Article: View from Phnom Penh: the formerly elegant Cambodian capital was one of the many victims of the country's civil wars. It is now at peace, and attention can finally turn to restoring its rich architectural heritage.

In April 1967, Lee Kwan Yew was invited to Phnom Penh by Cambodia's Prince Norodom Sihanouk. Cruising along the capital's elegant boulevards in his Mercedes convertible, the Singaporean premier turned to his host and mused, 'I hope, one day, my city will look like this'. Eight years after Lee's visit, Phnom Penh lay charred and abandoned. Khmer Rouge soldiers had dynamited the National Bank and cathedral. The Art Deco Bibliotheque became a makeshift kitchen for Chinese advisers to Pol Pot staying at a decrepit Hotel Le Royal next door. Books were used as firewood. Pigs and chickens roamed its corridors.

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