when animal attack people sorounding laugh and run. Nothing to say just run run run and laugh without hisitating.
Thursday, January 21, 2016
When Animals Attack
when animal attack people sorounding laugh and run. Nothing to say just run run run and laugh without hisitating.
Bull Festival Spain, Running Of The Bull, San Fermin
Bull Festival Spain, Running Of The Bull, San Fermin.Fighting with animal and crush and laugh and cry.
Thursday, January 14, 2016
Army Soldiers Surprise Their Daughter At A School Magic Show
By Caroline Bayard
Being away from your loved ones is never easy…especially when you’re not sure when you’re going to see them again.
One thing I admire most about our soldiers is how they put our country before their own wants and needs. It’s never easy for any parent to be away from their little ones, but when you’re serving on deployment, being away from family is often the most difficult part. That’s why I love seeing amazing video of our brave men and women of the military coming home and surprising their unsuspecting kids.
When your kids are young, it’s truly the “little things” that matter most. This is why it’s especially hard for our heroes to miss out on big days like graduations and birthdays, like when this soldier and single father surprised his daughter on her 3rd birthday. As you can see in this next video, coming home is a great opportunity for soldiers to surprise their families in the very best way.
Julia and Brian Woodburn are both in the U.S. Army and have been deployed for months. While being away from each other was extremely difficult, the worst part has been being separated from their young daughter, Addison. The couple teamed up with magician Nathan Roberts to give their little girl a show she’ll never forget!
source from : http://michaelbaisdennow.com
Being away from your loved ones is never easy…especially when you’re not sure when you’re going to see them again.
One thing I admire most about our soldiers is how they put our country before their own wants and needs. It’s never easy for any parent to be away from their little ones, but when you’re serving on deployment, being away from family is often the most difficult part. That’s why I love seeing amazing video of our brave men and women of the military coming home and surprising their unsuspecting kids.
When your kids are young, it’s truly the “little things” that matter most. This is why it’s especially hard for our heroes to miss out on big days like graduations and birthdays, like when this soldier and single father surprised his daughter on her 3rd birthday. As you can see in this next video, coming home is a great opportunity for soldiers to surprise their families in the very best way.
Julia and Brian Woodburn are both in the U.S. Army and have been deployed for months. While being away from each other was extremely difficult, the worst part has been being separated from their young daughter, Addison. The couple teamed up with magician Nathan Roberts to give their little girl a show she’ll never forget!
source from : http://michaelbaisdennow.com
Tuesday, January 12, 2016
Two Security Guards Shot Outside Phnom Penh Nightclub
Two nightclub security guards have been hospitalized with bullet wounds after a drunken reveler shot them with an AR-15 rifle in front of the Manhattan Cafe club in central Phnom Penh in the early hours of on Monday morning, military police officials said.
The suspect, Chao Rainsey, 31, was apprehended by other members of the club’s security personnel and handed over to military police shortly afterward, according to National Military Police spokesman Eng Hy. “The suspect shot more than 10 rounds and hit two security guards. The security chief got hit in the stomach and another was hit in his right hand,” Brigadier General Hy said.
“We confiscated as evidence an AR-15 rifle with six bullets in the magazine and a [Honda] PCX scooter,” he added. “We have no motive. The suspect did not tell us why he did this.”
Ngat Nguon, deputy military police commander in Daun Penh district, where the shooting occurred, said that the suspect was quickly handed over to municipal military police after admitting to buying the high-powered weapon illegally.
“He told us that he bought the gun from a soldier in Pailin province at the border with Thailand,” Mr. Nguon said, identifying the wounded men as Kang Chetra, 47, the nightclub’s head of security, who sustained the more serious injury, and Dum Thy, 42.
“The two are in the emergency ward at Calmette Hospital,” he said.
Outside the club on Monday, a motorcycle-taxi driver, who declined to be named out of fear for his safety, said he witnessed the shooting, which occurred at about 3:30 a.m.
He said Mr. Rainsey became livid when the guards denied him entry to the club, and began swearing at and insulting them.
“The suspect said, ‘Just you wait, I will go and get my gun and shoot you dead,’” the driver said.
When Mr. Rainsey returned, he nearly made good on his promise.
“The suspect shot many times, but I am not sure if he shot the security guards directly or if the bullets ricocheted and hit them because I ran away,” he said.
