Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at Action of one can lead to change
June 30, 2010
By A. Gaffar Peang-Meth
PACIFIC DAILY NEWS
As blue jays and cardinals compete for sunflower seeds in the feeders, and butterflies dart from flower to flower in my garden in my sleepy town in America's south, I dust off Malcolm Gladwell's "The Tipping Point, How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference."
By A. Gaffar Peang-Meth
PACIFIC DAILY NEWS
As blue jays and cardinals compete for sunflower seeds in the feeders, and butterflies dart from flower to flower in my garden in my sleepy town in America's south, I dust off Malcolm Gladwell's "The Tipping Point, How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference.""The Tipping Point" is the biography of an idea: "Ideas and products and messages and behaviors spread just like viruses do." It refers to "that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire."
The book takes readers through the fascinating world of stories -- from Baltimore's syphilis epidemic, to children's shows "Sesame Street" and "Blue's Clues," to a high-tech company in Delaware in order to "answer two simple questions that lie at the heart of what we would like to accomplish as educators, parents, marketers, business people and policymakers."
Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen infected with A/H1N1
June 30, 2010
Source: Xinhua
Source: Xinhua
Cambodian government announced Tuesday that Prime Minister Hun Sen was found infected with A/H1N1 virus last Friday.
In a statement released Tuesday, Mam Bunheng, minister of health said the prime minister was found infected with A/H1N1 after the weekly Cabinet meeting that took place last Friday.
But he said the prime minister's health condition returns to normal after he was well treated by Cambodian eminent doctors.
Cambodian PM and 3 ministers treated for swine flu
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
By SOPHENG CHEANG
The Associated Press
By SOPHENG CHEANG
The Associated Press
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and three other Cabinet ministers have contracted swine flu and the premier is recovering after several days of medical care, the health ministry said Tuesday.
Hun Sen, 59, required "urgent treatment" after Friday's weekly Cabinet meeting, the Public Health Ministry said in a brief statement released late Tuesday.
"After receiving treatment from medical specialists, the health of Prime Minister Hun Sen is back to normal," the statement said.
Cambodia Is Hard Sell for Investment Companies
June 29, 2010
By SIMON MARKS
The New York Times
By SIMON MARKS
The New York Times
PHNOM PENH — Douglas Clayton arrived in Phnom Penh in 2007 to start a private equity fund, looking to get $100 million in funds under management. His firm, Leopard Capital, started in 2008, is one of four private equity funds here backed by overseas investors, and the first to have completed an investment.
“Anyone can announce they want to start a fund, but getting investors to back you is a challenge,” Mr. Clayton, Leopard’s chief executive and managing partner, said in an interview. “All the groups that started here had no track record, including us. It’s a doubly hard story to sell.”
Mr. Clayton was drawn to Cambodia after experiencing years of double-digit growth in Thailand, where he worked for a hedge fund during the 1990s.
Cambodia sends Vietnamese martyrs’ remains home
06/29/2010
VOV News
VOV News
The Cambodian provinces of Kongpong Thom and Kongpong Cham on June 29 held a solemn ceremony to hand over the remains of 83 Vietnamese martyrs to Vietnamese provinces of Binh Phuoc and Tay Ninh.
Speaking at the ceremony in Kongpong Thom province, provincial chairman Chum Chuan expressed his delight at the fine results of cooperation between the two countries in exhuming and moving the remains of voluntary Vietnamese soldiers who died in Cambodia.
This demonstrates the Cambodian people’s deep gratitude towards Vietnamese families whose relatives had died for Cambodia’s independence struggle, he said, adding that the work will be continued until the last set of remains is found.
The province of Krache will also have a similar ceremony on June 30 to hand over 81 sets of remains of Vietnamese martyrs to their homes.
Decreased Reports of Domestic Violence
Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh
Tuesday, 29 June 2010
Phnom Penh
Tuesday, 29 June 2010
Reported domestic violence against women in Cambodia may be decreasing, although the numbers remain relatively high, according to a report released Tuesday.
In a government survey of 3,000 Cambodians, 54 percent said they knew a husband who physically abused his wife, down from 64 percent in a survey from 2005. The survey included 150 local authorities and 150 police.
“We are happy with the positive result of the survey, but we must do our best to eliminate violence against women in Cambodia,” said Ing Kantha Phavi, the Minister of Women’s Affairs.
The survey, conducted with support from non-governmental agencies, also found that 22.5 percent of female respondents suffered some form of abuse at least once in her life.
Analysts Look for Lessons in 2008 Crisis
Ros Sothea, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh
Tuesday, 29 June 2010
Phnom Penh
Tuesday, 29 June 2010
Economists say the lessons of the recent economic crisis should encourage policymakers to revise some of their macroeconomic principles and make immediate improvements in fiscal management, infrastructure and other areas to make the country more competitive in the global recovery.
National and international experts met last week for a high-level workshop to find ways Cambodia might maintain economic growth in the face of the new economic realities brought about by the financial crisis.
The crisis should signal a time for improvements in fiscal policy, economic diversification, investment climate and social protection, among others, experts said.
