Filed under: Soma Norodom | Tags: Cambodia, controversial woman, PUC Radio Talk Show, Royal Rebel, Theary Seng
Royal Rebel meets Controversial Woman
Theary Seng, most controversial woman in Cambodia
- Soma interviewing Theary Seng, Lawyer, Author, Human Rights Activist
My second to last interview on PUC Radio Talk Show was with the most controversial woman in Cambodia, Ms. Theary Seng. Many did not want her on the radio, especially government officials and leaders of PUC, including the President. I asked that she come on and I will not allow her to criticize the government, but rather give her views on several topics, by backing it up with the facts. Also, I have received the respect from many of my peers, including the President, and thanks to my style of hosting, Ms. Theary Seng appeared on February 21, 2012, and it was an interview to remember.
Ms. Theary C. Seng is currently writing her second book, the founder of the Cambodian Center for Justice & Reconciliation, and the founding president of CIVICUS: Center for Cambodian Civic Education, registered with the Ministry of Interior. After a 2-year stint as a commercial lawyer, Theary, in March 2006, joined the Center for Social Development, a local human rights organization based in Phnom Penh, Cambodia as its executive director until her removal in July 2009 by a politically-motivated court injunctive order.
Theary was born in Phnom Penh probably in January 1971. Under the Khmer Rouge, she lived in Svay Rieng province bordering Vietnam, where the killings were most intense and where she spent five months in Bung Rei prison. The Khmer Rouge killed both her parents. She and her surviving family trekked across the border for Thailand in Nov. 1979 and emigrated to the U.S. one year later.
Since 1995, Theary has been in Cambodia volunteering with various labor and human rights groups. In January 2004, she moved permanently to live and work in her country of birth. Of choice, home is now again Cambodia.
Theary graduated from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service (Washington, DC) with a Bachelor of Science in International Politics in 1995 and from the University of Michigan Law School with a Juris Doctor in 2000. Theary is a member of the New York Bar Association and American Bar Association.
Theary has written about her life in a book entitled Daughter of the Killing Fields (London, 2005). Theary made history when she testified as the first ECCC-recognized civil party against the pre-trial detention hearing of the most senior, surviving Khmer Rouge leader, Brother No. 2 Nuon Chea on 7 Feb. 2008.
Theary is a Executive Committee member of the World Bank-funded Affiliated Network for Social Accountability in the East Asia & Pacific (ANSA-EAP) operated by the Ateneo School of Government, now an independent Foundation registered in the Philippines; a member of the Preparatory Committee and now the Governing Board of Directors for the Human Rights Resource Center for ASEAN (HRRCA), a Foundation registered in Indonesia; a member of the Global Advisory Board of Human Dignity and Human Studies (HumanDHS); a member of the World Forum for Democratization in Asia (WFDA), the World Movement for Democracy, and the Non-Governmental Process of the Community of Democracies; a former Board member of the Cambodian Living Arts (Silapak Khmer Amatak, which produced Where Elephants Weep), a co-founder and former vice-president of Women’s Association of Small & Medium Businesses (WASMB), etc.
Theary and her Civil Party of Orphans Class are members of the Association of Khmer Rouge Victims in Cambodia (www.akrvictims.org), the first Cambodia-based association to be registered with the Ministry of Interior and the first to be recognized by the Extraordinary Chambers (ECCC).
Theary founded the Voice of Justice Radio Program (now Voice of Justice & Reconciliation) excellently managed and hosted by Cambodia’s golden voice of Ms. CHAP Chandina as well contributed articles for the Voice of Justice columns for the Phnom Penh Post and Khmer-language daily Koh Santepheap.
Theary is the co-host of the popular reality-TV program Youth Leadership Challenge aired on CTN and CTN International for five seasons (2006-2009) with Dr. Chea Samnang, Actor and Goodwill Ambassador, my dear friend.
When in Phnom Penh, she worships at the International Christian Fellowship and sometimes at Khmer-speaking New Life Community Church, Living Hope in Christ Church or Prek Eng Peace Church.
Theary is frequently invited to speak at international conferences all over the world on issues of justice and reconciliation, democracy and human rights, faith in action, and is the subject of countless TV and radio broadcasts on CNN, BBC, AlJazeera, ABC, NHK, VOA, DW, RFA, RFI as well as many documentary films, including a feature film using Theary to tell the larger Khmer Rouge story, in production.
Theary, thank you for being a fan of PUC Radio, as your interview received the most listenership and validated me as the “Oprah Winfrey” of Cambodia. Our paths will cross again in the future.
Excerpts from the interview:
Royal Rebel (aka Princess Soma Norodom): We’re going to talk about my uncles, okay?
Most Controversial Woman (aka Theary Seng): Okay, I love your uncles. I am a fan of theirs, especially Prince Sirirath who is so regal (beside the fact he’s a prince).
Royal Rebel (aka RR or Soma): Do you know you’re the most controversial woman?
Controversial Woman (aka CW or Theary): Really? [laughs] I did not know that.
RR: Really. It’s a compliment. There were people who feared to have you be on our program.
CW: I am only articulating publicly what everyone is thinking privately.
RR: But you don’t care what people think of you…
CW: But I do… I am not perfect. No one is perfect. I learn from the criticisms, if they are constructive. Ones which are malicious, I ignore them. I have thick skin. [laughs]
RR: Have you been in love?
