Click on the statement to zoom inMonday, 3 March 2008
OSUM students share their diverse culture through Color of Conversation
The Marion Star/Bill SindenAndre White, of Canton, plays intramural dodgeball with fellow students at the Alber Student Center on the Marion campus of Ohio State University. By KURT MOORE
The Marion Star
MARION — Almost every week, Cambodian Ohio State University at Marion students Leakena Phou and Maly Khean hang out with fellow freshmen Andre White and Brittany Crawford.
They may go to the movies or cook each other dinners. Phou and Khean, both from the Columbus area, share stories about their culture as they interact with White, an African-American man from Canton, and Crawford, an Italian woman from Warren.
They met up while spending their freshman year at Ohio State’s Marion campus, each student now living in a city smaller and not as diverse from where they came. They are trying to share some of that diversity with the campus where they are now getting their college start.
Phou, Khean, White and Crawford joined Samatar Alinor and Todd Nicholas on a panel discussion on Monday called the Color of Conversation. The discussion gave students a chance to talk about what it was like to not be a part of the majority and to offer advice on how other students can be more understanding of the cultures around them.
OSUM diversity coordinator Shawn Jackson said it’s the beginning of what he hopes are several similar events as he talks diversity on a campus becoming increasing diverse as the role of regional campuses change.
The event, held in conjunction with Black History Month, gave students a chance to talk about their own personal history and share their views on culture. Some of the students said while they feel like their cultures are respected, they are not necessarily understood.
“All in all people respect our culture, our beliefs,” said Khean. “(But) Coming here people go, ‘Whoa.’ They just don’t know how to approach it.”
Khean said she believes being from Cambodia makes her unique. She said she loves telling people how Cambodians do things, like their dances, and sharing their beliefs.
She and Phou said they often notice that there is not much interaction between students of different backgrounds, unlike the more diverse high schools that they attended.
“Here they are like, ‘Asian girls, keep on walking,’” said Phou.Crawford offered a similar perspective as she talked about going out to the store and to eat with her friends.
“People turn around and go, like, ‘I don’t think they are from Marion,’” she said.
“It’s just like, ‘Why is she hanging out with them?’”White said people need to hang out with others who are not only of different races but also just from other high schools or groups than their own.
“I’ve met a lot of people on campus,” he said. “You’ve got to sit down and talk to people, get to know them.”
The event was sparsely attended, which Jackson said may be partly because of other activities going on Monday on campus. Faculty and staff who attended the discussion asked what they could do to make the campus more welcoming. Students offered suggestions such as holding movie nights and said having dormitories, something that has been a topic of discussion between regional and main campus officials, would provide more of an opportunity for students to get to know each other.
Crawford said professors should also be active as she suggested that professors should split students up into groups in class rather than have them form their own.
“You need to force students to get out of their comfort zone,” she said.
All four students plan to attend Ohio State’s Columbus campus their sophomore year. OSUM Communications Manager Wayne Rowe said the campus is seeing students from around the state as Ohio State asks students to pick a second choice as far as where they would like to attend.
That means they may start their time at Ohio State at a regional campus if they are not accepted to the main campus their senior year.
Jackson said holding such an event lets the university hear from the “experts,” the students who are coming to the campus.
He said the campus is also circulating a climate survey to get students’ ideas about diversity and how the campus can be more welcoming.
All six students on the panel are part of an effort to organize an international festival that will be held on campus in May.
Jackson said more details including an exact date of the festival will soon be released.
The Marion Star
MARION — Almost every week, Cambodian Ohio State University at Marion students Leakena Phou and Maly Khean hang out with fellow freshmen Andre White and Brittany Crawford.
They may go to the movies or cook each other dinners. Phou and Khean, both from the Columbus area, share stories about their culture as they interact with White, an African-American man from Canton, and Crawford, an Italian woman from Warren.
They met up while spending their freshman year at Ohio State’s Marion campus, each student now living in a city smaller and not as diverse from where they came. They are trying to share some of that diversity with the campus where they are now getting their college start.
Phou, Khean, White and Crawford joined Samatar Alinor and Todd Nicholas on a panel discussion on Monday called the Color of Conversation. The discussion gave students a chance to talk about what it was like to not be a part of the majority and to offer advice on how other students can be more understanding of the cultures around them.
OSUM diversity coordinator Shawn Jackson said it’s the beginning of what he hopes are several similar events as he talks diversity on a campus becoming increasing diverse as the role of regional campuses change.
The event, held in conjunction with Black History Month, gave students a chance to talk about their own personal history and share their views on culture. Some of the students said while they feel like their cultures are respected, they are not necessarily understood.
“All in all people respect our culture, our beliefs,” said Khean. “(But) Coming here people go, ‘Whoa.’ They just don’t know how to approach it.”
Khean said she believes being from Cambodia makes her unique. She said she loves telling people how Cambodians do things, like their dances, and sharing their beliefs.
She and Phou said they often notice that there is not much interaction between students of different backgrounds, unlike the more diverse high schools that they attended.
“Here they are like, ‘Asian girls, keep on walking,’” said Phou.Crawford offered a similar perspective as she talked about going out to the store and to eat with her friends.
“People turn around and go, like, ‘I don’t think they are from Marion,’” she said.
“It’s just like, ‘Why is she hanging out with them?’”White said people need to hang out with others who are not only of different races but also just from other high schools or groups than their own.
“I’ve met a lot of people on campus,” he said. “You’ve got to sit down and talk to people, get to know them.”
The event was sparsely attended, which Jackson said may be partly because of other activities going on Monday on campus. Faculty and staff who attended the discussion asked what they could do to make the campus more welcoming. Students offered suggestions such as holding movie nights and said having dormitories, something that has been a topic of discussion between regional and main campus officials, would provide more of an opportunity for students to get to know each other.
Crawford said professors should also be active as she suggested that professors should split students up into groups in class rather than have them form their own.
“You need to force students to get out of their comfort zone,” she said.
All four students plan to attend Ohio State’s Columbus campus their sophomore year. OSUM Communications Manager Wayne Rowe said the campus is seeing students from around the state as Ohio State asks students to pick a second choice as far as where they would like to attend.
That means they may start their time at Ohio State at a regional campus if they are not accepted to the main campus their senior year.
Jackson said holding such an event lets the university hear from the “experts,” the students who are coming to the campus.
He said the campus is also circulating a climate survey to get students’ ideas about diversity and how the campus can be more welcoming.
All six students on the panel are part of an effort to organize an international festival that will be held on campus in May.
Jackson said more details including an exact date of the festival will soon be released.
Japan warship collides with freighter in Vietnam
Mon Mar 3, 2008
The reason for the collision in Vietnam was not yet clear, a defence ministry spokesman said.
TOKYO, March 3 (Reuters) - A Japanese destroyer collided with a Cambodian freighter in the Vietnamese port of Ho Chi Minh City on Monday, but no one was injured and damage to the vessels was minor, Japan's defence ministry said.
The second incident involving a Japanese warship in two weeks may add to pressure on Japanese Defence Minister Shigeru Ishiba to resign over his ministry's handling of the first collision, in which a destroyer ran over and sank a fishing boat, leaving two men missing, presumed dead.
The reason for the collision in Vietnam, which scratched paint off the Cambodian ship and bent a flag pole on the Japanese vessel, was not yet clear, a defence ministry spokesman said.
Kyodo said the Japanese destroyer Hamayuki had been conducting exercises.
The collision comes as Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's popularity slips after the accident with the fishing boat in Japan last month, which has sparked accusation of a government cover-up over the events leading to the collision.
A Mainichi newspaper poll showed on Monday that 51 percent of respondents did not back Fukuda's cabinet compared to 30 percent who did. Support levels of more than 30 percent are widely seen by analysts in Japan as critical to staying in power.
(Reporting by Chisa Fujioka; Editing by Rodney Joyce)
The second incident involving a Japanese warship in two weeks may add to pressure on Japanese Defence Minister Shigeru Ishiba to resign over his ministry's handling of the first collision, in which a destroyer ran over and sank a fishing boat, leaving two men missing, presumed dead.
The reason for the collision in Vietnam, which scratched paint off the Cambodian ship and bent a flag pole on the Japanese vessel, was not yet clear, a defence ministry spokesman said.