In ‘Red Light,’ a Portrait of the Sex Trade
Men Kimseng, VOA KhmerNew York
Tuesday, 29 June 2010
A sex trade documentary that was four years in the making and took the collaboration of a politician and a former sex slave turned advocate premiered in New York last week, highlighting an ongoing problem fed in part by collaboration of society, officials and police.
“Red Light” shows how parents sell daughters, government officials use secret brothels to procure sex and the extent to which the trade exposes children to abuse.
The film, which took more than four years to make, was produced in part by actress Lucy Liu and features activist Mam Somaly, who escaped the brothels as a girl, and opposition lawmaker Mu Sochua, who was once a minister for women’s affairs.
SRP reverses Sochua decision
SRP lawmaker Mu Sochua leaves the Supreme Court following a hearing on June 2. (Photo by: Phnom Penh Post)By Meas Sokchea
The Phnom Penh Post
THE opposition Sam Rainsy Party has apparently backed away from an earlier pledge to pay 16.5 million riels (around US$3,928) in fines and compensation on behalf of parliamentarian Mu Sochua, stating instead that she will have the final say in the matter.
Phnom Penh Municipal Court levied the fine and damages against Mu Sochua when it found her guilty of defaming Prime Minister Hun Sen in August last year, a ruling that was upheld by the Appeal Court in October and the Supreme Court on June 2.
The Kampot province parliamentarian has consistently stated she would rather go to jail than pay the fees, and SRP officials previously supported her stance.
Kraya evictees facing hunger
Authorities transport the belongings of villagers in Kampong Thom province’s Kraya commune to a relocation site roughly 7 kilometres from their former homes in December. (Photo by: May Titthara)By May Titthara
The Phnom Penh Post
Officials say distribution of new farmland could begin by the end of this month
KAMPONG Thom provincial authorities said Monday that the distribution of 1-hectare plots of farmland promised as compensation to around 600 families evicted from their land last December could commence by the end of the month.
“We will provide new farmland to those 602 families, and we will provide it to them on time, either during the rainy season or at the end of this month,” said Out Sam On, Kampong Thom deputy governor.
On December 15, the families were violently evicted from Kraya commune, located in Santuk district, to make way for a 8,100-hectare rubber plantation to be developed by Vietnam’s Tin Bien company.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
More Cambodian youth watch TV during World Cup finals
PHNOM PENH, Jun 29, 2010 (Xinhua) -- More Cambodian youth have watched televisions during the World Cup in South Africa according to a survey conducted by Indochina Research Ltd. (IRL), local media reported on Tuesday.
The research showed that the percentage of the TV fans aged from 15 to 19 increased by 32 percent in the month of June alone, and that of general population aged from 20 to 29 who watches TV increased by six percent in June, Local Khmer newspaper Rasmei Kampuchea reported.
Those respondents were watching MYTV, a branch channel of CTN (Cambodian Television Network) which airs World Cup matches, the research showed.
Domestic violence against Cambodian women declines
June 29, 2010
Source: Xinhua
Source: Xinhua
Cambodian government announced Tuesday that domestic violence, especially against women in the country was significantly declined from a year earlier.
In a new result which was surveyed by Cambodian government through Ministry of Women's Affairs in cooperation with international organizations including the German GTZ, showed that domestic violence, especially against women declined from 64 percent in 2005 to 53 percent in 2009.
The survey was conducted on behaviors toward violence among spouses and towards other families'members.
Plans to evict Cambodians from Aust mining site shelved
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
By South East Asia correspondent Zoe Daniel
ABC News Onine
By South East Asia correspondent Zoe Daniel
ABC News Onine
Cambodia's government has suspended plans to demolish the homes of people living around a proposed Australian mine site.
The threatened forced eviction of local people living around the OzMinerals site has been shelved for now, with the Melbourne-based company finding a substantial gold deposit in Cambodia's Mondulkiri province.
OzMinerals will further exploring the viability of the gold deposit.
Cambodia's foreign tourist arrivals rise 11.5% in first 5 months
PHNOM PENH, June 29 (Xinhua) -- Foreign tourist arrivals in Cambodia increased 11.5 percent in the first five months of this year, compared to the same period last year, according to the statistics released by the Ministry of Tourism on Tuesday.
From January to May this year, Cambodia had received 1,054,821 foreign tourists, up 11.5 percent, compared to the same period last year of 945,807 tourists, said the report.
Of the figure, Vietnam placed number one among the top ten, up 43.76 percent to 175,937, and followed by South Korea and China, increased by 33.53 percent to 125,455 and 32.07 percent to 74,558, respectively.
Cambodia to launch new property tax by end this year
PHNOM PENH, Jun. 29, 2010 (Xinhua News Agency) -- Cambodian government is set to launch a new property tax by the end of this year, local media reported on Tuesday, citing officials at the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
Under the Finance for Management Law, passed in November, purchasers of constructions worth more than 100 million riels ( around 25,000 U.S. dollars) will be required to pay an annual tax worth 0.1 percent of property value.
"We are preparing a prakas to establish a committee to evaluate property and we will start implementing tax collection in the end of this year, as the National Assembly requires," Norng Piseth, chief of the Real Estate Division at the Ministry of Economy and Finance was quoted by the Phnom Penh Post as saying.
