Donor Macneice

IT IS JUST MY OPINION

2014-09-24T21:43:00.001-07:00

Today - September 24th - is the third and final day of the Buddhist Pchhum Ben Festival. As it started on a Monday this year it meant that the people had the benefit of the weekend as well. During this holiday time amost everyone - including my goodly partner - headed off to their hometowns in the Provinces. The result is that the city of Phnom Penh has been almost deserted for five days and I am what would be described as "home alone".

I enjoy the peace and quiet and especially the fact that during this time there is very little traffic around and it is actually possible to walk across any street without thinking that one might well come face-to-face with the Good Lord before you get to the other side. Restaurants and businesses are closed and even the often aggressive tuk-tuk drivers have vanished from the scene all much to the puzzlement of any visitors who happen to be here during this time.

As for me - being home alone gives me time to do things that I have left undone for a while. However it also allows me far too much time to sit in front of the television and watch programmes I would never otherwise watch, including the non-stop depressing world news that is brought to us these days. This includes what I consider as the somewhat aggressive reporting by many CNN reporters (with the exception of Mrs. Christiane Amanpour) who seem to think they know everything on every subject and the endless parade of "specialists" and "analysts" who say they do know everything.

This week we have been treated to nonstop coverage of the air attacks in Syria and Iraq. I have no problem with that. However there are a few things that bother me and I say again this is just my humble opinion with which many may disagree and that is fine.

If one is about to conduct an offensive against an enemy, I don't understand why one would publicly announce and even discuss the where, when and how of the event. Nor can I see why it is necessary to announce with very detailed explanations what particular weapons will be used - even giving precise details of the aircraft to be used and their capabilities. To me this seems a strange tactic not to mention dangerous as well. Yet not just Mr. Obama, his Secretary of State as well as his Secretary of Defence, but it seems almost every Army, Navy and Air Force general both retired or otherwise are having a ball giving out all possible details on national television several times a day. Should not these detailed matters not be kept secret apart from saying "we are taking action"? Why has everyone got to know everything?

Is it any wonder it has now been reported that many ISIS fighters had evacuated some of the targeted places ahead of the attacks? I don't recall either Sir Winston Churchill or General Dwight Eisenhower announcing to the world - and they did have radio then if not television - exactly where, when and how the D-Day landings would take place. Had they done so I imagine there might have been a very different ending to World War II. Something to think about!

To me another worrying factor is why the networks spend so much time interviewing so-called analysts and specialists who seem to enjoy telling the world that "we are in imminent danger of an attack" and that American civil aircraft are being targeted by the new Korosan group that was never mentioned before. Is there really a need to scare people like this when so many people are today scared of almost everything anyway? Scaring people like this is just what these terrorists want to happen, so I would appeal to the media - who probably won't listen - to stop these scary interviews and discussions.

I won't stop flying and I am not scared. I have been in four air disasters in my life - one with my unflappable mother who calmly told me to "finish your dinner - as we are landing in the water it may be a long time before we eat again". Those things didn't stop either me or my mother from flying again. I have been in enough war zones and seen enough killings first hand but it hasn't stopped me travelling. However not everyone is like me - which probably is a good thing.

As I said, these are just my opinions as I watch things unfurling. Maybe those in high places have their reasons for disclosing everything before the event but my humble mind can't see the reason or understand why they do it. Nevertheless, I do wish all this public discussion on the how, where and when plus the never ending speeches of the scare mongering analysts and specialists will stop.

THERE IS AWAYS SOME GOOD NEWS

2014-09-15T20:09:00.000-07:00

This is my first blog for several months and I would like to start by thanking all the people who have written to me - many of whom I don't know and who live in countries I have never visited - asking why I had stopped writing. The reasons are many but mainly because during some floods here my laptop ended up in 18-inches of water and needless to say drowned quite dead. Being the great procrastinator that I am, it was some time before I got around to buying a new one. But now I am back on line again and can bore people with my writings once more. Having said all of the above, even if I'd had my laptop, there has been so much going on in the world that I would not know where to start.

We are at the end of the summer of 2014 now. Few could deny the fact that it has not been the best of summers and I am not talking about the weather. That is always unpredictable wherever you are. I am referring to the horrific, frightening and sad things that have been happening in so many places and that have brought the world once more to the brink of war. So many commentators and analysts have spent the summer daily analyzing the situation that it is not for me to make more than a passing mention of them.

In no special order, we have seen the horrific and heinous acts of the militant group ISIS. We have seen all too graphically on the television their brutal killings of captured Iraqi soldiers, the horrendous murders of (to date) three hostages - two American and one British - as well as their many other atrocities including their destruction of centuries old holy places. There is the never-ending war in Syria as well as the fighting in the Ukraine, plus the seemingly almost genocidal action of Israel against the Palestinians. So the list goes on and on and on and the media have a blast reporting all the gory details for our benefit.

However, there has been one piece of very good news amongst all the bad, but which has been ignored by most of the media. What a pity good news is not considered interesting!

Ever since I came to live here in Cambodia some eight years ago, I have constantly in both my writings and speeches praised the people and the country as being special. Unfortunately it is a country that is seldom thought of by most of the western and/or powerful countries and what a shame that is! We may be a small country and we may be a poor country but it should be recognized that it is a country that moves forward.

In the last 30+ years Cambodia suffered through the genocidal regime of the Khmer Rouge when some 2-million of its people were killed or starved to death. This was followed by the incredibly harsh bombing by America during the Vietnam war, occupation by Vietnam and finally civil war. That is quite enough to depress any country big or small, but Cambodians are a strong people and they rebound. The country now has one of the strongest economies in South East Asia and it is growing fast.

After all these events came the heavy-handed rule of the Prime Minister - Mr. Hun Sen - who was installed by the Vietnamese and who managed to put fear into any who opposed him.With a new generation of University educated young people eligible to vote in the last General Election in July 2013, the ruling party of the Prime Minister (CPP) suffered a huge defeat losing many seats to the Opposition party (CNRP). However the all-powerful Prime Minister ordered the National Election Committee to alter the results in certain areas to show that he at least had a small majority. The result of that were demonstrations by the opposition all over the country for almost a year. Foreign pundits predicted another civil war. The two parties met maybe just two times and never spoke again. It was not a good situation and the Opposition refused to take their seats in the National Assembly.

However, the Cambodian people had learned a lesson from their previous history - fighting whether verbal or physical and violence get you nowhere. Talking and compromise do.

There was much "behind-the-scenes"talk by various people - no less the unofficial quiet diplomacy of His Majesty the King and Her Majesty the Queen Mother. It was Their Majesties' gracious act in invited the leading officials of both parties to the religious rite for the internment of the ashes of the late King Norodom Sihanouk that finally brought the parties together. At the ceremony the two parties were seated together. At such an event you cannot just ignore the person sitting next to you for a couple of hours. As a result, the following week the leaders of the parties sat down with His Majesty at the Royal Palace and sorted out their differences. A few days later the Opposition members were sworn in by His Majesty and took their seats in the National Assembly. We now have a stable government that is working as never before.

The Prime Minister came to understand that change could not be ignored. He has clamped down corruption which was rife. The demand for higher wages by the thousands of garment workers is being addressed. Thousands of acres of agricultural and forest land that had been grabbed by foreign companies and some corrupt wealthy Cambodians has been taken back and is being returned to the local people.

However, not everything can be fixed in a matter of weeks. It takes time, but I am proud of the way the country has come together and is progressing. I am proud of those in authority who decided that it would be better to talk face to face rather than argue through the media. I am proud of the efforts of Their Majesties on behalf of their people. No wonder they are popular. I am just sorry that these achievements of this small country have not been recognized around the world.

NOT JUST A WEAPON OF WAR!

2014-06-14T03:51:00.001-07:00

It always amazes me how bad or tragic news always hits the headlines and stays there for days on end, whereas good news is relegated to maybe just one little mention but once or twice. I think it must be because horrors and dramas, plus reports about people who really have done nothing of importance in life except happen to have money, carry a fascination for people these days - quite apart from the fact that headlines on these things sell the papers and advertising space on the radio and television. I wonder really of what is the importance of four days of headline news that tell us that someone called Kim Kardashian (who is she anyway and what has she done?) suddenly changed the venue of her wedding from Paris to Italy, that she flew to Italy in a privately chartered jet from Paris and that she and her fiancee spent over $400,000 just to rent the castle where the wedding was held.!! Let's get real! Is all that really worthy of four days of headline news? I don't think so.

Then there is the "flip" side of the news that was barely mentioned other than two short articles on the first and fourth day - the closing day. I am talking about the "Global Summit To End Sexual Violence in Conflict" that was held in London and ended just yesterday (Friday). That was an extraordinarily important event that was organized by the British Foreign Secretary, Mr. William Hague and the actress Miss Angelina Jolie. Apart from the BBC giving it full coverage and Miss Christiane Amanpour doing an excellent joint interview with Miss Jolie and Mr. Hague , the other media outlets - including the rest of CNN - and sources almost ignored it.

This 4-day summit in London really was an historic occasion. It is almost three years since Mr. Hague and Miss Jolie got together and produced what was called "The Declaration of Commitment to End Sexual Violence in Conflict" and in that length of time they succeeded in getting 141 countries to sign on. What an achievement! Church Leaders, Heads of State, Diplomats, Politicians as well as survivors of rape converged on London for the occasion from all over the world. What a tremendous achievement, and this morning I was so pleased to see that Miss Jolie's efforts in this matter have been rewarded by Queen Elizabeth making her an Honorary Dame Commander of the British Empire.

The world has got to stop and take notice of what has been going on. So often people put down these things as something that happens in Third World countries, but as Miss Jolie and Mr. Hague so forcefully pointed out it happens everywhere - they saw it first hand in Bosnia and Serbia - countries not regarded as Third World. Education on the subject is the only thing that will stop future soldiers from doing this and bringing to justice those responsible for these atrocities is also a "must".

However the whole question of violence against women cannot stop just in the area of sexual abuse as a weapon of war, bad as that is. It is seldom mentioned - and it is certainly not generally talked about that 1 in 8 women in the United States are sexually abused and/or have violence used against them In Australia the figure is 1 in 6. I do not have the figures for the United Kingdom or the rest of Europe, but it goes on there as well, and in this otherwise beautiful country of Cambodia, violence against women whether sexual or otherwise is prevalent.

The whole subject that violence of any kind against women is totally wrong, is a very difficult subject to deal with for the simple reason people don't like to discuss it. If someone has been through it, then they feel ashamed and are embarrassed to mention it. In my days as a parish priest in London, mainland U.S.A. and Hawaii I came across many cases of where women stayed with abusive husbands or partners only because they were ashamed to tell people or to admit what was going on. In some countries women are stigmatized, banished and regarded as outcasts if they have been raped and in some Middle East and African countries they can be tried as criminals and adulterers.

Every Monday evening I watch a programme on ABC - Australian Broadcasting Corporation from Sydney. The programme is called "Q & A"- Question and Answer - during which members of the audience ask questions of the panel which is always comprised of well-known politicians, authors, actors or whomever. Just two weeks ago the subject of violence in general came up and a well-known Australian journalist and critic surprised everyone by saying that she had been the subject of violence and rape, but she was not going to keep quiet about it. She said she did not feel herself as a victim, but rather as a survivor and as such it was her duty to speak out. A difficult attitude to take, but a right one nevertheless.

As Miss Jolie pointed out in her closing speech at the London Summit, sexual violence is not just a weapon of war - although the practice of that is decidedly prevelant has to be stopped - but it happens in all walks of life. India has been rocked by horrific violence against women in the last couple of weeks. Two teenage girls were raped and then hanged from a mango tree in their village. Since then two other women in Utar Pradesh State have also suffered the same fate. Another young woman was stoned to death outside of a Court House because she had married the man of her choice, and the police - who since have been arrested fortunately, stood by and did nothing.

Both Miss Jolie and Mr. Hague said that every person can do something about it if only by speaking out against violence at every opportunity. Every voice counts, and people should know that they need not be ashamed if they have been the subject of violence. Asked by Miss Christiane Amanpour how else she was going to fight violence, Miss Jolie replied that she was taking up the subject of sexual violence in the U.S. armed forces. That will be an uphill struggle for her as the Pentagon is firm in its many statements that there is very little of that going on. Look and listen again, I say to them.

I congratulate both Mr. Hague and Miss Jolie for their initiative in tackling the very important subject in such a forthright manner, and I further congratulate Miss Jolie in receiving from Queen Elizabeth the honour of being made an Honorary Dame Commander of the British Empire. Because she is not a British citizen, she cannot officially be called "Dame Angelina Jolie" but nevertheless it is an honour well deserved.

This is a subject that should never be forgotten or overshadowed by some so-called TV starlet's wedding. This is an extremely serious matter with which the world has to deal and deal with now.

FOUR TIMES IN TEN DAYS?

2014-06-12T01:42:00.000-07:00

When Mr. Larry King finished his well-liked TV show "Larry King Live" on CNN maybe two years ago, he was succeeded in a new but somewhat similar programme hosted by Mr. Piers Morgan. Mr. Morgan had previously been - among other things - Editor of the English tabloid newspaper, "The News of the World". I was never really a fan of Mr. Morgan's programme because I always felt he talked too much and vented his own views rather than listening to those of the person he was interviewing. However, be that as it may, one thing I will always admire about him is the fact that he was never silent or withdrawing in his views about the liberal way guns are treated in the U.S. As a result of this, it is no secret that Mr. Morgan's contract with CNN was not renewed earlier this year due to heavy pressure from organizations like the National Rifle Association.