Kyodo said the Japanese destroyer Hamayuki had been conducting exercises.
The collision comes as Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's popularity slips after the accident with the fishing boat in Japan last month, which has sparked accusation of a government cover-up over the events leading to the collision.
A Mainichi newspaper poll showed on Monday that 51 percent of respondents did not back Fukuda's cabinet compared to 30 percent who did. Support levels of more than 30 percent are widely seen by analysts in Japan as critical to staying in power.
(Reporting by Chisa Fujioka; Editing by Rodney Joyce)
Cambodia prickly for Samak, temple off agenda
Bangkok Post
Phnom Penh (dpa) - Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej began an official visit to Cambodia on Monday aimed at strengthening bilateral ties but which has raised old animosities amongst some Cambodians regarding a disputed border temple.
Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong said Samak's visit was a tradition for new leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, of which both countries are members.
Hor Namhong said Samak and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen will address issues including the Thai-funded repairs of a number of Cambodian border roads, but there would be no signing ceremony.
"But Hun Sen will not talk about the Preah Vihear Temple," he said. Cambodia has sought to register the ancient temple on the far northern border as a World Heritage site, but Thailand has objected.
Instead, Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sok An would visit Thailand and hold specific talks with the Thai side about the temple in the near future, he said.
Some local groups have been angered by Thailand's obstruction of Cambodia's request to have the disputed temple listed.
Also on Monday, the nationalistic Student Movement for Democracy issued a statement demanding Hun Sen refuse to speak with Samak on the issue, citing the 1962 ruling by the International Court of Justice in the Hague that Preah Vihear temple belongs to Cambodia.
The movement's leader, Kein Sara, was briefly imprisoned in 2003 for his alleged role in the anti-Thai riots in Phnom Penh. Angry mobs had burned the Thai embassy and Thai businesses after a Thai actress was said to have claimed another cultural icon, the Angkor Wat temple complex, was Thai. Sara was quickly released.
Although allies, tensions between the neighbouring nations go back for centuries. In 2003, some Cambodian firefighters showed their tacit approval of the riots by reportedly taking water to put out the Thai embassy fires from the city's sewers instead of fire hydrants.
These tensions have not been helped by Thailand's refusal to agree on sea borders as Cambodia looks to exploit potentially rich offshore oil reserves within two years, another issue expected to be on Samak's agenda.
Phnom Penh (dpa) - Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej began an official visit to Cambodia on Monday aimed at strengthening bilateral ties but which has raised old animosities amongst some Cambodians regarding a disputed border temple.
Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong said Samak's visit was a tradition for new leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, of which both countries are members.
Hor Namhong said Samak and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen will address issues including the Thai-funded repairs of a number of Cambodian border roads, but there would be no signing ceremony.
"But Hun Sen will not talk about the Preah Vihear Temple," he said. Cambodia has sought to register the ancient temple on the far northern border as a World Heritage site, but Thailand has objected.
Instead, Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sok An would visit Thailand and hold specific talks with the Thai side about the temple in the near future, he said.
Some local groups have been angered by Thailand's obstruction of Cambodia's request to have the disputed temple listed.
Also on Monday, the nationalistic Student Movement for Democracy issued a statement demanding Hun Sen refuse to speak with Samak on the issue, citing the 1962 ruling by the International Court of Justice in the Hague that Preah Vihear temple belongs to Cambodia.
The movement's leader, Kein Sara, was briefly imprisoned in 2003 for his alleged role in the anti-Thai riots in Phnom Penh. Angry mobs had burned the Thai embassy and Thai businesses after a Thai actress was said to have claimed another cultural icon, the Angkor Wat temple complex, was Thai. Sara was quickly released.
Although allies, tensions between the neighbouring nations go back for centuries. In 2003, some Cambodian firefighters showed their tacit approval of the riots by reportedly taking water to put out the Thai embassy fires from the city's sewers instead of fire hydrants.
These tensions have not been helped by Thailand's refusal to agree on sea borders as Cambodia looks to exploit potentially rich offshore oil reserves within two years, another issue expected to be on Samak's agenda.
Japanese whaling ship attacked by activists
03 March 2008
Harumi Ozawa Tokyo, Japan
Militant environmentalists hurled stinging acid for more than an hour onto a Japanese whaling ship off Antarctica on Monday, hurting three crew members, officials said.
Both Japan and Australia, the leading opponent of whaling, condemned the latest attack by the Sea Shepherd group, which has vowed to stop Japan's controversial expedition by force if necessary.
Members of Sea Shepherd threw more than 100 brown envelopes containing a white powder and bottles of butyric acid from their own vessel onto the Japanese whaler Nisshin Maru, Japanese officials said.
Butyric acid is liquid or a white powder that stings the eyes.
Two crew members and two coast guard officers complained of pain after the hour-long attack, the Fisheries Agency said.
Three of them required treatment by washing out their eyes.
Japan said it would file strong protests with Australia, where the Sea Shepherd's Steve Irwin vessel last called into port, and The Netherlands, where the boat is registered.
"That was an inexcusable act to inflict unjustifiable damage to Japan's ship and to harm the safety of the crew who are operating legally in the public sea," said Japan's top government spokesperson Nobutaka Machimura.
Sea Shepherd said the chemicals -- which they described as "rotten butter" -- would leave a stench and slippery surface for days on the Japanese ship, ensuring that the whalers could not operate.
"I guess we can call this non-violent chemical warfare," Sea Shepherd chief Paul Watson said in a statement.
"We only use organic, non-toxic materials designed to harass and obstruct illegal whaling operations."Japan, which says whaling is part of its culture, kills up to 1 000 whales a year using a loophole in a 1986 global moratorium that allows "lethal research" on the giant mammals.
Activists from the US-based Sea Shepherd had also hurled bottles onto the Japanese whaler in January.
Two activists, a Briton and an Australian, hopped onto the vessel, setting off a two-day stand-off.
Australia's new government, which took office in December, has ramped up pressure on Japan against its killing of whales, which are beloved by Australians and sustain a major whale-watching industry.
Australian Foreign Minister Stephan Smith urged both sides to show restraint."I absolutely condemn actions by crew members of any vessel that cause injury -- or have the potential to cause injury -- to anyone on the high seas," Smith said.
The incident came as Japan held a seminar with officials from 11 developing states that have recently joined or considered joining the deadlocked International Whaling Commission.
In front of the Tokyo conference building, Greenpeace environmental activists held a board designed to look like a Japanese yen note with the face of Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda.
"The government invited delegations from 12 countries, but most of them have nothing to do with whaling," said Junichi Sato of Greenpeace Japan.
The countries taking part in the seminar are Angola, Cambodia, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ghana, Laos, Malawi, Palau, Tanzania and Vanuatu, the foreign ministry said.
Micronesia was invited but did not attend, officials said.The delegations were also invited to tour Japan's traditional whaling towns of Ayukawa in the north and Taiji in the west.
"We will discuss more here than just the supply of whale meat," Japan's chief whaling negotiator Joji Morishita told the conference.
"Whaling is a symbolic matter when you discuss the larger issue" of each nation seeking food security, he said.
Asked on his reasons for attending, a delegation member from Ghana said only: "Japan has its own foreign policy.
"The number of members of the International Whaling Commission has mushroomed to 78, with many of the new members having little or no history of whaling. - AFP
Harumi Ozawa Tokyo, Japan
Militant environmentalists hurled stinging acid for more than an hour onto a Japanese whaling ship off Antarctica on Monday, hurting three crew members, officials said.
Both Japan and Australia, the leading opponent of whaling, condemned the latest attack by the Sea Shepherd group, which has vowed to stop Japan's controversial expedition by force if necessary.
Members of Sea Shepherd threw more than 100 brown envelopes containing a white powder and bottles of butyric acid from their own vessel onto the Japanese whaler Nisshin Maru, Japanese officials said.
Butyric acid is liquid or a white powder that stings the eyes.
Two crew members and two coast guard officers complained of pain after the hour-long attack, the Fisheries Agency said.
Three of them required treatment by washing out their eyes.
Japan said it would file strong protests with Australia, where the Sea Shepherd's Steve Irwin vessel last called into port, and The Netherlands, where the boat is registered.