Cambodia sheds past and present glory at Expo
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As Monday marks National Pavilion Day of the Kingdom of Cambodia at the Shanghai World Expo, perhaps this is your best opportunity to discover the southeast Asian country without travelling far. (Photo: CRI Online)BEIJING, June 29 (Xinhuanet) -- In recent years, Cambodia has been a popular tourist destination. Its mysterious and transcendent cultural heritages are big attractions to expeditioners, archeologists, historians, and even filmmakers.
As Monday marks National Pavilion Day of the Kingdom of Cambodia at the Shanghai World Expo, perhaps this is your best opportunity to discover the southeast Asian country without travelling far.
Cambodian Pavilion Day began with a folk dance performance inspired by field work during harvest season.
Cambodian monk quizzed after filming naked women
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Neth Khay taken to court (Photo: Bunry, Koh Santepheap)DPA
Phnom Penh - A Cambodian court has questioned a defrocked monk accused of filming women who were bathing naked in sacred water at a Buddhist temple, national media reported Tuesday.
Net Khai, 37, was dismissed from the pagoda in Phnom Penh on Saturday after accusations he secretly videoed a dozen women pouring holy water over themselves in a pagoda bathroom, said municipal police chief Touch Naruth.
"This monk's act of filming naked women seriously affects our Cambodian society and Cambodian women's dignity," Touch Naruth told the Cambodia Daily newspaper.
Buddhist monk charged with filming naked women
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Phnom Penh, Jun 29 (AFP) A Cambodian court charged a Buddhist monk today for secretly filming hundreds of women as they bathed naked with holy water at a temple and then sharing the clips, officials said.Net Khai, 37, faces up to a year in jail after being charged with "producing and distributing pornographic images" by Phnom Penh Municipal Court, prosecutor Ek Chheng Huot told AFP.
He was arrested at his pagoda in the Cambodian capital on Saturday over allegations that he secretly taped the women pouring sacred water over themselves in a pagoda bathroom, said police chief Touch Naruth.
Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at Cambodian PM infected with swine flu: government
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
AFP
AFP
PHNOM PENH — Cambodian premier Hun Sen and several top officials have been infected with swine flu, a government spokesman said Tuesday.
"I can confirm he and several ministers have tested positive with the virus," spokesman Khieu Kanharith told AFP, while a letter from health minister Mam Bunheng said the prime minister was now recovering.
The premier was found to be carrying the A(H1N1) virus after his weekly cabinet meeting on Friday and medics subsequently tested all ministers and officials attending the meeting, according to the letter.
Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at Hun Sen Misses Ruling Party Birthday Celebration
Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh
Monday, 28 June 2010
Phnom Penh
Monday, 28 June 2010
Health problems prevented Prime Minister Hun Sen from attending a celebration for the founding of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party on Monday, officials said.
Some 10,000 members gathered to mark 59 years since the party was founded. Hun Sen, he party’s vice chairman, missed a meeting with a UN rights envoy earlier this month due to complaints of pain above his left eye, which he lost during fighting in the 1970s.
Party officials used Monday’s celebration to reaffirm their support for him as prime minster and his policies.
UN Envoy Apologizes for Remarks
Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh
Monday, 28 June 2010
Phnom Penh
Monday, 28 June 2010
The UN’s human rights rapporteur, Surya Subedi, has sent a letter of apology to Prime Minister Hun Sen after he made a statement deeply critical of the court system and claiming he was “disappointed” the premier canceled a scheduled visit on his trip.
Hun Sen, who has had rocky relations with similar envoy’s in the past, said the remarks were impolite and disrespectful following a 10-day visit this month.
Subdei sent an apology and well wishes for healthy recovery in a June 21 letter, said Koy Kuong, a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Hun Sen has responded and the “controversy” will be “abased,” the spokesman said.
Riona Judge McCormack, a spokesman for the UN’s office of human rights in Phnom Penh, said Subedi’s letter also outlined “the matters he would have discussed with the prime minister if they had met.”
Advocates Divided on Worth of Asean Commission
Soeung Sophat, VOA Khmer
Washington, D.C
Monday, 28 June 2010
Washington, D.C
Monday, 28 June 2010
After years of effort by civil society, the establishment of the Asean Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights was seen as a milestone. However, activists and critics now say they have concerns the body, which was formed in October 2009, might not live up to its goals, and they are divided on it current value.
Human rights violations remain a problem in Cambodia and other parts of Southeast Asia, particularly Burma. The Asean rights commission was supposed to be a major step toward strengthening rights in these countries. But at least four prominent activists interviewed by VOA Khmer agree that the main obstacle for an effective commission will be its lack of protection mechanisms and independence.
“I haven’t seen this commission doing any investigation at all,” said Kek Galabru, founder of the rights group Licadho.
Sihanouk’s Vietnam Visit Disappoints Khmer Krom
Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Washington, DC
Monday, 28 June 2010
Washington, DC
Monday, 28 June 2010
A US advocate for the Khmer minority in Vietnam said he was disappointed former king Norodom Sihanouk did not discuss alleged rights violations in a visit to Hanoi last week.
