Mozzeenet

I was stunned to hear recently that a new king has been appointed in Cambodia. It wasn’t widely reported here and when I saw it on the news a few weeks ago, the coronation and celebrations had already occurred. In October, the former king, Norodom Sihanouk abdicated after over 50 years as monarch. The new king, Norodom Sihamoni, the eldest son of Sihanouk and Queen Monique has spent most of his life removed from Cambodia in Europe, studying professional dancing.

I found it illuminating to read comments from the public about this in A new king for Cambodia: Your views on the BBC website – people living in Cambodia and abroad including nationals and foreigners. The interesting implications of the change will be in politics with some speculation occurring about how the new figurehead will influence the entrenched leadership of Prime Minister Hun Sen, often seen to be biased and ineffective in dealing with the poverty and social problems faced by the country. A shake-up in the way Cambodia is ruled is sorely needed. Whether this quite radical change will stir the pot in any useful way is yet to be seen.

On the weekend, I caught up with some of the volunteers I met in Cambodia including Sonia and Ana who I lived with. They were all here (except Ana) for their Australian Youth Ambassador debrief having only recently returned. It was excellent to swap stories and reminisce.

A young Khmer woman who lived upstairs from one of the volunteer households in Phnom Penh also joined us. She was visiting Australia and it was interesting to hear her reverse perspective on visiting our country for the first time. The first thing she said was that we eat a lot and she noticed that everyone here is so “big and wide” compared to in Cambodia. The concept of suburbs confused her – in Phnom Penh, locations are always referred to by street and the streets are all numbered. There are suburbs but they aren’t referred to when navigating. Mostly people just say somewhere is “Near the River” or “Near such-and-such supermarket”. She also, of course, had found the weather very cold as she had been staying in Canberra.