"That was an inexcusable act to inflict unjustifiable damage to Japan's ship and to harm the safety of the crew who are operating legally in the public sea," said Japan's top government spokesperson Nobutaka Machimura.
Sea Shepherd said the chemicals -- which they described as "rotten butter" -- would leave a stench and slippery surface for days on the Japanese ship, ensuring that the whalers could not operate.
"I guess we can call this non-violent chemical warfare," Sea Shepherd chief Paul Watson said in a statement.
"We only use organic, non-toxic materials designed to harass and obstruct illegal whaling operations."Japan, which says whaling is part of its culture, kills up to 1 000 whales a year using a loophole in a 1986 global moratorium that allows "lethal research" on the giant mammals.
Activists from the US-based Sea Shepherd had also hurled bottles onto the Japanese whaler in January.
Two activists, a Briton and an Australian, hopped onto the vessel, setting off a two-day stand-off.
Australia's new government, which took office in December, has ramped up pressure on Japan against its killing of whales, which are beloved by Australians and sustain a major whale-watching industry.
Australian Foreign Minister Stephan Smith urged both sides to show restraint."I absolutely condemn actions by crew members of any vessel that cause injury -- or have the potential to cause injury -- to anyone on the high seas," Smith said.
The incident came as Japan held a seminar with officials from 11 developing states that have recently joined or considered joining the deadlocked International Whaling Commission.
In front of the Tokyo conference building, Greenpeace environmental activists held a board designed to look like a Japanese yen note with the face of Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda.
"The government invited delegations from 12 countries, but most of them have nothing to do with whaling," said Junichi Sato of Greenpeace Japan.
The countries taking part in the seminar are Angola, Cambodia, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ghana, Laos, Malawi, Palau, Tanzania and Vanuatu, the foreign ministry said.
Micronesia was invited but did not attend, officials said.The delegations were also invited to tour Japan's traditional whaling towns of Ayukawa in the north and Taiji in the west.
"We will discuss more here than just the supply of whale meat," Japan's chief whaling negotiator Joji Morishita told the conference.
"Whaling is a symbolic matter when you discuss the larger issue" of each nation seeking food security, he said.
Asked on his reasons for attending, a delegation member from Ghana said only: "Japan has its own foreign policy.
"The number of members of the International Whaling Commission has mushroomed to 78, with many of the new members having little or no history of whaling. - AFP
USAID announces new bureaus for Asia and the Middle East
Monday, March 03 - 2008
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced the former bureau for Asia Near East (ANE) which covered the developing world from Morocco to Indonesia will be divided into two new bureaus -- the Asia Bureau (A) and the Middle East Bureau (ME).
These two bureaus have been created in order to enhance oversight and strengthen inter-agency coordination for USAID programs in these regions.
The Central Asian Republics, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, were previously grouped in USAID's Europe & Eurasia Bureau, will relocate to the Asia Bureau to further promote greater integration between the South and Central Asia regions, and to create new North-South linkages and promote closer regional ties of economic, security and democratic nature.
The Middle East Bureau will be headed by George Laudato with Jim Bever as deputy. Its $2.3bn budget will cover: Morocco, Egypt, West Bank/Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq and the Middle East Regional office. The Asia Bureau will be headed by Mark Ward with Lisa Chiles as deputy. Its $2.5bn budget will cover: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Burma, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Timor Leste, Vietnam, the Central Asian Republics and the East Asia Regional office.
'This reorganization reflects a strengthened focus on USAID's commitment to these two regions by providing more even distribution of programming resources for funding and personnel. In addition, this would align us to be more in focus with the corresponding bureaus at the Department of State under our existing budget and senior review process,' said USAID Administrator Henrietta Fore.
In attendance for the ceremony was: Henrietta H. Fore, Administrator of USAID; Richard A. Boucher, Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs; Glyn T. Davies, Acting, Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of East Asian Pacific Affairs; and Jeffrey D. Feltman, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs.
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced the former bureau for Asia Near East (ANE) which covered the developing world from Morocco to Indonesia will be divided into two new bureaus -- the Asia Bureau (A) and the Middle East Bureau (ME).
These two bureaus have been created in order to enhance oversight and strengthen inter-agency coordination for USAID programs in these regions.
The Central Asian Republics, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, were previously grouped in USAID's Europe & Eurasia Bureau, will relocate to the Asia Bureau to further promote greater integration between the South and Central Asia regions, and to create new North-South linkages and promote closer regional ties of economic, security and democratic nature.
The Middle East Bureau will be headed by George Laudato with Jim Bever as deputy. Its $2.3bn budget will cover: Morocco, Egypt, West Bank/Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq and the Middle East Regional office. The Asia Bureau will be headed by Mark Ward with Lisa Chiles as deputy. Its $2.5bn budget will cover: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Burma, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Timor Leste, Vietnam, the Central Asian Republics and the East Asia Regional office.
'This reorganization reflects a strengthened focus on USAID's commitment to these two regions by providing more even distribution of programming resources for funding and personnel. In addition, this would align us to be more in focus with the corresponding bureaus at the Department of State under our existing budget and senior review process,' said USAID Administrator Henrietta Fore.
In attendance for the ceremony was: Henrietta H. Fore, Administrator of USAID; Richard A. Boucher, Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs; Glyn T. Davies, Acting, Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of East Asian Pacific Affairs; and Jeffrey D. Feltman, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs.
A Special Friend
Press-Telegram, Long Beach, CA
By Evelyn Kelley French
03/02/2008
I was watering my rose garden when a special lady walked by my house.
Mary Nou lived a few blocks away. After that day, she often stopped by for a short visit when she would see me outside. I gave her some of my home-grown tomatoes.
I invited her to come into my house, and she told me a little about Cambodia. One day, she told me how she lost her own dear mother and she would like to adopt me for her mother. I said that would be fine with me.
What a special friendship that started! Mary has not only lived in Cambodia, but also Australia and Singapore. She had her own store in Long Beach and she was robbed a few times at gunpoint.
She is an excellent seamstress and alters things for me and brings me special Cambodian food. When she visits Cambodia, she always brings back a present for me. She also gave me "The Killing Fields" to watch and a DVD about Angkor Wat.
Mary is so proud of her children and grandchildren. She says America is the best country she's ever lived in. Most of the Cambodian people I have met were very successful in Cambodia and have to work very hard to get ahead in the United States.
I wonder if adopting a mother is a custom in Cambodia. It's a great custom that I hope gets started in America.
It sure was a good day when Mary Horn Nou adopted me as her mother. She is a very talented and unusual lady, who's fun and interesting to know.
Evelyn Kelley French is a longtime Long Beach resident.
By Evelyn Kelley French
03/02/2008
I was watering my rose garden when a special lady walked by my house.
Mary Nou lived a few blocks away. After that day, she often stopped by for a short visit when she would see me outside. I gave her some of my home-grown tomatoes.
I invited her to come into my house, and she told me a little about Cambodia. One day, she told me how she lost her own dear mother and she would like to adopt me for her mother. I said that would be fine with me.
What a special friendship that started! Mary has not only lived in Cambodia, but also Australia and Singapore. She had her own store in Long Beach and she was robbed a few times at gunpoint.
She is an excellent seamstress and alters things for me and brings me special Cambodian food. When she visits Cambodia, she always brings back a present for me. She also gave me "The Killing Fields" to watch and a DVD about Angkor Wat.
Mary is so proud of her children and grandchildren. She says America is the best country she's ever lived in. Most of the Cambodian people I have met were very successful in Cambodia and have to work very hard to get ahead in the United States.
I wonder if adopting a mother is a custom in Cambodia. It's a great custom that I hope gets started in America.
It sure was a good day when Mary Horn Nou adopted me as her mother. She is a very talented and unusual lady, who's fun and interesting to know.
Evelyn Kelley French is a longtime Long Beach resident.
LEAD: Thai-Cambodian tensions run high for Thai leader's visit
news.monstersandcritics.com
Mar 3, 2008
Phnom Penh - Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej began an official visit to Cambodia on Monday aimed at strengthening bilateral ties but which has raised old animosities amongst some Cambodians regarding a disputed border temple.
Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong said Samak's visit was a tradition for new leaders of the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations, of which both countries are members.
Hor Namhong said Samak and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen will address issues including the Thai-funded repairs of a number of Cambodian border roads, but there would be no signing ceremony.
