mission to the UN.

I am Chut Wutty! during Community Gathering to Mourn Chut Wutty in Koh Kong May 10-13, 2012.

My own favorite blogpost of the year 2012:

Why wait to be hired? Start your own business

Cambodia Mourns the Death of King Father Norodom Sihanouk

The dream of a greener and healthier capital for Cambodia

Women�s Rights in Cambodia: breaking up with old traditions

I �think the difference has �started to emerge now in Cambodia between the way our parents think and the way I �and my peers think about employment and �making money. The older generation prefer a regular and safe job which gives them a fixed income, but this seems to have gone out of fashion with young people who would like to start their own businesses. This younger generation has taken on entrepreneurial ambition and does not want to wait to be hired.

While studying for our Bachelors program seven years ago, my friends and I used to talk about what we�d do after graduation. While some of us intended to continue with their Masters degree, others wanted to enter the world of business right away. Although we might have had a difference in approach at that time, we somehow wanted to end up on the same path � which is to have �our own businesses after a certain period of working for companies or non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

Now in 2012, our old plan for the future has materialized into reality. Some of my friends who keep in touch with me have now set up their own businesses in the Small and Medium Enterprise(SME) sector. These cover a broad spectrum of activities ranging from manufacturing to services, such as brick production, shoe-making, IT services, training and coaching services, socio-economic research and survey services, translation services, and restaurant services, etc. The service sector appears to be the most convenient for startups as it only requires light startup capital and offers an easy exit. Meanwhile, some of my other friends are still working for companies and NGOs, yet still nurture� strong ambitions about departing the world of salaried work and �running their own business.

The entrepreneurial ambition seems even more prevalent among �the generation who are younger than me. As the Cambodian economy has shown remarkable growth in recent years, these younger people are� much more materialistic and would like to get rich quick. Some of this new generation of internet-savvy digital natives have even started up in business while still at university with the online selling of clothes, cosmetics and second hand products like computers and phones.

Such a difference of thought on the employment front between the older and younger generations in Cambodia has not happened by chance. It has actually occurred because of continual growth in the economy along with regional and global integration. It has also brought about �a change in the gender focus where women now also take the lead in entrepreneurship.

The first informal gathering of the Cambodian Women in Business Network organized on 3rd June 2011 when about 40 network participants including the author showed up to discuss the role of Facebook in facilitating their various businesses. Photo by Jerry Thai(CC BY-ND 2.0)

While the integration of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in 2015 is viewed by some analysts as a challenge for Cambodian youth� given its limited number of high quality human resources and high competition, it is also a great opportunity for young people in Cambodia to explore beyond the borders of their country, allowing them to get new ideas and see innovations which can be beneficial for the country in the future.

Moreover, it is crucial that this divergence of views and the context of regional and global integration be turned into an asset for the country. To do this, a proper social system should be installed by the Cambodian government which should include a� clear educational policy, affordable and adequate access to information, and support for small and medium-sized enterprise. The youth of Cambodia is dynamic, enthusiastic and keen to play a meaningful role in society and develop their country�and it is essential that they are provided with the right tools to do so and are well prepared for whatever future �opportunities arrive.

However, a great privilege for me to gain and this has been strongly convinced a worth time for me in this role was the fact that I could work closely with young volunteers whose passion with initiative, talent with pride, energy with a sense of humor has filled with hope and put a smile on my face all the time [probably some who met me during the BlogFest may not notice my smile, but I had a hidden smile in my heart if this may have not explicitly shown publicly].

Passion with initiative: I have been inspired in the way that young volunteers had invested their time in arranging and providing their service accordingly to their assigned role ranging from registration, minute taken, social media, and logistic arrangement [it shall be noted that once should talk with our logistic volunteer who had smartly managed his role perfectly while he only sit still at the desk].

They did not wait to follow instruction, but they initiated the way they would handle their role. A young man came to me and another organizer who managed the list of participants for registration, after the pre-event arrangement meeting, asking for the update list of participants in soft copy so that he can make an order in the list in his own way to smooth out the registration process.

Talent with pride: Not only great passion and initiative in work, these young volunteers have not been shy away in showing their potential talent [which I had to admit that I had to push through myself many time, when I was in the same age like them, in order to stand up to show my hidden talent if I may had].