During the past ten days there have been four deadly shooting sprees in the United States. I just wait to see where the next one will be - no doubt next week somewhere - and what is being done about these events? Absolutely nothing at all except that they are wonderful photo opportunities for politicians in Washington - even the President - who rush to the nearest camera and microphone and with long faces say "My prayers and thoughts are with the victims and their families and loved ones". Well, of course they are, but that doesn't solve anything. They might as well just make a recording of those words and then just press a button and play it again when the next shooting takes place. I am in no doubt of the fact that I shall probably have many harsh emails as a result of writing this, but we have to be practical and understand exactly what is what if anything is to be done to stop these. One thing is painfully obvious, those in the National Rifle Association who so vehemently canvass for guns and weapons of all kinds to be available to all, are noticeably silent when these shootings take place. Not even an word of condolence to those affected. So we have to look at everything very carefully to understand the situations.

The wording of the much quoted Second Amendment is very clear. "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear shall not be infringed." I have no problem with those words, but it doesn't require a person to have a degree from the Harvard Law School to know that the United States does already have a "well regulated militia" for "the security of the state". This was a fact recognized until fairly recently and it is only since 1977 when there was what was virtually a coup d'etat at the Annual Convention of the National Rifle Association which brought in a group of ultra political conservatives to power. This new group pushed for a what was then a novel interpretation of the Second Amendment - one that gave individuals, not just the militia - the right to bear arms. It was then an uphill battle for them and at first they were scorned, and Chief Justice Warren Burger - who was certainly no liberal by anyone's standards - mocked this individual rights theory as "a fraud". But the NRA kept pushing and in 1980 it received a tremendous boost by the election of Mr. Ronald Reagan as President, as it brought a guns right enthusiast to the White House.

It didn't stop there. Mr. Orrin Hatch, the Senator from Utah as Chairman of a subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee did a report that claimed to find "clear and long-lost proof that the Second Amendment was intended as an individual right of an American citizen to keep and carry arms in a peaceful manner for the protection of himself, his family and his freedom," and as a result this theory was just absorbed into the law even though the "clear and long-lost" proof was never stated.

However, in a famous court case of "The District of Columbia vs. Heller" in 2008, the Supreme Court upheld the individual rights theory but in writing his opinion, Justice Antonin Scalia said that the District of Columbia could not ban handguns because "they are the most popular weapon chosen by Americans for self protection in the home, and a complete prohibition of their use is invalid." Alright - here we come to a most important and almost always ignored point. Following Justice Scalia's opinion, the government cannot ban hand guns but it can ban other weapons. How interesting.

All of the above may be long-winded, but I think it shows some points that are not generally known. I would ask why does the National Rifle Association want to see the ordinary people going around carrying AK-47 rifles? The NRA has never decried any of the shootings where these weapons have been used. How can they say that the present system of "vetting" a person buying a weapon is good, when the young man who shot up the students in Seattle was known to be mentally disturbed - his parents had already warned the police about him - and had five guns all legally bought and licensed to him personally? Something is surely amiss here.

I am sure little will be done to stop these shooting sprees, especially this year when there is a half term election coming up in October. Those standing for election are only too anxious to hold on to their positions by not upsetting the NRA people so that they can benefit from their large contributions. So what will happen? More people will be shot dead and more politicians will just rush to the microphones and cameras to say "Our prayers and thoughts..........."

In a much publicized and somewhat pompous speech at West Point Military Academy a few weeks ago, Mr. Obama said that the world "looks to America as a leader". He was right - the world looks to America as the leader in shooting rampages, as the leader where its politicians are willing to bow to pressure rather than care for the well-being and safety of its students in the universities around the country.

What a shame that is!

CRUEL AND UNUSUAL PUNISHMENT OR WHAT?

2014-04-30T03:34:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted a blog since January! I was so surprised when I realized that, as it is not like me to keep silent for so long. On the other hand I can see no sense in writing just for the sake of writing. That only produces something boring that no one will read. I wait until I see something that really "hits" me so hard that I feel I have to say something.

A few things have surfaced this past week that have made me think, but none so much as that which I came across today. So for now I will just concentrate on this one subject and perhaps deal with the others later on.

Not just me - but my entire family going way back to my Grandmother's time - have been against capital punishment under any circumstance whatsoever. I am glad to say that capital punishment in Ireland was stopped the beginning of the last century, and here in this beautiful country of Cambodia, there is also no capital punishment which may surprise many people. But this is a civilized country and killing someone just because they committed a crime is not on the table. A long prison sentence is given instead.

Unfortunately in the U.S. - which considers itself to be foremost among countries where democracy, civil rights and such things are concerned is fast slipping down the rungs of the ladder in these matters.

In 2001 I wrote an article in the Honolulu Advertiser (which article can still be found on Google and still receives a lot of attention, much to my surprise) just before the execution of Timothy McVeigh for carrying out the Oklahoma bombing. I wrote that article because certain TV companies were intending to televise the execution and broadcast it nationwide with the initial permission of the Federal authorities. I asked in that article if the United States was becoming a nation like the people of the French Revolution and those involved in the burning of the so-called witches in days gone by who reveled in such spectacles, or the early Romans who enjoyed nothing better than to see people being thrown to the lions. It is horrifying even to think of it. As a priest of the Episcopal Church I queried why none of the Bishops or clergy of the Church spoke out against the horror of a televised execution immediately, but apart from the then Presiding Bishop -The Right Reverend Frank Griswold - none did. It was so sad then to think that none of them were willing or brave enough to speak out.

Now I ask the same thing - why don't the leaders of the churches speak out against what is most definitely "cruel and unusual punishment".

This matter in particular concerns the State of Oklahoma.

Two men - Mr. Clayton Lockett and Mr. Charles Warner - had been sentenced to death a few years ago for murders they had committed. Both were scheduled to be executed in April - I believe it was the 17th, but I am not too sure about that. However both men were involved in a court fight concerning the drugs to be used in their execution. They wanted to know exactly what the drugs were and where they were obtained in view of the fact that the Danish firm that used to supply the execution drugs now refused to do so. They challenged the State Department of Corrections' unwillingness to divulge the drugs that would be used in their executions. The Oklahoma High Court initially issued a stay of their executions only to lift those stays last week in a ruling that the two men had no right to know the source of the drugs intended to kill them. The result was that their executions were rescheduled for this week.

Regardless of the crime a person may have committed (and these days many people have been found to be not guilty of the crime for which they were sentenced to death thanks to DNA) to have your execution date set, then withdrawn a matter of hours before it takes place and then have it rescheduled once more and maybe rescheduled again, has to be nothing less than a traumatic experience. But in the cases of Mr. Lockett and Mr. Warner, there is a great deal more to be taken in to consideration.

Mr. Lockett's execution was set for early in the afternoon and that of Mr. Warner was to follow (in exactly the same execution room) a mere two hours later. However things did not work out as planned. Mr. Lockett's execution was totally "botched" for want of a better word, had to be stopped and he actually died of a massive heart attack.

The first drug to be administered - Midozalam - is supposed to render the person totally unconscious immediately. However, seven minutes later Mr. Lockett was still conscious and after sixteen minutes he tried to get up and it is reported that he tried to talk saying "Man". Mr. Locket apparently lifted his head before prison officials lowered the blinds so that those observers present could not see what was going on.

The Oklahoma Department of Corrections Director, Mr. Robert Patton said that Mr. Locket was subsequently sedated (after he suffered a heart attack from the procedure!) and "then was given the second and third drugs in protocol" This "protocol" includes the Midazolam which is supposed to cause unconsciousness, Vecuronium Bromide which stops respiration and then Potassium Chloride which is meant to stop the heart.

Mr. Patton then said the second execution scheduled for two hours later must not take place - at least for now. The State Governor said she would call for a full inquiry.

Be that as it may - I just cannot comprehend how a State that calls itself a Christian State - or even a civilized State - can treat human beings like that regardless of what they might have done. While all the court cases regarding the drugs to be used for executions were going on, why was there no protestation or outcry from the church and civic leaders about the matter - or anyone else for that matter?

To me it is nothing less than "cruel and unusual - and I would add uncivilized - punishment" to put anyone through all of that regardless of their crime. It is a very sad reflection that the church leaders as well as the so-called respectable politicians do not say and do something to see this could never happen again. They should also put an end to all executions which are nothing less than barbaric, as has happened in most of the civilized countries of the world.

A SAD STATE OF AFFAIRS.......

2014-01-05T01:31:00.000-08:00

I have lived here in Cambodia now for some seven years and have said many times - both here when writing a Blog and many other places how much I like the country. I really would not like to move and live anywhere else. The people are smiling, hospitable, friendly and everything related to those categories. It so happens the climate suits me too, and even though like everywhere else, the cost of living has increased over the years, it is still affordable to live here. Plus the fact that Cambodia is very central in that it is only at the maximum, just a 2-hour flight to other cities in South East Asia.

Now having said all of the above, there is one thing that has caused a sad state of affairs. That is the political situation here. Not good. The so-called ruling party headed by the Prime Minister Hun Sen has been in power now for some 30-years. Hun Sen was originally installed as nothing more than a puppet Prime Minister by the Vietnamese after the fall of the dreadful Khmer Rouge regime when Vietnam took over Cambodia. Since then the Prime Minister has made himself into the "strong man" of the area and stated publicly that he has no intention of standing down until he is at least 72 - he is now in his early 60's,

Whether you like Hun Sen or not - there is absolutely no argument about the fact that over the years he has made Cambodia one of the quickest growing and most stable economies in the area. I have been coming here since the mid-1990's, and have seen tremendous progress in infrastructure, in education and in many other areas too. However, corruption is rife. Those who hold power - still people mostly from the Khmer Rouge era - have made themselves unbelievably wealthy due to corruption, rather than helping the poor in the Provinces who seem to get even poorer. Not a good thing. But in the past, as one entire generation missed out on an education thanks to the policies of the genocidal regime of the Khmer Rouge, people thought that they didn't have a voice, and so could not ask for better conditions. As a result Mr Hun Sen ruled supreme.

Last year - 2013 - things began to change. It was the year for a General Election and as usual the ruling CPP party foolishly thought everything was as before. That people could be bought when it came to votes. Before the election the Prime Minister handed out thousands of land titles to poor people in the Provinces who never had them before. Naturally they liked him. No question about that. Then, shortly before the election Mr. Hun Sen made one of his famous long vitriolic speeches and said that if they didn't vote for him he would take back all the land titles he had given out a few months earlier. That threat was a mistake, but you don't have to be a genius to understand why those people felt they had to vote for him. And you can't really blame them either.

One big thing the ruling CPP party had not considered, was the fact that since the previous election a whole new generation of people have been educated, are university graduates and are no longer going to stand for corruption, nepotism and whatever else in that direction, have arrived on the scene and were determined to vote to change things. A massive opposition party was formed with aggressive campaigning. People seeing the strength of it came out to vote in bigger numbers than ever before with the result that the opposition party was deemed to have won.

This did not amuse the Prime Minister who refused to accept the vote and ordered some results to be changed. It is a well known fact that the election results were altered on the Prime Minister's instructions. It is well known that when a re-count was ordered in a couple of places, it was found that the voting records had not been sealed and hundreds of voting papers were tampered with. In addition it came to light that hundreds of people who had registered to vote - and many of my friends come into this category - had their names removed from the voters' list because it was known they were supporters of the opposition. So they were not allowed to vote even though they had proof they had registered in the correct manner. Furthermore, the members of the National Election Committee which finally said everything had been fair and proper had all been appointees of the Prime Minister. No more need be said on that matter!!

In another vitriolic speech, Mr. Hun Sen said (at a school graduation, can you imagine?) that if he was opposed he would bring out his personal body guard (which some say number 6,000) that he has personally armed, and there would be "blood on the streets". Another mistake as the people here have had enough killing in the past. The Prime Minister's popularity sank to next to nothing.

All of this has resulted in thousands and thousands of people taking to the streets daily demanding that Hun Sen step down and that new elections - fair and transparent ones - should take place. Yesterday it was announced that the doctors, professors and teachers were now joining the protests. The result? Mr. Hun Sen stuck true to his word about bringing out the army and his armed body guard. Out came the police, the army (which is under the control of his son) and a band of thugs paid by the state. They attacked the crowd assembled for a protest march - all of which have been perfectly well organized and totally peaceful. The police carried batons and the soldiers AK-47 rifles. Five people were shot dead, and some 26 people injured while three military helicopters kept watch on the scene from on high, circling around for seveal hours. Those who were not army or police - the thugs wealding iron pipes and sticks, wore red arm bands and certainly did not look like Khmer people. It is believed - though I have no proof as of now - that they were Vietnam people brought in by the Prime Minister and paid by the State. All this took place maybe ten minutes from my home in a place ironically called "Freedom Park". Those who were attacked and beaten and in some cases detained, where old, young and even monks.

This behaviour makes me very sad because these wonderful people do not deserve to be treated like this. When you see the videos of what happened yesterday and the day before, it looks like the people who were being peaceful and orderly were being treated as something less than animals.

So what can or should be done? The situation can not continue for ever otherwise the place will become another Iraq, Congo, Egypt or Ukraine.

I believe at least two things would help - and the people here do need help. Firstly, if the Prime Minister and his crowd had even a "titter of wit" they would see how unpopular they are, and also see what has happened in the past to leaders of dictatorial rule in other countries. Remember the fate of Saddam Hussein, Momar Gadhaffi, Hosni Mukarak just to mention a few? They all came to a sticky end by being nothing less than power-hungry and just plain stubborn. There need not be the same situation here. All Mr. Hun Sen has to do is say "OK - you take over and let me see how well you run the country over the next five years." If he did that, then I have no doubt his popularity would start to rise, and if the opposition did not do well, then he could return to power at the next election. But you can never win by killing off you own people.

