Mekong youths show vivid ideas, strong responsibility

chinaview.cn
2008-03-30

By Huang Haimin Bui Minhlong

VIENTIANE, March 30 (Xinhua) -- Dozens of simple paintings mostly featuring water, trees and wild animals, and colorful photos glorifying landscapes and daily life by children were luring viewers outside, while 37 youths from six Mekong countries were making recommendations for their countries' experienced leaders inside the conference room.

The 37 boys and girls, including six from Laos, China, Vietnam, Myanmar and Thailand each and seven from Cambodia, are especially chosen for the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) Youth Forum in the capital city to put forth practical and feasible solutions to the prime ministers of the six nations in the form of a collective message.

"We're discussing a 3-C approach, namely connectivity, competitiveness and community for better future of the GMS. We're asking our nations' leaders to center on such issues as fostering the sub-region's physical connectivity, expanding access to modern information and communications technology and healthcare services, especially for youths in rural and remote areas, and empowering young people by creating more education, training and employment opportunities," a Chinese girl named Fang Min told Xinhua.

"We're also asking our leaders to consider more policies to better protect our environment, support and promote traditional cultural values and identities, as well as maintain and protect cultural diversities," said the 27-year-old girl, who is studying laws in Shanghai after four years of working as a reporter in the Chinese biggest city.

Another forum delegate, Nguyen Ngoc Quynh from Vietnam, echoed Fang's statement, saying that she wants the leaders to pay more attention to youths' aspirations, giving them more assistance in various spheres.

"Youths are not only the future, but also the present, because they have already played an important role in both public and private sectors", said the 25-year-old girl, who is working for the State Bank of Vietnam.

The 37 youths started on March 22 their five-day journeys on three caravan trips along the GMS's North-South, East-West, and Southern economic corridors, experiencing firsthand "the 3 Cs" of connectivity, competitiveness, and community, before their Sundaymeeting with GMS leaders in Vientiane.

The leaders walked past the painting and photo exhibitions christened "My World, My Home" and "My Mekong", beautified with cleverly-connected bunches of fresh flowers to meet the 37, who and their peers in the sub-region are expected to become policy-makers or law-makers.

"The youth of the sub-region are the well-spring of our future leaders, decision-makers and workers. They will carry on the responsibility of nurturing to greater heights the sense of unity, shared interests, and common destiny that we have painstakingly built block by block over the past years. We are looking forward to see these young people become future leaders and productive citizens with a strong sense of sub-regional community," Lao Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh said at the meeting of the GMS leaders and Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Haruhiko Kurodawith the GMS youths.

During the two-day 3rd GMS Summit in Vientiane from March 30-31,GMS leaders and representatives from international organizations like the ADB are to touch upon connectivity and competitiveness issues such as the establishment of transport corridors, power interconnection systems and telecommunications networks, improvement of infrastructure links, and measures to facilitate the cross-border movement of goods and services.

The six countries sharing the Mekong River in 1992 kicked off their GMS Program which involves planning and implementing sub-regional projects in nine areas: transport, energy, telecommunications, tourism, environment, human resource development, agriculture, trade facilitation, and private investment.

Editor: An Lu

Panel discusses Cambodian genocide

ASSOCIATED PRESS
03/30/2008

LONG BEACH -- The Cambodian genocide that claimed 1.7 million lives a generation ago continues to cast a shadow on both survivors and their American-born children, panelists said Saturday.

About 100 people attended a day-long workshop at Cal State Long Beach that aimed to discuss the effects of the 1975-79 slaughter under the Khmer Rouge. Nearly a quarter of the population died from disease, overwork, starvation and execution in the notorious "killing fields."

The workshop was one of the first U.S. events to target Cambodian-Americans and solicit their participation in an international war crimes tribunal under way in their homeland.

Panels of experts discussed psychological and other aspects of the genocide.

Lakhena Nget, 24, was on a youth panel. A child of Cambodian refugees, the Cal State Long Beach junior said she only learned of her parents' past in high school, when she interviewed them as part of a history project.

Nget said she grew up in an American culture and didn't understand her parents. Cambodian culture had called for them not to express their emotions over their experiences, she said.

She learned that her grandparents starved to death, several uncles with government ties were executed, and her father was imprisoned for suspicion of being in the despised educated class.
Her mother walked to a refugee camp, carrying her children.

"It broke my heart," Nget said.

Nget said the genocide can affect generations of Cambodian-Americans who know nothing about it, Nget said.

Parents haunted by their experiences may drink or find other ways of dulling their pain, or their perceived coldness may leave their children disaffected.

"I see how the pain and the struggles are still perpetuated in the community," Nget said.

"There's a lot of young people that do not do well in school. They join gangs. ... I believe that a lot of it comes from broken communication in the home."

One of the workshop organizers was Leakhena Nou, a Cambodian-American and sociology professor at Cal State Long Beach.

Before the workshop, she said many survivors are still afraid to get involved in the tribunal by sharing their stories. Organizers urged attendees to apply for formal victim and civil party status and volunteer as translators or witnesses.

Life on the Lake exhibit part of Eyes Wide Open Worldwide project

By Samantha Sommer
Staff Writer

Sunday, March 30, 2008

SPRINGFIELD — Living on a lake is unlike anything most Americans will ever experience but it's daily life for some Cambodians.

"It was like nothing I've ever seen ... It's hard to actually put into words," said Ty Fischer, executive director of Eyes Wide Open Worldwide.

Fischer and his children's photography program went to Cambodia for the second time last fall for a photo festival and to work with nine children there.

He went to the Tonle Sap region, where more than 170 villages float on a large lake.

The children aged 6 to 17 photographed their daily lives on the water and their work will be exhibited at Wittenberg University.

The multimedia Life on the Lake exhibit will be from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. April 11 and 12 at the Shouvlin Center.

Most of the children had never seen a camera.

"Their images, they're simple but there's so much detail inside of them," Fischer said.

Prints also are available for tax-deductible donations online at eyeswideopenworldwide.org.

The money raised likely will go to two Cambodian charities, Green Gecko and Gecko Environmental.

Last year's exhibit raised about $1,300, which Fischer said is about four years income in Cambodia.

He hopes the project gave the children an opportunity to learn what they are capable of and the chance to have fun.

The exhibit is the first time Eyes Wide Open has worked with Wittenberg University.

Fischer wanted to try a new venue, and offer an activity to bring the students and community together.

Eyes Wide Open has a full plate this year. A Frank Lloyd Wright exhibit will be at the Contact Photography Festival in Toronto in May and at the Westcott House here in June,

Projects with Casa Amiga and the Yellow Springs Kids Playhouse also are in the works.

"I want them to see that children have the capability to express and create," he said.