I was mute when a 15-year-old man came to me while I was moderating the MC stage during a dinner gathering of roughly 200 people including Asian and Westerners and only after few foreign participants showed their guitar and music skills, he said: �Sister, I will play guitar and sing a song called, Tear of a Gangster Child. I have to be proud to show Khmer�s talent in this international stage too.�

I thought he just make a joke with me, but he did it and I was listening with sense of pride. I miss the record during that day, but later I capture this one during our working break:

�

Energy with sense of humor: Regardless how busy and tiring days we had, these young never complaint that this was a tiring day for them, yet they even could manage to play hard after the each day of the event. Pub-street, a well-known nighttime gathering for local and international tourist in Siem Reap where full of club and restaurants, was filled up by most of BlogFest Asia 2012 participants including our volunteers throughout the days of event. I spent the last night of the event with these young. I could not imagine how to have fun with my �sex on the beach��a favorite cocktail I always order�without them, while they shared me a lesson to laugh with drinking. A code among few volunteers who I interacted with most often is a laughing code when counting �1, 2, 3��

It shall be noted that this was not the first time for them to volunteer in such event, their face are familiar with many event organization and support including a known blog gathering Barcamp. Wonder who they are, check their bio here.

I must admit that I am inspired to write this post in a personal writing style that I rarely did because of the memorization of their passion with initiative, talent with pride, energy with a sense of humor and I owed them with a thank note to fill up my smile for nearly-end of 2012 and some reflection for my 2013 resolution. Stay-tune next with my resolution blogpost.

I could express that I am a type of person who hardly believe in such superstitious or magic things or event that is explained beyond the scientific proof. Taking for example, I never believe in fortune teller or the picking day that suits for an event recommended by fortune teller. I would not care of when suits best for my marriage, one of the important days in my life chapter, if it was not demanded by the old as recommended by the fortune teller or great superstitious monks.

However, during the mourning of the late King Father, Norodom Sihanouk, who died on October 15, 2012, a number of miracle happened leading to controversy between those who believe and do not. Some who believe in such thing continued to express their surprise while those who do not tried to suggest for the end of such irrational sharing or thinking or they posited that this was just an illusion mixing our deep thought and regret on the loss of our late King Father. Some even go beyond to claim that those who continue to share such miracle thought unintentionally affect our country reputation and put shame on the late King Father as such irrational act indicating that Cambodians are not well advanced in this modern globalization.

Whatever controversy might be, I could not reject those miracle event as I witnessed my own eyes and one may suggest that it is because my feeling was mixed up with regret or concentration on the recent news of the King’s death. However, how can the rest of population beyond myself would see the same thing or how can our feeling be mixed up at the same time? How can a thing we see through our both eye be an illusion while many could see the same?

Anyway, I would not defend the miracle which I could not see by myself, but let me share the miracle where the cloud appeared as the image of a Royal Lion (animals which are the coat of arms appeared on the Royal Flag of the Kingdom of Cambodia), that I had seen when I was waiting in line together with other Cambodian population for the return of the late King Father’s body on the October 17th and the image just appeared when we was told that the airplane taking our late King Father landed in Cambodia.

Amazing day with a cloud appearance as the Royal Lion of the Royal Flag while the King body was being escorted slowly out of airport on October 17th 2012 around 04.30pm. Photo taken by the Author.

Royal Flag of the Kingdom of Cambodia, photo taken by the Author.

Then, 4 days later on October 21 2012, around 8 p.m, another miracle happened where almost population saw the portrait of the late King Father in the moon. At first, I laughed when hearing my relative informed about this news and urged me to see the moon. Then I did try to go to the top roof to check this out. Suddenly, what is sparkling my wonder was the fact that the moon seemed not stable, as its light repeatably appeared narrow and large for a while and then I did see somewhat blur; yet identifiable as the late King Father portrait. Unfortunately, since it was dark and it is so far to capture the moon’s photo, I could not show this as evidence itself.

Anyway, these two miracle as I witnessed myself did exist in my life time-span and this inspired me to write this post to keep as a record for next generation who may wonder on the controversy surrounding the miracle during the mourning of our late King Father, Norodom Sihanouk. Believe it or not, it is one’s rights! Whatever explanation maybe on this miracle, may this show a sign of peace, prosperity and great Kingdom of Cambodia.

A post which I devoted for this legacy and expression by his netizen available at Cambodia Mourns the Death of King Father Norodom Sihanouk, published on Global Voice Online via http://t.co/clv7zMO4 .