'But Hun Sen will not talk about the Preah Vihear Temple,' he said. Cambodia has sought to register the ancient temple on the far northern border as a World Heritage site, but Thailand has objected.
Instead, Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sok An would visit Thailand and hold specific talks with the Thai side about the temple in the near future, he said.
Some local groups have been angered by Thailand's obstruction of Cambodia's request to have the disputed temple listed.
Also on Monday, the nationalistic Student Movement for Democracy issued a statement demanding Hun Sen refuse to speak with Samak on the issue, citing the 1962 ruling by the International Court of Justice in the Hague that Preah Vihear temple belongs to Cambodia.
The movement's leader, Kein Sara, was briefly imprisoned in 2003 for his alleged role in the anti-Thai riots in Phnom Penh. Angry mobs had burned the Thai embassy and Thai businesses after a Thai actress was said to have claimed another cultural icon, the Angkor Wat temple complex, was Thai. Sara was quickly released.
Although allies, tensions between the neighbouring nations go back for centuries. In 2003, some Cambodian firefighters showed their tacit approval of the riots by reportedly taking water to put out the Thai embassy fires from the city's sewers instead of fire hydrants.
These tensions have not been helped by Thailand's refusal to agree on sea borders as Cambodia looks to exploit potentially rich offshore oil reserves within two years, another issue expected to be on Samak's agenda.
Mar 3, 2008
Phnom Penh - Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej began an official visit to Cambodia on Monday aimed at strengthening bilateral ties but which has raised old animosities amongst some Cambodians regarding a disputed border temple.
Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong said Samak's visit was a tradition for new leaders of the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations, of which both countries are members.
Hor Namhong said Samak and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen will address issues including the Thai-funded repairs of a number of Cambodian border roads, but there would be no signing ceremony.
'But Hun Sen will not talk about the Preah Vihear Temple,' he said. Cambodia has sought to register the ancient temple on the far northern border as a World Heritage site, but Thailand has objected.
Instead, Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sok An would visit Thailand and hold specific talks with the Thai side about the temple in the near future, he said.
Some local groups have been angered by Thailand's obstruction of Cambodia's request to have the disputed temple listed.
Also on Monday, the nationalistic Student Movement for Democracy issued a statement demanding Hun Sen refuse to speak with Samak on the issue, citing the 1962 ruling by the International Court of Justice in the Hague that Preah Vihear temple belongs to Cambodia.
The movement's leader, Kein Sara, was briefly imprisoned in 2003 for his alleged role in the anti-Thai riots in Phnom Penh. Angry mobs had burned the Thai embassy and Thai businesses after a Thai actress was said to have claimed another cultural icon, the Angkor Wat temple complex, was Thai. Sara was quickly released.
Although allies, tensions between the neighbouring nations go back for centuries. In 2003, some Cambodian firefighters showed their tacit approval of the riots by reportedly taking water to put out the Thai embassy fires from the city's sewers instead of fire hydrants.
These tensions have not been helped by Thailand's refusal to agree on sea borders as Cambodia looks to exploit potentially rich offshore oil reserves within two years, another issue expected to be on Samak's agenda.
SRP held First National Youth Congress at the Party Headquarters
Sann Seak Kin, 28 years old from Phnom Penh was elected as Youth Delegate for the Party and automatically became Deputy Secretary-General for the Sam Rainsy Party
02-Mar-2008 (Cambodia)
March 2, 2008: SRP held First National Youth Congress at the Party Headquarters. More than 3000 youths from 17 provinces/cities attended the congress to elect Youth Delegate for the Party
Hun Sen Declared that He will Win the Upcoming Election
Hun Sen: "I will surely win the upcoming 2008 election."29 Feb. 2008
By Kesor Ranniya
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer to English by Khmerization
Courtesy of Khmerization : http://khmerization.blogspot.com/
Prime Minister yesterday told a conference at the Phnom Penh Hotel that he will surely win the upcoming election in July. Mr. Hun Sen said: “I will wait and see because I haven’t gone anywhere yet and I hope that I will win the election…”The speech was made in response to claims from many foreign diplomats who reminded him to spend the revenue from the natural resources wisely. But Mr. Hun Sen retorted that it is those diplomats who need to be cautious because they will still have to deal with him in the negotiations for oil explorations in the future.
Hun Sen Reminded About the Success of the Khmer PeoplePrime Minister Hun Sen has reminded people to learn about the history of works that have been successfully completed by his government. He also reminded about past achievements of the Khmer people that foreigners can not achieve and understand about his efforts, including his achievements during the UNTAC period.
The Prime Minister said: “Cambodia has the capacity since during the civil war. UNTAC has spent $2 billion dollars and left, leaving Cambodia with two separate administrative zones. Khieu Samphan and Son Sen went to negotiate with us in Pyongyang in 1995, 1994 and set the minimum conditions in lieu of the constitution. Please be informed! At that time, even His Majesty, especially the Cambodian patriarchs from various denominations such as Samdech Tep Vong, Samdech Bou Kry, Samdech Non Ngeth, Samdech Um Sum and Samdech Preah Maha Ghossananda proposed a ceasefire but Khieu Samphan and Son Sen rejected the proposal. They refused to stop fighting in 1994 and they are still bombastic about it.”
The prime minister has further revealed about the weaknesses of the UNTAC operations in the early 1990s. The prime minister said: “Even up until 1997 we still signed an alliance with one other party to form a coalition government but the fighting broke out in Phnom Penh because someone who was still forming a coalition government with us in Phnom Penh but they also signed an agreement with the jungle rebels to form a front. No one understood it. UNTAC cannot do anything. Even Gen. Sanderson, Mr. Akashi cannot enter Pailin. UNTAC cannot enter Pailin and so only got tough with those who respected the agreements. Those who didn’t respect the agreements they didn’t dare to do anything. After spending all the money they left, leaving the Khmers to fight each other. But we Khmers know how to unite.”
Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej official visit to Cambodia
Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej (L) listens to the national anthems of both nations with his Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen (R) upon his arrival at Phnom Penh international airport March 3, 2008. Samak began a series of visits to introduce himself and his government's policies to ASEAN member countries with a trip to the neighbouring countries of Laos and Cambodia from February 29 to March 4.REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea (CAMBODIA) 
Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej (L) listens to the national anthems of both nations with his Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen (R) upon his arrival at Phnom Penh international airport March 3, 2008. Samak began a series of visits to introduce himself and his government's policies to ASEAN member countries with a trip to the neighbouring countries of Laos and Cambodia from February 29 to March 4.REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea (CAMBODIA)
Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej (R) shakes hands with his Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen (L) upon his arrival at Phnom Penh international airport March 3, 2008. Samak began a series of visits to introduce himself and his government's policies to ASEAN member countries with a trip to the neighbouring countries of the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) and Cambodia from February 29 to March 4.REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea (CAMBODIA)
Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej greets upon his arrival at Phnom Penh international airport March 3, 2008. Samak began a series of visits to introduce himself and his government's policies to ASEAN member countries with a trip to the neighbouring countries of Laos and Cambodia from February 29 to March 4.REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea (CAMBODIA)
Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej (C) walks past the honour guards with his Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen (L) upon his arrival at Phnom Penh international airport March 3, 2008. Samak began a series of visits to introduce himself and his government's policies to ASEAN member countries with a trip to the neighbouring countries of the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) and Cambodia from February 29 to March 4.REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea (CAMBODIA)
Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej (C) walks down the steps of a aircraft at Phnom Penh international airport March 3, 2008. Samak began a series of visits to introduce himself and his government's policies to ASEAN member countries with a trip to the neighbouring countries of Laos and Cambodia from February 29 to March 4.REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea (CAMBODIA) Cambodia launches second post-war census
chinaview.cn
2008-03-03
PHNOM PENH, March 3 (Xinhua) -- With a budget of over six million U.S. dollars and a staff of almost 40,000 officials, Cambodia's second post-war population census began on Monday, local media reported.
The 10-day census is a major undertaking, the Mekong Times newspaper said, citing San Sy Than, director general of the Planning Ministry's National Institute of Statistics (NIS).
Each interviewer will gather data on 120 families, he added.
