My "praise" for the government

Ranydina XenManiA turtle: "[W]e might be a turtle, but this turtle never stops crawling. So you rabbits out there better watch out!" (Ranydina XenManiA snake-necked turtle, a Khmer Rouge native, has a seven-inch-long shell and strong jaws to crunch critics and opposition officials, and it smells like a skunk. 'Not the prettiest snakeneck by a long way,' says one scientist. Chelodina reimanni." Photographer: Joel Sartore)
Our First Lady of the Cambodian Red Cross [church] - the savior of Cambodia poor and not so poor (not really) alike

Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)

Sunday, September 12, 2010
Op- Ed by DSU

"After finish reading the book by Heng Pov praising our awesome prime minister, I thought to myself, perhaps I took our government's success for granted and should appreciate those greatness more than I did.

I once taught at a public university in Cambodia, and I was warned by the administrator to refrain from talking about politics in class (although the nature of the class was supposed to be about politics). Ok fine, after all, if I mention something political, God forbid, the whole national security will be out of control - there will be a civil war again and bloodshed all over the country. National security comes before freedom of speech, a lesson I learn from our government.

I happened to attend a students' concert arranged by that same school, in which a representative of the Cambodian Red Cross was present and was giving us all details about how lucky we all have been since January 9, 1979 to the present under the leadership of the CPP. Apparently, if you talk to more than 300 young students about the achievements of the government, then it's NOT political - something I didn't know.