The Khmer Kampuchea Krom inhabit parts of the Mekong Delta ceded to Vietnam by the French in 1949. Members say they are restricted in the practice of their Buddhist faith, which differs from the majority of the Vietnamese, and suffer other rights abuses.
Thach Ngoc Thach, president of the Khmer Kampuchea Krom Federation in US, said issues such as reported border encroachments, the treatment of Khmer Krom, and the loss of “Lower Cambodia” to Vietnam were all issues that need addressed.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Thai raids capturing mostly Cambodians [-Thai discrimination against Cambodian workers?]
Monday, 28 June 2010
By Cameron Wells
The Phnom Penh Post
By Cameron Wells
The Phnom Penh Post
A RECENT crackdown on migrant workers in Thailand has targeted Cambodians more than any other group, according to statistics provided by a Bangkok-based human rights organisation.
Between June 16 and last Friday, Thai authorities arrested and detained 1,105 illegal Cambodian migrant workers, according to a summary report provided by the Human Rights and Development Foundation’s Migrant Justice Programme. The crackdown was approved in a June 2 order signed by Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.
This number is barely higher than the 1,103 migrant workers from Myanmar who have been arrested and detained, despite the fact that official statistics indicate that workers from Myanmar account for 80 percent of the total migrant population in Thailand.
SRP to pay in Sochua case: party official
Monday, 28 June 2010
By Meas Sokchea
The Phnom Penh Post
By Meas Sokchea
The Phnom Penh Post
THE Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) is set to pay 16.5 million riels (around US$3,928) in fines and compensation on behalf of SRP lawmaker Mu Sochua, a party official said Sunday, though the parliamentarian said she had not authorised the payment.
The fine and fee were levied after Mu Sochua was convicted of defaming Prime Minister Hun Sen in August last year, a ruling that was upheld by the Appeal Court in October and the Supreme Court earlier this month.
The lawmaker has consistently stated she would rather face jail than pay the fine, and SRP officials have said the party would support her decision.
Cambodia reported A/H1N1 case reaches 591
PHNOM PENH, June 28 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia said Monday that the deadly disease A/H1N1 has reached 591, an increase of 31 cases since early report made in February that recorded with 560 cases.
Ly Sovann, deputy director of the communicable disease control department of Ministry of Health said as of the 26th week of 2010, the record showed 591 cases of A/H1N1, but the number of deaths remains at six since the outbreak last year.
Of all cases have happened in 15 out of 24 provinces and cities across the nation, he said.
HIV incidence on the rise among women in Asia, UN says
Mon, 28 Jun 2010
DPA
DPA
Bangkok - HIV rates are on the rise among Asian women, highlighting the need for new policy priorities, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) warned Monday.
In 2007, women accounted for 35 per cent of all people living with HIV in Asia, up from 18 per cent in 1990.
Asian governments must pay more attention to the needs of women in their national HIV/AIDS policies, said Moni Pizani, regional programme director for the United Nations Development Fund for Women.
Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at New intellectual leader emerges for ASEAN
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Comrade Hun Xen was a former cadre of the Khmer Rouge regime known for killing almost 2 million Cambodians. Would a Khmer Rouge killer be qualified as an intellectual ASEAN leader? (Photo: Reuters)By Kavi Chongkittavorn
The Nation
The dramatic departure of Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd last week and the resignation of Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatomaya earlier have effectively unplugged their nascent plans of constructing a new regional architecture. ASEAN, therefore, is the direct beneficiary of their downfall.
For nearly two years, ASEAN leaders were dragged into the debates unprepared and did several rounds of soul-searching. Member states found themselves united and at odds with one another examining national interest that has broader regional contexts. They ended up with a new mantra, known as the ASEAN Centrality.
Without the constant pushing of the two powerful dialogue countries, the question remains whether ASEAN should go slow or move forward full throttle to gain a consensus as early as possible on the new regional architecture. If the past is any judge, ASEAN tends to move quicker and consolidate faster with external pressure or crisis looming large.
Pacific Partnership 2010 Doctors Help Mother and Son
Monday, June 28, 2010
Commander, Pacific Fleet
By Petty Officer 2nd Class Brian Gaines
US Navy
Commander, Pacific Fleet
By Petty Officer 2nd Class Brian Gaines
US Navy
06.26.2010 SIHANOUKVILLE, Cambodia – A mother and her young son will be able to lead better lives as a result of the care provided by Pacific Partnership 2010 surgeons working aboard the Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Mercy.
U.S. Navy, partner nation, and non-governmental organization surgeons were preparing to perform corrective surgery to a Cambodian child’s urinary tract when they noticed the boy’s mother had very poor eyesight. The 40-year-old woman was found to have severe cataracts in both eyes. After making arrangements for post-operative care for the son, the embarked ophthalmologists then performed surgery on the mother to remove one of the cataracts.
“As the boy was being prepped for surgery, we noticed the mother feeling her way around the ship,” said Australian Navy Lt. (Dr.) Elizabeth Livingstone, an ophthalmologist currently attached to Mercy.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Spectacular Sold-Out Premier of Anti-Child Trafficking Film in NYC
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Daughter Malika with the human rights activist, politician and mother Mu Sochua.June 27, 2010Thought Leaders and Global Citizens
The Huffington Post
Cambodian Parliament Member Mu Sochua received a standing ovation from the sold-out, standing room-only crowd at the red carpet world premier of REDLIGHT last week. Produced and narrated by UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Lucy Liu, the film left many stunned and some in tears. It is that wrenching.