A HAPPY HEART

Patient care service aid Maribeth Santos takes a look at Davik Teng's scar with her mother, Sin Chhon, four days after open-heart surgery to repair a VSD (Ventricular Septal Defect).Check out 'Davik's Heart' A Multimedia Presentation click here (Jeff Gritchen / Press-Telegram)

Davik leaves hospital to start new life

By Greg Mellen Staff Writer
03/29/2008

LOS ANGELES - The ear-to-ear smile on the face of Davik Teng nearly matched one etched deep in her newly repaired heart.

As Davik was being wheeled Friday from the hospital where she had surgery four days earlier, patient aide Maribeth Santos cheerily chanted, "Say, bye bye, Childrens Hospital, bye bye."

Unseen was a small Dacron patch with a good luck symbol sewn into the 9-year-old's heart to seal a defect she had struggled with since birth.

After Dr. Vaughn Starnes, the world-class surgeon who performed the open heart surgery, cut out the patch for the heart, he sketched a little smiley face with a bit of blood from his scalpel.

Starnes said it was something he always does in such operations.

Just a day after being patched up, literally, Davik could barely contain her giddiness. Davik and her mother, Sin Chhon, smiled and bowed repeatedly to Santos.

Then they piled into the back seat of a friend's car for the drive to Long Beach and the start of a new life.

Davik will recuperate in Long Beach and undergo further checkups before she is pronounced completely fit. For the moment, doctors are optimistic.

"Honestly, Davik has done better than any of us expected," said Dr. Mark Sklansky, the lead cardiologist in Davik's case.

In just over a month, Davik has gone from a girl with little hope but to die young in a remote village in Cambodia, to a child with a surgically repaired heart and the support of an entire community far from home.

Davik was born with a hole in her heart, known as a ventricular septal defect. For nine years she suffered from fatigue, shortness of breath and other maladies.

At night she would moan and cry while her forlorn mother sat helplessly and hopelessly by. Sin had tried over the years to get doctors to help her daughter but had failed. She had resigned herself to a lifetime of watching her child suffer, never knowing when the last tortured breath would come.

When Davik met Chantha Bob and Peter Chhun, the founder of Long Beach nonprofit Hearts Without Boundaries, which he created to help children in Cambodia, she got a new lease on life.

Bob (Bobby) and Chhun, meanwhile, found a cause and someone who gave meaning to their efforts.

Hearts Without Boundaries paid to bring Davik and her mom to Long Beach and are paying their expenses while here. Childrens Hospital Los Angeles donated its facilities and surgical staff.

That Davik was released so soon after her surgery was something of a surprise. Doctors had initially considered letting her out a day earlier, then thought of keeping her through the weekend and finally arrived at the Friday date.

Getting better

Recovery is rarely a linear process. In the days following major surgery, a patient can alternately feel wonderful and terrible, healthy and feeble.

Doctors, too, may draw very different conclusions and weigh different factors while monitoring the same patient and data.

So it went in the days immediately after Davik's surgery. She was in good spirits the morning after her Monday surgery, but in misery that evening.

By Wednesday evening, she was much better and had been moved out of the intensive care unit. At that time, she was scheduled for a Thursday release.

However, pediatric cardiologist Sarah Badran, while reviewing echocardiogram results, suggested a more conservative approach.

Badran explained and Sklansky later confirmed that Davik's heart showed what they called "depressed function," meaning it was not pumping the blood out as strongly as they would like.

After nine years of shunting blood through the hole, the muscle was not accustomed to the effort needed to push all the blood out to the body, as a normal heart will do.

Doctors predict the muscle will strengthen as it adapts to the new requirements, but it is something they will continue to monitor.

Sklansky says heart function can improve markedly overnight or within days, or it may take several weeks.

The setback was not entirely unexpected.

"This was a very high-risk surgery so it was too good to be true," Badran said of a three-day recovery.

Whether leaving the hospital Thursday, Friday or Monday, doctors were thrilled at the success of the surgery and Davik's recovery.

"She's still doing very well," Sklansky said, adding that even in optimum circumstances, a three-day recovery would have been a minimum.

"That she's doing so well shows the inner strength she brought with her," Sklansky said.

When he listened to Davik's heart through a stethoscope, what Sklansky heard, or didn't hear, thrilled him.

"Before surgery her heart was beating out of her chest," Sklansky said. "Now it's quiet and soft. There's not the murmur she had before."

It seemed hard to believe that in about 100 hours, the lives of Davik, Sin, Bobby and Peter could change so drastically.

Surgery day

On the day of her operation, Davik, her mother, Peter and Bobby left the small apartment on Lemon Avenue shortly before dawn.

A waning near-full moon hung in the southwestern sky as they made their way toward Childrens Hospital.

Davik and Sin were excited and animated.

Although Davik was grouchy when first awakened, when she was told this was the day she would get her "new heart" as Peter and the family are calling it, she suddenly became alert and happy, like a U.S. child at Christmas.

On the drive to the hospital, mother and daughter oohed and aahed at the lights of the highway and the city and the mountains emerging like a lunar landscape in the chilly dawn.

In a country that in some ways is as foreign as the moon, no one could begrudge the mother and child a sense of awe at the events of the past month.

Davik was not an ideal candidate for the surgery. Far from it. Ideally, the surgery would have been performed when she was a toddler. Instead, for years her heart had ineffectively labored away. Her lungs had been stressed, yet remained remarkably resilient. The hole in Davik's heart was perilously close to her heart's electrical system. Any mistake could require Davik needing a pacemaker inserted.

And yet, here she was getting closer all the time to her new life.

Davik and her mother called Davik's paternal grandparents and older sister Davin.

Davik, Sin, Bobby and Peter entered the hospital lobby where several public relations personnel, a reporter, two photographers, two producers and two film crews, including one from NBC, awaited.

The television producers and crews, being big on "capturing the moment," hustled the foursome back outside to film them re-entering.

Followed and sometimes led by the media train, Davik was taken to a pre-operative area where she traded in her winter jacket, jeans and favorite "Hello Kitty" boots for hospital garb.

Soon she was scrunching her face as she took a liquid sedative. As anesthesiologist Bryan Harris prepared to wheel her toward the operating room, Davik shared final hugs with Bobby, Peter and Sin. Then she hugged a stuffed bunny and was wheeled away.

In preparation for surgery an adhesive sheet, called a sterile drape, was laid over Davik's chest.

With a circular saw, doctors cut through her sternum and exposed the chest cavity. The rib cage was kept splayed by two large clamps.

Inside her chest, Davik's small heart beat with the same jackhammer rhythm she has known since birth.

Davik's heart ailment, a ventricular septal defect, is the most common of congenital heart defects and one of the easiest to repair. Unless you come from an impoverished country such as Cambodia, where even seemingly benign conditions can be fatal.

