What a Mirror Does: to Reflect and to Highlight
The Mirror, Vol. 14, No. 681
Apologies for the delay: written in Phnom Penh – posted only from Germany.
Norbert Klein
The recent changes in the production and display of The Mirror brought a stream of reactions – mostly in direct mail – but there were also Comments from a reader and my responses, right on this site. Some readers may have followed these exchanges, which I consider very valuable, so that I bring them up here, for a wider exposure, as they can help also a wider readership to engage in this Discussion. As financial restraints have resulted in a fundamental change in The Mirror, it is useful to know how you, the readers, see the past, and also the future. Of course I have also my own views, to which readers have responded in the past, by a steadily increasing the number of visits – there were up to 10,000 visitors per month before the change.
Plans for an Island, Far Away, and a Tower, High Above
The Mirror, Vol. 14, No. 680
As the Constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia says, the “Cambodian people are the masters of their own country.” And in its Article 51, the Constitution, written in 1993 by the elected representatives forming the first National Assembly, who then established the Kingdom of Cambodia, were setting high goals for the future: “to restore Cambodia into an ‘Island of Peace’ based on a multi-party liberal democratic regime guaranteeing human rights and the respect of law, and responsible for the destiny of the nation.”
Internet Governance, Censorship, and the UN Multistakeholder Approach
The Mirror, Vol. 14, No. 653
Apologies for the delay:
This is sent from Kuala Lumpur. I will be traveling until mid March in fulfilling my task as a member of the Nominating Committee of ICANN – the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, the organization that coordinates the management of the Internet addresses worldwide – to help to find candidates for the positions of members of the board of directors and other positions of leadership, and to evaluate and to appoint them.
I hope that the timing of the publication of The Mirror will not be affected too much, but some delays will be unavoidable.
Norbert Klein, editor
On Saturday, we mirrored an article reporting that in the course of the last five years, about US$500 million had been spent on information technology in Cambodia, and that the annual amount is increasing by about 30%. Information and Communication Technology – ICT – is an important factor in the development of a country – it creates jobs, and the services which become possible through the use of its instruments and its infrastructure have a deep impact on the economy and on the society.
When a Picture is not Worth 1000 Words
A picture of the dead body of a young female traffic accident victim lying on the street. Is this an image from one of Cambodia's infamously graphic local newspapers? No, it is page 5 of the November 16 English-language Phnom Penh Post, and the editorial decision to use it has outraged many in the expatriate community.