"I am not a victim in Cambodia, but a survivor of Cambodia!," Sochua told the guests present. "In the darkest recess of human trafficking, there is hope!" The film featured the work of both Sochua and Somaly Mam, forming a narrative of the children they have helped out of the pits of exploitation - such as Reena and Sokha.
Deftly blending horror and compassion, hope and futility, REDLIGHT is the second film in a trilogy that is changing the dynamics of child trafficking globally. Filmmaker Guy Jacobson has mastered the emotional edge of sexual slavery and manages to bring it to us in our sterile lives so that we get it - and want to stop it. The photography of the film is superb, with the breathtaking beauty of Cambodia juxtaposed with the squalid conditions of the children forced into the country's unspeakable brothels.
Ball state grad commits to service in Cambodia
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Heather Blanch, 24, shares her experiences doing service work in Cambodia. She returned to the United States last week, but plans to return again in August. (Tribune Photo/JIM RIDER)June 27, 2010
By MARY KATE MALONE
SouthBend Tribune Staff Writer
The young girl was just 12. Sullen, unkempt and small.
She arrived at the rescue shelter in Phnom Penh with little else but the clothes on her back, and a sad but common story in Cambodia.
It was late November 2009.
Years earlier, the girl had somehow slipped into the country's burgeoning sex trade, or been raped, or nearly raped in her community.
Two bomb suspects escape to Cambodia: police
SA KAEO, June 27 (TNA) -- Two suspects in last week’s bomb attack at the head office of Bhumjaithai Party, a major partner in the coalition government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, have fled to Cambodia, a senior Thai immigration police officer said Sunday.
Pol Lt-Col Benjapol Rodsawas, deputy immigration police chief in the Thai border province of Sa Kaeo, said 42-year-old Varisriya Boonsom, nicknamed Oor, and 41-year-old Korbchai Boonplod, nicknamed Ai, left the country separately last Wednesday, one day after the bombing incident outside the Bhumjaithai Party headquarters on Phaholyothin Road in Bangkok.
Both of them left for Cambodia via the Thai border district of Aranyaprathet, said Col Benjapol.
When a Problem Comes Along, You Must Whip It
June 26, 2010
By Joe Amon
Director of the health division at Human Rights Watch
The Huffington Post
By Joe Amon
Director of the health division at Human Rights Watch
The Huffington Post
"[H]e started to whip me on my back with twisted electrical wire," said Kakada, recalling his detention in a so-called "youth rehabilitation center" in Cambodia. "I was in such pain. Sometimes I cry alone, after the beating, because it was so painful. I did not commit any mistake: why did they beat me like this?"
Picked up, suspected of using drugs, confined to a drug dependency "treatment" center without a trial, judge or jury, Kakada was forced to do unpaid labor and vigorous exercise to "cure" him of his addiction. Any violation of the rules - stepping out of line, not moving fast enough, smoking a cigarette - can lead to being whipped, beaten or given an electric shock.
Kakada is just one of hundreds of thousands of people in one of a number Asian countries locked in so-called drug "treatment" or "rehabilitation" centers. Inside these centers, at best, the treatment is ineffective. At worst - physically and psychologically scarring - it drives people to use drugs.
Cambodian refugees thank Canada
Mao Ly is the proud partner in an Ottawa cleaning business, three decades after he fled the Cambodian countryside with his wife and baby. (Kate Porter/CBC)CBC News
Ottawa's Cambodian-Canadians are thanking the community for the opportunity to start over after they fled civil war and starvation in their home country decades ago.
The Cambodian Association of the Ottawa Valley has invited hundreds of private sponsors and members of the public to eat, dance and experience Cambodian culture as part of an event Saturday commemorating the 30th anniversary of the arrival of the first Cambodian families in Canada.
Mao Ly is the proud partner in an Ottawa cleaning business, three decades after he fled the Cambodian countryside with his wife and baby. At the time, people were starving under the regime of Pol Pot, leader of the communist Khmer Rouge.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Look, I know how to read soccer score! .... Shhhtttt, don't tell my wife I have a 3G phone
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Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen shows British ambassador to Cambodia Andrew Mace (not pictured) the Group C scores, including the England vs Slovenia match, from the World Cup on his phone during the opening ceremony of the sky bridge in Phnom Penh June 24, 2010. The approximately 300-meter long (985 ft) bridge will ease the traffic in one of the most congested areas of the Cambodian capital, AKP official agency reported. REUTERS/Chor SokuntheaCambodia Retired Officer, Son Charged With World Cup Betting
PHNOM PENH, June 26 (Bernama) -- A retired Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) officer and his son were charged by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Friday, for betting on World Cup games, Xinhua news agency reported Saturday citing a local daily.
Deputy District Police Chief Chiv Vibol said the suspects Long Sophan Dara, 57, and his teenage son 17, were arrested at a private residence during a raid on last Monday afternoon.
A search of the residence discovered some US$30 and a book of betting receipts related to World Cup matches.
