Mekong Diaries: Day 60

Day 60

Today we caught a bus from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh, where we arranged for the next stage of our journey downstream to Viet Nam by boat. A ferry service runs twice each way every day, carrying tourists through a stretch of river with an amazing history. Cambodia’s rulers moved its capital from Angkorian Siem Reap to the junction of the Tonle Sap and the Mekong when trade began to replace agriculture as the engine of national wealth and influence. Since then boats have been making there way upstream through the mouths of the Mekong Delta to the lands of the Khmer and beyond.

In an aside, check out this site, about an Asia Society exhibition called ‘Arts of Ancient Viet Nam: From River Plain to Open Sea’. The website alone is beautiful and tells a story few are aware of, namey the long cultural history of Viet Nam: http://sites.asiasociety.org/vietnam/?p=17

We have been forced to be very diligent in planning our Vietnam leg, not that we normally lack diligence, because Viet Nam is not an open book where outsiders can critique in the margins. That being said it is not China, and we were able to arrange a promising schedule of of locations and interviews, all sanctioned by our government guide.

We set up our camera on a tripod in the back of the ferry as it pulled out of the port in Phnom Penh, and for the next 5 hours the camera snapped off a frame every second: timelapsing all the way to Cau Doc. Our journey stops not at the floating restaurant we the ferry docks. Instead we heft a bag onto every appendage and toss our considerable bulks onto the back seats of a flock of tiny motorbikes that take off through the busy streets of Cau Doc. Our riders seem possessed with a desire to terrify the large tourists foolish enough to have flagged them down. We adjust our knees and shoulders to avoid high-speed shavings by trucks and on coming cars. 10 incandescent minuets later we pull into a bus stop and after buying a ticket on a mini-bus to Can Tho have quick bowl of truly weird noodles. Then we board the mini-bus which, soon after leaving, pulls into a small shop whereupon the ‘conductor’ proceeds to load an incredible amount of cigarettes into the bus, into pulling back the panels and the ceiling to stuff more cartons on, and finally donning a special set of pants and a jumper in which dozens of cigarette packets are stored. Once our mini-bus has been transformed into a motorised nicotine delivery system we are off and arrive several hours later in Can Tho, in time for dinner and then to bed.

North Koreans Laugh Too

Is it possible to enjoy humor in a country as hopeless as North Korea?

There’s a lot of material, for sure, but do they get it? It seems they do.

Who’ll stop the pain? Part 2

“The most suffering animal on the earth invented for itself: laughter.”—Nietzsche

I’ve often wondered what makes people laugh in the more repressive or deprived countries on this Earth. After 18 years of work on Burma and North Korea, among other Asian countries, I still don’t have an answer—although I do know of one man who gets a lot of laughs in Burma. His legal name is Maung Thura, and he makes a living as a dentist. His stage name is Zargana, and on stage is where he comes alive as a comedian. His is deeply, darkly funny, and much of his humor translates emphatically and hilariously into English. Little of what Zargana does, however, amuses the military government, which has for weeks stalled and obstructed delivery of international aid to victims of Tropical Cyclone Nargis, which struck May 2-3, killing 78,000 people and leaving a further 56,000 missing. Zargana was whisked from his home in recent days by officials working for the Burmese junta, after he spent days collecting and distributing aid for the millions of Burmese left homeless or alone after the storm.

Newsdesk: China suspends Baixing editor

Xu Feng, editor of the “restructured” Baixing (Commoners) magazine, said on Wednesday during his interview with Mandarin reporter Ding Xiao –

DX: I heard that you were fired?

Xu Feng: Not “fired.” Technically speaking, my job was “forcibly suspended.”

DX: Since when?

Xu: Around the 13^th. The “suspension” was a decision made by the editorial department of Commoners magazine. Zhongguo Nongcun Zazhishe (China Rural Magazine Publishing House), the parent company of Commoners, did not want it to happen. They have been trying to mediate. From a legal stand point, I have not been “fired” yet.

Newsdesk: Tibetan blogger Woeser under house arrest

Tibetan writer Woeser’s husband, Wang Lixiong, who is an ethnic Han Chinese, told Mandarin reporter Ding Xiao that Woeser has been confined to their home in Beijing since March 10, the 49^th anniversary of the 1959 Tibetan uprising.

It was ‘inconvenient’ for Woeser to speak to RFA, a phrase often used to denote a fear of reprisal from the Chinese authorities.

Wang Lixiong said: “She has been under house arrest since March 10. Her movements are restricted, as are mine. In the past, I was their main target. But now she has become part of the target. Whatever movement we plan to make, we must first ask for approval. Only when it’s approved by higher-up can we make a move under surveillance.”

Cyber-dissident Zhang Jianhong’s condition worsening

Paris-based Reporters Without Borders is calling on the Chinese authorities to release on humanitarian grounds of cyber-dissident Zhang Jianhong, 49, also known under the pen-name Li Hong. He’s been hospitalized for two months in Zhejiang provincial jail in southeastern China and suffers from partial paralysis. “He has been in Zhejiang prison hospital for almost two months. His condition has neither improved nor worsened. His muscles have wasted away. He no longer has any strength in his hands. He cannot wash his food bowl or his clothes,” his wife, Dong Min, told RFA’s Mandarin service. “He can do nothing for himself and has to be helped by other patients. If his condition worsens he could be completely paralyzed. This makes me very frightened.”

Missing lawyer Gao Zhisheng’s book comes out in English

“There are many reasons why a writer may be unable to attend the publication of his own book. For me however, it is particularly painful not to be present at the release of my book, for it is not merely a matter of personal regret for the writer himself to be absent on such an occasion; more importantly, it reflects a deep political issue—the political restriction of civilized discussion and the enthusiasm with which the current regime stifles any free expression and thought…”– Gao ZhishengListen to the audio interview in Chinese.

Gao Zhisheng, who is the subject of an Amnesty International Urgent Action, remains missing following his abduction. According to Amnesty:

Gao Zhisheng has not been seen since Sept. 22. His family has been unable to confirm his whereabouts. It is possible that Gao was detained by members of the State Security Bureau, but the Chinese authorities have made no official announcement of his detention.

Burma: Diva sings for the monks

Burmese singer Mar Mar Aye, now in exile in the United States, explains why she made this recording in support of the monks in her homeland:

Mar Mar Aye: I’ve never participated enthusiastically like this in any of the uprisings before…Some of my singing colleagues have died already. This time, when I saw the monks demonstrating, I miss my friends and my country every day. My children tell me, “Mother, now this is a religious affair. You are also a sponsor of the monks. People need to know that you are also upset by this.”

Tibetan caller: Monks in thanka protest over opera ban

According to recent information from Tibet, the majority of monks at the prestigious Drepung Monastery have refused to take part in a traditional Buddhist ceremony in which a devotional picture, or thanka, is unveiled on the hillside. The unveiling of the thanka (shown above in a tourist’s video of the event) lacked many of the ceremonial components normally seen, like the setting up of tents for continuous prayer. The majority of monks, according to this information from Tibetan callers, stayed behind:

“The monks at Drepung monastery refused to carry and display the giant cloth Thanka.

Li Bai: Drinking alone

I’d like to add my version of Li Bai’s well-known poem to a long and venerable list of translations gathered here by Rus Bowden:

Drinking alone

Here among the flowers I have a flask of wine
To pour out just for me: no company tonight.
I raise my glass instead to the bright moon,
And my shadow makes the third.