When he came back, the driver said, “I saw the two security guards had been injured and the suspect had been arrested by other security guards.
At the hospital on Monday, the wives of the two guards said they had not yet been able to get an account of what had happened outside the club, as their husbands were still in the emergency room.
Local news website Deum Ampil reported that the suspect initially became enraged after another man touched his wife’s waist on the dance floor inside the club, and that he went to retrieve his weapon to take revenge.
When he returned to the club with the AR-15, according to the report, he was refused entry and began firing at security staff.
National Championship 2016 Highlights and Analysis
Alabama Wins the National Championship Over Clemson
Alabama beat Clemson, 45-40, to win the 2016 College Football Playoff national championship game.
In the end, Clemson just didn’t have an answer for Alabama’s O.J. Howard. Following a 63-yard catch-and-run by Howard down the sideline, Alabama milked the clock, with Jake Coker running for a tough first down near the goal line. Then Derrick Henry just inched the ball over the stripe for the clincher. Alabama was just too good in the fourth quarter, winning the national championship, 45-40, over Clemson.
Remember when Coker was benched in week 3? His long, college football journey has reached the ultimate high note.
Feel bad for Clemson, but Alabama was just the better team. After a dull bowl season (other than T.C.U. vs. Oregon), the “Natty” gave us a great game.
Coker was 16 for 25, with 335 yards, 2 touchdowns and no interceptions. Howard had 5 catches for 208 of those yards and both touchdowns. Henry, the Heisman Trophy winner, finished with 158 yards on 36 carries, scoring three times.
Clemson’s Deshaun Watson lived up to his Heisman-finalist billing, throwing for 405 yards and 4 touchdowns. He also rushed for 73 yards, carrying Clemson to the brink of a title.
Alabama coach Nick Saban is now in some very elite company with his 5th national title. What a call on that onsides kick. That really swung the game. Five national titles is a huge number. Put him alongside Bernie Bierman and Howard Jones and one behind Bear Bryant.
In the end, Clemson just didn’t have an answer for Alabama’s O.J. Howard. Following a 63-yard catch-and-run by Howard down the sideline, Alabama milked the clock, with Jake Coker running for a tough first down near the goal line. Then Derrick Henry just inched the ball over the stripe for the clincher. Alabama was just too good in the fourth quarter, winning the national championship, 45-40, over Clemson.
Remember when Coker was benched in week 3? His long, college football journey has reached the ultimate high note.
Feel bad for Clemson, but Alabama was just the better team. After a dull bowl season (other than T.C.U. vs. Oregon), the “Natty” gave us a great game.
Coker was 16 for 25, with 335 yards, 2 touchdowns and no interceptions. Howard had 5 catches for 208 of those yards and both touchdowns. Henry, the Heisman Trophy winner, finished with 158 yards on 36 carries, scoring three times.
Clemson’s Deshaun Watson lived up to his Heisman-finalist billing, throwing for 405 yards and 4 touchdowns. He also rushed for 73 yards, carrying Clemson to the brink of a title.
Alabama coach Nick Saban is now in some very elite company with his 5th national title. What a call on that onsides kick. That really swung the game. Five national titles is a huge number. Put him alongside Bernie Bierman and Howard Jones and one behind Bear Bryant.
Alabama Crimson Tide Wins Its Fourth National Championship in Seven Years
GLENDALE, Ariz. — Nick Saban won his fourth national title in seven seasons on Monday night, and his fifth over all, with an Alabama team headlined by Derrick Henry, the second Tide player, after Mark Ingram Jr., to win the Heisman Trophy. The Heismans bookending Saban’s first and fourth titles since 2009 buttress the belief outside Tuscaloosa, Ala., that Saban is the beneficiary of bountiful talent.
Who couldn’t coach an Ingram or a Henry, right? Clemson Coach Dabo Swinney took a scythe to that sentiment. “Not everybody can coach a great team,” he said on the eve of Monday’s championship game at University of Phoenix Stadium. “Not everybody can coach a great player, and I think that he has a gift to be able to do that.”
Swinney had a point. Del Harris and Kurt Rambis coached a Los Angeles Lakers team with Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal. That duo did not an N.B.A. title until after Phil Jackson was hired to lead the team. And the Seattle Mariners had Randy Johnson, Ken Griffey Jr. and Alex Rodriguez for two seasons in the 1990s and did not win a World Series.