Transformation Thinkers Conference: Lessons Learned

The�Berlin Wall and�ThePianist (2002), a biographical war drama film were� my primary sources of information about Germany since 2003, derived� from my bachelors study in International Relations- war and genocide being my points of reference.

This time my trip to the Transformation Thinkers Conference in Berlin, organized by the Berteslsmann Stiftung and the German development agency�Deutsche Gesellschaftf�r Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) from 2 to 8 September 2012 reminded me of my �own experience of the reference points. Most foreigners I met outside or inside Cambodia(when I mentioned my country) would point to the�Killing Field or Khmer Rouge Regime-a �Holocaust experience.

Exposure� to Germany once the conference was over, goes beyond this memory. The journey ran from the term �transformation� �to the �democracy� doctrine with the controversial debate of whether democracy really is the best theory to impose on any nation once the Transformation Index BTI 2012 was introduced.

Presention of one of indicatorsthe of Transformation Index BTI 2012 at the Transformation Thinkers Conference, Photo by the author (CC BY-ND 2.0).

Transformation in this sense is seen as an influential tool for thinkers and �invited guest speakers (some of who are former Prime Ministers or key diplomats), to reflect on past experiences and what could have been done better.�This is one of the �reasons why the Transformation Index was launched as a lesson learned from �three key transformation processes: political transformation, economic transformation, and transformation management.

Trasformation Management part of the BTI Index 2012" width="335" height="558" />

Dr. Hauke Hartmann of the Bertelsmann-Stiftung presented the Trasformation Management part of the BTI Index 2012, Photo by the author (CC BY-ND 2.0).

Political and Economic Transformation of BTI 2012, presented at the Transformation Thinkers Conference, Photo by the author (CC BY-ND 2.0).

There were many questions raised by Transformation Thinkers 2012 on the index methodology, ranging from leading questions of the index. For example the indicator of statelessness covering the monopoly on the use of force, state identity, no interference of religious dogmas and basic administration�to the credibility and neutrality of the �country which was responsible for analyzing and measuring each indicator of the index. Since most indicators seemingly posit on benchmarks of democracy, rating� authoritarian regimes is questionable. Thus the index apparently is seen as�a paradox, where democracy is the value that everyone should adopt, similar to the way the�UN adopted the Democracy Day, held every�15th September, asserting that democracy is a universal value.

This index was a controversial �subject among the Transformation Thinkers 2012 participants coming from diverse regions. But it was well fitted for �its purpose- as a shared transformation management recommendation, where each nation reflects its economic and political processes so that �better country management and leadership can be established. Simply put, for example, the Arab Spring case was picked up as a lesson learned, through a panel discussion, reflecting one year later, on how the country management has been transformed.

The Arab Spring Revisit Session reflected on lessons, challenges and regional respercussions, Key input by Prof. Wolfgang Merkel, Comparative Political Science and Democracy Research. Photo by the author (CC BY-ND 2.0).

Besides the useful insight on the Transformation Index and democracy dialogue, this confernce offered me a unique workshop experience, given its format and venue set up. The new approach of how to get participants better acquaintedy by mapping out participants based �on the regions they belonged �to with a specific note of what defines oneself was interesting. Also, each participant could take back lessons learned on the establishment and maintenance of social organizations�the �what� and �how� of political management, political goals and the capability to implement them�by playing a simulation game called simulation society (SIMSOC). An interesting reflection from this game was the reality of how society is functioning in the real world where proper communication and shared values are key elements in shaping society as we envision it. Additionally, the key lesson �to be avoided from this game was self-assumption, which may somehow lead to misinterpretation of �other individuals or the community�s behavior, ultimately resulting in conflict.

The Regional Map of Transformation Thinkers Participants 2012. Photo by the author (CC BY-ND 2.0).

The Map of Transformation Thinkers 2012 at the Transformation Thinkers Conference in Berlin, Germany. Photo by the author (CC BY-ND 2.0).

Getting to know one another at the Open Space at the Transformation Thinkers Conference 2012. Photo by the author (CC BY-ND 2.0).

Attending this conference, inspired some participants �to localize the transformation dynamic so that its importance as reflected in the Index could be exchanged and discussed further� in the local context. If this is can be localized and made to inspire people, it somehow will not only raise local people�s awareness but also encourage more participation from informed citizens in democratic processes.