Secondly, whereas I am well aware that the world is watching the situation here - especially since the events of the past few days - but nothing has emerged except a weak platitude of a statement from both the United States and the United Kingdom, who both said "We condemn the violence....". Of course they do, but statements like that are nothing more than platitudes. Something more has to be done if the country is not to end up in another civil war. Both the U.S. and the U.K. are powerful members of the Security Council of the United Nations. They should immediately bring a resolution to the Council condemning what is going on here. That would be a strong message and one which I know would not be taken lightly here by either side.

Unfortunately this lovely country is of little use to the U.S. and little attention is normally paid to it. Much the same can be said of the U.K. also. Even so, I believe something has to be done and quickly and the more people that learn about what is happening here the better. That is why I chose to write this, even though I know too well it may not make me too popular in some quarters here.

A DIFFERENT TAKE.......

2013-12-27T23:46:00.001-08:00

I was so interested in the Christmas/New Year messages and addresses given by Pope Francis, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Archbishop of York and the Archbishop of Westminster because all of them did not just dwell on past events that happened during the year. Instead they talked about situations that are here right now in the world and what we should do about them. Usually in her Christmas address, Her Majesty runs through the year's happenings, but this year she only mentioned her Golden Jubilee and the birth of her great grandson Prince George.

The eminent clerics I mentioned above all gave addresses and messages that I believe the former Bishop of Woolwich, Dr. John Robinson would have called addresses on "practical Christianity". That was rather unusual, because so often it is the norm for clergy to deal out theological platitudes that have little or no meaning for the average person who may not be interested in Church matters. Looking back isn't going to help - understanding why they are happening and then dealing with the problem will help.

Starting here in this beautiful country of Cambodia we have a Prime Minister for the past 30-years who refuses to step down. What he did not realize was that when the last election (which is believed by all to have been totally irregular with people threatened to vote a certain way, people's names removed from the electoral role and votes bought) took place in July this year a whole new generation of young educated people were able to vote for the first time and they decided they wanted no more of the corruption and nepotism that has been going on for years making the rich richer and the poor poorer. The Prime Minister and his cronies refuse to give in to any of their demands which has resulted in tens of thousands of people marching in the streets of Phnom Penh every day. Tomorrow, December 29th it is expected that some 1-million people will take to the streets. We are lucky in that so far there has been little violence, but how long will that last?

Thailand is not so lucky in that respect. It has been held in a virtual strangle hold by the former Prime Minister the billionaire Thaksin Shinawatra who went into exile after he was ousted in a coup in 2006 and convicted of corruption and fraud. But he controls the government still and at the last election had his younger sister Yingluck Shinawatra - who had never been in politics made Prime Minister. That is, in name only as he pulls the strings from his home in exile in Dubai. Now the Thais are tired of his strangle hold on things and his buying of votes, and everyday tens of thousands of people protest in the streets of Bangkok and around the country. But there violence occurs and yesterday one person was shot dead and some 70 people wounded according to the reports. But still those in power are not interested in the will or the good of the people - just in holding on to power.

Move to Bangladesh where rioting has begun ahead of elections this week. Two very powerful women control things there. There is the current Prime Minister Sheikh Hassina and a former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia. Both women come from powerful political backgrounds. Sheikh Hassina and her sister happened to be in London in 1975 when her father, Sheikh Mujibar Rahman, the first President of Bangladesh and the rest of her family were assasinated. Begum Kalida Zia was Prime Minister from 1991 - 1966 and again from 2001 - 2006. Her husband Ziaur Rahman, who was President of Bangladesh was assasinated in 1981. Since all those events, there has been a power rivalry between the two women, and Sheikh Hassina the current Prime Minister only yesterday put Begum Khaleda Zia under house arrest so she couldn't partake in the elections and says she will have charges of treason brought against her. The result? Thousands of people protesting in the streets of Dhaka.

Move to Afrca to South Sudan - the newest country in the United Nations only becoming independent in 2011. The President of South Sudan, Mr. Salva Kiir who is of the Dinka tribe, in July fired his Vice President Mr. Riak Machar who is from the Dok section of the Nuer people, and the entire Cabinet for a suspected coup plot. Now they are total rivals, and that new country which had much potential is in a civil war with 17,000 already dying as a result during the past week.

You can continue on this line right around the world citing incidences of power-hungry people causing problems and wanting to hold on to their power regardless of the consequences to the people of their country. You can go to Turkey, to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to Mali and indeed even to the United States, although many people hate it when that country is mentioned in such a context. But the holding back by members of the Congress and Senate of Bills that are necessary for so many Americans, is also nothing more than people trying to hold on to power, like it or not.

So what do we do about it. I believe dialogue where possible is the best solution. People have to be shown that it is in their own interests to see for the well-being of their people otherwise eventually they will fall somehow. It is not an easy thing to do, trying to persuade these people to work for the good of their people instead of just for the good of themselves and their families. People get to a stage where they blot that from their minds. Nevertheless, that is what has to be done.

Lets hope that in 2014 we will see even a little advance in the right direction.

BILLS CAN BE PAID AGAIN - BUT FOR HOW LONG?

2013-10-20T22:37:00.000-07:00

Finally the United States Senate and Congress managed to get the Government back to work and to raise the debt ceiling - if only for another ninety days. I found it amusing to watch the seemingly never-ending line of politicians rushing to the nearest microphone and camera to tell the world what good work they had been doing and how hard they worked. I wonder if the people are really taken in by their comments.

But how long will this situation last? They will have to deal with the question of the debt ceiling again in another ninety days and Mr. Ted Cruz - the decidedly new Senator from Texas who so enjoyed being in the limelight every day, has stated that he will continue causing the Government problems again even if it means shutting down once more and not dealing with the debt situation. For someone who has made it clear that he has his eye on the White House, it would seem to me rather obvious that he is sinking his own boat even before it starts to sail.   American people are not stupid and I can't see them tolerating that sort of rhetoric for long.

We have been told that the shut down cost the country some $24-billion. Maybe so and that is not a small amount in anyone's book. However, unfortunately a great deal more was lost as well that could put that dollar figure even higher.

Talk to any of the poiticians or diplomats from the countries in this South East Asian region and you will quickly realize that their faith, trust and reliance on the United States is eroding at a rather quick pace. What a pity...... but it is understandable. Mr. Obama for the past two years has said that it is his intention to have a greater U.S. presence in the Pacific region, and to that effect he has stationed some troops in Northern Australia - much to the concern of some countries.

Mr. Obama was forced to cancel his visit to Asia two weeks ago when he was supposed to attend the APEC meeting in Bali and then the ASEAN Summit in Brunei immediately afterwards, as well as visits to Malaysia and the Philippines. Instead the Secretary of State - Mr. John Kerry - took his place. Mr. Kerry is no Mrs. Hilary Clinton who was his predecessor in that job and who is immensely popular and respected in this area. A couple of Mr. Kerry's remarks made in speeches did not go down well...... especially one where he said that they were not to worry about the shut down in Washington as that was just a sign of how strong democracy is in America.   Several comments were made asking if being a democracy meant you could shut down and not pay your employees whenever you wished. Some politicians in the area said they did not want their country to follow that route.

As it turned out, the President of China - Mr, Xi Jinling took over Mr. Obama's position of being the key person at both meetings - something that must have really upset Washington. Mr. Xi was the centre point of all the meetings both in Bali and in Brunei cutting deals and treaties with all present. America lost some great points and opportunites there and it will take some time to replace. The Chinese news agency Xinhua even suggested in an article last week that perhaps the region should consider "de-Americanizing" itself and turn to a different currency than the dollar.   That is not possible at the moment as there is no alterntive. The Chinese Yuan - the only possible alternative - is not yet in a position to take over. However, that is a sentiment that has been buzzing around here for a while.

In this day and age, you cannot just think of the dollars lost at home in a situation like this. You have to look at the wider field and its international repercussions - especially when you are a big country and considered to be a leader in the world.

Unfortunately the folk in Washington are more concerned with being in front of a camera and a microphone than working for the good of their people and country. Hopefully at the next election the people will make sure they vote for senators and members of the Congress who really are interested in working for the country and people and not for themselves. If that happens - then America will regain its top place on the world stage.

SHUT THE DOORS!

2013-10-01T22:29:00.001-07:00

It is two years - or maybe a little bit more - that Greece got into mammoth problems with its budget. After weeks and months of "back-and-forth" discussions with officials in the European Union, it was finally agreed that the EU would offer a bail out for the country. Whereas that wasn't something that immediately cured the problem, it did help, and in spite of the many protests in Greece from the general populace over the many cut backs that had to be made in the budget, progress was made.

A short time later Ireland got in the same boat. The country was about to go bankrupt, and once again the EU came to the rescue. Although the Irish Government put into practice many austere items to bring the country back to viability, there were not too may protests from the people. Slowly but surely the financial situation in the country began to become stable again, although they still have a way to go before everything is back to a balanced budget again.

Spain and Portugal both followed the same route as Ireland and Greece, but they have not been quite so successful in getting back on track although they are trying once again with the help of the European Union bail outs. If you look at Europe as a whole, you will find that other contries are also facing difficulties there and in time may also need a bail out. The economic crisis has affected so many.

But that is across the Atlantic in Europe. It is not America. However, having said that what I find so interesting is that all the time that Greece, Ireland, Spain and Portugal were negotiating with the European Union, and Mrs. Angela Merkel of Germany was shuttling hither and thither trying to find solutions, the members of the U.S. Senate and Congress - as well as President Obama were making decidedly strong speeches saying that the countries in Europe had to be responsible and get their financial things in order. They were being very "high-handed" in what they were saying back then.

Fast forward to today and what they said then has become the subject of jokes by comedians the world over. The United States itself cannot get its own house in order so why shout at other people. The fact that the U.S. Government is now as I write in "shut down" is not just laughable, but it is also pathetic and somewhat immoral in my humble opinion.

We are told in all the media that some 800,000 people are sent home without pay with no likelihood of getting that pay loss refunded if and when the Government finally gets back to work. That situation has got to be more than scary for those 800,000 people. To lose all your income when you have a mortgage, to pay as well as other every day expenses, is a frightening possibility.

The members of Congress get $174,000 a year, and people like Mr. Boehner, Mr. Reid and Mrs.Pelosi get quite a bit more. Although the ordinary workers will have to forfeit their pay, all members of both Houses will still receive their considerably substantial pay cheques. Is there not some moral issue in here some where?

These people were elected by the people for the people and therefore should work in the interest of the people. But no - they obviously work just for themselves and have little or no consideration or care for their every day constituents who struggle to make ends meet.

Something is drastically wrong there. A few weeks ago and indeed just last week when he was speaking at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Mr. Obama referred to the United States as being "exceptional". He was right. I cannot think of any other country - especially one that prides itself as being a rich, powerful, democratic country that cuts off the funding of its people. That has only happened in the U.S., which makes it exceptional.

Albeit three members of Congress said they will donate their salary to charities - lucky charities - and I am sure that makes them feel good, but if they are truly interested in and working for their constituents, then they should all request that their pay cheques be witheld and returned to the Treasury.

When the next election comes around, the voters should make sure that they elect people who are really interested in the welfare of the people and not just in making themselves rich. None of the members of either House are exactly poor, so they are unaffected by the shut down. What they are doing is making themselves a laughing stock around the world. What a shame for a country to which so many people in other countries look up and admire.

SAME, SAME, AGAIN!

2013-08-31T07:50:00.000-07:00

The world seems to go from one drama to another. Right now the drama is Syria and the civil war that is going on there.   The situation there has managed to eclipse the drama enfolding in Egypt - something that dominated the media for weeks.

It is two years since the trouble in Syria started. In that reasonably short space of time over 100,000 people have been killed and many more badly wounded. In addition, several million are now refugees and living under difficult conditions in refugee camps in Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey.   Now, during the past week or two we have been told that some 1,429 people including 426 children were killed as a result of the use of chemical weapons.   That being the case, the word "genocide" comes clearly to the forefront of my mind. The affects of this civil war have spread beyond the borders of Syria. Jordan is a small country and it is a struggle for the economy there to support this huge influx of refugees. Western countries say they send aid, but when you see the figures it is far short of the amount required to feed and clothe such a huge number of people who have nothing.

I don't like war - I have seen a lot of it and seen first hand the cruelties that take place during wars as well as the after effects. None of it is pretty. Somehow it has to stop and if the powers-that-be really put their heads together, I truly believe peace can be found - so long as they think of the interests of people, and not just the interests of big business and power. I am not in favour of air strikes on Syria or an invasion - look what happened in Iraq. I applaud the British Parliament refusing to get involved in air strikes and also the Germans for saying they would not be a part of it either. I understand from today's news that Australia stated likewise. There has to be another way although I am fairly certain that Mr. Obama will go ahead and do something dramatic anyway even though CNN reported today that 64% of the American people were against a strike.

Alright - now why do I headline this piece with "SAME, SAME AGAIN!"? Because it is just that and strike or no strike, the world - especially those who call themselves leaders, be they American, Russian, Chinese, British, French or whatever - have got to ensure there is not another "same, same again" situation cropping up in another few years.

Let me explain, if I can.   During the Vietnam war, America with what has been referred to as the Kissinger/Nixon secret bombing programme dropped more bombs on this small Kingdom of Cambodia (which wasn't even in the war) than they dropped during the whole of World War II. Towns, villages and people as well as swathes of jungle were eradicated. At the time, Cambodia was not important to western thinking. That thinking continued unto the 1970's and when the Khmer Rouge came to power the western powers knew about their plans and promptly withdrew all their people from the country leaving it to the mercy of the Khmer Rouge who managed to kill off almost 2-million people before they were defeated in 1979. Genocide at its worst. The French went even further. Some dozen or so member of the Cambodian Royal Family as well as other people also went to the French Embassy here in Phnom Penh for asylum and protection.   Although the Ambassador and Embassy staff were well aware what would happen to them if they were not pretected, they just handed them over to the Khmer Rouge withut a thought. None of those unfortunate people were ever heard of again. The West knew what was happening, but just sat and watched. When I think of it I find it embarrassing to be a westerner.   Genocide was rampant, but no one intervened.