And for all its commonality, the hole in Davik's heart was large.

The ventricles are the two lower chambers of the heart and the wall between them is called the septum. The defect is the hole between the chambers.

In a properly working heart, unoxygenated blood from the body flows into the right half of the heart, through the right atrium into the right ventricle, which pumps the blood to the lungs to absorb oxygen. From the lungs, the oxygenated blood returns to the left half of the heart where it is pumped out to the body.

When there is a hole, oxygenated blood is shunted from the left ventricle, where pressures are higher, back to the right. The mixed blood then recirculates into the lungs. This means the heart is overworked, pumping a greater volume of blood than needed.

In Davik's case, Starnes said she was pumping four times more blood than needed. This meant her heart had to pump faster to get the blood to where it's needed. Also, Davik's lungs were wet from excess blood, which caused her fatigue and forced her body to expend calories to keep her breathing that could have otherwise helped her grow.

Eventually, the left ventricle can work so hard it fails. Blood returning to the heart can back up into the lungs, causing pulmonary congestion. Also pressure can build in the lungs, called pulmonary hypertension.

During an echocardiogram several weeks before surgery the whoosh of blood through the hole in Davik's heart was audible and Sklansky pointed to the defect on a machine that displayed the heart's functions and blood flow.

The left side of the heart was dilated, or expanded, from the extra work it had to perform.
Overlapping the hole in the heart was a flap of tissue, like a small pressure relief valve.

Normally, that tissue would have bonded over the hole and Davik's heart would have worked perfectly. In about 25 percent of children born with the defect Davik has, the heart repairs itself.
`Rolled their eyes'

There was considerable concern about attempting the heart surgery on Davik. There was just no way a 9-year-old with such a large hole in her heart could not have escaped without significant and irreversible lung damage. That was the popular theory.

"People rolled their eyes, thinking she'd have lung disease," Sklansky said of a common reaction among colleagues he told about the planned procedure.

However, the flap of tissue that was the cause of Davik's heart ailments was also the thing that saved her. That fluttering piece of tissue prevented even more blood from shunting between the chambers.

In the operating room, Davik's heart registers strong and steady on the monitor.

Sklansky and Harris exchange small talk as they check the machines.

Sklansky tells Harris part of Davik's story.

"She's from a village with no electricity and no running water," Sklansky says.
"No kidding," Harris says.

"Her mom makes a dollar a day. When she was turned down (for surgery in Cambodia), I knew Starnes was the first person I needed to ask."

"Fantastic."

Almost on cue, Starnes enters the room.

After the surgery, Starnes would say he found Davik and her mom's story compelling and felt happy to do the surgery.

The chair of cardiothoracic surgery and a distinguished professor at USC's Keck School of Medicine and the director of the Heart Institute at Childrens Hospital, Starnes is at the top of his field.

The conversation dies as Starnes steps up to Davik's right side. Her head and lower torso are covered with blankets and all that's visible is the "field of surgery" in which her large heart pumps, seeming almost too big for the tiny chest.

The only sound is the heart monitor beeping steadily in the background. An array of tubes seems to sprout from the chest as several sets of hands work with thread, clamps and tweezers in the small chest cavity.

"We're going to cool the body to help preserve the body," Starnes says.

The two film crews are taping the surgery.

The tubes have been inserted in preparation to stop the heart and transfer functions to the heart-lung machine.

"It's a big heart, isn't it?" Starnes says, "All that blood flow through the years ... ."

A producer asks Starnes, "What are you doing now?"

"Nothing but heart surgery," Starnes says with laughs all around.

The heart has been chilled and the beeping of the heart monitor has been replaced by a swishing sound from the heart-lung machine.

"Now we're going to operate on the heart and look for the hole," Starnes says.

Soon he pauses.

"You can see the hole now. It's about the size of a quarter, or what's the currency in Cambodia?" Starnes says as he allows the cameras to get a bit closer.

A sheet of Dacron is passed and the patch is quickly cut out and decorated.

"Now we'll just sew the patch in place," Starnes says.

His hands move with quick, practiced precision. Within several minutes, it's done.

As the heart begins to beat on its own again, the beeping of the heart monitor becomes uneven.

Sklansky would later admit this worried him.

"It is in arrhythmia," Starnes explains calmly.

Quickly the heart defibrillator is brought out and Starnes shocks the heart back into rhythm and the monitor returns to its steady beat.

Starnes returns to the heart and probes for any residual leaks. The echocardiogram confirms the hole is closed.

At about 9:15 a.m., about an hour after Davik went into surgery, Starnes says Davik is ready to have her chest closed.

Where is everyone?

There is a brief flurry of panic. Sin, Bobby and Peter, believing the operation would take two or three hours are not in the hospital.

A producer chastises Peter for leaving the premises. The TV crews apparently won't be getting their "moment" when Starnes tells Sin, Bobby and Peter the good news.

Starnes moves on to his next case.

Eventually, Peter, Bobby and Sin arrive. It will still be awhile before Davik's chest is closed and she leaves the ER.

Then the tears begin.

"I never thought we'd get this far," Sin says through translation. "I never thought we'd get this second chance.

"Every day I'd hear (Davik) moan and groan in her sleep. I wanted to tell her, but there was nothing I could do to make her better. I never had hope until today."

When Sklansky comes to deliver the good news, Sin steeples her fingers and bows.

"Ah, kun. Ah, kun," (Cambodian for thank you) she says over and over.

"You saved my daughter's life, I'm so happy," she says through translation. "Today is the best day in our lives."

When Davik is wheeled out of the operating room, her mother is allowed to spend a moment with the unconscious child.

With tears streaming down her face, Sin cups the small child's face. There are no words. There is no need.

Bobby and Peter stand at her side. They too are crying.

A little later, the three sit in a waiting room waiting to join Davik in the intensive care unit.

"It's like a dream," Peter says. "It feels like I just met (Davik) yesterday. Today, it's real. I just don't know what to say. I'm just so happy for her."

Sin starts to talk rapidly. Bobby says, "She's thanking us for giving her daughter a second chance."

Then he stops and tries to compose his thoughts.

"Maybe I'm the one who owes her daughter something," Bobby says.

He knits his eyebrows still working on the thought.

"I never thought of getting something back in payment," Bobby says. "In Buddhism, we believe in reincarnation. We, Peter and I, we feel like we owed Davik something in a past life. This was our chance to give it back."

Then there are hugs and ah kuns all around.

Cambodian prosecutors call for new investigation in genocide trial

ABC Radio Australia

Prosecutors at Cambodia's genocide tribunal have called for a new investigation into claims of torture and killings committed under the 1970s Khmer Rouge regime.

The request to the investigating judges at the UN-backed tribunal was accompanied by more than 30 supporting documents of reports and witness statements alleging crimes committed at a Khmer Rouge security centre.