Census officials have been trained and notified families that a census would be taking place, San Sy Than said, explaining that basic demographic, economic, cultural and social information will be gathered.
"We will also gather family-related information about residential situations and household equipment," he was quoted as saying.
This work will help identify the number and characteristics of the people and to estimate population growth from the village level to the Kingdom as a whole, he added.
The Planning Ministry will announce the preliminary results of the census in August and the complete data by 2009, San Sy Than said.
Cambodia held the first post-war census in 1998, which showed the kingdom had a population of 11.4 million people.
Editor: Jiang Yuxia
2008-03-03
PHNOM PENH, March 3 (Xinhua) -- With a budget of over six million U.S. dollars and a staff of almost 40,000 officials, Cambodia's second post-war population census began on Monday, local media reported.
The 10-day census is a major undertaking, the Mekong Times newspaper said, citing San Sy Than, director general of the Planning Ministry's National Institute of Statistics (NIS).
Each interviewer will gather data on 120 families, he added.
Census officials have been trained and notified families that a census would be taking place, San Sy Than said, explaining that basic demographic, economic, cultural and social information will be gathered.
"We will also gather family-related information about residential situations and household equipment," he was quoted as saying.
This work will help identify the number and characteristics of the people and to estimate population growth from the village level to the Kingdom as a whole, he added.
The Planning Ministry will announce the preliminary results of the census in August and the complete data by 2009, San Sy Than said.
Cambodia held the first post-war census in 1998, which showed the kingdom had a population of 11.4 million people.
Editor: Jiang Yuxia
Donors must demand reforms before pledging funds
Bangkok Post
KILLING FIELD TRIALS
KILLING FIELD TRIALS
SARA COLM
The long-delayed trials of the leaders of the Khmer Rouge began dramatically last week with a judicial ''re-enactment'' at the regime's notorious Tuol Sleng prison, where more than 14,000 people were tortured and executed from 1975-79.
Part courtroom, part spectacle, the three remaining prison survivors were brought face-to-face with Kaing Gech Eav (Duch), the former prison chief, as he led international and Cambodian judges, prosecutors, lawyers and a coterie of court photographers on a tour of the prison.
Officially called the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), the Khmer Rouge Tribunal is a ''hybrid'' court, consisting of a majority of Cambodian judges sitting alongside international judges, with international and Cambodian co-prosecutors.
Duch is among five former Khmer Rouge leaders jailed on charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes for the deaths of as many as two million Cambodians during their four-year rule, which ended in 1979.
Last December, Duch made his first public appearance before the tribunal to appeal for release from pre-trial detention. His hearing stands in contrast to most judicial proceedings in Cambodia.
Often the accused do not have access to a lawyer. If they do, they often will not have met the lawyer before going into court.
During trials, judges have been known to arbitrarily refuse to admit defence evidence and issue verdicts written in advance of the court hearing. In politically sensitive cases, judges receive ''guidance'' and instructions from senior political and government figures.
For most Cambodians, a courthouse is not a place to seek justice. Whether in criminal or civil proceedings, the rich and the powerful almost always come out on top. When a wealthy and well-connected complainant's case comes before a court, judges routinely ''bid'' on which one will be the lucky one to get the case _ and the financial rewards. Many Cambodians' experience of ''justice'' is finding the appropriate clerk to pay off in hopes that the judge will decide in one's favour. If you don't have money, you don't win.
It is in this environment that Cambodia's Khmer Rouge trials are taking place. The five arrests, high-profile hearings and investigations have given hope to some that the long-stalled process of bringing the Khmer Rouge to justice may finally yield results. But as international donor countries consider a request for an additional US$170 million (5.2 billion baht) in the coming weeks, they should be cautious and insist upon significant reforms before pledging more.
The ECCC was established as a special chamber within the Cambodian court system to try ''senior leaders'' and ''those most responsible'' for crimes committed by the Khmer Rouge from 1975-79. The UN initially opposed the hybrid arrangement, fearing that the Cambodian government would try to manipulate the tribunal and limit its independence. Cambodia's judiciary is widely known for its lack of independence, rampant corruption, and low professional standards. These problems remain, making it critical that all other parts of the ECCC function properly for there to be any chance that the process will be credible.
Chief among the issues that have yet to be resolved is just how far the ECCC will be willing to go in following the evidence and identifying additional individuals to investigate and prosecute. The Cambodian government would like as few prosecutions as possible in order to claim that it did its part in holding the Khmer Rouge accountable without implicating current figures in the Cambodian government, some of whom are former Khmer Rouge members.
But can the ECCC be credible if it only tries a pre-selected handful of individuals? ECCC budget projections presented to the donors in January indicate that at most three more individuals may be prosecuted.
While the five charged so far are key figures, large numbers of other alleged perpetrators _ including former Khmer Rouge government officials, senior military officials and regional authorities continue to live freely. Donors must ensure that the ECCC has the financial support and independence necessary to bring additional accused to justice.
Other issues facing the ECCC include the need for proper witness and victim protection programmes, without which it will be hard to conduct prosecutions or allow victims to safely participate as civil parties. Questions have already been raised as to how the ECCC can protect the witnesses who participated in last week's on-site investigations when the ECCC's witness unit is barely functioning.
Funds are also needed to hire sufficient investigators to carry out thorough and professional investigations; and a serious public outreach campaign to allow average Cambodians access and understand the process. Steps must also be taken to address serious allegations of corruption, kickbacks and mismanagement on the Cambodian side of the tribunal.
Rights observers have already questioned the legitimacy of some of the decisions that have been reached by the ECCC and the independence and commitment of some of the judges.
In February, for example, the ECCC overturned a motion for one of the Cambodian judges, Ney Thol, to be disqualified. As president of the military court, Ney Thol has presided over several show trials of Prime Minister Hun Sen's political opponents, with little regard for due process, the right to fair trial or even the jurisdiction of the court.
All of this makes the need for reforms within the ECCC urgent. Before contributing more funds, donors must demand greater accountability and a timetable for implementation of concrete reforms to effectively address the corruption allegations and rectify serious deficiencies in the court's management and administrative leadership.
The court also needs to be more transparent, so that justice is not only done, but seen to be done by Cambodians.
An essential first step is for the UN to promptly appoint a high-level adviser to the ECCC, with the diplomatic clout and competence to implement these critically needed changes. International assistance must aim to ensure that Cambodia's national practices rise to international standards, instead of lowering international standards to meet domestic practices such that they taint the UN's name and compromise international justice.
Only if donors and the UN insist on all possible safeguards, will it be possible for the Khmer Rouge tribunal to deliver to Cambodians the justice for which they have long been waiting.
Sara Colm is a senior researcher on Cambodia for Human Rights Watch.
Samak off to Cambodia, temple on agenda
Bangkok PostPrime Minister Samak Sundaravej left on Monday morning for an official two-day visit to Cambodia, which is expected to touch on a bilateral dispute over the famed Phra Viharn temple, known as Preah Vihear in Cambodia, on their common border.
"We will be discussing many issues, such as a Cambodia's request for a loan to build a road and perhaps Phra Viharn," said Thai Foreign Minister Noppodon Patama at the airport before the Thai delegation departed.
Ownership of Phra Viharn, an ancient Hindu-style temple that straddles the Thai-Cambodian border, has been a contentious issue between Thailand and Cambodia for decades.
The dispute was taken to the International Court of Justice, which ruled on June 15, 1962, that the temple belonged to Cambodia.
Although the temple, perched on a cliff overlooking Cambodia, is now under the management of the Cambodian government, the easiest access to the site for tourists is via Thailand.
Thailand reportedly blocked a Cambodian attempt to have the temple declared a World Heritage site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) last year, citing an ongoing dispute over the exact demarcation of the temple compound, which is still disputed.
It is hoped that the demarcation disagreement will be settled before the next World Heritage committee meeting from July 4 to 12 in Canada.
Thai PM visits Cambodia to strengthen bilateral relations
MCOT English News
3 March 2008
BANGKOK, March 3 (TNA) – Thailand's Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej began his second official trip abroad, leaving for Cambodia on Monday morning.
The prime minister and his delegation left for Phnom Penh, the Cambodian capital, Monday morning on a two-day visit, after having made his first visit abroad since assuming the premiership in an official visit to Laos last weekend.
Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama said the Thai premier's visit to Cambodia was aimed at strengthening ties between the two countries Gen. Anupong Paochinda, Thailand's Army chief, who also accompanied the prime minister, said the main issue to be discussed with Cambodian authorities is border demarcation, which has not achieved much progress in the past.
Among the agenda items is the Cambodian request for a loan from Thailand to build a road with the budget of Bt1.4 billion (currently US$43.75 million). Land development, oil and gas exploration in disputed, overlapping Thai-Cambodian geographic areas, are expected to be dealt with on the agenda, said Mr. Noppadon. Speaking about the ancient Preah Vihear Khmer temple ruins, which Cambodia has proposed to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for designation as a World Heritage site, Mr. Noppadon said Thailand can discuss the issue to reach a solution with the neighbouring country. However, Cambodia said the issue won't be considered.
"The International Court of Justice in the Hague ruled (in 1962) that Preah Vihear temple belongs to Cambodia, but the move by Cambodia to push the temple on the UNESCO World Heritage list should neither affect Thailand's rights in the overlapping zone nor at the border," the Thai foreign minister said.
3 March 2008
BANGKOK, March 3 (TNA) – Thailand's Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej began his second official trip abroad, leaving for Cambodia on Monday morning.
The prime minister and his delegation left for Phnom Penh, the Cambodian capital, Monday morning on a two-day visit, after having made his first visit abroad since assuming the premiership in an official visit to Laos last weekend.
Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama said the Thai premier's visit to Cambodia was aimed at strengthening ties between the two countries Gen. Anupong Paochinda, Thailand's Army chief, who also accompanied the prime minister, said the main issue to be discussed with Cambodian authorities is border demarcation, which has not achieved much progress in the past.
Among the agenda items is the Cambodian request for a loan from Thailand to build a road with the budget of Bt1.4 billion (currently US$43.75 million). Land development, oil and gas exploration in disputed, overlapping Thai-Cambodian geographic areas, are expected to be dealt with on the agenda, said Mr. Noppadon. Speaking about the ancient Preah Vihear Khmer temple ruins, which Cambodia has proposed to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for designation as a World Heritage site, Mr. Noppadon said Thailand can discuss the issue to reach a solution with the neighbouring country. However, Cambodia said the issue won't be considered.
"The International Court of Justice in the Hague ruled (in 1962) that Preah Vihear temple belongs to Cambodia, but the move by Cambodia to push the temple on the UNESCO World Heritage list should neither affect Thailand's rights in the overlapping zone nor at the border," the Thai foreign minister said.
Thai PM visits Cambodia to strengthen bilateral relations
MCOT English News
3 March 2008
BANGKOK, March 3 (TNA) – Thailand's Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej began his second official trip abroad, leaving for Cambodia on Monday morning.
The prime minister and his delegation left for Phnom Penh, the Cambodian capital, Monday morning on a two-day visit, after having made his first visit abroad since assuming the premiership in an official visit to Laos last weekend.
Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama said the Thai premier's visit to Cambodia was aimed at strengthening ties between the two countries Gen. Anupong Paochinda, Thailand's Army chief, who also accompanied the prime minister, said the main issue to be discussed with Cambodian authorities is border demarcation, which has not achieved much progress in the past.
Among the agenda items is the Cambodian request for a loan from Thailand to build a road with the budget of Bt1.4 billion (currently US$43.75 million). Land development, oil and gas exploration in disputed, overlapping Thai-Cambodian geographic areas, are expected to be dealt with on the agenda, said Mr. Noppadon. Speaking about the ancient Preah Vihear Khmer temple ruins, which Cambodia has proposed to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for designation as a World Heritage site, Mr. Noppadon said Thailand can discuss the issue to reach a solution with the neighbouring country. However, Cambodia said the issue won't be considered.
"The International Court of Justice in the Hague ruled (in 1962) that Preah Vihear temple belongs to Cambodia, but the move by Cambodia to push the temple on the UNESCO World Heritage list should neither affect Thailand's rights in the overlapping zone nor at the border," the Thai foreign minister said.
3 March 2008
BANGKOK, March 3 (TNA) – Thailand's Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej began his second official trip abroad, leaving for Cambodia on Monday morning.
The prime minister and his delegation left for Phnom Penh, the Cambodian capital, Monday morning on a two-day visit, after having made his first visit abroad since assuming the premiership in an official visit to Laos last weekend.
Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama said the Thai premier's visit to Cambodia was aimed at strengthening ties between the two countries Gen. Anupong Paochinda, Thailand's Army chief, who also accompanied the prime minister, said the main issue to be discussed with Cambodian authorities is border demarcation, which has not achieved much progress in the past.
Among the agenda items is the Cambodian request for a loan from Thailand to build a road with the budget of Bt1.4 billion (currently US$43.75 million). Land development, oil and gas exploration in disputed, overlapping Thai-Cambodian geographic areas, are expected to be dealt with on the agenda, said Mr. Noppadon. Speaking about the ancient Preah Vihear Khmer temple ruins, which Cambodia has proposed to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for designation as a World Heritage site, Mr. Noppadon said Thailand can discuss the issue to reach a solution with the neighbouring country. However, Cambodia said the issue won't be considered.
"The International Court of Justice in the Hague ruled (in 1962) that Preah Vihear temple belongs to Cambodia, but the move by Cambodia to push the temple on the UNESCO World Heritage list should neither affect Thailand's rights in the overlapping zone nor at the border," the Thai foreign minister said.
Thai PM arrives in Cambodia for visit
chinaview.cn2008-03-03
PHNOM PENH, March. 3 (Xinhua) -- Thailand's Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej arrived here on Monday to pay an official visit to the Kingdom of Cambodia.
At the invitation of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, Samak Sundaravej is leading a delegation to visit Cambodia from March 3 to 4, according to a press release from the Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
During his two-day visit, Samak Sundaravej will be received in royal audience by Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni, it said.
Besides, Samak Sundaravej will also meet with Hun Sen, Cambodian Senate President Chea Sim and National Assembly President Heng Samrin, it added.
Editor: Jiang Yuxia
EU commits to observing Cambodian national election
chinaview.cn
2008-03-03
PHNOM PENH, March 3 (Xinhua) -- The European Commission (EC) has announced that it would send 150-200 election experts to observe this year's national election of Cambodia, local newspaper the Mekong Times reported Monday.
The EC wishes to support an improvement in the quality of this nation's democracy and is sending an EU observance mission to aid the electoral process, Eneko Landaburu, Director General for External Relations of EC, said at a press conference in Phnom Penh, according to the newspaper.
A team of electoral experts will visit Cambodia this week to determine the level of observance at the elections, Landaburu said.
"They will produce a global report, and on the basis of the report we will take decision on the size of the mission," he was quoted as saying.
The level of EC funding for the election will also depend on the outcome of the report, he said, adding that the role of the observers will be strictly defined.
Editor: Jiang Yuxia
2008-03-03
PHNOM PENH, March 3 (Xinhua) -- The European Commission (EC) has announced that it would send 150-200 election experts to observe this year's national election of Cambodia, local newspaper the Mekong Times reported Monday.
The EC wishes to support an improvement in the quality of this nation's democracy and is sending an EU observance mission to aid the electoral process, Eneko Landaburu, Director General for External Relations of EC, said at a press conference in Phnom Penh, according to the newspaper.
A team of electoral experts will visit Cambodia this week to determine the level of observance at the elections, Landaburu said.
"They will produce a global report, and on the basis of the report we will take decision on the size of the mission," he was quoted as saying.
The level of EC funding for the election will also depend on the outcome of the report, he said, adding that the role of the observers will be strictly defined.
Editor: Jiang Yuxia
Hun Sen Again Chastised Yash Ghai
Mr. Yash Ghai (L) and Mr. Hun Sen (R).1st March 2008
By Kesor Ranniya
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer to English by Khmerization
Prime Minister Hun Sen has again publicly chastised the UN human rights envoy to Cambodia, Mr. Yash Ghai, who in the past has strongly criticised the Cambodian government for its human rights records.
In a speech during a meeting on Thursday Mr. Hun Sen has reiterated that all the issues that the UN envoy had raised about Cambodia are all happening in his own country and that Mr. Yash Ghai should solve the problems of human right violations in his native country rather than giving advice to Cambodia.