CW: Yes, twice.
RR: Have you been married?
CW: No. I do want to be married and have children. I can’t cook for the life of me, so I need a man who can cook. I am taking recommendations. [laughs]
CW: There’s a presumption against women. We are worse than second class citizens.
CW: Our generation, the older generation, we owe the young generation an apology. We have limited their future. Rather than being a generation of sacrifice, we–the older generation–have squandered the future of our children. For that, we owe this young generation an apology. I think of my grandmother, my mom’s mom, an illiterate woman to her dying day, who sacrificed her life so that her children, not only her children but her grandchildren (me!), and now her great-grandchildren (all 70-plus of us) could have a better life… From one life, limitless opportunities have been created for the children, grand children and great-grandchildren.
Filed under: Soma Norodom | Tags: Anida Yoeu Ali, censorship, Global Agitator, Muslim Khmer American, naked, Pizzaworld, Royal Rebel, shock radio, Soma Norodom, Studio Revolt
Anida Yoeu Ali, the Global Agitator, on PUC Radio Talk Show, made history by being the first naked guest speaker.
Thank You Pizzaworld for the delicious pizzas!
"No where else in the world can I bring my daughter to a live radio interview, eat pizza and be naked talking to royalty," stated Anida.
Soma enjoying the interview of Anida Yoeu Ali and wondering how she can top this with the next interview.
On January 30, 2012, I, the Royal Rebel, met the Global Agitator on PUC Radio Talk Show, and the encounter was raw. Anida Yoeu Ali’s interview on PUC Radio Talk Show was the talk of the town, and the photos from the interview were shared on FACEBOOK by fans and friends throughout Cambodia and all across the world and to the U.S.
Anida Yoeu Ali made history on PUC Radio Talk Show as the first guest speaker to do an interview naked. As a performance artist, Anida wanted to be interviewed with no clothes on to make a statement on the issue of censorship. A no holds barred interview with Anida, in the flesh, catapulted PUC Radio Talk Show into an area never explored before in the country called “shock radio.”
Censorship is the suppression of speech, information and ideas circulated within a society, and controlled by a government or media outlet. Censorship in Cambodia is real. There is no freedom of speech or press, due to the government’s regulation. But Cambodia does have a little more flexibility of freedom of expression than other countries like Myanmar (Burma) and Malaysia.
“Basically I believe in freedom of expression. I believe in standing up for yourself, for others, and for a greater cause. I believe there is nothing more sacred and precious in artmaking than the freedom for self-expression. The other angle on all this is basically I didn’t know what to wear. I was about to meet real royalty so should I wear something formal or informal? I didn’t pack my prom dress to Cambodia, and I thought it would be too weird to wear my Buddhist Bug costume. Soma wanted me in a Chicago Bulls jersey to which I was like ‘hell no! I’ll never be seen in any kind of sport jersey’. So I told her that since I couldn’t figure out what to wear, I might as well just come naked. After all, I am a performance artist,” expressed Anida.
Anida did do that, and her “birthday suit” was the highlight of the interview. Here are Anida’s favorite lines from the interview:
“On my right breast is a tattoo of Angelina Jolie. On my left breast is her son, Maddox, and when I squeeze my cleavage together they make the Bayon!”
2.) “If we are the Prime Ministers of Cambodia, (Soma and Anida) which we will call ourselves “Prima Ministras“, we would have two embassies in the US, and all deportees would be able to go back to the US on our embassy land!”
3.) “No where else in the world can I bring my daughter to a live radio interview, eat pizza and be naked talking to royalty!”
Thank you, Anida, for challenging us to express ourselves as individuals, and lifting PUC Radio Talk Show into a league of its own.
Special thanks to Chy Sila and the Pizzaworld Area Manager and staff at Kampuchea Krom, for making sure the pizzas were delivered on time, fresh, and delicious. Your generosity was appreciated by the PUC radio staff, Anida’s family, and of course, the Global Agitator and the Royal Rebel.
…and who knew that pizzas can play a major role as prop in “shock radio.”
Here is Anida Yoeu Ali’s bio:
Anida Yoeu Ali is a performance artist, writer, and the first generation Muslim Khmer woman born in Cambodia and raised in Chicago. She graduated with a B.F.A. in Graphic Design, at the University of Illinois in May 1996, and an M.F.A Performance at School of the Art Institute Chicago, in May 2010.
Her performance work transforms loss into conversations about reconciliation. Since 1998, Anida has toured over 300 colleges and venues with the spoken word ensemble, I Was Born With Two Tongues, and the multimedia collective Mango Tribe. The Tongues’ pioneering live performances and critically-acclaimed debut CD, “Broken Speak”, ignited a new generation of Asian American voices.
She is also a founding member of Young Asians With Power!, Asian American Artists Collective-Chicago, the National APIA Spoken Word & Poetry Summit, and MONSOON fine arts journal. Her artistic work has been the recipient of grants from the Rockefeller Foundation, Ford Foundation, National Endowment of the Arts and Illinois Arts Council.
Currently, Anida is the Creative Partner, along with her husband, Masahiro, of Studio Revolt, a collaborative media lab producing motion imagery and performance projects. In January 2011, Anida, her husband, and their 2 young kids, arrived in Phnom Penh, and the city has never been the same again.
