The

wedding reception of the decade took place on March 16. Tying the family knot were

Deputy Prime Minister Sar Kheng's son Sar Sokha and RCAF Commander-in-Chief Ke Kim

Yan's daughter Ke Suon Sophy. One invitee called it "a great moment in anthropology"

as 5,000 of the Kingdom's Who's Who streamed into the Mondial Center on Mao Tse Tung

Boulevard for the event.

Each table was graced with a bottle of Johnny Walker Black, meaning the whiskey bill

alone was around $10,000. The wedding cake was 2.5 meters high, and attendees could

follow the action at the head table or the choreographed entertainment via two giant

video screens.

Ten guys worked the "envelope table". It seems there is a new twist in

the evolution of gift-giving. Sources say that as many as 20 well-wishers presented

their envelopes with a car key inside. It is said that the happy couple can now go

to a specified car dealership and pick up either a new car or the cash equivalent.

And we're not talking about a Tyco either. What's the price of a Toyota Lexis times

20? Not a bad way to start off a marriage with a bit of loose change in your pocket!

** The scuttlebutt back channel is that the figure of $100,000 is the one being used

for a senior slot in the new government.

** Interesting figures coming out of Poipet. According to The Star newspaper in Kuala

Lumpur, the Ho Wah Genting company's casino in the border boomtown (described in

the article as "an attractive tourist destination") contributed US$3,890,000

to the group's revenues in 2003. The firm expects that their Poipet operations will

contribute 60% to pre-tax profits for the next two to three years.

** The new governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, wants to hear from "individuals

all over the world who have an interest in California". So go ahead, just send

him an email at: [email protected]

** Khieu Samphan's recently published autobiography is selling like hotcakes. The

first Khmer-language print run sold out in less than a week and the printer quickly

ran off another 3,000 copies to keep up with demand, most likely making it the number

one best-selling book in Cambodia.

** The road to consumer protection has just inched forward. You can now buy a new

mobile telephone battery that comes with a 15day warranty--in writing no less.