Letter from Lord Puttnam, British Prime Ministers Trade Envoy to Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, to James Pringle: Dear Mr Pringle I read with interest your piece entitled ‘Killing Field’s Producer Turned Trade Rep Backs Hun Sen’ asiasentinel/politics/killing-fields-producer-turned-trade-rep-backs-hun-sen/ which struck me as polemical, but interestingly self-revealing. Whilst generous in your praise for my work, you go on to importantly misrepresent both the tone and content of what I had to say – most particularly during the Chamber of Commerce lunch – at which I don’t believe you were present. Anyway, let’s deal with the most upsetting error first – because you were there. In what possible manner, at any point, did I damn with faint praise Rithy Panh’s remarkable film The Missing Picture? On at least three public, and every possible private occasion I went out of my way to enthuse over what I believe to be an incredible achievement. I specifically congratulated the US Academy for demonstrating the vision to short list and then nominate what is a unique piece of work. If your reasoning is my lack of surprise at its not winning the Oscar, then youll remember I made clear my view that a significant number of Academy voters may have been confused as to whether they were voting for a documentary or a feature film. As a result of my enthusiasm for the film Mr Panh was good enough to give me two of his clay models, one for myself and one for Nick Park, a former student of mine, and the creator of the Wallace and Grommit films. My hope is that an identity of interest may serve to create a permanent relationship between the two creators, resulting in jobs in Cambodia - one of the purposes of my visit. The principal purpose of that visit was to argue for greater levels of UK inward investment into Cambodia, and a deepening of the relationship between the two countries. You heard me at length set out my personal views on the emergence of the Khmer Rouge, and the fact that many of my generation, including a number of journalists in the region (you may have been one of them) thought the KR had arrived as liberators of the country - from a corrupt, US backed Government. What emerged was beyond any of our wildest dreams in its insane cruelty, and history records that some of those early ‘liberators’, maybe not enough, and maybe too late, eventually parted company with Pol Pot and all he stood for. However hindsight doesnt make for good journalism - foresight does. That being the case, here are a few questions for you: How much time have you recently spent discussing the future of Cambodia with the new, post-election, Ministers? Im referring to people like the Education and Youth Minister, Hang Chuon Naron; or the Minister of Commerce, Chanthol Sun; or the Minister of the Environment. Not that much Id guess? I am no ‘apologist’; having done my best, over thirty years ago, to document Cambodias past, and with less knowledge than you have of its immediate present, Im now principally focused on what might be the future of the nation and its people. I sincerely believe there to be an emerging generation of younger Ministers who are committed to, among other things, stamping out corruption. In all of my meetings, including the one with the Deputy PM, I pressed this issue, and at no time did I feel I was being duped or mislead by their acceptance that an impartial judiciary and the removal of corruption were fundamental to the creation of a viable nation state - one they could all take pride in. Time will tell if Ive simply been gullible - should that prove the case Ill undoubtedly appear somewhat naive and foolish. But I’m prepared to take that chance because, like you, I’ve been around a long time, and I know how utterly corrosive the ‘politics of despair’ can be. Im in effect challenging those Ive met to be ‘as good as their word’, and Ill hopefully be back six months from now to see how theyre progressing. The most important lesson I learned during my many years with Unicef (under whose auspices I first came to Cambodia) was that, whilst progress could be frustratingly slow, engagement was everything – something the former Australian Foreign Minister was among the first to pursue, but the importance of which he appears to have forgotten now that he is out of office. I hope you and I are able to meet again at some point in the future, if only to discover which of us is the more embarrassed at the outcome of our respective positions. I suspect well both be a little disappointed, me at the pace of reform, you that the continuing disaster you anticipate hasnt in fact materialised. Consider this, if you are right, the nation will have slipped back into deeper misery; however if Im right Cambodia may well be looking towards a far brighter future. As someone with close ties to the country and the region, which scenario would you honestly prefer? Look forward to hearing from you. Yours very sincerely David Puttnam 11th March 2014
Posted on: Thu, 13 Mar 2014 02:24:08 +0000
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