Remember the civil war in Rwanda? Almost a million members of the Tutsi tribe were massacred by the Hutus within a space of not years - but just weeks. Genocide at its worst again. The West knew what was happening but just stood by and watched.   Rwanda was not a very important little country. Remember in the 90's the war in the Baltics and the horrific massacre of hundreds of young men in Serbia?   Admittedly eventually Nato stepped in and bombed thus ending the war, but the West knew what was happening and did nothing until thousands of innocent people had died.   Serbia was not an important little country. These things must not happen again.   If there is an air strike in Syria, let us hope it is just one and there is not another.

This whole Syrian situation should make the powers-that-be stop acting like they own the world and are better than anyone else. Situations like this should be acted upon right at the beginning before they get out of hand.

It is time we realized that the world is just one big family. I have lived in many countries and I have been to every continent except Antarctica and everywhere I have gone I have found friendship and kindness and have never felt "out of it" in the sense of being a stranger. If I needed help I found it. So why don't we treat the world as a family? Are we afraid one member will become more powerful than us - how childish. In our own families, if one member has something wrong - gets ill or has a problem, other members normally come at once and help and sort it out before it gets too bad.

There will be dramas in the future in other countries to be sure, but it is the duty of the rest of the world to immediately get together and vigoriously solve the problem before it gets to the state of where Syria now finds itself.  The countries of the world and their leaders have a duty towards one another and not just to their own interests.

HALF CENTURY LATER? HOW TIME FLIES!

2013-06-23T01:45:00.001-07:00

I have been retired for several years, but I find I am often busier than I was prior to retirement. That is what makes life so interesting. For many people, when you retire you simply stop working - but what then? A round of golf a couple of times a week? Mow the lawn? Read the papers, go to a Senior Citizen Centre? Not for me any of that. For me the word "retire" means just stopping doing what you have been doing for so many years, and branching out to do something completely different.

As I said above, I find I am often busier than before I retired. I get called upon to get involved in things I would have thought would be way outside my line. I live now in the beautiful country of Cambodia which is devoid of stress, where people smile and are not angry, where the climate is pleasant 95% of the time and where - because of its geograhical position - it is convenient for visiting almost every other Asian country. It is also very affordable. Because of all this I don't always have a lot of free time - not that I need it as I enjoy everything I do here. However, during the past four or five weeks, things that were out of my control gave me plenty of time to think back over the years. Things like several long-distance trans-ocean and trans-continental flights of maybe 11-hours to mention but few.

I seldom watch films on a plane for the simple reason they are never films I would want to watch in the first place. I like to sit by a window and think. It is a good time for that.

I was on a long trans-Pacific flight just a few weeks ago when suddenly something came to my mind about which I hadn't thought for the longest time and I was quite shocked when I did. I suddenly realised that at the end of this month - 29th June 2013 (St.Peter's Day), to be exact - I will have been ordained 50-years. But that didn't seem too bad in itself until the mind went further and I realized it meant I will have been ordained for half a century. Now that is a different matter. It made me feel I was all but pre-historic. It is funny how just a change in words can make a difference.

Since that flight I have thought about that half century and how things have changed in that calling or profession over the years.

I have been extremely blessed and fortunate in my career as a priest. It has taken me around the world and been the cause of my meeting some of the most famous and interesting people on every continent. I have had the honour of being nominated for bishop four times and the privilege of being able to withdraw my name from each nomination. Being a bishop was never on my list of "must do's". I was never, am not and never would be bishop material. I am too outspoken for that and besides I prefer to be "among the people". I have had the privilege of being able to get the advice and help when needed from some of the world's most notable and respected prelates such as Archbishop Michael Ramsey of Canterbury, Bishop Riah Abu El Assal of Jerusalem, Bishop John S. Spong of Newark, Bishop K.T. Ting of China, Archbishop George Otto Simms of Armagh and Bishop Desmond Tutu of Capetown.

But things in the church world have changed drastically over those fifty years. When I was ordained in Ireland it was mandatory for the newly ordained to remain a deacon for at least one full year before being ordained to the priesthood. Furthermore, the newly ordained had to do a mandatory 3-year period as assistant - or curate - in a parish before being able to be appointed to a parish of his own. I may be old fashioned but I am continually shocked these days to see bishops ordaining someone to the diaconate then within even a month ordaining them priest having already placed them in charge of a parish. There is totally no way the newly ordained person can have the know-how to run a parish just because they have been ordained and can wear a clerical collar. Training is necessary in every profession and Divinity Schools - as they were then called in Ireland - or Seminaries do not give complete courses in the practical side of parish ministries such as dealing with a bereaved family, handling a possible suicide situation or efficiently handling domestic disputes.

As a newly ordained, I had a strict routine to follow. I could only preach once a month - that one did not particularly bother me. Every Monday I had to meet with the Rector of the parish - my boss - and go over everything I had done or not done the previous week. I would be given a list of houses where I had to make a call during the coming week. Nowadays many clergy only make house calls if they are invited by their more wealthy parishioners to dinner. Tuesdays and Thursdays were taken up by visiting hospitals. I would have to be at the hospital - there were two in the parish where I worked in Northern Ireland - at 9.00am and get from the Registrar a list of all new patients who had come in since my previous visit, and they would have to be seen. Sometimes they didn't want to see a clergy person, but on the other hand if one didn't appear there would be complaints galore.

When I moved to work in Jamaica in the West Indies, it was a different story. In my parish I had seven churches and mission stations - all of which had to have a Eucharist every Sunday. So I would start at the main church at 7.30am then go from church to church visiting, preaching, baptising and celebrating the eucharist at all seven before finally ending up at Evensong back at the main church again in the evening. A long day - but I always enjoyed it. Seven churches in the one day. Today I hear clergy complain if they have to preach twice in the one day - even at the same church!! Every weekday morning was taken up walking through the banana plantations taking communion to the old folk who could not get out to church. To see the joy on the old peoples' faces when I would arrive to give them communion was a thrill I will always remember. Today that is not a priority in most places. I was shocked to hear a priest say one time last year to an old lady - if you can't drive so far yourself anymore, get your daughter to bring you to church. No such thing as saying "I will bring the Eucharist to you". Pastoral care and consideration are both fast flying out the door.

Fifty years may have past and I may not preach anymore, but I am still very much a priest and my position as such is very much respected even here in this 98% Buddhist country by every one. I may not take part in church services and I may be considered an "inactive priest" in diocesan circles, but the work I do with students and other entities here, in Vietnam and in Laos to me is just an extension of my priestly ministry. I feel privileged to be able to contribute to the people in this part of the world and hope the Good Lord gives me time to do so for many years to come.

NORTH KOREA - WHAT NEXT?

2013-04-06T01:10:00.004-07:00

It is almost exactly a year and one week since I last wrote about North Korea - a country that has interested me for a very long time. I have never been there and don't know if I ever will, but I would certainly welcome an opportunity to go there. I like to see what is what for myself.

The last time I wrote on this subject I mentioned Kim - not his real name - a North Korean soldier, who was stationed at a border crossing between North Korea and China. Kim had contacted me via an internet chat programme which he was occasionally able to use through the kind offices of a Chinese soldier, when Kim had to go across the border on business and no one was around. Sometimes I wouldn't hear from him for weeks but I always checked in to see if he had written to me. He made it plain that if ever he was caught communicating with me - even to just say "hello" - then he would be accused of treason and shot. One time Kim mentioned that Kim Jung Il the previous Dear Leader would be going to where he was because they had just received forty new jet fighters at the nearby air base and the Dear Leader was coming to inspect them but it was all top secret. I was not to mention anything about anything he said when I wrote just in case someone read it even though he was sending from China. He said he felt getting these new jet fighters was very frightening. It was never mentioned again, but exactly four weeks later, the White House in Washington announced they had just been informed that North Korea had acquired forty new fighter jets!

Kim told me many things which were released in general information weeks later. He was always afraid that one day he would be arrested, and one day wrote and said goodbye, that he was being sent "to the front" with South Korea and would no longer be able to communicate. I never heard from him again.

As everyone knows, North Korea has been doing and saying some crazy things these days. I have been following things very closely, because whatever the outcome, it will affect South East Asia.

There is no doubt that North Korea is acting totally on its own in every respect. Little is said in the western media except that some heavy talk has come from Washington but that some of what has been said is now being toned down. When you look at media from other parts of the world, you find that it isn't only the U.S. and western countries that are concerned and telling North Korea to "cool it".

It has not been generally reported that the official Chinese news wire - Xinhua - published a report from its Pyongyang-based reporter which said life in the city of Pyongyang is "business as usual". According to the report 100,000 Pyongyang residents are preparing for North Korea's most important holiday - Kim Il-Sung's birthday - on April 15th by planting trees throughout the city. It also said that in the mountainous Chinese region of Kaundian County that borders North Korea, local residents there are accustomed to an influx of troops any time tensions flare up on the Korean Peninsular just in case things spin out of control. However, this time there are so many soldiers and equipment there the media reports even the most hardened villagers are nervous. The news agency also reports the Chinese authorities using much tougher language against the North Korean regime than has been reported in the west.

Mr. Fidel Castro is not a person much beloved by many in the west so many may be surprised by a letter he wrote in Cuban State Media this week. I certainly haven't seen it reported on any of the main western media channels or papers. Mr. Castro wrote that North Korea had shown the world its technical prowess and now it is time to remember its duty to others. Words that will surprise many I am sure.

"Now that it has demonstrated its technical and scientific advances," Mr. Castro wrote, "we remind it of its duty to other countries who have been great friends and that it would not be just to forget that such a war would affect 70-per cent of the world's population". Mr. Castro called the present situation on the Korean Peninsular "incredible and absurd", but said "it has to do with one of the gravest risks of nuclear war since the (Cuban Missile) crisis 50 years ago."

Now that I have seen and read comments by and from countries like China and Cuba who everyone knows have been allies if not supporters of North Korea, it makes me realize even more the total isolation that country must feel. When I realize that - then my mind starts working and wondering - although I know some will not agree with what I think.

Until now North Korea has relied for support on its very few allies - such as China and Cuba. Now one can see that even they are "turning off" and not being nearly as supportive as they have been. The North feels "caged in", and so is getting desperate. That is what is so dangerous. If you "cage in" anyone or any animal or bird to the point it feels it is totally trapped, then it will use whatever it has at its disposal to get out of that cage.

I love Korea and Koreans and I go to South Korea a lot - I will be there next month again. I was interested this week when some of my friends there were a little dismayed by the fact that the U.S. made a very public point of telling the world it had deployed F2 stealth fighters to South Korea, and that it had also flown B-22 bombers and stealth bombers over the peninsular to show what power it had. My friends in Seoul said this upset them as they feared that was "pushing the button" too far.

I suppose I am a pacifist - I have seen and been in too much fighting around the world. Tough talk is not having any effect now with North Korea - nor are sanctions other than annoying them. Maybe that is why the Pentagon CNN correspondent Barbara Starr said yesterday that Washington was "dialing down" its rhetoric.

I am all for talk, talk, talk. I was told that was the best way many years ago by that great Irish Prime Minister Mr. Sean Lemass. Why not try that seriously this time? Mr. Jimmy Carter, Mr. Wen Jaibao, Mr. Bill Clinton and also Mrs. Hilary Clinton and Mrs. Madeleine Albright are all known to be much respected by the leaders of North Korea. Why not ask them to go to Pyongyang and meet with the leaders there. I am sure they would get a much better response than flying B-22's around does. I maybe naive but I am sure a delegation of any combination of any of above would be well worth while.

TWO NEW CHURCH LEADERS

2013-03-15T09:29:00.001-07:00

These days the media has a field day saying "this is a first..." whatever may be the subject under discussion. Well - as I write this, I might as well join the throng and suggest that "this is a first". I am referring to the fact that within a period of just barely over three months, two great Christian denominations saw the resignations of their leaders and the election of new leaders. I am of course referring to the resignation of Archbishop Rowan Williams from the office of the Archbishop of Canterbury and Head of the Anglican Communion and then the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI as Head of the Roman Catholic Church.

Archbishop Justin Welby

Archbishops of Canterbury usually resign rather than staying on the job until they die and at any one time - including now - there are former Archbishops of Canterbury very much still around. Nevertheless it was unexpected when Archbishop Williams announced his retirement and said he was returning to the academic field. This caused a flurry within the Anglican Communion worldwide, and speculation as to who would be his successor went wild - or as the popular term now is "went viral".

Pope Francis

With Pope Benedict XVI it was a different matter. A Pope is elected to the See of Rome as the successor to St. Peter and therefore is supposed to be elected for life. It is roughly seven hundred years, I believe, since the resignation of a Pope. Pope St. Celestine resigned on December 13th 1294, so when Pope Benedict XVI announced his retirement in February it caused more than a little stir. People didn't know what to do, what to call him or what his future role - if any - would be. But somehow things worked out and he was given the title of Pope Emeritus.

But then the speculation began as to who would succeed him. It seems everyone had an idea that they decided was the right one, and so as the Cardinals filed into the Vatican Conclave to elect the new Pope the media went wild with speculation. Or to use the term again - speculation "went viral".

On both occasions - the election of the new Archbishop of Canterbury and the election of the new Pope - I was out of the country and in a place where I did not have access to news or internet, so on each occasion I had to wait until I got back to Phnom Penh to find out who had been elected.

