“Weapons
control involves some complicated problems. I’m telling the truth: We control
the weapons of our units and we control the legal weapons, but for illegal
weapons, we cannot control them. We do not say they are only for thieves, but
even civil servants and some private individuals are also using illegal
weapons.”
Deputy National Police Commissioner Lieutenant
General Mok Chito, 23 December 2015, The Cambodia Daily
“At that
time [Intermittent fightings gainst Thai soldiers near Preah Vihear temple]
some weapons were allowed to be used. Sometimes, they could not reach their
destination and be returned after the event.”
Interior Minister Sar Kheng, 16 December
2015, The Cambodia Daily
“The
surveillance cameras are necessary equipment to monitor the traffic situation
and other offenses along the street…. They will help to collect images to serve
security affairs, like to see who has violated the traffic law,”
Deputy National Police Commissioner Him
Yan, 23 December 2015, The Cambodia Daily
“According
to reports, robbers with the same faces are the ones fighting with the Phnom
Penh Municipal Police. …They come out (of prisons) and rob again and again in
many places.”
Premier Hun Sen, 15 December 2015, The Cambodia
Daily
“Religions
educate people to do good deeds, not to steal and rob. But armed robberies have
taken place in the last few weeks”
Premier Hun Sen, 15 December 2015, The
Cambodia Daily
Hun
Sen springs into actions, or pretends to – and the rest of the herd follows –
in response to a litany of street robberies in many cities.
It
is likely that they are springing into hot air. First, a working group is
formed to “boost understanding among ministries and law enforcement officials
to crack down on crime”. It seems like one of those committees in which individuals
who can do nothing individually sit to decide that nothing can be done
together.
Second,
Mok Chito claims they have under control only legal weapons, not the illegal
ones. Perhaps, one of his complicated problems is that he does not understand the
illegal weapons often come from the legal ones. His minister Sar Kheng admits
some of the legal weapons fall into illegal hands. Nevertheless, he does not
say how and why the transactions occur. Still, many know how corruption works.
Third,
newly-installed street surveillance cameras may not lead to criminals arrest. Video
films showing dozens of protestors turning criminals when they brutally assault
two opposition parliamentarians in daylight have not produced any arrest beyond
the three who confess. After all, one of the protest leaders has just been
appointed as a personal assistant to Hun Sen. The selective implementation of
law will override any usefulness of those cameras.
Anyhow,
robbers are used to pulling faces at Hun Sen. Another group of robbers has for
decades robbed the public blind, enjoying, and flaunting their loots. Corruption
is robbery, is it not? Hun Sen knows who these office robbers are. He even asks
them to look at the mirror and scrub off the dirt on their bodies. All the
office robbers can see in the mirror is a smiling dollar sign. They give a
different meaning to the famous Harry Truman’s “The buck stops here” – the
dollar stops at Hun Sen’s coffer.
Interestingly
similarities between the street and office robbers are striking. Both groups
are armed, have access to AK-47 riffles, and ready to shoot.
Both
have the same faces. Hun Sen says the street robbers are released from prison
only to rob again and again. He sees the office robbers day-in and day-out raiding
public purses again and again. He must know a notable variation between the two
is that the former has been to jail while the latter is at large.
The
two groups also share common motivations for their actions: birth defect,
greed, or hunger, or a combination of them. Some claim the office robbers have
no choice but to rob due to their starving salaries. Hun Sen says he won’t
increase them, because the government has no money. He does not say, however,
why there is no money in the public purse. He could increase the salaries to
the extent that there is no need for all them to rob the public. Then again, this
would indeed remove all the thrills from robbing and the fun of flaunting the
loots.
And
Hun Sen is right the robbers are not so religious.
Ung
Bun Ang
26xii15
Parthian Shot
The
self-esteem of these samdechs is so low that they are asking for respect, in
lieu of earning it. It won’t be long before they make Cambodia a “polite” nation.
“Using ‘Mr.’
to refer to samdechs is impolite.”
Secretary of state Mao Ayuth, 17
December 2015, The Cambodia Daily
Should you wish to receive Pseng-Pseng on
your screen as soon as it is released, subscribe to it at https://tinyletter.com/pseng-pseng
Pseng-Pseng is published periodically.
Previous issues are archived at pseng-pseng.blogspot.com