Henry contributed 158 yards rushing and three touchdowns Monday to ignite Alabama’s 45-40 victory against Clemson. Along the way, he supplanted Shaun Alexander as the Tide’s career rushing yards leader by breaking his record of 3,565 yards.
The Tide were also led by tight end O. J. Howard, who scored two touchdowns. Kenyan Drake returned a kickoff 95 yards to put Alabama up by 38-27 with 7 minutes 31 seconds left in the game. Quarterback Jake Coker was 16 of 25 for 335 yards and two touchdowns.
But the seal of authenticity on Saban’s stamp of greatness was provided by three young defensive backs who played like upperclassmen. Ronnie Harrison and Minkah Fitzpatrick, both one year removed from high school, broke up passes in the end zone in the third quarter.
And Marlon Humphrey, a redshirt freshman, recovered an onside kick in the fourth after the Tide had tied the score at 24 with a field goal, setting up the score that put Alabama ahead for good.
The Tigers, who had won 51 straight when leading after three quarters, were outscored by 24-16 in the final 15 minutes. To a man, Alabama players reflect Saban’s attention to detail and his focus. The Tigers, who were bidding for their first national championship since 1981, lost their concentration for a moment, on the onside kick, and it cost them. “Just a few plays,” Swinney said.
Like objects in Alabama’s side mirror, the top-ranked Tigers were closer than they appeared. Since 2011, they have an overall record of 56-12 to the Tide’s 62-7. The Tigers will have their day. But Monday belonged to Alabama.
“We’ve just been laying in the weeds for seven years just doing what we do,” Swinney said of the Tigers, who clawed their way up the ladder the old-fashioned way, by stockpiling talent.
From Saban to his doppelganger, Bear Bryant, one truth has remained incontrovertible in college football throughout the decades. To win the national championship battle, one first has to prevail in the recruiting wars, which requires attracting talented reserves that could be starting at other schools.
“I think that’s critical,” Swinney said, “and I think Coach Saban obviously does a phenomenal job of that.”
Clemson’s defense offered proof of Swinney’s success in developing his own pipeline of talent. It was ranked in the Top 10 nationally despite losing several players from last year’s top-ranked unit. If Clemson was going to climb the last remaining rung to the top, its depth on defense was going to have to be served.
The Tigers squared off against an Alabama offense averaging 204.4 yards rushing per game with two of their best players, defensive end Shaq Lawson and cornerback Mackensie Alexander, hobbled by injuries. Alexander played with an injured hamstring and lasted a half. Lawson, slowed by a sore knee, had two sacks in the first half of his collegiate swan song. He has announced his intentions to enter this year’s N.F.L. draft.
The matchup between Alabama’s freshman receiver Calvin Ridley and Alexander, who had allowed only 12 passes in his direction this season to be completed — none for touchdowns — was the most eagerly awaited individual clash within the team battle. Ridley caught a pass for no gain on the first play from scrimmage, foreshadowing his night. He finished with six catches for 14 yards as Cordrea Tankersley and Adrian Baker helped take the air out of Alabama’s passing attack.
The Tigers felt Alexander’s absence on the Tide’s first possession of the third when Coker hit a wide-open Howard on a 53-yard touchdown to break a 14-14 tie. Howard also scored on a 51-yard pass play set up by the onside kick to break a 24-24 deadlock. He finished with five catches for 208 yards and was named the offensive player of the game.
Swinney described the long scores by Howard and the onside kick as “the three critical errors” that blotted out Clemson’s positives: the 550 yards of total offense (to Alabama’s 473) and quarterback Deshaun Watson’s 4,000 yards passing and 1,000 yards rushing in a season. Watson was 30 of 47 for 405 yards and four touchdowns.
Clemson had been plugging holes since the first series of the season when Mike Williams, whom the Tigers expected to be a key contributor, was lost to injury. The Clemson coach, who is fond of using acronyms, watched his team all year perform at its BEST (backups earning Swinney’s trust).
Swinney was not a ballyhooed recruit of Gene Stallings when he played at Alabama. He walked on as an undersized receiver. At 5 feet 10, Swinney was about the same size as Hunter Renfrow, one of the two walk-ons to whom Swinney awarded scholarships this season. Renfrow, who had 26 receptions before Monday, matched Henry’s score and raised him one with two touchdowns in the first, on catches of 31 and 11 yards, as the Tigers went ahead, 14-7.
