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]..

Reds & Whites in Asia

Published on Jan 15, 2022 by Luke Hunt

A podcast with Darren Gall who left Australia more than two decades ago and has since established himself as a wine producer, taster, importer, and writer and played an integral part in promoting an industry which is now worth billions of dollars a year.That includes his stake in vineyards and wine-making facilities in Myanmar where businesses have been punished by the pandemic and last year’s military coup that ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.In 2005 Gall oversaw the selection and importation of 15,000 vine and 2,500 Olive tree rootlings from Australia into Thailand for the further development of the Chateau des Brumes winery in Wang Nam Keow, in the Mekong Plateau highlands of eastern Thailand.He says the....