Cambodia - Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Northern Thailand - page 565

However, the Cambodian lifestyle is changing as the population gets younger and more
urbanized. Cambodia is experiencing its very own '60s swing, as the younger generation
stands ready for a different lifestyle to the one their parents had to swallow. This creates
plenty of friction in the cities, as rebellious teens dress as they like, date whoever they
wish and hit the town until all hours. More recently this generational conflict spilled over
into politics as the Facebook generation helped deliver a shock result that saw the Cam-
bodian Peoples' Party majority slashed in half in the 2013 general elections.
Corruption remains a way of life in Cambodia. It is a major element of the Cambodian
economy and exists to some extent at all levels of government. Sometimes it is overt, but
increasingly it is covert, with private companies often securing very favourable business
deals on the basis of their connections. It seems everything has a price, including ancient
temples, national parks and even genocide sites.
NORODOM SIHANOUK, 1922-2012
In his storied career as king, politician and statesman, Norodom Sihanouk, who passed away in 2012,
was a lone constant presence in the topsy-turvy world of Cambodian politics. A colourful character
with many interests and shifting political positions, he became the prince who stage-managed the
close of French colonialism, autocratically led an independent Cambodia, was imprisoned by the Kh-
mer Rouge and, from privileged exile, finally returned triumphant as king, only to abdicate dramatic-
ally in 2004.
Sihanouk, born in 1922, was not an obvious contender for the throne. He was crowned in 1941, at
just 19 years old, with his education incomplete. By the mid-1960s Sihanouk had been calling the
shots in Cambodia for more than a decade. The conventional wisdom was that 'Sihanouk is Cambod-
ia' - his leadership was unassailable. But as government troops battled with a leftist insurgency in the
countryside and the economy unravelled, Sihanouk came to be regarded as a liability. His involvement
in the film industry and his announcements that Cambodia was 'an oasis of peace' suggested a leader
who was losing touch with everyday realities.
Following the Khmer Rouge victory on 17 April 1975, Sihanouk realised he had been used as a
Trojan Horse to propel the Khmer Rouge into power and found himself confined to the Royal Palace
as a prisoner. He remained there until early 1979 when, on the eve of the Vietnamese invasion, he was
flown to Beijing. It was to be more than a decade before Sihanouk finally returned to Cambodia.
Sihanouk never quite gave up wanting to be everything for Cambodia: international statesman, gen-
eral, president, film director, man of the people. He will be a hard act to follow - the last in a long line
of Angkor's god-kings.