Tuesday, September 12, 2017, 12:00 - 13:30

 

Language: The speech and Q & A will be in English

Old hands will remember Bernie Krisher -- the legendary Newsweek bureau chief here back in the sixties-seventies who scooped everyone by an exclusive interview with the Showa emperor. And both old and new are aware of recent Cambodia events with the mercurial pro-Beijing Hun Sen regime cracking down on opposition personalities and organs seen as too independent or pro-US.  

We get the two in one, in the shape of Deborah Krisher-Steele, Deputy Publisher and owner of now suppressed Cambodia Daily. The Daily was established by Bernie back in 1993, virtually as a philanthropic gift to the Cambodia people to train a new generation of Cambodian journalists. For years he labored to keep the fiercely independent, small circulation, English-language paper alive. Now the Hun Sen regime has decided it should be closed.  

'Descent into Outright Dictatorship' was its final defiant September 4 headline. Inside was a report on the arrest of Cambodia's main opposition leader, Kem Sokha. The paper, which at times could only be sustained by Bernie's desperate fund-raising appeals, has been accused of owing 6 million USD in back taxes. Its remaining staff are not allowed to leave the country. 

Deborah, who lives in Tokyo, has promised to give us a close-up account of this drama and of her overseeing the various charitable projects managed by her father's non-profit organization, World Assistance for Cambodia. They include the construction of rural schools in Cambodia, a scholarship program for girls from very impoverished homes, a learning center for talented students from rural areas, and a foster home for children whose parents have died or are afflicted with HIV/AIDS. 

Please reserve in advance, 3211-3161 or on the website (still & TV cameras inclusive). The charge for members/members' guest is 1,750/2,700 yen; non-members eligible to attend may pay in cash by e-mail reservation (front@fccj.or.jp). (Menu:grilled salmon with herbs.) Reservations canceled less than one hour in advance for working press members, and 24 hours for all others, will be charged in full. Reservations and cancellations are not complete without confirmation. For meal service, please enter the room by 12:25.

Professional Activities Committee