The Bishop of Durham, The Right Reverend Justin Welby was elected to the See of Canterbury, and Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Archbishop of Buenos Aires to the See of Rome and according to reports, both not "front-runners" for those jobs.

I have never met either of these men and these days I am not well up in church affairs but as I read about them I find interesting similarities apart from the fact that they will both be installed in their new roles next week. The Pope on Tuesday 19th March and the Archbishop of Canterbury on Thursday 21st March.

Both men have been described throughout their careers as humble, accessible and concerned about the poor and those in need. Yet both are said to be on the conservative side though both have said they are "inclusive" in their thinking,

Pope Francis apparently lived relatively simply, staying in a fairly small apartment in Buenos Aires (where he cooked for himself) instead of the grandiose official residence of the Archbishop. He travelled to work each day by bus rather than by the official diocesan limousine and flew economy in spite of the fact the Vatican sent First Class tickets. The difference in fare was donated to charities. Since becoming Pope he discarded some of the elaborate clothing of the Pope in favour of just a white cassock. He went on an unofficial and on the spur of the moment trip outside of the Vatican to the hotel where he had been staying to collect his luggage, talk to the staff and pay his bill. Interestingly enough - and I am sure much to the consternation of the Vatican staff - he did not travel in the official papal Mercedes limousine with the papal flag flying and the registration SCV-1, but instead drove in an ordinary black sedan. He also broke with tradition by receiving greetings from his fellow Cardinals standing up rather than sitting in the Papal Throne as had been the custom to date.

The Archbishop of Canterbury is well known for his concern about the poor and the needy in countries around the world. He has worked with the poor in Nigeria and Burundi and received death threats for doing so on more than one occasion. He has worked in Eastern Europe during the Cold War era and smuggled bibles into Romania during the dictatorship of President Ceausescu. During his time as Bishop of Durham he chose to shun some of the gaudy trappings of a bishop, choosing to wear a simple black cassock and a very plain pectoral cross instead of the purple cassock and huge crosses favoured by so many bishops and he is continuing that as Archbishop of Canterbury. For five days prior to his enthronement at Canterbury, Archbishop Welby is on a pilgrimage to five different cities in England where he joins with the people as he walks the streets, listening to them talking to them and praying with them.

Whether it is the Anglican Communion or the Roman Catholic Church doesn't matter. They both have two common denominators - they each have a new leader and they each have a multitude of problems to sort out. The question of sexuality is an ongoing problem in both churches. The question of women in leadership roles such as bishops is still divisive in the Anglican Communion and even women as priests is a huge concern in the Roman Catholic Church as well as the question of dealing with the pedophilia scandals.

As I said at the beginning, I don't know either man. I hear they are conservative in many areas, but then so am I on some matters. To me the very fact that they go "out and about" and meet with and listen to and talk to the people is a huge step forward. We need leaders in every walk of life that are accessible and who listen. We have to remember that the Vatican is a sovereign state and the Pope is head of that state - in other words he is on a par with Presidents, Kings and Queens so even if he likes travelling by bus and walking around, wherever and when ever, that really may not be a possibility for him in the future. There will have to be a certain amount of security as well as pomp and circumstance - and even at Canterbury also.

So even if we wish to see these new leaders making drastic changes, lets just give them time. They have a lot with which to contend and a lot of traditions with which to cope - not to mention having to deal with those staff members and others who have been around for some time and are used to having their way on certain matters, It is not easy to change things quickly in these circumstance. Power hungry people are hard to deal with and these two good men will have their hands full.

A FINAL FAREWELL

2013-02-06T01:38:00.001-08:00

It was on the morning of the15th of October last that the whole Kingdom of Cambodia was stunned to learn that their beloved and much revered King Father Norodom Sihanouk had died suddenly of a massive heart attack in Beijing just a couple of weeks before he had intended to return to Phnom Penh for his birthday celebrations. A million people lined the streets from the airport to the Royal Palace to watch the return of the King's body two days later accompanied by the Queen Mother and their son the present King Norodom Sihamoni.

Since that day, His Majesty has been lying in state in the Royal Palace. It is a tradition here that on the death of a King or Queen, their funeral and cremation does not take place for about three months. To a westerner that may seem strange, but there are many reasons for it. Such a funeral and cremation takes much preparation which cannot be completed in a matter of days. Also the time allows people from all over the country to come and pay their respects to the late monarch.

Since the passing of King Sihanouk in October, hundreds of thousands of people have come from all over the country to pray and pay their respects outside the Palace. It was not unusual on any evening, to see two or three thousand people sitting there. On occasions there were some 30,000 monks there. Such is the love of the people for the Royal Family and in particular for the late King Father. On several evenings during this time period, Her Majesty the Queen Mother as well as King Sihamoni would come out from the Palace and mingle with the crowd and talk with them. It was not unusual to see the Queen Mother sitting on the road itself, talking to some old people who had traveled many miles to be there.

Over the past three months, a most impressive crematorium was built in a park next to the Royal Palace, together with some six or seven pavilions to accommodate the Royal Family, foreign dignitaries, invited guests and members of the Government. It is a dignified building and one fitting for such an occasion.

On the morning of February 1st, The gold coffin containing the late King's body was brought from the Palace on a big golden float. Some 1-million plus people lined the route to watch the procession and among the silent crowds, tears were shed as the float carrying the coffin past them by. Twenty thousand people took part in the procession that took almost four hours to complete its route back to the cremation compound next to the Palace. Apart from the armed forces and the police and government officials, representatives were there from all the different people that make up the population of Cambodia. The seventeen ethnic tribes from Mondolkiri and Rattanakiri provinces in the north were there in force marching in their traditional costumes.They were followed by a large contingent of the Chinese population as well the Islam population. Cambodia had never seen such a procession. The last King who died was King Suramarit, who was King Sihanouk's father. He was popular but not as popular as his son, and his funeral was less dramatic.

Their Majesties The Queen Mother and King Sihamoni did not take part in the procession but waited until it returned from its route around the city and passed once more in front of the Palace before stopping at the cremation compound. At that point both the King and the Queen Mother came out of the Palace Gate dressed in their traditional white silk mourning wear and walked from the Palace to the cremation compound acknowledging the crowds as they went.

The King's body lay on a big pedestal in the crematorium for three days, then on Monday 4th February the cremation took place. It was a dignified four hour event that could not fail to move any who were present and watched. Many dignitaries from around the world came including the Prime Ministers of France, Thailand, Myanmar, Indonesia, Laos and Vietnam. HRH Prince Akishino of Japan, the Vice Premier of China, the Foreign Ministers of Australia, Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei and many others were present.

At 6.00pm Their Majesties the Queen Mother and King Sihamoni entered the crematorium and after prayers they started the cremation fire. It was a very private and personal moment and no cameras of any kind were allowed to be present at that time. Some western people were anticipating being able to see a huge cloud of smoke arising, but nothing of the kind. At the moment of starting the cremation, all around the compound pyrotechnic operated smoke - such as you see on some variety stages - shot into the air for just a few seconds and after that nothing could be seen except what looked like steam coming from the very top of the crematorium. At the same time a 21-gun salute was fired to honor the life of a great statesman who loved his country and people, and a huge firework display went on over the Mekong River as a celebration of his life.

The next morning, following the instructions of King Sihanouk himself, some of his ashes were taken on a Royal Barge to where the Mekong and Tonle Sap Rivers meet in front of the Royal Palace, and they were scattered there. The remaining ashes were taken in a golden urn to the Royal Palace where they will be placed in a stupe there next to those of the King's daughter and also his son who died in 2004.

My personal feeling is that this was indeed an extremely fitting tribute and final farewell to a man who lived his life for the good of his country and his people. A man of tremendous personality who brought independence to his country from colonial rule and then finally brought stability and peace. He was a fascinating person who loved to sing, dance and tell stories. He liked nothing better than to be out and about among his people whether in the country in the small villages and farms or in the city. He will be greatly missed by all here, but he will never be forgotten.

A CHILDHOOD MEMORY

2013-01-11T07:39:00.001-08:00

I have been told over the years that as you get older your memory fades and then eventually you get to the stage where either you remember nothing at all - or else you remember only those things from way back when. Things that happened in the recent past you cannot remember. I am both happy and thankful to be able to say that as of now, my memory seems to be working fine both for things from way back and things from the recent past.

One of my most vivid memories in my lifetime goes back to when I was aged eight or nine. An impressionable age. At that time, my mother had a weekly 30-minute radio show on Radio Eireann in Dublin called "Saints We Have Loved". It was broadcast live in those days every Saturday evening at 8.00pm - such a difference to now when everything is usually pre-recorded, edited, chopped and changed before being broadcast. Each week the show would highlight the life of a saint - some well known, some not so well known, but it must have been a popular show for it ran for over two years. I have no idea if they ran out of saints or if the show just stopped! Many of the well known actors and actresses of the day who passed through Dublin - people like Orson Welles, Dame Sybil Thorndyke and Sir John Gielgud - would take part in the programme.

At that stage of my life I had to be in bed by 8.00pm (unlike now when children of any age can stay up until any time) so I seldom heard the show. However, on one occasion when my grandmother was away in England and had taken our maid with her, there was no one to stay at home with me, so mother had no alternative but to take me to the studio with her. I have no idea what saint was portrayed that night but whoever she was, was seemingly unfortunate enough to be in Rome at some point during the reign of an unsympathetic Emperor Pilate (played by Sir John Gielgud) and had the further misfortune of coming to a very unpleasant ending by being thrown to the lions. A thing the Romans of those days did quite often with Christians and other unwanted people.

In those days recording studios - and certainly those of Radio Eireann - had nothing like the technology they have today, so most sound effects were made manually. For example, I remember the sound of galloping horses was made by hitting two coconut halves together on top of a table. If someone was talking to someone else and leaving, they just talked while they walked to the other side of the studio away from the one standing microphone so their voice faded naturally. Nowadays that all sounds so primitive, but it worked well back then and for those listening on the radio at home, it sounded very real.

On the Saturday I was taken to Dublin to the studio I was so excited. I remember in the afternoon the wife of one of the technicians took me to the Dublin Zoo while my mother, Sir John Gielgud and the rest of the cast rehearsed in the studio. I am sure it was very kind of the good lady to take me to the Zoo. I enjoyed seeing all the animals and birds and at that time the Dublin Zoo was one of very few Zoos that had huge open areas done up in their natural habitat for animals and birds rather than having them in cages. So it made for a very interesting and educational time for both the children and adults who went there. However, that particular day we were just looking at the area where the lions lived (incidentally, one of those lions is the one that appears on the Metro Goldwyn Mayer logo) when it was feeding time, and the way the lions attacked the bones and meat that was thrown to them both interested and scared me. They were fierce animals at that moment of time and ones I would not want to meet face to face.

Back at the studio later that day I was equally fascinated and excited by watching the technicians do their job, watching them doing the sound effects. I felt very important just because I was there. My mother gave me strict instructions that I was to sit on a certain chair in the corner furthest from the microphone, not to move and not to make a sound - otherwise I would have to wait outside until the show was over. It was probably not such a good idea to have a little boy of that age sitting right in the recording studio, but as I was not about to miss the broadcast, I gave my solemn promise I would do exactly as I was told and sit quietly just watching.

The red light over the studio door went on, the show's signature music started playing. My mother was playing the part of the saint that night and I remember the first scene was my mother and Sir John Gielgud (who was playing Pilate) arguing over something about their differences of opinion regarding Christianity in Rome. All the cast which was about twelve in number I think - the others included the Irish actors Eileen Crowe, Rita O'Dea and Patrick Bedford - were assembled around one big single microphone in the centre of the studio and whenever Pilate said something they didn't like everyone - including the main characters - would at the same time stand back from the microphone and go "blah, blah, blah, blah" which when they all did it, gave the sound of discontented murmurings.

Finally Pilate decided he had heard enough and sentenced all the Christians to death - including of course, my mother - the main one. I was not quite prepared for that and as I was totally involved in watching and listening to everything, being so young it suddenly seemed so real. I remember well, I began to quietly cry. I remember heavy music being brought up to signify a change of scene, and then being faded out. Now the scene was in the Colosseum. The cast cheered as Pilate apparently appeared and gave a long speech, had conversations with his fellow Romans and several other cast members also made speeches. I didn't understand much of it but I listened intently. Then finally at the end of the show, Pilate made another short speech and ended by giving the signal for the Christians to be martyred. I can still hear Sir John Gielgud's voice shouting "Throw them to the lions". My mother was standing beside him right beside the microphone and being the main character was, of course the first to be "thrown to the lions". A recording of lions roaring loudly came on which immediately brought back to my mind the frenzied feeding time at the Zoo I had seen earlier in the day. I was scared once more. To illustrate what was happening, my mother let out an unmerciful scream as she was supposedly thrown to the lions, But in order to give the impression of falling into the lions' pit, she continued to scream as she ran to the furthest end of the studio, so her scream faded as she got further away and turned away from the microphone.

That was just too much for me. I remember jumping up from the chair, running over to Sir John at the microphone and yelling as I cried "Don't kill my mother, I hate you" and thumping him as I did so!!!! I was not a popular child at that moment in time! Those listening on their radios must have wondered what was going on. The saint concerned was a virtuous, chaste, virgin-like woman who now suddenly had a son that was never mentioned anywhere before, who was yelling after her - as my goodly mother reminded me many times in the years that followed.

Is it worth even mentioning that my mother never brought me to the studio again for the rest of the run of that series? As a further punishment I had to go to bed at 7.00pm for two weeks instead of 8.00pm. My grandmother, when she returned from London where she had listened to the show merely said that she thought it "incredibly touching" that I could be so worried about my mother. I don't think Radio Eireann viewed it in the same light.