The prosecutors told the judges that without the participation of victims and witnesses, the court's ability to ascertain the truth regarding the extent of the crimes and those who are responsible for them will be significantly reduced.

They aso asked that senior Khmer Rouge leaders Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Khieu Samphan, Ieng Thirith and Duch -- all currently in the court's custody -- be investigated for their involvement in these crimes

A call for Cambodian victims to end their silence

Panel on lingering effects of genocide urges people to tell their story.

By Pamela Hale-Burns Staff Writer
03/29/2008

LONG BEACH - The memory of the crimes against them may never go away, but there just may be a light of justice at the end of the tunnel for the many Cambodians who suffered at the hand of the Khmer Rouge during the 1970s.

About 50 people on Saturday attended the afternoon session of a daylong panel discussion and workshop at Cal State Long Beach on the effects of the Cambodian genocide.

The event focused on the effects of the Khmer Rouge, but attendees were told that they could be a part of a war crimes tribunal taking place in their native country by providing testimony of their experiences.

Tracey Gurd, associate legal officer for International Justice, said courts in Cambodia have arrested five people said to be a part of the Khmer Rouge. All but one have been charged with crimes against humanity.

"The trial is set to begin in October," she said. "But there are some challenges since this all began, one being the cost."

Projected to cost around $56.3 million, the trial expenses have gone up to about $170 million, she said.

The panel discussed the legal aspects, psychological effects of the time and the continuous hazard of the land mines that are still there.

"People were forced to be silent witnesses," said Dr. Wendy Freed, a clinical associate professor of psychiatry at USC. "People sometimes experience survival guilt, feeling guilty that they survived and others did not."

Freed said there are several psychological signs of distress in the Cambodian community that show the effects of the time, like nightmares, depression and violence.

According to one of the event organizers, Brian Gilmore of Golden West Humanitarian Foundation, which focuses mainly on the land mine issue, farming can be a life-threatening occupation in Cambodia, because bombs planted during the Khmer Rouge reign are still there.

Some families hunt bombs to trade the metal for money to help support their families.

"They hunt bombs to make a living there," he said. "The conditions can be changed. We wanted to start up a dialogue with the community of Long Beach so people would realize there's a certain condition in Cambodia, there are problems, but there are tangible things they can do."

Forum organizers hope to encourage local Cambodians to get involved in the tribunal proceedings and speak out against those who have wronged them and/or their family.

"Long Beach Cambodian communities can get involved in the justice system in this case," Gurd said. "File complaints and they will be delivered to the prosecutors."

About 700 complaints worldwide have been submitted and are being reviewed now, she said.
"Just because you are a world away from where the trials are taking place your voices can still count and your opinions do matter," Gurd said.

Any and all information is welcomed.

"Part of the hope is that we get some evidence that can be used, but we're happy we're starting a dialogue," Gilmore said.

Struggling Asians go unnoticed

By Azam Ahmed and Darnell Little Tribune reporters
March 30, 2008

If her native tongue was one commonly spoken in the U.S. instead of the less familiar Khmer, Thana Ouk might have more help at school.

She would have access to classes in her language and programs attuned to her cultural heritage. Her mother, who speaks no English, would be better able to communicate with teachers.

But Thana, a junior at Roosevelt High School, is Cambodian and can find few services tailored to her needs. Instead, she falls under the broad umbrella of "Asian" for public school funding and testing purposes.

Because many families of Asian heritage are well-educated and have comparative material advantages, and because students in the broad Asian category often perform as well as or better than white students on standardized tests, resources are scarce for Asians who are struggling in public schools.

But Thana is struggling with her schoolwork, especially reading. Her four older siblings never graduated from high school, and now the 17-year-old is fighting to avoid the same fate.

"I've been here, like, ever since I was born, but I'm not really fluent with language," said Thana, a slight girl with black hair and plastic frame glasses. "Sometimes I'll be reading a story or something in the book, and then I'll somehow get lost in the wording."

Some educators have begun to call disadvantaged Asians an invisible minority, unseen because their low test scores are masked when lumped with higher achieving counterparts.

These students, often from Southeast Asia, go unnoticed for other reasons too. Their numbers are small. There's a dearth of bilingual programs in their languages, counselors fluent in Asian languages and culture and advocates in general. Few schools can communicate with their parents who don't speak English.

At an Illinois State Board of Educationmeeting this year, several activists urged the state to report Asian achievement scores by specific ethnicity instead of lumping them together.

"Why not separate them so that everyone can use [the data] to help their own people?" asked Juanita Salvador-Burris, who argued at the meeting in Chicago. Many Southeast Asians, in particular, arrive as refugees from war-torn countries, and their children struggle with poverty and language—challenges not always shared by other Asian ethnicities.

"These kids need the same kind of supports that other groups . . . receive—extensive academic, remedial and socio-emotional support," said Sally Ewing, a former principal at Passages Charter School, which is run by Asian Human Services, a social services agency serving Chicago's pan-Asian community. "When you talk about funding grants . . . we have to be much more powerful in our case because there is this myth that Asians are doing very well."

A 2002 U.S. Department of Education study—one of the rare national reports examining Asians by ethnicity—found that Southeast Asians, including Cambodians, Laotians and Hmong have reading and math scores comparable with Latino and African-American students.

California, home to about one-third of the country's Asian population, is one of the few states where the public school system separates Asian students' test scores by ethnicity. For all 8th grade Asians, 64 percent are passing in English, a rate higher than whites across the state. Cambodians and Laotians, however, are passing at a 30 percent rate.

"We have students, sometimes ages 15 to 16, who come from refugee camps [and] have never held a pencil or opened a book," said Richard Norman, principal at Senn High School on Chicago's North Side. "They struggle just like any of the other minorities in the school."

But some argue that because of what they call the "model minority myth"—a belief that all Asians excel in academics—those who struggle do not receive the same attention as African-American or Hispanic students.

"There are also a lot of outside organizations that work to help improve [African-American and Hispanic] scores," said Alvin Yu, a director at the Chinese Mutual Aid Association in Chicago. "There are fewer working toward those ends for Asians, partially because of this perception."

Southeast Asian populations in many school districts are relatively small. Asians make up only 3 percent of the student population in Chicago Public Schools.

"There's a bigger challenge when it's a very small group and not as well-established a community from which to draw either teachers or assistants," said Ross Wiener, policy director at the Education Trust, a reform think tank in Washington, D.C.

Of the nearly 30,000 Southeast Asians in the six-county area, most are concentrated in Chicago, primarily the North Side neighborhoods of Albany Park and Uptown.