Henry capped a 42-yard drive with a 1-yard run with 9:35 left in the second. The game-tying score was set up by the interception of Watson by safety Eddie Jackson, who received defensive-player-of-the-game-honors.
The Tide’s only loss of the season, to Mississippi in September, came on a day when they were uncharacteristically charitable, with five turnovers. Though Alabama lost that game, it settled on its quarterback, as Coker replaced Cooper Bateman in the second quarter. After the defeat, Saban’s players redoubled their commitment, which made an indelible impression on Saban.
“I really wanted to do the best I could for this team as much as any team I’ve coached, because I wanted them to have a chance to win this game,” he said.
Coker, who began his collegiate career at Florida State, carried the offense on his shoulders in the national semifinal against Michigan State. With Henry deployed essentially as a decoy against a Spartans defense that stacked the line of scrimmage, Coker torched Michigan State for 286 yards passing and two touchdowns in a 38-0 victory. On Monday, Henry had 128 yards in the first half on 20 carries, equaling his workload against the Spartans.
Henry, 21, became the first player to lead the Football Bowl Subdivision in rushing yards and win a national title since Charles White of Southern California in 1978. But the night belonged to Saban, who recalled his first game as the head coach at Michigan State, a 50-10 loss in 1995 to Nebraska, then ranked No. 2. The Cornhuskers were coached by Tom Osborne, who guided four teams to unbeaten regular seasons in the 1990s.
After that game, Saban said, Osborne told him, “You’re not as bad as you think.” Two decades later, Saban is driven by the belief that he is not as good as everybody thinks.
“As long as you do this it’s always about the next play, the next game,” Saban said.
Monday, January 11, 2016
Animal Fight Lion vs Hippo vs Lion Real Fight
Animal fight lion fight with Hippo. if is very funny to see.
not only the human life even the animal life fight each other to find the place.
Crazy Man Jumps into Lion Enclosure at the Taipei ZOO in Taiwan and Gets Attacked
This man are very crazy.He want to play with the very mean Lion.
so at the end he get attack serously
Urge Ugandan President Museveni to pass the acid attack bill now.
After having lived for seven years with an abusive husband, I decided it was time to leave. I didn’t think I would survive another year if I stayed, so in 2011, I walked out the door and broke the crippling silence and isolation the abuse had made me feel. I felt empowered and free, and finally looked forward to my future. But because I left my marriage, my husband considered me “disobedient” and, therefore, worthy of punishment. So one day, when he called me to pick up my children at his house and suddenly acid was thrown at my face and body.
The next thing I knew, my face felt as if it were on fire. My skin was literally melting away.
He thought he would break my spirit, but he only made me stronger. Since my attack, I have been fighting to put an end to this horrific practice in my country of Uganda, and I need your help to do it. Please support our petition by asking H.E. President Yoweri Museveni Kaguta to sign the Toxic Chemicals Bill into law.
That is my story, but there are many more, each one as harrowing as the last. Acid violence occurs around the globe and isn’t specific to race or religion. My country, Uganda, has some of the highest rates of acid violence. In fact, since 1985, there have been nearly 400 reported cases of acid attacks here, and in just one hospital alone, they have reported 8 attacks and two deaths this year. And those are just the ones that were reported. The real statistics are likely much higher.
My name is Hanifa Nakiryowa,and my fellow acid attack survivor Gloria Kankunda and I have founded the Center for Rehabilitation of Survivors of Acid and burns Violence (CERESAV). We founded CERESAV because of our personal experiences, and because of the stories we were told by fellow victims. CERESAV’s ultimate goal is to address the issue of acid attacks and gender violence on a global level, but today we have a chance to make a difference in Uganda by helping to pass legislation that would classify products like acid as controlled substances. Cutting off easy access to acid has proven to drastically reduce the rate of attacks in other countries.
Research indicates that the most effective ways to reduce acid violence are through regulation of the sale of acid, tougher jail sentences for perpetrators, and raising awareness of the devastating impact that acid attacks have on individuals and their families. Step by step, CERESAV hopes to make all of these things a reality, but we can’t do it alone.
With collective efforts, we can end this devastating act and save the next potential victim. I know we can make a difference. When strong women and fellow victims of female-directed violence, like Jaha who fought to end female genital mutilation, or Malala who is a champion for girls’ education started Change.org petitions, great things happened.