PM hints that SRP had role in failed coup
Friday, 25 June 2010
By Sebastian Strangio and Cheang Sokha
The Phnom Penh Post
By Sebastian Strangio and Cheang Sokha
The Phnom Penh Post
PRIME Minister Hun Sen has accused opposition members of involvement in an abortive coup carried out by the Cambodian Freedom Fighters (CFF) in November 2000, two days after the mastermind of the operation was sentenced by a US court.
On Tuesday, a federal court in Los Angeles sentenced CFF head Chhun Yasith, a 53-year-old Long Beach accountant, to life imprisonment without chance of parole for his role in the attempted coup.
Speaking at the inauguration of the capital’s first overpass Thursday, the premier linked the opposition Sam Rainsy Party to the plot.
Govt defends handling of oil
Friday, 25 June 2010
By Sebastian Strango and Meas Sokchea
The Phnom Penh Post
By Sebastian Strango and Meas Sokchea
The Phnom Penh Post
THE government has defended its handling of extractive resource exploration agreements, in response to opposition queries about payments made by foreign firms for the right to explore Cambodian oil and mineral deposits.
On May 7, Sam Rainsy Party lawmaker Son Chhay wrote to Deputy Prime Minister Sok An requesting information about which companies have been awarded the right to prospect for oil and gas and how funds from those companies have been administered.
He also requested information about a US$28 million payment by French oil giant Total to secure offshore oil exploration rights, as well as the nature of a “social development fund” set up to distribute a portion of that firm’s payment.
Minister Fails To Explain Spending in Oil Revenue
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Xok An (right) Council Minister of Cambodia. (Photo: AP)Phnom Penh
Friday, 25 June 2010
Council Minister Sok An has replied to a National Assembly inquiry about oil and gas development, saying nearly two dozen companies had been given licenses and oil giant Total had paid $28 million for exploration rights.
But an opposition lawmaker said Friday the response was inadequate because it did not go on to explain where the millions were spent.
In a June 9 response to Sam Rainsy Party lawmaker Son Chhay, Sok An said 23 companies, including Chevron and Total, had received exploration agreements for oil and gas.
Organization for Street Children Celebrates 15 Years
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A group of young children are learning how to draw in Friends International and Mith Samlanh Organization in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. (Photo: Courtesy of Friends International and Mith Samlanh)Nuch Sarita, VOA Khmer
Washington, D.C
Friday, 25 June 2010
Friends International, a development group that helps street children build life skills, celebrated its 15th anniversary Friday, with an exhibition of children’s art and a cocktail party at its newest restaurant.
The group has helped thousands of children “who face daily violence and experience a high level of drug use to reintegrate into their families, public school, vocational training and then employment,” Map Somaya, its program director, told VOA Khmer.
The art exhibition shows works from children created during the lifetime of the organization at Romdeng restaurant, which belongs to the organization and is used to help train children in restaurant work, from designing menus to preparing and serving food.
Judicial Reform Not Moving Fast Enough: Experts
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Seng Theary, president of the Center for Justice and Reconciliation.Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Washington, D.C
Friday, 25 June 2010
The justice system is plagued by a history of bad luck and the lack of current political will for reform, despite efforts to rebuild it since the arrival of the UN in the early 1990s, legal development experts told “Hello VOA” Thursday.
The legacy of the Khmer Rouge, which destroyed the courts, and former control by Vietnam both hampered the development of the system, said Seng Theary, president of the Center for Justice and Reconciliation.
“It is only now that we have time to think about restoring the courts, which began in 1993 when Untac and the international community entered,” she said.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Cambodia's former King returns home from friendship visit to Vietnam
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June 25, 2010Source: Xinhua
Cambodia's former King Norodom Sihanouk on Friday returned home from a four-day friendship visit to Hanoi at the invitation of Vietnamese president.
Sihanouk was accompanied by his wife and son King Norodom Sihamoni. Prime Minister Hun Sen, the National Assembly President Heng Samrin and the Senate President Chea Sim and other government officials and royal family members met them at the Phnom Penh International Airport.
During his stay in Hanoi, King Father Norodom Sihanouk met with Vietnamese President Nguen Ninh Triet, focusing on the topic of further strengthening the traditional relations between the two countries.
Efforts to contain drug-resistant malaria strain 'very encouraging'
Fri, 25 Jun 2010
DPA
DPA
Phnom Penh - A two-year effort to contain and eliminate a drug-resistant strain of falciparum malaria near the Cambodian-Thai border has shown signs of success, the government said Friday.
Dr Duong Socheat, who heads the National Center for Malaria Control, said an ongoing programme that to date has tested 2,448 villagers near the western town of Pailin revealed only two cases of the strain resistant to artemisinin combination therapy (ACT).
ACT, which uses artemisinin and other drugs to attack the parasite, is the world's most important malaria treatment. Experts are worried the resistant strain could spread from western Cambodia and cause a global malaria crisis.
Cambodia Reluctant To Host Sea Games In 2015
PHNOM PENH, June 25 (Bernama) -- Cambodia has yet to decide whether or not to host the Southeast Asian Games (SEA GAMES) in 2015, fearing the lack of human resources, Xinhua news agency reported, citing a top Cambodian sports official as saying Friday.