In Ouk's case, her mother, Tha, came from a family of farmers in Cambodia and had no education. During the genocidal rule of the Khmer Rouge from 1975-1979, much of the educated class was exterminated. Tha Ouk fled with her family in 1978 and spent the next seven years in refugee camps before securing visas to the U.S.

Now she lives in a small Albany Park apartment with four of her grandchildren and Thana, subsisting on a mix of public assistance and what help her older children can provide. At home, Thana speaks in Khmer, though she mixes in some English with her nieces and nephews, who are half-Cambodian and half-Puerto Rican.

After school, Thana spends most days at the Cambodian Association of Illinois, a newly renovated community center on the North Side. There, she attends workshops, teaches traditional Cambodian dance and receives tutoring. She says she feels uncomfortable getting help elsewhere.

"When you ask [a] question, [teachers] look at you like, 'What? You're asking me the question? Aren't you supposed to be the smart one?' " she said with a plaintive smile. "I was like, 'No. . . . I'm the same as everybody else. I don't see why you're looking at me that way.' "

Cambodian-Americans discuss legacy of atrocities under Khmer Rouge

The Associated Press
Published: March 30, 2008

LONG BEACH, California: The Cambodian genocide that claimed 1.7 million lives a generation ago continues to cast a shadow on survivors and their American-born children, said panelists at a university in California.

About 100 people attended a daylong workshop Saturday at California State University, Long Beach, to discuss the effects of the 1975-79 slaughter under the Khmer Rouge. Nearly a quarter of the population died from disease, overwork, starvation and execution in the notorious "killing fields."

The workshop was one of the first U.S. events to target Cambodian-Americans and solicit their participation in an international war crimes tribunal under way in their homeland.

Panels of experts discussed psychological and other aspects of the genocide.

Lakhena Nget, 24, was on a youth panel. A child of Cambodian refugees, she said she only learned of her parents' past in high school, when she interviewed them as part of a history project.

Nget, a student at the university, said she grew up in an American culture and did not understand her parents. Cambodian culture had called for them not to express their emotions over their experiences, she said.

She learned that her grandparents starved to death, several uncles with government ties were executed, and her father was imprisoned on suspicion of being in the despised educated class.

Her mother walked to a refugee camp, carrying her children.

"It broke my heart," Nget said.

Nget said the genocide can affect generations of Cambodian-Americans who know nothing about it, Nget said.

Parents haunted by their experiences may drink or find other ways of dulling their pain, or their perceived coldness may leave their children disaffected.

"I see how the pain and the struggles are still perpetuated in the community," Nget said.

"There's a lot of young people that do not do well in school. They join gangs. ... I believe that a lot of it comes from broken communication in the home."

One of the workshop organizers was Leakhena Nou, a Cambodian-American and sociology professor at the university.

Before the workshop, she said many survivors are still afraid to get involved in the tribunal by sharing their stories. Organizers urged attendees to apply for formal victim and civil party status and volunteer as translators or witnesses.

Nou said afterward that the workshop left her optimistic.

"The stories that were presented today were powerful and gave a varied perspective on how the younger generation was impacted by the history of the Khmer Rouge," she said. "I think today's forum is the beginning of a much needed dialogue among Cambodians with the international community to promote healing, understanding, reconciliation and the pursuit for justice."

Education a focus on visit to Asia and China

scoop.co.nz
Sunday, 30 March 2008
Press Release: New Zealand Government
30 March 2008

Education a focus on visit to Asia and China

Education Minister and Minister for Ethnic Affairs Chris Carter will be one of the first international politicians to engage with Thailand’s new democratic government when he arrives there later today.

The Minister is visiting Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam before joining the New Zealand delegation to China for the signing of the Free Trade Agreement.

“Thailand, and in fact all three countries, are also important education markets for New Zealand and I have a number of issues I will be discussing with my counterparts during my visits.”

As well as meeting with education ministers in Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia, the Minister will promote New Zealand as a destination for English language teaching for both tertiary and secondary school students from the region.

“Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia are all trying to improve the provision of English language teaching in their schools and I’m keen to discuss how New Zealand can develop English language teaching in Vietnamese and Cambodian schools.”

The Minister will also represent Prime Minister Helen Clark at the Regional Interfaith Forum in Phnom Penh on April 3.

“A range of religions will be represented at the Forum which is a chance to promote dialogue and better understanding between people of all faiths,” Chris Carter said.

The Education Minister will join Prime Minister Helen Clark and Trade Minister Phil Goff in Beijing for the signing of the Free Trade Agreement with China but his focus for the visit will be on education issues and will include a meeting with Chinese Education Minister Dr Zhou Ji and other education officials.

“China remains the single largest source of visiting international students and I am keen to do all I can to ensure our country continues to be seen as a major provider of English language teaching for Chinese students,” Chris Carter said.

Mekong nations aim to grow closer at Laos summit

Thanh Nien News
Sunday, March 30, 2008

Leaders from six Mekong River countries will meet in Laos today and tomorrow to discuss closer integration, mainly through new transport corridors and a regional power grid.

Six premiers are expected at the mostly closed-door summit - Vietnam’s Nguyen Tan Dung, China’s Wen Jiabao, Thailand’s Samak Sundaravej, Cambodia’s Hun Sen, Myanmar’s Thein Sein and the Lao host, Bouasone Bouphavanh.

The summit is the “highest-level affirmation of the desire and willingness to continue to incorporate as a sub-region,” John Cooney, the ADB’s infrastructure division director for Southeast Asia, told AFP.

The Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) groups China’s southern Yunnan and Guangxi provinces with Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar.

Initiated by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the group was founded in 1992 to boost economic growth and reduce poverty in the countries that share the Mekong, Southeast Asia’s largest river.

Since the 1990s, the region, though still plagued by poverty, has been mostly at peace and has collectively grown at one of the fastest rates in the world, with average economic growth of 7.9 percent in 2005, the ADB said.

The Mekong region is home to more than 266 million people, most of whom rely on agriculture and fishing.

The population is set to reach 290 million by 2015.

GMS leaders previously met in Phnom Penh in 2002 and China in 2005.

Source: AFP

Leaders of Mekong nations to chart future course for regional economic growth

chinaview.cn
2008-03-30

PHNOM PENH, March 30 (Xinhua) -- The Summit of the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) nations is expected to endorse a five-year action plan (2008-2012) soon to foster economic growth and prosperity in the region, a press release said here on Sunday.

Prime ministers of the six countries sharing the Mekong River are convening in the Lao People's Democratic Republic for the Third GMS Summit, said the press release from the ADB (Asian Development Bank) office in Cambodia.

The six Mekong nations are the Laos, China, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia and Thailand.

The prime ministers will discuss coordinated actions to reduce poverty and promote sustainable development in the region through expanded transportation and telecommunication linkages, streamlined trade agreements, and greater environmental management efforts, it said.