Legendary Artist David Bowie Dies at 69
The singer-songwriter and producer excelled at glam rock, art rock, soul, hard rock, dance pop, punk and electronica during an eclectic 40-plus-year career.
David Bowie has died after a battle with cancer, his rep confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter. He was 69."David Bowie died peacefully today surrounded by his family after a courageous 18-month battle with cancer. While many of you will share in this loss, we ask that you respect the family’s privacy during their time of grief," read a statement posted on the artist's official social media accounts.
The influential singer-songwriter and producer excelled at glam rock, art rock, soul, hard rock, dance pop, punk and electronica during his eclectic 40-plus-year career. He just released his 25th album, Blackstar, Jan. 8, which was his birthday.
Bowie’s artistic breakthrough came with 1972’s The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars, an album that fostered the notion of rock star as space alien. Fusing British mod with Japanese kabuki styles and rock with theater, Bowie created the flamboyant, androgynous alter ego Ziggy Stardust.
Read More David Bowie Dies: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com
Saturday, January 9, 2016
Top 10 Animals mating: Monkey mating & Gorilla mating funny videos 2015
Top 10 Animal mating. Monkey mating and gorilla mating.
it is so funny watching them must be laugh without hisitate.
Four Years On, Borei Keila Evictees Suffering
PHNOM BAT COMMUNE, Kandal province – Sitting beneath her tin shack in a dusty settlement here on Thursday, 73-year-old Buot Mom broke down in tears as she recalled the day four years ago that bulldozers descended on her former home in Phnom Penh’s Borei Keila community to evict her and her neighbors.
“The people from Borei Keila refused to leave. They burned car tires and the authorities arrived and used water cannons, tear gas and rubber bullets to shoot at us,” Ms. Mom said.
“People living there were not able to get their possessions before they were smashed down,” she said. “Then they ordered us to get into the truck and dropped us about 1 km from here.”
Ms. Mom was recalling January 3, 2012, when, after years of struggle with the company Phanimex, military police and police clashed with around 200 villagers who attempted to protect their homes in the capital.
Members of the community had been promised new homes in return for giving up their land to the firm in 2003, with Phanimex—which is owned by businesswoman Suy Sophan—announcing that it would build 10 apartment blocks to house the 1,776 affected families. In the end, the company constructed only eight buildings, leaving more than 300 families still at the site with no housing resettlement plan.
Once authorities had flattened the homes of the evictees, many of the residents were dumped at designated relocation sites in Phnom Penh’s Dangkao district and Phnom Bat, a barren strip of land around 40 km outside of the capital that resembled a refugee camp, where villagers temporarily lived in flimsy tents donated by NGOs.
Four years later, the tents have made way for small shacks, some of which have mango trees growing alongside them. A few vendors have also sprung up, selling drinks and snacks. Ms. Mom, a former rubbish collector and dessert vendor, now cooks up Khmer noodles and rice porridge for customers on her front porch.
Despite some improvements at Phnom Bat, which sits at the foot of Oudong Mountain, all residents interviewed on Thursday spoke of the desperation and crippling poverty they continue to experience at the site.
“We face big problems because we don’t have clean water, a health center or jobs to make money. We have to live here with no revenue,” said Seang Chanda, 43, a former fish vendor who has not managed to find steady work since she was relocated.
“Of course, in Borei Keila it was easy to make money…. I sold a basket of fish a day and would earn 50,000 riel [about $12.50].”
Although around 140 people are based at Phnom Bat, in reality only about 40 live there permanently, as the lack of job opportunities in the area has forced them to seek work elsewhere. Residents interviewed said many of the community’s men were currently working on a cassava plantation in Ratanakkiri province, around 500 km away, while some of the young women have entered more dangerous lines of work in the capital.
“People living there were not able to get their possessions before they were smashed down,” she said. “Then they ordered us to get into the truck and dropped us about 1 km from here.”
Ms. Mom was recalling January 3, 2012, when, after years of struggle with the company Phanimex, military police and police clashed with around 200 villagers who attempted to protect their homes in the capital.
Members of the community had been promised new homes in return for giving up their land to the firm in 2003, with Phanimex—which is owned by businesswoman Suy Sophan—announcing that it would build 10 apartment blocks to house the 1,776 affected families. In the end, the company constructed only eight buildings, leaving more than 300 families still at the site with no housing resettlement plan.