That whole incident came back to me so vividly just this evening when I switched on one of the National Geographic channels on the TV and it was relating an incident somewhere in India where last year a tiger had eaten a person from a village as they apparently do from time to time. It is strange when things are brought back to you like that.

Those times back then were both fun and interesting - except for hearing one's mother being thrown to the lions! People have often said I had a weird and unconventional childhood and upbringing, but in actual fact - I would not want to have any of it changed.

ANOTHER DAY - ANOTHER SHOOTING!

2012-12-15T01:56:00.001-08:00

The title to this posting may sound a bit callous or sarcastic, but it is certainly not meant to be. I put that title there because there has been so many dramatic and tragic shootings this year, it seems that we are always waiting for the next one. This morning (Cambodian time) I was horrified as were most other people who watched or read the news, and learned of the school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. Twenty-six people dead - twenty of them young children - and six people injured. Nothing less than horrific. But that isn't all. The same day a man walked into a mosque full of people in Freemont near San Francisco and threatened to shoot everyone. Fortunately in that case he was accosted and stopped but managed to get away. The police are now searching for him. Last Tuesday three people were killed in a shopping mall in Portland, Oregon in another shooting spree. That is three shooting related matters in one week. No wonder it seems like "another day - another shooting".

Speaking on television, Mr. Obama said "Enough is enough". He is right on that and I hope now he will follow through and do something about the gun situation regardless of the fact that the National Rifle Association will protest loudly. It was scary to watch the Piers Morgan programme on CNN today when he had a member of the National Rifle Association I believe it was, on saying that if more people had guns there would be more protection. That is total and utter nonsense and anyone with a modicum of sense would see that. America has more guns privately owned per capita than any other country according to published reports. America has more horrific shootings and gun related deaths than any other western country. Some 12,000 people are shot to death every year and yet the NRA people spend millions lobbying in Washington against laws that might control guns.

I wrote an article last July following the Aurora, Colorado cinema shooting in which I mentioned that in 2008 Mr. Obama stated very forcefully that if elected to the White House he would push through legislation that would effectively control the use and sale of guns. That did not happen. Obviously the reason was the influence of the NRA and the fact that he would be seeking re-election. The situation today is different. He has been re-elected and therefore will not be facing another election. Therefore, Mr Obama, please see through on your promises in this respect. What are the NRA people thinking? They throw out the Second Amendment as their reason, but you don't have to be an A+ graduate of Yale to see that the Second Amendment was inserted to allow people to defend them selves in times of war. There is no war in America now.

Of the many "experts" and "analysts" who have appeared on the television and given their opinions on this shooting in Connecticut, most of them point to the fact that it would seem the shooter - apparently a man by the name of Adam Lanza - must have been mentally unstable. That may well be the case, but you cannot stop there. His mother - who unfortunately was shot and killed also - had three guns licensed in her name at her house; two hand guns, a Glock and a Sig Sauer as well as a semi-automatic .223 Bushmaster. I have to ask just WHY does someone need to have two hand guns and a semi automatic - in fact why does a person need a semi-automatic in the first place? And if Mr. Lanza did have mental problems, those guns should not have been kept in a place to which he had access. You cannot stop there either. If there is supposed to be back ground checks and whatever when people buy guns, why would the sale of three such items be permitted to one person? Something is wrong somewhere.

There are shootings in almost every country these days at some point but certainly nothing like the 12,000 a year we are told happen in the U.S.. People ask me why I live in Cambodia which they describe as a dangerous country, but here children can walk to school unaccompanied without fear of being kidnapped or shot. Parents don't have to be afraid that their child will not come home. I can go to a cinema and not worry about being blown to bits.

This is not a subject for politics. This is a plain, straight forward matter of keeping the general populace safe. There should be no "ifs or buts" about it. Mr. Obama and all the other politicians and "wanna-bees" in Washington, just take your hands out of your pockets, stop the "our hearts go out to you" talk and do something practical about these weapons before more innocent people - women and children are massacred.

THE ELECTION - OVER THE TOP?

2012-11-08T01:37:00.001-08:00

The election in the United States is over, so maybe the other important things throughout the world will again be reported on the various U.S. media channels. Thankfully, over here in this part of the world the election didn't dominate the media. Other matters of importance such as the events in Syria, the Communist Party Congress in Beijing currently in progress, the financial crisis in Greece all got their fair share of coverage each day which is good.

For those of us who may have followed the election whether we live in America or not - one thing was really disturbing and that was a report that came out almost at the very last day of campaigning.

A friend sent me an email containing the findings of a report by the Center for Responsive Politics which said that the amount spent on this election was $6-billion. I was shocked even though in a previous blog a few months ago I did make comment about what seemed to be excessive spending in that area. However, never having heard of the Center for Responsive Politics before, I instantly thought this was some sort of joke as the figure seemed so way "over the top". The report also said that this figure of $6-billion was sufficient to pay for 981 Public Elementary Schools, 451 small hospitals and one year of lunches for 11-million school children. Unbelievable.

The following day I was equally surprised to hear one of the anchors on CNN mentioning this particular report and the figures I have stated above in an equally shocked tone. It was no joke. It was all fact.

I live in a country where incomes are extraordinary low and I work with students who are struggling with trying to pay for their university education because they come from poor farming families - some of whom at times may only earn $20.00 in a month. So to me, spending $6-billion on an election seems utterly disgraceful and decidedly immoral. But I live the other side of the world in a country that does not receive that much aid/help as yet from the United States.

Nevertheless, if you look at the situation there where the unemployment figures are enormous, where thousands cannot afford to pay their mortgages and so have their homes re-possessed, where thousands of children go hungry because their families cannot afford to give them lunches to take to school, and where some school can't even find the money to provide the necessary items to give a good education (although it is not always considered a popular thing to mention these facts), the figure of $6-billion dollars for an election seems even more immoral and disgraceful. Both parties are equally responsible. Both parties happily asked some people to pay $10,000, $25,000 and even $50,000 just to have a dinner with a candidate! $5-million dollars raised at one dinner. Can they not do the same to help those who need help?

Surely some there can speak up about this and get it changed before the next round of elections starts up. The time will come around very quickly.

A COUNTRY MOURNS ITS KING FATHER NORODOM SIHANOUK

2012-10-19T07:17:00.000-07:00

Early on Monday morning, October 15th, the people of Cambodia were shocked to learn that their beloved King Father - King Norodom Sihanouk - had died unexpectedly in Beijing of a heart attack. His Majesty had been in Beijing for several months for medical treatment but was in reasonable health. He and Her Majesty The Queen Mother were intending to fly back to Cambodia at the end of October to celebrate the King Father's birthday which is on October 31st. It was, therefore almost unbelievable to the people that King Sihanouk was no longer with them as all were looking forward to his return.

His Majesty was by anyone's standard a charismatic person who was crowned king twice and abdicated the throne twice as well. The first time was in the early 1950's when he abdicated passing the throne to his father King Suramarit so that Prince Sihanouk - as he then became - could take a leading part in the politics of the country. He became a forceful person on the world stage of politics and led his country to complete independence from France in 1953. He was asked to resume the throne in 1993 and remained King until in 2004 when he abdicated due to health reasons, in favour of his son, the present King Norodom Sihamoni.

Because of his work over the years for the country and his people and especially for his work in bringing independence, King Sihanouk has been revered by his people as a true father figure. He was not so loved by western nations who wanted to dominate the political scene here, and disliked the King's independent stance on many matters. He refused to be pressured into decisions of which he did not approve or did not think were for the good of the country and the people.

The extent of the peoples' love for their King Father was so evident when his body was flown back to Phnom Penh from Beijing. It had been expected that some one hundred thousand people would line the streets from the airport to the Royal Palace. It is, of course, well nigh impossible to calculate or count exactly how many turned out to watch the procession but estimates now say that the number far exceeded expectations and it is generally believed that up to 2-million people turned up to pay their respects to their beloved former monarch.

The precision and dignity of the procession carrying the body of the late king was impressive to say the least. A traditional float in the form of a golden swan carried the King's coffin which was preceded by a similar float carrying the monks who performed the religious rites. Their Majesties King Norodom Sihamoni and The Queen Mother who had flown back from Beijing with the King's body in the big Air China 747, followed behind in one of the Royal Palace limousines.

It was nothing short of an incredibly moving scene to observe the thousands of people - young and old - sitting in the hot blazing sun for hours waiting to pay their respects to their King Father. Then as the procession appeared total silence reigned. When the float carrying the coffin came by, the silence turned to crying and tears. I was there standing just outside the Palace gate and have to admit I too was moved to tears by the whole scenario.

My thoughts at this time are not only with the Cambodian people who came from all parts of the country to pay their respects and are still coming. As I write this two days later, they are outside the Palace in their hundreds praying for their King Father as well as for the Queen Mother and the present King. My thoughts and prayers also are for Her Majesty The Queen Mother - the most gracious lady you could meet - who for sixty years stood by her husband through good times and bad, and endured virtual imprisonment in the Palace for three years during the Pol Pot regime as well as for our present King Norodom Sihamoni who so unexpectedly came to the throne when his father abdicated in 2004 and who has turned to his father for advice on many occasions.

I feel honoured to have lived here during King Sihanouk's lifetime and to have learned how much he and The Queen Mother have contributed to the welfare of the wonderful Cambodian people. The world has lost one of the great statesmen of our time.

THE FREEDOM OF SPEECH

2012-09-16T04:23:00.000-07:00

The past few days have not been happy ones so far as the world is concerned. There have been too many killings, woundings, and general unrest. Indeed much of what has happened and been dramatically headlined all over the world comes under the over-abused terminology of "Freedom"- freedom of speech, freedom of the press and freedom of expression. Some of the media has then narrowed it all down and brought all those under one banner - "Democracy" which to my little mind it isn't.

As a first "for instance" - but without labouring the subject - the disgraceful publication by the French Magazine "Closer" of certain photographs of the Duchess of Cambridge in no way can be defended by calling it "the freedom of the press", It is nothing more than the scandalous intrusion into the privacy of the Duke and Duchess in a private home, by some sleazy photographer in order to get a good payment of money from an equally sleazy magazine which in turn hopes to make a big increase in sales. It has nothing at all to do with freedom of the press.

Then we had and still have at the time of writing the anti-American riots going on across the globe from Australia to the whole of North Africa to the Middle East, to Yemen, to India, to Malaysia and to Indonesia - all because some unknown (until now) film maker in the United States made a film that totally and completely insulted the Islam religion. The United States Secretary of State Mrs. Hilary Clinton was quite right when she described the film as "disgusting". Nevertheless, we have been subjected to some people in the United States defending the film under the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States which enshrines the right to freedom of speech..

When I wrote a couple of months ago about the right to have weapons in the home, I questioned whether the revered Founding Fathers of America when they included the right to bear arms really intended people to have the right to have automatic weapons, machine guns and suchlike in their homes. I don't think so. The right to bear arms was written at a time when people needed to defend themselves during a period of civil strife in the country. Similarly, I am quite sure that the right to freedom of speech was never intended to allow people like Mr. Nakoula the so-called film-maker as well as Mr. Terry Jones, a self styled pastor in Florida from being insulting and abusive to people - not just a religion - to such an extent that their so-called freedom allows them to cause total mayhem around the world. People including the United States Ambassador to Libya have been murdered, dozens have been injured and important buildings destroyed as a result of their actions and their words. Yet nothing has been done about these people. We are told it is their right to freedom of speech. To me that is total nonsense.

The United States is a great country and I lived there for many years and received many benefits from my stay there, but like all countries it also has faults. It is certainly the most powerful country even if China comes close behind in that regard, but it is at the moment unfortunately one of the most unpopular. That has to be remedied as quickly as possible, but it cannot be remedied if these people and others like them are protected and can do and say what they like under that freedom of speech nonsense. No one should object to criticism, but what they have done and said is not criticism. It is blatantly and deliberately designed to be inflammatory.

I have quoted many times the words of a friend of mine who was a Buddhist monk in Thailand. He said that one of the three tenets of life is to understand the next person. By understanding where they are coming from you may still not agree with them, but at least you will understand their reasoning. This is very true and should be followed in the case of these many riots about that film "The Innocence of Moslims". In many countries - especially in the Middle East - before a film can start production the script and everything that goes with it has to be approved by the Government. That may seem strange and indeed wrong in many westerners minds, but in those countries it is the norm. Therefore when this film that has inflamed so many people was released, people in those countries that require Government approval to make a film, assume that it had been given the "green light" by the U.S. Government thus making the U.S. a party to the whole unfortunate thing. We know this is not true, but it is hard to explain that to people who know something else to be the norm.

So why has nothing been done apart from speeches of "regret" coming from Washington? In a country where people are only too happy to sue, sue, sue at the slightest upset if something is said about them they don't like and no one calls in the right to freedom of speech in those cases, it seems quite extraordinary to me that nothing has been done about the inflammatory remarks made by Mr. Jones ( who is sure to get a few minutes of fame when the inevitable interview on a TV network happens). As for Mr. Nakoula Basseley Nakoula the alleged film maker - who incidentally, has spent time in jail having been convicted of a bank robbery in 2010 if my memory is correct and I apologize if I have the date wrong - nothing has been done about him except to him being brought in for questioning on a parole violation and then sent home. Could anything be more pathetic and laughable? That will not look good with the protesting people I am sure.

Unfortunately I have to ask, is it any wonder that the popularity of America and Americans is going down quickly overseas. This has to be stopped and to do that these matters and people must be dealt with in a quick and timely manner. Such things can not be allowed ot happen again.