"Technically, it is quite tough for Cambodia to host it, especially from the NOCC capacity, but that depends on the government leaders who have clear and long vision on the matter," said Vath Chamroeun, secretary general of the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia (NOCC).
He said a number of factors such as human resource, sports structure, sport management, environment, and financial resource needed to be reviewed before a country decided to lodge a bid for the regional sports event.
No license ever granted for oil production in Cambodia, gov't says
June 25, 2010
Source: Xinhua
Source: Xinhua
The Cambodian government has said that it has so far not yet granted license to any company for oil production, except contracts or agreements for oil and gas exploration.
In a letter seen Friday, a response to Son Chhay, lawmaker from Cambodia's opposition Sam Rainsy Party, Sok An, deputy prime minister and chairman of Cambodia's National Petroleum Authority said Cambodia has never granted license to any oil company for production, but only agreements for exploration status.
He said 24 companies have had agreements with Cambodia for oil and gas exploration, but some of them have left the country after they had worked out that oil and gas resources in the country are not sufficient for production, said the letter dated June 9, 2010.
1.25-dollar debt leads to machete killing in Cambodia
Fri, 25 Jun 2010
DPA
DPA
Phnom Penh - A Cambodian farmer stands accused of killing his neighbour with a machete after an argument over a 1.25-dollar debt for a farming implement, national media reported Friday.
Yung Yat was charged with murder for killing Chhum Saroeurn, 47, in the central province of Kampong Chhnang after he went to his neighbour seeking payment for a hoe he had made, said Choem Bunthoeun, the provincial police chief.
Angered at the request for cash, Chhum Saroeurn picked up the hoe he had bought but not paid for and beat Yung Yat, 45, with it, Choem Bunthoeun said.
Thai rice market share down in ASEAN
06/25/2010
VNA/VOVNews
VNA/VOVNews
Thai rice exports to ASEAN are facing more challenges, as relatively higher prices and tariff cuts under the ASEAN Free Trade Area or AFTA make Thai rice less appealing to regional buyers.
Thailand has already lost its market leadership in ASEAN, as the grains from Vietnam and Cambodia now control up to 60 percent of the market, according to Director of the Thai Rice Exporters Association Somkiat Makcayathorn.
Thai rice makes up only 30 percent of the ASEAN market share, down from as much as 60 percent five years ago, as key buyers including Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines have turned to Vietnam.
Vietnam last year exported 6.5 million tonnes of milled rice, with the figure for the first five months of this year totalling 3.1 million, slightly lower than 3.3 million tonnes for Thailand, said Somkiat.
Investors Positive on Impending Arbitration Center
Ros Sothea, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh
Thursday, 24 June 2010
Phnom Penh
Thursday, 24 June 2010
Foreign investors doing business in Cambodia say they would like to see the newly formed National Arbitration Center solve commercial disputes, but at least some remain skeptical that it will help them.
The center, due to be established this year, will resolve such disputes within crossing the current court system.
The center will be build with financial and technical assistance from various international partners, including the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and European Union and will house approximately 60 national and international arbitrators.
Computer Game Saves Children From Landmine Scourge
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Professor Frank Biocca, one of the game's developers, holds a One Laptop Per Child Computer during his recent trip to assess the game's effect on learning about the dangers of landmines (File, VOA-R. Carmichael).jpg)
Allen Tan, a former US bomb disposal expert and now regional head of the Golden West Humanitarian Foundation, helps one of the children at a Phnom Penh orphanage with the landmine game, June 2010 (Photo: VOA - R. Carmichael)Phnom Penh
24 June 2010
Decades of war have left Cambodia with millions of landmines and unexploded ordnance that kill and injure hundreds each year. A new approach to educating children about mines was tested last week in Phnom Penh, and is likely to be rolled out to other nations in the coming years.
There is nothing unusual about children clustered around a computer screen, one of them playing a game, the others giving suggestions.
But at this Phnom Penh orphanage, the game they are playing is unique.
This is what its developers call a "serious" game - one that is designed to educate. The children are having fun while learning how to recognize the danger signs for landmines and bombs in a typically Cambodian landscape.
Computer game shows Cambodian kids how to avoid landmines
June 25, 2010
ABC Radio Australia
Presenter: Robert Carmichael
ABC Radio Australia
A computer game designed to help young people recognise the dangers of landmines and unexploded ordinance has just undergone initial testing in Cambodia. The developers from Michigan State University in the U-S say they hope the game will cut the number of children killed and maimed each year.
Presenter: Robert Carmichael
Speakers: Professor Frank Biocca, MIND Lab, Michigan State University; Allen Tan, Country Head, Golden West Humanitarian Trust; Lai, a child testing the game
Listen: Windows MediaCARMICHAEL: You might guess from the tinny music and excited chatter that you are listening to a group of children playing a computer game. Here they are looking for food for their on-screen pet dog in a Cambodian landscape that is dotted with the occasional red warning sign.
Every so often, if they aren't careful, you will hear this sound.
The boom is the sound of a landmine exploding. The whistle is from a Cambodian deminer who pops up on the screen to explain what they did wrong. In short, the player missed one of the red warning signs that dot Cambodia's real landscape, and stood on a landmine.