The prime minister said: “Please look! In Mr. Yash Ghai’s country, it is full of problems but he still preach to us. There are all sorts of problems in his native Kenya but he still preach to us on human rights. Now the bad Karma had spread very quickly. We all pray that the crisis in Kenya would end but it does not matter how hard everybody pray, it still didn’t end. The killings still continue, including the burning of people alive. It is his problems and he compared Cambodia’s issues to those problems. I don’t pray that his country suffers Karmic misfortunes but it is best that he go to solve the crisis in Kenya instead.”
Repentant Duch
Sunday, March 02, 2008spectator.org
For those who haven't been watching, a few of the leaders within Pol Pot's brutal Khmer Rouge regime are finally being brought to justice (probably) now that Cambodia has agreed to UN-backed trials for five men responsible for many of the atrocities.
One of the stories that is not well-enough known is that of Kaing Guek Eav, or "Duch," who ran the awful Tuol Sleng (S-21) prison in Phnom Penh, which was once a high school. Specific numbers are impossible to know, but the most common one is that of 17,000 who were sent there, only seven (some say 12) survived. Duch was largely responsible for the torture and killings that occurred there and in several other makeshift prisons in that part of Cambodia. I visited Tuol Sleng (and the Cheoung Ek killing fields nearby) last year and they remain in desolate, squalid condition. Bone fragments and torn clothing still litter the killing fields, and stark photographs of the prisoners are posted in the prison. Visitors can easily imagine the evil practices that were carried out there.
I had been told on my visit that Duch, who was being held pending trial, became a born-again Christian. Sure, I thought. But now that the trial has begun, there is evidence of his conversion and that comes from what appears to be a deep remorse not shown by the other four leaders awaiting trial. Part of the trial had him returning to Tuol Sleng and Cheoung Ek to "re-enact" what happened. I can't imagine what that meant, but it clearly shook Duch to his core:
"At the end he stood at the gate and clasped his hands in prayer, apologising to his victims for what he did and saying he had blindly followed his superior's orders to kill his own people," said one witness to the proceedings, which were conducted in private.
Posted By: Paul Chesser
Orion to debut in Asia in 2009
smallshipcruises.typepad.com
March 02, 2008
Orion Expedition Cruises, the Australian-based company Sarina Bratton launched with the 4,000gt Orion which arrived in Sydney Harbour on April 2, 2005, will make its debut in Asia in 2009.
A highlight of OEC’s 2009 itineraries released today is an 11-night ‘Gulf of Siam Explorer’ voyage from Singapore to Ho Chi Minh City on Sept. 29.
Orion will call at Tioman Island and Kuala Terengganu in Malaysia, Ko Samui and Ko Kood in Thailand and overnights in Cambodia’s Kampot for optional shore excursions to Angkor Wat.
March 02, 2008
Orion Expedition Cruises, the Australian-based company Sarina Bratton launched with the 4,000gt Orion which arrived in Sydney Harbour on April 2, 2005, will make its debut in Asia in 2009.
A highlight of OEC’s 2009 itineraries released today is an 11-night ‘Gulf of Siam Explorer’ voyage from Singapore to Ho Chi Minh City on Sept. 29.
Orion will call at Tioman Island and Kuala Terengganu in Malaysia, Ko Samui and Ko Kood in Thailand and overnights in Cambodia’s Kampot for optional shore excursions to Angkor Wat.
Passengers will also overnight in Ho Chi Minh City before disembarkation.
On Oct. 10 the ship sails from Ho Chi Minh City to Singapore on an 11-night ‘Vietnam Explorer’ cruise. She will overnight in Da Nang before calling at Nha Trang and Vung Tau in Vietnam, Sihanoukville in Cambodia and Ko Phangan in Thailand.
Also new next year is a two-day stay at Norfolk Island during a 19-night ‘Norfolk and Melanesian Islands Discovery’ voyage through the South Pacific from Auckland to Rabaul on Feb. 27 and ‘Wildlife Adventure’ expeditions from Tasmania to sub-Antarctic islands in December.
On Oct. 10 the ship sails from Ho Chi Minh City to Singapore on an 11-night ‘Vietnam Explorer’ cruise. She will overnight in Da Nang before calling at Nha Trang and Vung Tau in Vietnam, Sihanoukville in Cambodia and Ko Phangan in Thailand.
Also new next year is a two-day stay at Norfolk Island during a 19-night ‘Norfolk and Melanesian Islands Discovery’ voyage through the South Pacific from Auckland to Rabaul on Feb. 27 and ‘Wildlife Adventure’ expeditions from Tasmania to sub-Antarctic islands in December.
VietNam, Cambodia speed up land border demarcation
02/03/2008
VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnam and Cambodia have affirmed their determination to speed up the land border demarcation and landmark planting to finish the work by 2012.
The two sides expressed their determination at a meeting of the Joint Committee on Land Border Demarcation and Landmark Planting which took place in Phnom Penh from February 29 to March 1.
The two sides agreed to identify all remaining positions on the map and build border landmarks at all major positions, considering these to be their key tasks in 2008.
The Vietnamese delegation to the meeting was led by Vu Dung, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, head of the National Border Committee and Chairman of the Vietnam-Cambodia Joint Border Commission.
T he Cambodian delegation was headed by Var Kim Hong, senior minister in charge of border affairs and Chairman of the Cambodia-Vietnam Joint Border Commission.
On February 29, Deputy Minister Vu Dung and his entourage were received by Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Hor Nam Hong.
(Source: VNA)
VietNamNet Bridge - Vietnam and Cambodia have affirmed their determination to speed up the land border demarcation and landmark planting to finish the work by 2012.
The two sides expressed their determination at a meeting of the Joint Committee on Land Border Demarcation and Landmark Planting which took place in Phnom Penh from February 29 to March 1.
The two sides agreed to identify all remaining positions on the map and build border landmarks at all major positions, considering these to be their key tasks in 2008.
The Vietnamese delegation to the meeting was led by Vu Dung, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, head of the National Border Committee and Chairman of the Vietnam-Cambodia Joint Border Commission.
T he Cambodian delegation was headed by Var Kim Hong, senior minister in charge of border affairs and Chairman of the Cambodia-Vietnam Joint Border Commission.
On February 29, Deputy Minister Vu Dung and his entourage were received by Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Hor Nam Hong.
(Source: VNA)
Angkor's Woes: Studying demise of what was once a great empire, archaeologists warn of repeating the past
Sunday, March 2, 2008By Ker Munthit
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
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SIEM REAP, Cambodia - By destroying vast tracts of forest to enlarge their farm land, inhabitants of the wondrous city of Angkor lit the fuse to an ecological time bomb that spelled doom for what was once the world’s largest urban area.
So believe archaeologists engaged in groundbreaking research into the ancient civilization of Angkor. And they are warning that history could repeat itself through reckless, headlong pursuit of dollars from tourists flocking to see Angkor’s fabled monuments.
“It’s just a weird cycle. It seems like Angkor is self-repeating itself,” said Mitch Hendrickson, who recently led an excavation as part of research into Angkor as a human settlement.
Conservationists have long expressed concerns about the state of the monuments, especially the stress from the tourist invasion. They also say the uncontrolled pumping of underground water to meet rising demand of hotels, guesthouses and residents in the adjoining town of Siem Reap may be destabilizing the earth beneath the centuries-old temples so much that they might sink and collapse.
“There’s just so much building going on without any concern about the long term. Things are moving so fast in Siem Reap today that it’s going to chew itself up very quickly and become unsustainable,” said Hendrickson, an archaeologist from the University of Sydney, Australia.
From their city, Angkorian kings ruled over most of Southeast Asia during their pinnacle from the 9th through the 14th centuries, overseeing construction of architectural stone marvels, including Angkor Wat, regarded as a marvel of religious architecture.
While the 1431 invasion from what is now Thailand has long been regarded as a major cause of Angkor’s fall, archaeologists from the Australian university’s Greater Angkor Project believe that earlier ecological forces led to the city’s demise.
Their findings supported a theory in the early 1950s by Bernard-Philippe Groslier, a prominent French archaeologist, that the collapse of Angkor resulted from over-exploitation of the environment.