THE KINGDOM OF WONDER

2012-09-15T03:09:00.001-07:00

In my early years we lived way in the country in County Wicklow in Ireland. Schools there were few and far between so up until the age of eleven, I was sent to either a private tutor or a private school. The private school I attended was run by two elderly sisters - the Misses Heffernan. Looking back to that time, I am sure both ladies were probably in their late sixties, but to us - their twelve pupils - they seemed to be positively prehistoric with their grey hair done in a bun at the back. They lived in what was a very large cottage built by their father in 1902 I seem to remember, and they had lived there all their lives, having never married and were most respected by all in the community. The house had maybe five or six acres of land around it which was home to two donkeys, a few goats plus a variety of geese, ducks and poultry - all of which were considered by the two ladies to be members of their family. Our school room was what originally would have been a large reception room. It had a very large table in the centre and it was around this that we twelve students sat for our lessons.

The younger Miss Heffernan - who was irreverently referred to by us as "the young heifer"- did most of the teaching and we enjoyed all that she taught. She was an excellent teacher and taught us the basics of mathematics, reading, writing, history and geography - all of which put us far ahead of other students when we eventually moved on to a bigger school. She also made it clear that observation was a very important part of life but so many people missed out on so much because they saw so little. As a result, every Monday and Wednesday afternoons when we resumed after lunch, we had an hour of "observation class" which I now feel was one of the most important classes I ever attended in any place of learning.

Assuming the weather was fine, Miss Heffernan would take us out into one of the fields or the garden and with a stick she would mark out a little piece about 3-feet square for each student. There each of us would have to sit and observe what went on within that little piece of territory.for thirty minutes, after which we would return to the class room and write a report on what we had seen.

Our reports were always full and detailed because we would discover that rather than just being a square patch of grass, the little plot would be home to ants, beetles, grubs, spiders and whatever else. A whole world full of little creatures going about their daily business. Fascinating. On other occasions Miss Heffernan would tell us to watch a tree or a whole length of one of the hedges and describe what birds came and went. All of that made me an ardent lover of nature, but more than that it taught me to notice things that many people don't. Driving in a car I will notice a bird in a tree whereas most people will just see a tree if they even notice that. I have always been grateful for those observation classes. They have held me in good stead ever since. Recently sitting on a seat on Riverside here in Phnom Penh I immediately noticed an owl sitting on top of one of the many flag poles. A rare occasion here in the city. The owl was on the lookout for rats and at one point when he saw one he swooped down on the creature that was running across the grass, and was gone with it in a flash. I mentioned it to several people there at the time, but none saw it. They were too busy playing with their I-Phones!!!

Why do I mention all that here? Because maybe two years ago the Government of Cambodia had a tourism promotion and used as a key catch phrase "The Kingdom of Wonder". In the time since, I see what an excellent description of our country that is. Yet people come here and miss seeing things that can be right in front of them. There is something to be seen at every turn in the road here.

Angkor Wat

Royal Palace, Phnom Penh

In recent years more tourists have been coming here to Cambodia, but the majority - according to statistics - go to Siem Reap in order to visit the temples of Angkor Wat. Something everyone should see as they are amazing. Some tourists venture down to this city of Phnom Penh and a few go further south to the seaside town of Sihanoukeville, but other places are less visited except for a fairly small number of back-packers. I feel that is a such a pity as Cambodia is truly a Kingdom of Wonder with so much to offer the visitor if they just look.

During the past two or three years, the roads in the country have been improved immensely with excellent bus services which go to all parts. The scenery is amazing and includes waterfalls, forests and islands along the Mekong River, Until you branch out and visit these areas you haven't seen Cambodia. Both the friendliness and hospitality of the Khmer people are legendary. Guest houses in the small towns along the Mekong may not be the Waldorf Astoria, but they are clean, comfortable and extraordinarily inexpensive. The little towns may not have late opening bars or a bustling night life, but is that all one wants to do in a foreign country? You can do that at home, so why bother travelling!

Bamboo Train

Rent a little boat and visit the Irrawaddy dolphins in Kratie Province. Take a ride on the bamboo train put together specially for you near Battambang - an experience you won't forget especially if you have to share it with the local people who also need transport to where you are going! See the waterfalls in Rattanakiri and walk through the jungle areas. Visit some if the 17 ethnic tribes (all with their own language) that live in that Province.

A tasty snack

the restaurants in the rapids

You might not want to eat some of the local food such as the spiders, but you can always look. However a visit to the bamboo restaurants built out on the rapids of the Mekong just a few miles from Kratie town is something not to be missed. Excellent food prepared especially for you, as well as the opportunity to bathe (not swim) in the clear rapids surrounding the restaurants. Sunsets across the Mekong are quite spectacular and even local people go to watch them.

I realize that not everyone has time to visit everywhere, and I have always said that even if you have just a short time available, then go anyway. Short is better than nothing. However, unless one can manage to get into the "other" parts of the country, then you haven't really seen it. Unfortunately my experience is that western travel agents only advertise the well known sites like Angkor Wat - probably because they have never seen anything else themselves.

I have travelled around most of Cambodia and I am always amazed at the wonders that I see and find here. It is truly a Kingdom of Wonder. I continually praise it and always will and feel both thankful and fortunate to be able to live here. I always hope more people will come and see for themselves this amazing Kingdom of Wonder. I know some of my readers have been here and some have travelled the country more than others. However, I hope I have peeked the interest of those who haven't come here yet, so that they will think about it and visit us. It is not difficult to get here from anywhere nowadays. Several of the world's leading airlines fly here including Thai Airway, Bankok Airways, Air Asia, Korean Air, China Airlines, Asiana and Air France. So just pack your bags and come visit us. You will not regret it.

RACISM, POLITICS AND JEALOUSY AT THE OLYMPICS ?

2012-08-02T01:47:00.003-07:00

I am certain that in every country in the world where there is access to television, people were looking forward to the start of the 2012 Olympic Games in London. I certainly was and because of the time difference between England and Cambodia, I had to set my alarm for 2.00am in order to wake up and see the Opening Ceremony. Unfortunately the CNN coverage of the ceremony seemed to concentrate more on interviewing people sitting in Hyde Park than actually showing the ceremony itself - so I switched to CCTV4 from Beijing and was delighted to get the whole ceremony there uninterrupted. Like all Olympic Opening Ceremonies, it was impressive. However, many people have tried to compare it to the 2008 Opening Ceremony in Beijing, but that is something you cannot do. China is in a different part of the world to the U.K., and it has a totally different culture so naturally their themes and ideas will be different. I can only say that having seen both - they were both most impressive and all the organizers of the two events have to be seriously congratulated.

Unfortunately, once the Games got underway this week, some ugly heads started to appear which shouldn't have happened and which by themselves take away not just the image and spirit of the Games but the very meaning of them also.

Perhaps the biggest nonsense is the "controversy" surrounding the exceptional performance of the young Chinese swimmer Miss Ye Shiwen, who won a gold medal in the 200 meter individual medley by taking one second off the world record just 3 days after winning a gold medal in the 400 meter individual medley. Immediately the BBC Presenter Miss Clare Balding asked "How many questions will there be about someone who can suddenly swim faster than she has ever swum before?" That was very quickly followed by Mr. John Leonard, the Executive Director of the American Swimming Coaches Association who most ungraciously referred to Miss Ye's win as "disturbing". They both suggested that she had to be taking "performance enhancing" drugs.

Such remarks seem to me to be not just "un-Olympic" but also seem to show hints of both politics and racism. The spokesman for the International Olympics Committee, Mr. Mark Adams quickly but politely referred to their remarks as "sad". Lord Colin Moynihan, Chairman of the British Olympic Association joined China's anti-doping chief in defending Miss Ye. He said "she has been through (anti-doping agency) Wada's programme and she is clean. That is the end of it."

Why these protests and remarks from Miss Balding and Mr. Leonard when Miss Ye is not an unknown quantity in the swimming world? She may not be well known to Mr. John Leonard or Miss Balding, but then maybe they don't pay attention to any except those on their teams, but she is certainly known elsewhere. Her first major win was in 2006 when at the age of 10 she won the 50 meters freestyle swim in her peer group at the Zeijiang Province Games. In 2010 Miss Ye won gold medals for both the 200 and 400 individual medley at the Asian Games in Guangzhou, plus two Silver Medals at the World Swimming Championships in Dubai. In 2011 she won a gold in the 200 meter individual medley at the World Aquatic Games in Shanghai. With a track record like that behind her, why is it so incredible that Miss Ye could win again in London? Are both Mr.John Leonard and Miss Clare Balding both of the opinion that a person from Asia is incapable of an excellent performance in the water? I wonder what the reaction would be if someone should suggest that the performances by both Ryan Lochte and Michael Phelps "were disturbing". I shouldn't wonder really - I think I already know - there would be a HUGE explosion of protests.

Now there is another debate starting. Lord Sebastian Coe, Chairman of the London Olympics Committee - himself a former Olympic gold medalist - when asked at a news conference if he thought Michael Phelps is the greatest Olympian ever, said he wouldn't say that as there have been many great Olympians and mentioned among others Carl Lewis. I would agree with Lord Coe but would go further. Winning (to date) 19 medals is certainly no mean achievement but one has to acknowledge that some of those medals were won with the help of team mates in relays - medals he would not have if the others on the team were not exceptional also. Something that is never mentioned or acknowledged, but at the same time I am not saying or even suggesting he is not a great athlete - maybe just not the greatest.

Personally I think where the games are concerned it is unfair to say who is the greatest as there are so many who are never mentioned. I think of our own small team here from Cambodia. They have little money, They have hardly any sponsors and they have to train in much less than ideal circumstances as we don't have the facilities here or the money to build them. They just hope they can scrape up the money to train for a week or so in China. To me they are great athletes who somehow make it to London and although they may come home minus any medals, they compete with a great (and grateful) attitude in the full spirit of the games and so deserve much praise. What about that young marathon runner from South Sudan who - because his new country is poor and has no money and no Olympic Committee, somehow has managed to get to London himself via means various so that he can compete under his country's flag - the only athlete from there. He is a great athlete and deserves much praise. What about that weight lifter from North Korea who won the gold by lifting an amazing and almost unbelievable weight. He too is a great athlete and deserves much praise. Yet not a single mention of him has been made on or in western media channels If that doesn't have a scent of politics I don't know what does.

There is still time for things to improve and for all this nonsense to end. I hope it does. The Olympics wherever they are held, are a wonderful opportunity for people of different cultures and races and from different parts of the globe to come together and understand each other. Racism, politics and jealousy do not and should not have a place there.

THE QUESTION OF GUNS

2012-07-26T00:06:00.000-07:00

Not just the people in the town itself, but all around the world there was shock at the shooting in the cinema in Aurora, Colorado. I have seen reports about it in papers in China, India and Europe. To all it seems incredible that someone could just walk into a cinema while people are watching a film, and shoot at random anyone who happened to move. I seem to remember - though I don't have the exact figures in front of me at the moment - that twelve people died and some seventy were wounded. What seems even more incredible to me, is that an ordinary citizen in America - or anywhere else for that matter - could be able to buy and stockpile the amount of firearms and ammunition the suspect in that case did. It is both horrifying and scary.

I am not a gun lover in any sense of the word. I have literally never even held a gun and have no intention of doing so. On the other hand, on a couple of occasions in my life I have been accosted, threatened and even shot at by guns of varying sizes. The last time being an occasion many conveniently like to forget as it was an embarrassment to the police. It was not too long after I moved to Hawaii as Rector of a church on the island of Kauai. At that time drugs were rife on the island and were even being sold in the church car park. One lunchtime I approached (maybe stupidly) a small truck that was parked there and was obviously selling drugs to those who came by. I told the driver to leave, but of course he ignored my request and instead produced a gun. It was a decidedly tense few minutes as far as I was concerned, but he finally drove off and I called the police. The police never arrived for the simple reason we found out later, that some of the Drug Special Police Force were themselves involved in selling drugs. But I am happy to say, the Mayor of Kauai at that time very soon afterwards cleaned up the Force and all was well.

I like to make it clear always when I write - before people write back and curtly remind me themselves - that I am not American and I do not live there. However, I did live there for some twenty years, and in all that time and since, I have never understood the desire of people to have guns in their homes.

I know the Constitution of the United States says that people have the right to bear arms. Fair enough, but it has to be understood that it was written at around the time when the country had been having troubled times with the war with England. There is no war going on there at the moment so far as I am aware, and yet in the few days since the shooting spree at that cinema in Aurora, the sale of guns in that town - including assault weapons and automatic weapons - has risen by 41%!! To me that is absolutely scary. Are many people in that town now planning to go to the cinema carrying assault weapons? Just imagine what could happen if someone caused an alarm of some sort.

I may be told it is none of my business as I no longer live in the United States - be that as it may - but I still have a right to express an opinion and it is this. I have little objection in most cases to people having a hand gun if they live in dangerous areas or if people live alone. I have no objection or problem if people hunt and have a gun for that purpose, but can someone tell me why should a person have either an assault weapon or an automatic weapon in their house even for the purpose of hunting? Shoot a deer with an assault weapon and you will have very little of the deer left to cook later on. Use either an assault weapon or an automatic rifle in your home and the chances are not only will an intruder be blown to smithereens, but more than likely a couple of members of your family will not be in a good condition either. America is not Somalia, Afghanistan. Iraq or Syria, so why the necessity for these weapons in private hands?

In 2008 when Mr. Obama was running for the Presidency and before that when he was campaigning to be Senator, he spoke out forcefully in support of gun control and especially against assault weapons and automatic rifles. Now he has completely reversed that view even in light of the Aurora shooting. There has been no reason given for his reversal. Could it be that if he didn't reverse his view, the all-powerful National Rifle Association would not contribute to his campaign? Mr. Romney when he was Governor of Massachusetts, also spoke out vehemently against assault weapons, but he too has now reversed his position and says nothing. Does politics over-ride public safety?