Once authorities had flattened the homes of the evictees, many of the residents were dumped at designated relocation sites in Phnom Penh’s Dangkao district and Phnom Bat, a barren strip of land around 40 km outside of the capital that resembled a refugee camp, where villagers temporarily lived in flimsy tents donated by NGOs.
Four years later, the tents have made way for small shacks, some of which have mango trees growing alongside them. A few vendors have also sprung up, selling drinks and snacks. Ms. Mom, a former rubbish collector and dessert vendor, now cooks up Khmer noodles and rice porridge for customers on her front porch.
Despite some improvements at Phnom Bat, which sits at the foot of Oudong Mountain, all residents interviewed on Thursday spoke of the desperation and crippling poverty they continue to experience at the site.
“We face big problems because we don’t have clean water, a health center or jobs to make money. We have to live here with no revenue,” said Seang Chanda, 43, a former fish vendor who has not managed to find steady work since she was relocated.
“Of course, in Borei Keila it was easy to make money…. I sold a basket of fish a day and would earn 50,000 riel [about $12.50].”
Although around 140 people are based at Phnom Bat, in reality only about 40 live there permanently, as the lack of job opportunities in the area has forced them to seek work elsewhere. Residents interviewed said many of the community’s men were currently working on a cassava plantation in Ratanakkiri province, around 500 km away, while some of the young women have entered more dangerous lines of work in the capital.Hun Sen, Rainsy Jostle for Social Media Fame
The sight of opposition leader Sam Rainsy in a bathing suit is nothing strange for users of Facebook, where he has been regaling his followers for years with photographs of himself at leisure.
But Prime Minister Hun Sen in board shorts and a singlet is something new entirely.
“Isn’t Samdech cold?” a commenter asked beneath a Facebook photograph of the premier in beach attire posted to his personal Facebook page late last month.
Over the past few months, as political protests have waned and Mr. Rainsy has gone into self-imposed exile, Facebook has become the site of an all-out popularity war between Mr. Hun Sen and Mr. Rainsy.
On December 30, three months after the “Samdech Hun Sen, Cambodian Prime Minister” Facebook page passed 1 million “likes” and the premier finally claimed it as his own, a series of 10 photos was posted to the page showing the strongman strolling along a Sihanoukville beach at sunset.
“My wife goes to the market while I am swimming happily with both Khmers and foreigners,” reads a message accompanying the images.
“Peace has prevailed in the country. The people have the freedom to go to all entertainment areas where they wish to go. Many tourists come to the beach. A group of French people knew me very well. They spoke to me nicely; I welcomed them and told them to be happy and asked them to visit Cambodia again.”
In 2013, Mr. Rainsy used a sophisticated social media campaign to loosen his perpetual rival’s iron grip on power, tapping into a torrent of online support that helped him make major gains in the national election, and later to organize mass demonstrations protesting the outcome of the ballot.
As the opposition leader used Facebook to call for revolution—and bragged about his dominance of the sphere—the prime minister distanced himself from the platform and the page he would later claim as his own.
“You won by running alone,” he said during a June 2013 speech, responding to Mr. Rainsy’s gloating about his social media prowess. “I do not even have any Facebook.”
How times have changed.
These days, a speech by Mr. Hun Sen is not complete without his latest musings on social media, or a nod to his self-proclaimed mastery of it. At the lectern, he waves his iPhone around, telling crowds how he has adopted modern technologies just like them.
“If we play, we play strongly,” he said at the opening of an overpass in Phnom Penh this week, pointing out that a drone was buzzing overhead, capturing footage to be posted to Facebook.
“You have to understand how Hun Sen does things: Wherever technology goes, I go too.”
And if you believe the numbers, the premier’s Facebook about-face was a shrewd tactical move—the latest in a career of political masterplays. As of Friday evening, the “Samdech Hun Sen” page had 1,800,555 “likes.” His December 30 sunset collection alone had been “liked” 129,934 times and “shared” by more than 14,000 followers. Followers say the 63-year-old has become accessible, and relatable, to the people.
“My life is simple and Samdech’s life is similar,” commented Vutha Si, one of thousands to weigh in on the holiday snaps, using the most common of Mr. Hun Sen’s many honorifics.
“He walks like the people, close to the people,” wrote another Facebook user under the handle Prumden FZ. “He understands the people, loves the people.”
