Socheata Vong

Bar Association Plays a Crucial Role, Needs to Act Responsibly
Letter to the Editor
The Cambodia Daily
Tuesday, September 5, 2006

I am profoundly frustrated that the bar association dispute has dragged on for almost two years, solely orchestrated by a few obsessively power-oriented and highly politicized people.

It is a crying shame that political convenience and gain have been attempted instead of a solution to the conflict.

In a system with a corrupt judiciary, the legal profession is one of the most important means in preserving justice.

The bar’s leadership has a crucial role to sustain this.
The bar’s credibility has been eroded in the eyes of its members, donors and, above all, in the eyes of the Cambodian population.

[Everyday that the dispute continues, my utmost sympathy goes out to Cambodians who are helplessly facing injustice in a very corrupt system, while the bar is being severely undermined.]

Everyday that the dispute continues, my utmost sympathy goes out to Cambodians who are helplessly facing injustice in a very corrupt system, while the bar is being severely undermined.

The bar’s leaders should learn to be more responsible toward their members and the Cambodian public before they decide to do battle over a position they not even deserve.

Vong Socheata,
Phnom Penh

When Parliamentarians Restrict Speech, a Country Is Diminished
Letter to the Editor
The Cambodia Daily
Friday, September 1, 2006

It is a sad irony that Cambodia, while proclaiming to be a democracy, has taken a move backward by hurting freedom of expression, one of the most fundamental rights for a democratic society (“Legislators Vote to Limit Their Own Speech,” Thursday, page 1)

I was shocked that our lawmakers, the so-called people’s representatives, who were elected by the people to speak for them, have chosen to abandon their mission by adopting a law to criminalize parliamentarians’ voices.

Shamefully, while the voices in parliament are silenced, Cambodians’ endeavors to make their voices heard, to contribute to development and to improve the nation through their elected representatives will be in vain.

Are we going back to the stage when we will all have to remain silent? When this core value of free expression is threatened, the country itself is diminished.

[Cambodian leaders should embrace criticism.]

Cambodian leaders should embrace criticism and be more responsible with every single decision they make.

Vong Socheata,
Phnom Penh