"The nations and 320 million people who share the Mekong region have transcended past conflicts in order to work together for the betterment of their shared futures," said Arjun Thapan, Director General of ADB's Southeast Asia Department.

"The gains realized by Mekong nations over the past 15 years clearly demonstrate that coordination and cooperation between neighbors is the most direct pathway to greater prosperity," he added.

GMS program focuses on nine development areas, including agriculture, energy, the environment, human resource development, private investment, telecommunications, tourism, trade and transportation, the release said.

ADB has been the lead supporter of the Greater Mekong Sub-region Economic Cooperation Program since it began in 1992.

Editor: Du Guodong

Cambodian opposition leader calls for new FBI probe into bombing

Cambodian opposition leader Sam Rainsy addresses people in front of a stupa during the 11th anniversary of the March 30,1997 grenade attacks in Phnom Penh. Rainsy called for the US FBI to renew its probe into the grenade attack that killed at least 16 people.(AFP/Tang Chhin Sothy)

Sun Mar 30

PHNOM PENH (AFP) - Cambodia's opposition leader Sam Rainsy called Sunday for the US Federal Bureau of Investigation to renew its probe into a grenade attack that killed at least 16 people more than a decade ago.

Sam Rainsy addressed supporters outside Cambodia's parliament, where exactly 11 years ago four grenades were hurled into a crowd of anti-government protesters, wounding at least 120 people including a US citizen.

Despite the government's insistence that the case is still open, no one has been arrested in connection with the bloody attack.

"I not only appeal to the FBI to renew their investigation but also appeal to the FBI to reveal the result of their past investigations," he said.

"Eleven years have passed... but the truth has not yet been shown."

The FBI opened a probe into the attack after US citizen Ron Abney -- who was country director of the US-funded group the International Republican Institute at the time -- was seriously wounded by shrapnel.

But the investigation was hampered by uncooperative Cambodian government officials and became quickly bogged down.

In a statement read out at Sunday's gathering, Abney echoed calls for a thorough investigation.
"Every year we call on the Cambodian government to investigate," he said.

Human rights groups have accused Prime Minister Hun Sen's bodyguards of throwing the grenades -- a charge repeatedly denied by the premier.

New York-based Human Rights Watch on Sunday also urged the FBI to reveal what it said was "damning evidence" about Hun Sen's connection to the bombing.

"Instead of trying to protect US relations with Cambodia, it should now finish what it started," said Brad Adams, the group's Asia director.

Sam Rainsy also used to accuse Hun Sen of masterminding of the attack, but later recanted after his return in 2006 from self-imposed exile in France, where he had fled to avoid being imprisoned for defaming the premier.

Premier arrives for Mekong summit

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (C) arrives in Vientiane, capital of Laos, March 29, 2008. Wen started his working visit to Laos on Saturday evening by the invitation of Lao Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh, and he is also scheduled to attend the 3rd Summit of the Great Mekong Subregion countries in Vientiane. [Xinhua]

Xinhua
2008-03-30

VIENTIANE -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao arrived here on Saturday evening, starting his working visit to Laos.

Wen is also scheduled to attend the 3rd Summit of the Great Mekong Subregion countries -- China, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar -- to be convened in this Laos capital city on Monday.

According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Wen, invited by Lao Prime Minister Bouasone Bouphavanh, will meet with Lao President Choummaly Saygnasone and hold talks with his Lao counterpart Bouasone on future bilateral cooperation.

Wen and Bouasone are scheduled to attend the signing ceremony of cooperation agreement in the sectors of economy, technology, coal and e-governance.

After his working visit to Laos, Wen will join with leaders from the other five GMS members as well as representatives from the Asian Development Bank at the summit and attend the opening ceremony of a 1,800-km international road from China's Kunming city to Thailand's Bangkok.

The GMS, established in 1992, promotes economic and social development, irrigation and cooperation within the six Mekong countries.

About 320 million people live within the GMS region, and their common link, the Mekong River, winds its way for 4,200 km. The great majority of these people live in rural areas where they lead subsistence or semi-subsistence agricultural lifestyles.

The area boasts abundant natural resources and huge development potential. With a long history of cultural and economic exchanges among the nations, the area has formed peculiar cultural and economic characteristics based on different folk customs and natural landscapes of the six nations sharing the river.

The first GMS Summit was held in Cambodia's Phnom Penh in 2002,and the second in southwest China's Kunming in 2005.

Cambodian family's spot simple, yet grand

By Scott Alarik
Globe Correspondent / March 30, 2008
boston.com

Mittapheap Restaurant
877 Western Ave., Lynn
Telephone: 781-477-6045
Hours: Open seven days, 8:30 a.m. -9:30 p.m.
Credit cards accepted
Handicapped access

Mittapheap means friendship in Cambodian. If you come here you'll understand why this restaurant has that name. Inside this plain, spacious dining room near the General Electric plant in Lynn, the chefs make food that makes people happy.

Mittapheap is run by Hong Kim, a polite and soft-spoken man who grew up in Phnom Penh. A former billiard parlor owner, Kim arrived in Massachusetts four years ago and set out to learn English. In September, he bought Mittapheap.

There's nothing pretentious. Step inside, and you'll see colorful cloths sharing an altar with a Buddha. Within seconds you'll be seated by one of Kim's sisters, who also share in the cooking.

It's easy to get lost in the menu, which offers more than 100 dishes. If you come, remember that everything is made to order, and that means you won't be out the door in 15 minutes. All types of Asian fare are offered, but we asked for the Cambodian dishes. And, while we had the choice of dozens of meat dishes, we ordered vegetarian and were not disappointed.

The owners like to add spice to food, and that's why we chose the hot and sour soup ($1.75). Ever try a food that didn't smell great but had an amazing taste? That was the case with this soup. They dump a lot of pepper in this soup, thick with eggs, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, and tofu. It's guaranteed to clear your sinuses.

We sipped on fresh coconut smoothies ($3) and listened to Cambodian pop music as we awaited our entrees.

The tofu pad Thai ($5.25) was delicious and light on the soy sauce. Kim served a heaping plate of stir-fried rice noodles, topped with tofu, bean sprouts, scallions, and crushed peanuts.

We were startled by the superior quality of the sweet and sour fish ($14), and the spicy Thai fish ($15) that arrived. If you want something that you might not dare cook, try the full-grown tilapia deep-fried. There's a certain charm to the way they deliver the fish to you. After you order (you can choose either tilapia or flounder), Kim goes next door to an Asian grocery store and picks out the fish.

In New York or Boston, you'd pay up to three times as much for each dish and walk away happy.
The sweet and sour tilapia was topped with red peppers, onions, pineapple, and garlic. The spicy Thai tilapia was covered with garlic, peppers, onions and lime.

