Newspapers in Cambodia
According to ZIPCODESEXPLORER.COM, Cambodia is a country located in Asia. Cambodia has no daily newspaper. The press has limited influence and rarely reaches outside Phnom Penh. The largest newspapers have editions of 50,000 copies. The press has been largely free since the early 1990s, but violence against journalists has occurred.
Radio and television have been dominated by the state, and thereby mainly by the former Communist Party, the Cambodian People’s Party. The state radio broadcasts in Khmer, but also in English, French, Lao, Vietnamese and Thai. There are also several private radio stations. The TV medium was built up with the help of Vietnam and the Soviet Union. State Television Kampuchea mainly reaches the capital with its surroundings. In 1993, a private television channel owned by the state television in Thailand (IBC) and the Cambodian state was added. There are 119 radio and 8 TV receivers per 1,000 residents (2000).
Culture
According to ANIMALERTS, the Khmer culture originated in the Angkor kingdom (800th to 14th centuries). During that period, many magnificent temples were built, such as Angkor Vat, the world’s largest shrine. Buddhism also affects culture and most traditional feasts are associated with it.
The large temple complex of Angkor Vat has a strong symbolic value to the Khmer and appears as a symbol in many public contexts.
The Angolan kingdom was strongly influenced by India. This is noticed, for example, by the oldest work in the Khmer language is the epic Reamker, a Cambodian version of the Indian Ramayana epic.
The first printed work on Khmer was the book Pantan Ta Mas (Grandfather’s Advice), published in 1908. In the 1930s and 1940s, several well-known novels were published, including Sophat (The Hero’s Name) by Rim Kin. Sophat was also set up as a theater play.
Under the rule of the Red Khmer in the 1970s, all cultural life was allowed to give way to tributes to the regime, but since then cultural activities, not least the traditional ones, have been encouraged. Dance, music and craftsmanship has gained momentum. Temples have been restored, new houses have been built in traditional style and the old holidays are celebrated.
One internationally renowned artist was Vann Nath (1946–2011) who was particularly noted in connection with his testimony in the trial of the prison chief Duch at the Tribunal against the Red Khmer leaders 2009–2010 (see Political system). Vann Nath himself was a prisoner in the infamous prison and was then forced to paint pictures of Pol Pot. After its release in 1979, Vann Nath mainly painted motives from prison time.
The documentary filmmaker Rithy Panh was also hit hard during the Red Khmer rule and has dealt with the terror and its aftermath in a number of works. In “The missing picture” the country’s bloody history is depicted by a mix of news clips and clay animations. The film won a special award in 2013 at the Cannes Film Festival and was also nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Film.
Theater and shadow play are common folk pleasures.
2020
April
The strategy against the pandemic is being called into question
April 24
The government states that no new cases of covid-19 have been detected in the last twelve days. The country has only 122 confirmed cases of corona-infected persons and no deaths. Cambodia passed a new law on April 10 that gives the government the right to introduce a special state of emergency to combat the spread of infection, but the law has not yet been applied. The government has been criticized internationally for the country’s strategy against the pandemic is unclear and many analysts question the low rates of sickness and death. The World Health Organization WHO has said that Cambodia is likely to be in the early stages of the pandemic. Cambodia has imposed some restrictions on the pandemic, but the government’s highest priority is to keep the manufacturing industry running for the sake of the economy. According to the Minister of Labor, 95 percent of the textile and shoe factories are running as usual.
Restrictions are introduced
April 6
Hun Sen and his government are criticized for responding slowly to the threat of the corona pandemic. However, it has ordered restaurants, bars and casinos to close and it has become more difficult to get an entry visa to Cambodia.
Support for the fight against the corona pandemic
2 April
Cambodia receives a $ 1.9 billion rescue package from the World Bank. The amount is to be distributed among 25 developing countries and is a contribution to the fight against the spread of the new corona virus, which has caused a pandemic. Cambodia is awarded $ 20 million.
February
The EU abolishes trade benefits
February 12
The EU withdraws some of the trade benefits enjoyed by Cambodia on the Union market through the Everything but arms (EBA) trade agreement. The restriction involves fees of around one-fifth of the country’s annual exports to the EU and will entail increased costs for Cambodia of $ 1.5 billion. The decision is made as a consequence of growing democratic shortcomings in Cambodia, such as political repression of opposition and inadequate labor law (see Democracy and Rights).
January
The trial of Kem Sokha begins
January 15
The trial of Kem Sokha, leader of the banned and now dissolved opposition party CNRP, begins. He was arrested and detained in 2017, charged with treason.
