Today I finished reading Joel Brinkley’s sobering but accurate account of modern Cambodia. Brinkley is a professor of journalism at Stanford University and was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting for his coverage of Cambodia and this work is reflective of that pedigree.
Sadly Brinkley’s analysis is close to my experience of life in Cambodia (and there I was thinking maybe I was just over-analysing things when I wrote about Cambodia on this blog) – a country with an appalling Khmer Rouge past but unable to break free of it because of corruption at every level in society.
Brinkley explains, “Many nations have suffered dark histories that left sad legacies. Many of those same nations are ruled by leaders who mistreat the people now. But no nation has suffered so much in the recent past. No other people lived through an era when their own leaders killed one-quarter of the population – only to find that when the offending government fell, uncaring, avaricious leaders replaced it. No other nation’s population is so riven with PTSD and other traumatic mental illnesses that are being passed to a second generation and potentially to a third – darkening the nation’s personality”.
Brinkley is hugely critical of Cambodia’s strong-man leader Hun Sen but saves some deserved criticism too for the international donors whether governments or NGOs who continue to fund his regime. And there is valid critique of the Cambodian peoples’ failure to rise up against Sen’s corrupt government – regularly giving electoral support to Sen and his party.
‘Cambodia’s Curse’ is written by an author who knows his subject, researched it well and genuinely cares for the people of this tragic country. His descriptions of the awful health outcomes for poor Cambodians because of a dreadful healthcare system, made worse by rampant corruption, and the care he takes explaining how impoverished Cambodians feel they can never get justice from a corrupt Court system are written by an author making a real effort to give voice to a people forgotten by their rulers.
You can, and should buy Joel Brinkley’s book ‘Cambodia’s Curse’ from publisher Black Inc here or drop into the Book Grocer for a copy, I bought mine at their Brunswick, Melbourne store (they’re lovely folks!).
Joel Brinkley (2011) “Cambodia’s Curse The Modern History as a Troubled Land” Black Inc Books.
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