Then it is not only the politicians who say nothing. Little has been said by any of the church leaders apart from saying "Our prayers and thoughts are with you at this time". Nothing wrong with those words and they should be said, but at the same time it seems none of the church leaders to date, seem to have spoken out about being more circumspect in the issuing of guns. Are they also afraid of being politically incorrect and offending some of their wealthy and powerful members? If so it is a sad state of affairs.

As I said above, I have little problem with the "right to bear arms" when it is just for the purpose of self protection and for hunting purposes. But if you translate that "right" in such loose terms that you include a person's right to carry around assault weapons, then you cannot stop there. You have to continue. Machine guns and tanks both come into the category of weapons or arms. Does a person have the right to have a tank or a machine gun in their front garden and then say it is their right and it is for protection? You are on very dangerous ground.

What is the saying? "Don't just talk the talk, but walk the walk" or something similar. Something has to be done to control the situation regardless of the fact that it might mean a smaller contribution from the National Rifle Association or whomever. People matter more than weapons and contributions to campaigns and not only the politicians, but leaders in other spheres have to recognize that also.

P.S. Since posting all the above, I have seen that Mr. Obama, speaking in New Orleans said he would pursue "common sense" measures to make sure mentally unbalanced people cannot get their hands on guns. A fair comment, but nobody who knew the suspect in the Aurora case ever said that before the shooting they thought he was mentally unbalanced, so how do you pursue such measures? Mr. Obama also said he did not believe AK-47's belonged on the streets of the cities. Fair enough, but he did not say he would do anything about it. We will have to wait and see.

PLEASE DON'T FORGET US.

2012-06-17T01:03:00.003-07:00

This morning I spent quite a lot of time watching and listening to the acceptance speech Aung San Suu Kyi made before the Nobel Prize Committee, the King and Queen of Norway and other dignitaries in Oslo. It was one of the most moving and sincere speeches I have heard for a long time and I have replayed the video of it several times. Her words should be read and heard by all - politicians especially - throughout the world.

One thing stood out way to the front in everything Aung San Suu Kyi said, was the fact that in spite of being confined to house arrest for most of the past 20-years there was not a sign of bitterness or anger or regret in any of her words. It would have been so easy for someone in her position to lash out at those who tried to silence her over the years and who refused to allow her to visit her dying husband in England or to grant him a visa to visit her before he died, but still there was not a trace of anger or bitterness in anything she said. She was more than gracious but firm in everything she said.

This month of June in the year 2012, has seen two remarkable women honoured. One is Aung San Suu Kyi and the other is Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, but here I shall concentrate on Aung San Suu Kyi. Over the years I have been fascinated and inspired by her and her struggle for her country to be free. No one has ever heard her complain about the restrictions placed upon her by the then government of Myanmar (Burma) even when some dumb foreigner thoughtlessly invaded her home. He was later returned free to his country (saying he had no regrets doing what he did) even though Aung San Suu Kyi had her house arrest restrictions continued for a further year thanks to his thoughtless actions - but she never complained. When my partner and I visited Myanmar recently, it was only too obvious that for the general public there, Aung San Suu Kyi was a huge icon for democracy and freedom. It is now equally obvious that she will not let them down.

In her acceptance speech Aung San Suu Kyi told the assembled V.I.P's what it meant to her to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. At the time it was awarded, she had been under house arrest for some time, and would continue to be so for many years. When she learned she had been awarded the prize, she said she felt then that she was not forgotten - something that could be so easily felt when someone is "kept apart" from society and the things they have known all their life. To me it was a most moving part of her speech. She told the audience that in her recent visit to Thailand, she met with refugees from Burma who had not been able to return to their country for many years, and as she left them, they said "Please do not forget us". That, she said was a plea from their hearts and something she could not forget. She pledged that she would work for their return to their homeland and their freedom - and we can be sure she will.

The world, and for western people especially, life is ultra busy and it is so easy to forget those who are less fortunate, those who are felt to be "unnecessary", those who are no longer of immediate use due to age or health problems, or those who get in the way of business. But as the Nobel Laureate said in her speech in Oslo, these people cannot be forgotten by the world. She is right.

There are refugees in and from almost every country, but most are regarded as a nuisance so we forget them. There are poor in every country, but they too can be a nuisance, so we forget them. These things happen in every walk of life - it happens in the churches too. In my time as a full-time priest I have seen many instances where people have been forgotten by their churches because they are no longer (for some reason) able to take an active part in church events. I have known Bishops who lost all interest in formerly active clergy in their diocese, simply because they felt they were no longer "relevant". One could go on and on and on with such examples for there are many in all walks of life unfortunately.

However, Aung San Suu Kyi is an example to all and indeed there are other unsung heroes who do not forget also, and their examples must be brought to the fore. We who are fortunate and live a comfortable life, cannot forget the victims of war throughout the world just because they are far away from where we live or because they are of a different race or religion. We cannot forget those who have been displaced because they belong to a particular ethnic group or are of a different sexual orientation. We cannot dismiss as useless and a nuisance those poor who live among us just because they are poor through no fault of their own. We have to hear all their cries of "Please do not forget us".

ONLY TWO AT A TIME PLEASE!

2012-05-25T06:09:00.001-07:00

In the two decades during which I lived in America in both the New York/New Jersey area and also Hawaii, it became almost a tradition that I would organize one or two overseas tours each year with members from the churches where I served as well as non-church people who asked to join us on these trips. We literally circled the world over those years and each trip proved to be an adventure at some point. We visited Europe, the United Kingdom, Ireland, most of South East Asia, China, Mongolia as well as the Middle East and North Africa. Many of the people who travelled with me were not young, - my goodly grandmother would have described some of the travellers politely by saying that they were "of indefinite vintage". Be that as it may, they bravely faced whatever came up. They raced on camels across some of the Egyptian desert. They slept in villages in the jungles of Borneo with head-hunters while the severed heads of former victims hung above the mattresses. They crossed the deserted plains of Mongolia where they roasted in the heat during the day and froze when the temperatures dropped dramatically at night so that fires had to be lit in the gers where they slept in order to keep warm.

On every such trip there is usually one person who will complain about this and that, but that is all part of the deal. However, over the years I found there was only one thing that was the cause of many complaints - that was the state of the public toilet facilities in China! A few of the ladies from Hawaii who travelled to China with me two or three times, would always say "We will wait till we get back to the hotel", if the coach stopped at a rest stop. We would all laugh, but understood exactly what they meant. Chinese public toilets are renowned for not being quite the same as those in the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York or the Savoy in London. Having said that though, I have to continue and say that prior to the Olympic Games being held in Beijing, the Chinese Government went out of its way to ensure that those visiting the city for the Games would have no complaints about the facilities there.

So why have I chosen to write on the choice topic of toilets, you may well ask? Simply because it is a sort of follow-up to my last Blog when I said my grandmother used to always read the back of the morning newspapers before the main headlines as she said she found the most interesting pieces of news there. This morning I thought of her and the comments she might have made if she read the piece I found tucked away right at the end of the BBC News where it could so easily be missed.

It seems that the Chinese Government - especially where Beijing is concerned has made a tremendous new effort to clean up all its public toilet and wash facilities in tourist areas by passing strict laws which have to be observed. In every facility/toilet/loo or whatever you want to call them, toilet paper must be in abundance and replace the old rag and wire brush!! That is good. A plentiful supply of hand towels - paper or cloth - must be ever present. Also good. All odours must be eliminated - also good. But here is the really important one. NO MORE THAN TWO FLIES CAN BE PRESENT AT THE SAME TIME IN ANY FACILITY!!!!! A heavy fine will be imposed on the owners /operators of any of the facilities who ignore any of the above rules.

When I read that, my wonderful imagination promptly started working. First of all, how do you ensure that the regulation regarding the two flies is implemented? Do you pin a notice on the door saying "No more than two flies may use this facility at any one time." ? Should you also inform the flies that if they ignore that notice they will be fined?

Now you have caused another problem because if Chinese flies are like the Chinese rural population, not all of them can read, so the notice won't be effective. Also, assuming the flies can read Chinese, what happens if a foreign fly - say an American or German fly comes along or even one from neighbouring Mongolia. Are they expected to read Chinese also? Or have they discovered such a thing as "fly language" in which the notices can be written? The only thing left to be done is amend the law by adding an "extra" to it that states it is mandatory for each facility to start literacy classes for flies.

All the above is so funny and weird and you can keep on adding and adding to it. However, meaning absolutely no disrespect to the Chinese "powers-that-be" I would really love to learn how they can control the flies to "two at a time"! My personal experience of flies over the years anywhere in the world is that they like to travel in swarms. I am sure they will not be happy being told they have to fly in two's. Maybe something in the line of a NATO Summit could be convened to deal with the matter!!

LET'S ALL WORK TOGETHER.

2012-05-14T02:41:00.000-07:00

By today's standards I suppose I had a strange upbringing. To me it wasn't strange and it certainly wasn't at all unhappy. My father and mother had separated (but were never divorced as there was no such thing in Ireland then) since before I was born and I had not too much to do with my father, though I did see him from time to time. My father was much more interested in his many "lady friends" and his Masonic Lodge activities than he was with his family or my mother. He regarded my mother as being somewhat immoral because she was an actress - an attitude I have always regarded as somewhat hypocritical in view of his own lifestyle. My mother's attitude to this was a dismissive "whatever!" and she would leave it at that as being something not worth pursuing.

Because of the above, we lived with my goodly grandmother who by that time had been widowed for the second time. We had very little money but because of a couple of minor titles in the family (thanks to grandmother) we would never be considered poor - we were just living in what was then called "genteel poverty", so we never did without anything. We always had a parlour maid - a woman by the name of Margaret Styles who worked for my grandmother for some 20+ years, as well as a general maid who did the cleaning - both of whom I am sure we couldn't really afford, but that was not the point. They were staff my grandmother felt were absolutely necessary to life.

We had certain routines in our household. Everyone had to eat breakfast and dinner together. There was no such thing as "grabbing a bit of toast" and dashing off. Margaret Styles would ring a bell when breakfast was ready and grandmother would arrive in the dining room only after my mother, sister and I were seated. When Margaret poured the coffee for grandmother and mother (my sister and I had a glass of milk) Margaret would solemnly place the morning paper in front of grandmother who would instantly turn to the back page and read the obituaries. Then she would turn to the second last page because she said there you found the most interesting pieces of news. I would watch in silence waiting for grandmother to comment on some choice piece of news. My sister seldom spoke much at meal time for some reason that I never understood, and I wasn't allowed to, as grandmother would say "at meal times, little boys should be seen but not heard." In later years I have agreed totally with that statement!

To return to the fact that grandmother looked at the second last page before the first is an interesting fact. Her reasoning for doing so is equally true today, and I mean literally today.

I see most of the newspapers - American, European and Asian on line and I also check daily the websites of CNN and BBC World News. Today on all of those sites two bits of extremely important good world news were relegated to the very end with a very small mention. On CNN and BBC news they received totally no mention at all, which will, I am sure, make certain that not too many people will have heard about them.

We hear daily about the European Union which has drawn together so many countries in Europe over the years and which has been the helper of maybe four or five countries in the area that suffered from the economic crisis during the past few years, Many may argue against the EU, but if it hadn't existed, countries like Spain, Portugal and Ireland might not have been able to pull through. I omit mentioning Greece here as that country's problems go further than just requiring a bail out. Then there is the North American Free Trade Area which has resulted in many jobs being created - though it too is opposed in some quarters. Finally I mention ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) of which this country - Cambodia - holds the Chair for 2012. ASEAN has proved a boon to its 10-member nations by mediating in border disputes, promoting trade between the countries and generally being a "family" of nations.

This morning's "back pages" proclaimed the news that China, Japan and South Korea (none of these three are members of ASEAN) during talks in Beijing have agreed to begin negotiations for a free trade pact between the three countries. This may well scare some western countries as they could feel it might make China more powerful. But the west cannot control the whole world.

Mr. Wen Jaibao the Chinese Prime Minister said "The establishment of a free trade zone will unleash the economic vitality of our region and give a strong boost to economic integration in East Asia". The Japanese Premier - Mr. Yoshihiko Noda went further and said "Economic co-operation was essential to maintaining the Asia-Pacific region as the growth centre of the world economy". These are really quite strong words from both Premiers especially when you consider the fact that relations between any of those three countries has not been exactly what one would call "amicable" all the time. However, it is such a good sign that now they can work together for the benefit of each of their countries.

The other item today on the back pages was the fact that the members of the Gulf Co-Operation Council would be meeting in Saudi Arabia today to discuss transforming their six nations (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates) into a union similar to the European Union. The Assistant Secretary of the Gulf Co-Operation Council, General Abdel Aziz Aluwaisheg said "The vision is to include common approaches to defense, security, political and economic interests".

To my mind these two announcements on the back pages are of a huge significance to the world as a whole. It is so encouraging to find that at a time when so many are only too happy to argue and throw barbs at each other that countries - some of which were once at complete logger heads with each other (don't forget Japan occupied the Korean Peninsula under anything like humane circumstances for several years) are now trying to work out situations where they can work together for the good of all their people. Naturally it cannot all be finalized over night. Things have to be worked out. There will be certain differences of opinions from every side and there will have to be compromises made by each country. There will be some wins and some losses by all, but the fact that they are trying and eager to work together is so good.

Let these countries be a lesson to everyone. Once the various regions of the world who have a common goal work together to settle their differences and in turn work for peace and prosperity of their countries, then it will not be too difficult for the different regions to work together. So - "Let's do it". Let's all work together for the benefit of all and make this world a better place.