Unfinished Business

Published on May 1, 2023 by Luke Hunt

Five years ago, Chinese investors began turning Sihanoukville, a sleepy coastal city with pristine beaches, into a gambling mecca rivaling Macao and Las Vegas, but that ended with a ban on online gambling and the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 200,000 Chinese workers had to return home. Plans are now being developed to rebuild and finish about 1,100 abandoned skyscrapers. Ravid Brown, Luke Hunt and Sreynat Sarum produced this television report for VOA. Click and Watch Here.

Flicker & Fade

Published on Mar 29, 2023 by Luke Hunt

Flicker & Fade screened at Straight8 Cannes International Film Festival 2018. A short film by Mark Roy & Julien Poulson based on the life and disappearance of Cambodian singer Poev Vannary. Featuring the voice of Kak Channthy and The Cambodian Space Project. Luke Hunt is the narrator.Click here to watch on Vimeo..

Broken Leg

Published on Mar 13, 2023 by Luke Hunt

Broken Leg is a short film by Morgan Reinwald which follows Western expats as they venture forth into the streets of Phnom Penh and its notorious nightlife along Street 136..Watch on YouTube..

Marc Carnegie: 1963-2023

Published on Feb 7, 2023 by Luke Hunt

Marc Carnegie, an American foreign correspondent who has reported from Iran, Iraq, Israel, Pakistan and dozens of other countries around the globe, passed away on Feb. 7 from complications of the liver and a brief illness. He was 59.His work in Iraq was lauded by his peers for many years afterward. Marc had worked the desk but knew where his correspondents were and did everything he could, and more, to get them across the line safely.Long time friend and colleague Susan Stumme wrote: "I’ve struggled to find the right words to describe this devastating loss. Marc Carnegie was so many things: dear friend, brilliant wordsmith, music lover, gifted drummer, obstinate pain in the ass, booze hound, complicated soul.".

Shirley Shackleton: 1931-2023

Published on Jan 16, 2023 by Luke Hunt

Shirley Shackleton, who passed away aged 91 on Jan. 15 was an author and tireless campaigner for Timor-Leste, she was best known as the wife of Greg Shackleton, one of the 'Balibo Five' journalists.The ABC reported she was an unlikely hero.A new mum and TV segment presenter from Melbourne, she suddenly became one of Australia's most vocal human rights advocates after her journalist husband Greg and four other Australian newsmen were brutally murdered in 1975 by Indonesian forces.They came to be known as the Balibo Five, having gone to Timor in the weeks leading up to Indonesia's occupation, to film the military invasion for Channel 7 and 9.But days after they arrived in Balibo, they disappeared.Read more here..

Nate Thayer: 1960-2023

Published on Jan 10, 2023 by Luke Hunt

American journalist Nate Thayer, who died on January 3 at the age of 62 in Falmouth, Massachusetts, left behind a trail of good friends and colleagues and a wealth of stories that spanned from Cambodia and China to Iraq and the United States.by LUKE HUNT / Phnom PenhThe obits were many and deserved. The New York Times, NPR, Asia Times, Voice of America, NK News and Sour Milk were just a few to publish his exploits alongside the international news wires. Nate Thayer arrived in Cambodia as a reporter with Associated Press.He then worked as a freelancer for the Far Eastern Economic Review and by the early 1990s had become a consistent contributor to the Phnom Penh Post. He covered....

Leaving Cambodia

Published on Jan 6, 2023 by Luke Hunt

A podcast with Margaret Bywater. A prominent figure in Cambodian civil society for more than three decades, Bywater has worked with refugees and helped to rebuild the education sector, primarily through libraries and the establishment of information services.During the 1980s she toured refugee camps in Malaysia, Thailand, and Hong Kong before arriving in what was then known as Kampuchea in 1986. She later undertook a consultancy for the Ministry of Women’s Affairs in Afghanistan.Working with Quaker Service Australia, Bywater lobbied for recognition of the Soviet-backed People’s Republic of Kampuchea and restoration of government aid, while backing efforts to find a peaceful solution to the long-running political impasse during the final years of the Cold War.Bywater spoke with The Diplomat’s Luke....

Keith Loveard: 1947-2022

Published on Oct 30, 2022 by Luke Hunt

Keith Loveard, passed away on October 30, 2022. Keith moved to Australia when still a teenager, cutting his teeth in journalism at the Daily Telegraph, later landing a job as Jakarta-based correspondent for Asiaweek. He died in Bali.

Tim Page: 1944-2022

Published on Aug 27, 2022 by Luke Hunt

Tim Page, the British-Australian war photographer, author, and hero to many, passed away on Wednesday, August 24. His obituaries, many written before his death, were a testament to a life that was as hectic and full as it was dangerous and inspiring. He was 78.Page made his name as a war photographer in Vietnam. He was daring, some said stupidly so. He was wounded four times and lost a piece of his brain but survived before covering conflicts in Cambodia and Afghanistan, where he also worked as a United Nations Photographic Peace Ambassador.His is an enduring legacy for a man many expected would be lucky to live beyond 30.Read more..

Oso Kuma

Published on Mar 13, 2022 by Luke Hunt

Oso Kuma is an artist and curator based in Phnom Penh who, among many things, acquires and sells art on behalf of artists and collectors. He currently has access to an extensive collection of works by the American artist Bradford Edwards. Oso can be contacted on [email protected]..