Sometimes, even after a good meal, you don't want to think about the food, the restaurant, or the conversation. The opposite is true of this place. It's not loaded with fine art or marble lobbies, and there's no fancy bar to stand around at while waiting for your table. It's about fine food and good people. And even after an enormous meal, you might even want to come back the next day.

Cambodian-Americans discuss atrocities at Cal hearing

The Associated Press
03/29/2008

LONG BEACH, Calif.—The Cambodian genocide that claimed 1.7 million lives a generation ago continues to cast a shadow on both survivors and their American-born children, panelists said Saturday.

About 100 people attended a daylong workshop at California State University, Long Beach, that aimed to discuss the effects of the 1975-79 slaughter under the Khmer Rouge. Nearly a quarter of the population died from disease, overwork, starvation and execution in the notorious "killing fields."

The workshop was one of the first U.S. events to target Cambodian-Americans and solicit their participation in an international war crimes tribunal under way in their homeland.

Panels of experts discussed psychological and other aspects of the genocide.

Lakhena Nget, 24, was on a youth panel. A child of Cambodian refugees, the CSULB junior said she only learned of her parents' past in high school, when she interviewed them as part of a history project.

Nget said she grew up in an American culture and didn't understand her parents. Cambodian culture had called for them not to express their emotions over their experiences, she said.

She learned that her grandparents starved to death, several uncles with government ties were executed, and her father was imprisoned for suspicion of being in the despised educated class.
Her mother walked to a refugee camp, carrying her children.

"It broke my heart," Nget said.

Nget said the genocide can affect generations of Cambodian-Americans who know nothing about it, Nget said.

Parents haunted by their experiences may drink or find other ways of dulling their pain, or their perceived coldness may leave their children disaffected.

"I see how the pain and the struggles are still perpetuated in the community," Nget said.

"There's a lot of young people that do not do well in school. They join gangs...I believe that a lot of it comes from broken communication in the home."

One of the workshop organizers was Leakhena Nou, a Cambodian-American and sociology professor at Cal State Long Beach.

Before the workshop, she said many survivors are still afraid to get involved in the tribunal by sharing their stories. Organizers urged attendees to apply for formal victim and civil party status and volunteer as translators or witnesses.

Ricky Martin Visits Cambodian Center

Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin holds babies during a visit to a shelter for victims of sexual exploitation in Siem Reap northwestern province of Cambodia, Saturday, March 29, 2008. Martin has taken his fight against child trafficking to Cambodia. Martin, who arrived in the country Wednesday, met with Interior Minister Sar Kheng and visited various projects run by non-governmental organizations fighting child trafficking and sexual exploitation. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

By KER MUNTHIT

SIEM REAP, Cambodia (AP) — Ricky Martin met with victims of sexual exploitation Saturday during a visit to Cambodia to promote the fight against human trafficking.

Martin held infants and listened to a 14-year-old rape victim's song during his visit to a shelter in the northwestern city of Siem Reap, home of the famed Angkor temples.

"She sings like an angel," Martin said after the girl finished a song she composed about the plight of trafficking victims.

The girl was among 65 victims sheltered at the rescue center of Afesip, a French non-governmental group working to combat human trafficking in Cambodia.

The pop star also held the 3-month-old daughter of a 22-year-old woman who was sold by her father to a brothel and is now HIV-positive. The woman broke down in tears as she urged Martin to keep fighting against human trafficking.

"I'm not going to stop," Martin said, pounding his fist on his knee as he sat on a tiled floor. "All of you are my heroes. You are a gift of my life."

Martin, who arrived in the country Wednesday, met with Interior Minister Sar Kheng and visited various projects run by non-governmental organizations fighting child trafficking and sexual exploitation.

Martin learned of Cambodia's child trafficking problems in February during a three-day U.N. conference in Vienna. He joined Oscar-winning actress Emma Thompson, Egyptian first lady Suzanne Mubarak and other dignitaries in calling for action.

In its annual human rights report released recently, the U.S. State Department called Cambodia "a source, destination and transit country for men, women, and children trafficked for sexual exploitation and labor."

Still, Martin praised Cambodia as an example of some "solid and concrete" efforts against human trafficking.

"The fact that you have 200 non-governmental groups working in the country working on human trafficking is unheard of," he said.

Martin said he plans to take what he learned in Cambodia and use it to "motivate people, organizations, governments in Latin America" in their efforts to combat the same problems. The Ricky Martin Foundation does most of its work in Latin America.

Martin was due to leave Cambodia on Sunday.

Tourism resort: Kampi

Kampi is the tourism site located in Kratie province. Most of Cambodian people visited this site during Khmer New Year

Senior Economics position open at US Embassy

Vacancy Announcement

Open to: All interested candidates
Position: Economic/Commercial Specialist, FSN-11, FP-4*

Trainee grade for this position has been established. Successful candidate will be offered based on the qualifications and experiences. The Embassy reserves the right to appoint the candidate at a grade lower than the advertised grade of the position.

Please click on the link below :

http://cambodia.usembassy.gov/economic_and_commercial_specialist.html

Hun Sen, Cambodia Beggar Leader

March 29, 2008
by neokhmer
http://neokhmer.wordpress.com/

By Kok Sap March 27, 2008

Pundits said, act like one if you wanted people to see what you are. If a leader acts as a beggar, surely his nation is a beggar. Cambodia is a pain to the world. Apparently its leader is kept in darkness and in a short leash all the times. He has no way to know the truth.

All ministers are projecting obedient in his presence, in fact, all are deceitfully for show. Every one of them has a stake in Cambodia systematic corruption and tyranny. All only respond to a threat of serious punitive consequences. It has become Cambodia new religion.

Sadly, in examples, one can tell if Om Yin Tieng or Soc Anh is really loyal to Hun Sen “does not know how to cheat” why Professor Yash Ghai and others had to say what had been said. Yet Hun Sen can’t seem to think for himself anymore. One friendly source categorizes “Big Brother Soc Anh can say whatever, Hun Sen believes and never think twice.”Lately it appears that way.

If Soc An arbitrarily stalled Anti Corruption and Good Governance Laws from passing, Hun Sen quickly obeyed and made all possible.”

From old wise forewarning, “Trust not the sky or stars, trust not spouse of no unfaithful and trust not mother of no debt evidently this is exactly where Hun Sen is in now. Instead of finding facts and truth on own intuition, PM Hun Sen believes every word he reads from his advisor short-hand notes.

To keep truth from Hun Sen, Chief of Ministers Soc Anh kept him busy in ceremonial role around the globe. Hun Sen loves beautiful words and pomp as Soc Anh puts,” for the last 500 year, under Hun Sen this is the only Cambodia is at peace.” Too little to know, a large percentage of population is at war day and night. Also some corners in CPP are ready to do away with Hun Sen Self importance behaviors. Too soon to say Hun Sen‘s wishful Sdach Kan prophecy may reign over him for sure.