But while followers gushed at the invitation into the premier’s private life, Mr. Rainsy’s Facebook page was still setting the pace.
Three days before the prime minister posted his vacation photos, the 66-year-old opposition leader—out of the country to avoid a two-year prison stint—posted his own leisure snaps: a series of seven showing him in command, apparently, of a variety of watercraft off the coast of the Philippines.
“Strongman on the water,” user Chhay Lim commented on an image of Mr. Rainsy striking a glory pose—hands raised in the air—while on a stand-up paddleboard.
An image of the CNRP president taking the helm of a catamaran also had his followers in rapture, and reaching for metaphors.
“There is hope that Mr. President will steer the Cambodia ship …and lead the Cambodian people to happiness,” wrote one under the name Sdech Mean Prayouch.
However, despite Mr. Rainsy appearing to be a step ahead of his rival, and having more followers—passing the 2 million mark on Friday—individual posts by the prime minister are far more valuable when measured in the online currency of “likes.” As of Friday, the opposition leader’s watercraft collection had attracted 52,710 “likes,” less than half the amount of online adoration showered on Mr. Hun Sen’s beach set.
“He has become the star of Facebook,” said Thun Saray, a longtime political observer and the president of rights group Adhoc, who chuckled through a conversation about the prime minister’s new online persona.
“He is showing the people that he eats at the market, visits the seaside. He is adapting to compete with the opposition leader and show the people that he is not someone that just fell from the sky.”
Following the battle to be most leisurely, Mr. Rainsy and Mr. Hun Sen this week moved on to exercise and sports.
“In the morning before work, or at dusk after work, I like to do physical exercises and to practice different sports in order to remain in good health,” read a Tuesday post from the opposition leader that was accompanied by two photos: one of him swinging from a pull-up bar, the other of him running on a treadmill, his feet blurred.
Mr. Hun Sen returned fire the following day, posting his own sports collection—a set of images of him posing with grandchildren in matching uniforms, topped off by a shot of the prime minister standing alone in a tracksuit with a silver-colored football at his feet.
“January 5 is the 40th anniversary of my marriage to my wife. We did not organize a ceremony but my children organized a gathering with my grandchildren in sports uniforms. They asked me to wear it like a sportsman playing sports and take photos as a souvenir,” read a post accompanying the photos.
While politicians fighting for “likes” has provided entertainment for some, the importance of Facebook in contemporary Cambodian politics is no joke.
In December 2014, Mr. Rainsy called a press conference to announce he had reached 1 million “likes.” The prime minister, too, takes Facebook very seriously, according to Sok Eysan, a spokesman for the ruling party.
“All posts are written by Samdech because he does not like others to write for him,” he said.
Between Thursday and Friday afternoon, five videos, two sets of photos and an official announcement on the new traffic law were posted to the “Samdech Hun Sen” page. Thousands of comments were posted by followers, and many received personalized responses, some in English.
“All the writing is done by him,” Mr. Eysan insisted, adding that the leisure shoots were also a brainchild of his boss.
But the strongman’s embrace of Facebook has not been all fun. Exposing himself to the masses has also revealed his soft underbelly.
Users have doctored a number of his candid images. In one, he stands on the beach with an arm amputated (by Photoshop). In another, his wife stands with her feet stretched slightly apart (also by Photoshop).
In a speech on January 1, he issued a warning to those who insulted him online. “If I want to take action against you, we will get [you] within seven hours,” he said.
On Friday, he appeared to make good on his threat when a farmer from Kompong Thom province was charged by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court with making death threats and insults in a Facebook post aimed at the prime minister.
According to Mr. Saray, the Adhoc founder, such strong-handed plays reveal that the true Hun Sen, a hardened politician who has ruled the country for more than three decades, still lurks beneath the veneer of his new fun-loving, avuncular online persona.
Mr. Saray said that the prime minister had been forced to overhaul his image to appeal to a population that had “awakened from the past.” However, many people will not be so easily fooled, he said, pointing out that bodyguards can be seen in the prime minister’s photos of himself at the beach, where he claims to be walking freely among the people.
“He still does not feel secure,” Mr. Saray said. “He is trying to adapt to this new [technological] revolution in the country, but Hun Sen, when he speaks, he still behaves the same—nervous, emotional, strong—and he uses brutal words.”
“This is his character.”
