Thirdly, we have practical instances to which we can point. In Asia, the Philippine press has long been the freest media in the region. Except during a period of President Marcos' corrupt rule in the early 1980s, it has set the pace. It has provided the example for Asia that freedom and Asian culture are by no means incompatible. Its example is spreading.
Freedom can be contagious.
In Cambodia, where I am Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Human Rights, the fragile peace which has followed decades of war and genocide daily celebrates press freedom. They criticise the government and public officials every day. They expose suggested corruption and oppression. King Norodom Sihanouk has called for the maintenance of press freedom whatever the provocation. A sign of the change of the times in Cambodia is the fact that a new biography, critical of the King, written by the Australian scholar Milton Osborne is still on sale in Phnom Penh.