Angkor’s inhabitants started rice farming from the low-lying area near the Tonle Sap lake just south of Siem Reap town, said Roland Fletcher, another archaeologist with the project.
But gradually, they cut down natural forest to extend their farm land up to the slope of Kulen mountain, 50 miles to the north, said Fletcher, who led 10 archaeologists to excavate various sites near the Angkor complex.
Flooding ensued, and huge amounts of sediment and sand were washed down to fill up canals - thus probably choking the vital water-management system.
Using NASA’s airborne imaging radar data, the project has conducted numerous aerial and ground surveys across nearly 1,200 square miles, which revealed that the city - with about 1 million inhabitants - was far larger than previously thought.
It covered some 385 square miles and featured a sophisticated hydraulic system that proved too vast to manage.
Angkor was “a huge low-density, dispersed urban complex” comparable to Los Angeles and “by far the most extensive pre-industrial city on the planet,” Fletcher said.
Its water network included an artificial canal used for diverting water from a natural river about 15 1/2 miles north of Angkor, and two mammoth, man-made reservoirs known as the East and West Barays.
“They (people) probably didn’t necessarily need any of this extra water ... because just a rain-fed rice agriculture is quite sufficient to feed a very substantial population,” said Damian Evans, a project member.
One theory, he said, was that the Angkorian kings built the water system just “to demonstrate their power and their authority to rule.”
But he said that only excavations and soil analysis could yield more clues.
“It’s a process of going to those sites on the ground and looking for finer detailed information like the profiles of the canals underneath the ground and the types of sediment that lie within those canals,” he said.
Armed with a printed digital map of the Angkor area, Evans and Fletcher toured an excavation site at the West Baray where archaeologists dug trenches to seek traces of an ancient channel through the bank.
They were trying to determine whether the channel really existed and could have served as both water inlet and outlet.
The reservoir is walled by four banks - now covered with jungle - each 40 feet high, 110 yards wide and about 12 miles in length. It can store up to 1.8 billion cubic feet of water.
Fletcher called it “the single largest artifact and piece of engineering in the pre-industrial world.”
“All of this work is aimed at understanding how the water- management system of Angkor functioned ... and how it stopped working,” he said, adding that forest clearance is “the current key piece of information” about the ecological peril that caused Angkor to tumble.
Although past environmental problems were associated with deforestation, they also underline the menace the tourism boom is posing to the temples, the researchers say.
“The same types of things which we knew were problems of Angkor are essentially being repeated in our modern day context in the Angkor area - things like unsustainable use of water, massive overdevelopment without any consideration of the long-term effects,” Evans said.
“There’s definitely lessons to be learned from what happened here before.”
So believe archaeologists engaged in groundbreaking research into the ancient civilization of Angkor. And they are warning that history could repeat itself through reckless, headlong pursuit of dollars from tourists flocking to see Angkor’s fabled monuments.
“It’s just a weird cycle. It seems like Angkor is self-repeating itself,” said Mitch Hendrickson, who recently led an excavation as part of research into Angkor as a human settlement.
Conservationists have long expressed concerns about the state of the monuments, especially the stress from the tourist invasion. They also say the uncontrolled pumping of underground water to meet rising demand of hotels, guesthouses and residents in the adjoining town of Siem Reap may be destabilizing the earth beneath the centuries-old temples so much that they might sink and collapse.
“There’s just so much building going on without any concern about the long term. Things are moving so fast in Siem Reap today that it’s going to chew itself up very quickly and become unsustainable,” said Hendrickson, an archaeologist from the University of Sydney, Australia.
From their city, Angkorian kings ruled over most of Southeast Asia during their pinnacle from the 9th through the 14th centuries, overseeing construction of architectural stone marvels, including Angkor Wat, regarded as a marvel of religious architecture.
While the 1431 invasion from what is now Thailand has long been regarded as a major cause of Angkor’s fall, archaeologists from the Australian university’s Greater Angkor Project believe that earlier ecological forces led to the city’s demise.
Their findings supported a theory in the early 1950s by Bernard-Philippe Groslier, a prominent French archaeologist, that the collapse of Angkor resulted from over-exploitation of the environment.
Angkor’s inhabitants started rice farming from the low-lying area near the Tonle Sap lake just south of Siem Reap town, said Roland Fletcher, another archaeologist with the project.
But gradually, they cut down natural forest to extend their farm land up to the slope of Kulen mountain, 50 miles to the north, said Fletcher, who led 10 archaeologists to excavate various sites near the Angkor complex.
Flooding ensued, and huge amounts of sediment and sand were washed down to fill up canals - thus probably choking the vital water-management system.
Using NASA’s airborne imaging radar data, the project has conducted numerous aerial and ground surveys across nearly 1,200 square miles, which revealed that the city - with about 1 million inhabitants - was far larger than previously thought.
It covered some 385 square miles and featured a sophisticated hydraulic system that proved too vast to manage.
Angkor was “a huge low-density, dispersed urban complex” comparable to Los Angeles and “by far the most extensive pre-industrial city on the planet,” Fletcher said.
Its water network included an artificial canal used for diverting water from a natural river about 15 1/2 miles north of Angkor, and two mammoth, man-made reservoirs known as the East and West Barays.
“They (people) probably didn’t necessarily need any of this extra water ... because just a rain-fed rice agriculture is quite sufficient to feed a very substantial population,” said Damian Evans, a project member.
One theory, he said, was that the Angkorian kings built the water system just “to demonstrate their power and their authority to rule.”
But he said that only excavations and soil analysis could yield more clues.
“It’s a process of going to those sites on the ground and looking for finer detailed information like the profiles of the canals underneath the ground and the types of sediment that lie within those canals,” he said.
Armed with a printed digital map of the Angkor area, Evans and Fletcher toured an excavation site at the West Baray where archaeologists dug trenches to seek traces of an ancient channel through the bank.
They were trying to determine whether the channel really existed and could have served as both water inlet and outlet.
The reservoir is walled by four banks - now covered with jungle - each 40 feet high, 110 yards wide and about 12 miles in length. It can store up to 1.8 billion cubic feet of water.
Fletcher called it “the single largest artifact and piece of engineering in the pre-industrial world.”
“All of this work is aimed at understanding how the water- management system of Angkor functioned ... and how it stopped working,” he said, adding that forest clearance is “the current key piece of information” about the ecological peril that caused Angkor to tumble.
Although past environmental problems were associated with deforestation, they also underline the menace the tourism boom is posing to the temples, the researchers say.
“The same types of things which we knew were problems of Angkor are essentially being repeated in our modern day context in the Angkor area - things like unsustainable use of water, massive overdevelopment without any consideration of the long-term effects,” Evans said.
“There’s definitely lessons to be learned from what happened here before.”
Isle lab gets remains found in Cambodia
ASSOCIATED PRESSU.S. military personnel placed a U.S. flag over a coffin yesterday during a repatriation ceremony at Phnom Penh International Airport in Cambodia to honor remains believed to be associated with an American military service member who went missing during the Vietnam War. The remains arrived at Hickam Air Force Base yesterday for forensic analysis.Star Bulletin
Vol. 13, Issue 62 - Sunday, March 2, 2008
Associated Press
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia » The remains of a U.S. serviceman who died in Cambodia more than three decades ago arrived in Hawaii for forensic analysis.
The repatriation is the latest effort by the U.S. military to account for personnel who went missing in the Southeast Asian nation during the Vietnam War.
After a brief ceremony at Phnom Penh International Airport yesterday, a U.S. military transport plane carrying the remains flew to Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii, where the forensic identification process will begin, a U.S. Embassy statement said.
Ambassador Joseph Mussomeli said the remains are believed to be those of a U.S. serviceman who died on Koh Tang, an island several miles off the coast of Cambodia's main port city of Sihanoukville. The embassy did not give further details about when the remains were found.
Eighteen U.S. Marines were killed fighting Khmer Rouge forces on Koh Tang in May 1975.
Invading Marines fought for three hours trying to rescue the captured crew of the U.S. Merchant Marine vessel Mayaguez without knowing they had already been released by the Cambodian communists.
Mussomeli said cooperation with the Cambodian government has allowed the United States to send home and identify the remains of 29 missing American servicemen. Another 55 are still unaccounted for.
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