In the game the children get another chance - in fact they get as many as they want. In real life, things don't work out that way.
Please click here to read more...
Mr. Hun Xen: Who was behind the 30 March 1997 terrorist grenade attack against peaceful demonstrators in front of the NA?
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Cambodia's terrorist-in-chief?Chun Sakada & Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh and Washington
Thursday, 24 June 2010
Prime Minister Hun Sen on Thursday extolled Cambodia’s cooperation with the US in the life sentence of the leader of a failed anti-government movement, as he sought to link the 2000 attack with the opposition and terrorism.
Chhun Yasith, the head of the Cambodian Freedom Fighters, was sentenced to life in prison without parole in a US court on Tuesday, following his 2005 arrest and 2008 trial.
He was convicted of “conspiracy to kill in a foreign country, conspiracy to destroy property in a foreign country, conspiracy to violate the Neutrality Act by engaging in a military expedition against a nation with whom the United States is at peace and conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction in a foreign country,” the US Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California said in a statement.
China, Cambodia sign MOU for cooperation on road, bridge infrastructure
June 24, 2010
Source: Xinhua
Source: Xinhua
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed on Thursday by China and Cambodia to further strengthen the cooperation on road and bridge and other infrastructure development.
Cambodia's Public Works and Transport Minister Tram Iv Tek and Chinese Vice Transport Minister Gao Hongfeng signed the MOU on behalf of their own countries.
Speaking at the ceremony, Tram Iv Tek said the signing of the MOU reflects "our two countries will further strengthen and develop the cooperation on road and bridge infrastructure, information exchange and experience sharing."
Yuon Chol Srok Heuy - A song from the KPNLF era that is still relevant
Viet Bau Dai troops left Cambodia after they invaded and occupied several years.
Viet immigrants living illegally in Cambodia..jpg)
Khmer Krom monks beaten by Khmer policeThank you to Mr. KSU for posting this song interpreted by Mrs. Koy Sarim and Meas Sopha of the former KPNLF band.
Origianlly posted at: http://www.ki-media.blogspot.com/
Political Sacravatoons: "A Khmer Farmer from Ponhea Krek"
Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at This, there will be one day and we will turn into Champa No. 2!
Cambodia will be Champa No. 2!
All your children, yes you all, [will live under] Champa No. 2!... But now, I am freeing myself up!
SRP makes new border claim
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Mao Monyvann, a Sam Rainsy Party parliamentarian for Kampong Cham province, stands next to a Cambodia-Vietnam border marker in Kampong Cham’s Ponhea Krek district on Wednesday. The lawmaker was part of a group investigating encroachment allegations. (Photo by: Heng Chivoan).jpg)
Lawmakers with the opposition Sam Rainsy Party inspect a border marker in Kampong Cham province’s Ponhea Krek district on Wednesday. (Photo by: Heng Chivoan)By Meas Sokchea
The Phnom Penh Post
Kampong Cham Province
Lawmakers say that more Cambodian land is being illegally ceded to Vietnam
VILLAGERS in an area bordering Vietnam in Kampong Cham province have lost land during the ongoing border demarcation process, lawmakers with the opposition Sam Rainsy Party said Wednesday.
Three SRP lawmakers invited reporters to Kak commune in Ponhea Krek district on Wednesday to see what they say is another example of authorities turning a blind eye to the loss of Cambodian territory.
Some residents in Anlong Chrey and Thlok Trach village said an old pagoda that used to be in Cambodian territory now lies on the Vietnamese side of the border – the result of a pair of markers placed in the area in 2008.
PP court says no extradition for Sam Rainsy
Thursday, 24 June 2010
By Vong Sokheng
The Phnom Penh Post
By Vong Sokheng
The Phnom Penh Post
THE president of Phnom Penh Municipal Court said Wednesday that there were no plans to ask for cooperation from France in securing the return of opposition leader Sam Rainsy, who faces charges related to his claims of Vietnamese border encroachment.
Chev Keng said the court had taken no steps to expedite the return of Sam Rainsy, who was charged in March, although his lawyer has said that a warrant was issued for his arrest on May 28. Sam Rainsy is currently residing in France.
“I have not received any report related to Sam Rainsy’s case from the investigating judge, and so far I have no plans” to request that the French government hand him over, Chev Keng said.
Koy Kuong, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said on Wednesday that the government may choose to push for Sam Rainsy’s return using “diplomatic channels”, noting that there is no extradition treaty between France and Cambodia.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
China says Uighurs who fled were terrorists
Fate of the Uighurs deported by Hun Xen to China?The Associated Press
China says some of the Uighurs who fled to Cambodia after riots that left nearly 200 dead in Xinjiang last year were terrorists.
Public Security Ministry officials told a news conference Thursday that the people were backbone members of a terrorist group which planned and carried out many terrorist attacks in Xinjiang, including one that took place in Kashgar before the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Long-simmering tensions between Uighurs and majority Han Chinese migrants in Xinjiang turned deadly in the capital Urumqi last July 5. Nearly 200 people died in China's worst ethnic violence in decades. Beijing accused overseas organizers of plotting the violence.
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