People saw example in late 90’s when Comrade Son Sen the DK Chief of Commanders and brilliant military tactician, was lynched to pieces by his under-link, Ta Mok’s T-54 tank because of arbitrary agreement made with Hun Sen just before Pol Pot was stripped from all power. Pol Pot himself was on the run constantly until his suspicious death in April 1998.

After his death all conspiracies were laid upon his pathetic grave by his own brother in law and most trusted Deputy, Ieng Sary. Need not to put words in one’s mouth, will the same paradigm happen to the most powerful Hun Sen?

Had Hun Sen not wondered why Soc Anh was so moved to want to parade himself as Head of Cambodia in the New Year parade in Long Beach, California? Still have no idea, all ministers are spoon fed information and orders from His Big Brother Uppak Soc Anh. In years to come, as long as fellow citizens go to sleep hungry, Hun Sen fate soon will be like his once Revered Leader Pol Pot for sure. Time will tell indeed.

Do not be confused Cambodia peace and democracy does not come cheap. It was built on at least 3 million dead, land and sea losses in addition to UN’s 2 billion dollars investment. Also do not be mistaken, peace was brought upon citizens because they were too tired of war, unlike some said it was Hun Sen own doing. Only a fool would believe that.

Generally there is no war but millions still go to war with own hunger and hopelessness. No matter how much donations poured in, Cambodia can’t be well fed as long as it is under Hun Sen and cronies.

The desperation will lead people to commit despicable deeds in order to survive even it is against own religion. In either way, so long all ministerial office occupants remain the same, Cambodia will remain a beggar nation with no real peace.

Ricky Martin campaigns in Cambodia

Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin, center, talks with victims of sexual exploitation during a visit to a shelter, in Siem Reap northwestern province of Cambodia, Saturday, March 29, 2008. Martin has taken his fight against child trafficking to Cambodia. Martin, who arrived in the country Wednesday, met with Interior Minister Sar Kheng and visited various projects run by non-governmental organizations fighting child trafficking and sexual exploitation.(AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin gestures as he lulls a baby during his visit to a shelter for victims of sexual exploitation in Siem Reap, northwestern Cambodia, Saturday, March 29, 2008. The singer has taken his fight against child trafficking to Cambodia. Martin, who arrived in the country Wednesday, met with Interior Minister Sar Kheng and visited various projects run by non-governmental organizations fighting child trafficking and sexual exploitation.(AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin holds a baby during his visit to a shelter for victims of sexual exploitation in Siem Reap northwestern province of Cambodia, Saturday, March 29, 2008. The singer has taken his fight against child trafficking to Cambodia. Martin, who arrived in the country Wednesday, met with Interior Minister Sar Kheng and visited various projects run by non-governmental organizations fighting child trafficking and sexual exploitation.(AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin, right, listens to victims talk about their experiences during a visit to a shelter for victims of sexual exploitation, in Siem Reap northwestern province of Cambodia, Saturday, March 29, 2008. Martin has taken his fight against child trafficking to Cambodia. Martin, who arrived in the country Wednesday, met with Interior Minister Sar Kheng and visited various projects run by non-governmental organizations fighting child trafficking and sexual exploitation.(AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin, center, meets with victims of sexual exploitation during a visit to a shelter, in Siem Reap northwestern province of Cambodia, Saturday, March 29, 2008. Martin has taken his fight against child trafficking to Cambodia. Martin, who arrived in the country Wednesday, met with Interior Minister Sar Kheng and visited various projects run by non-governmental organizations fighting child trafficking and sexual exploitation.(AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin, right, touches a baby's face during a visit to a shelter for victims of sexual exploitation in Siem Reap northwestern province of Cambodia, Saturday, March 29, 2008. Martin has taken his fight against child trafficking to Cambodia. Martin, who arrived in the country Wednesday, met with Interior Minister Sar Kheng and visited various projects run by non-governmental organizations fighting child trafficking and sexual exploitation.(AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin, right, holds babies as Somaly Mam, left, county director of the French Acronym for Acting for Women in Distressing Situations, AFESIP, smiles during his visit to the shelter for victims of sexual exploitation in Siem Reap northwestern province of Cambodia, Saturday, March 29, 2008. Pop star Ricky Martin has taken his fight against child trafficking to Cambodia. Martin, who arrived in the country Wednesday, met with Interior Minister Sar Kheng and visited various projects run by non-governmental organizations fighting child trafficking and sexual exploitation.(AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Municipality Thanks JICA for Improving Traffic in Phnom Penh

Posted on 29 March 2008.
The Mirror, Vol. 12, No. 553

“Phnom Penh: In the afternoon of 27 March 2008, the Phnom Penh Municipality held a signing ceremony on the Study on Traffic Improvement in Phnom Penh between Phnom Penh City, the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, and the Japanese International Cooperation Agency [JICA]. The ceremony was held at the occasion of extending the project for one more year, starting from March 2009 until March 2010. According to the original plan, JICA was going to complete this project by March 2009. The project has been implemented by the Phnom Penh Municipality, the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, and JICA since March 2007.

“The signing ceremony was attended by Secretary of State Chom Iek, representing the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, by the Phnom Penh Governor Kep Chuk Tema, who is also a direct advisor to Samdech Dekchor Hun Sen, and by Katsuta Hozumi, the leader of the study team of JICA in Tokyo, Japan, which is paying a visit to Phnom Penh, representing JICA. The director of the Phnom Penh Municipal Department of Public Works and Transport, governors and vice-governors from all of the seven districts, and other related institutions also participated in the meeting.

“An expert official from the the Phnom Penh municipality explained that the Study on Traffic Improvement in Phnom Penh, which has been and will be assisted by JICA, involves three important elements, such as providing education to drivers of the Phnom Penh Municipal Department of Public Works and Transport, engineering work to improve intersection roads such as roads with four traffic lights at Preah Kossomak Hospital and at the Stung Meanchey Bridge, and methods to enforce traffic laws for traffic police in Phnom Penh.

“At this occasion, Mr. Kep Chuk Tema thanked JICA for having helped to conduct the Study on Traffic Improvement in Phnom Penh and at the same time for having decided to extend it for another year, helping to improve the Phnom Penh traffic system. This is very good news for the residents of Phnom Penh.

“The city governor added, ‘Currently the traffic in Phnom Penh is getting busier and busier, because there has been a substantial increase in the number of people and the number of vehicles. Therefore, the Phnom Penh traffic system needs to be upgraded.’

“He continued that ‘after JICA has helped to improve the Phnom Penh traffic system, there are much less traffic congestions in Phnom Penh, and the city of Phnom Penh was successful in implementing this.’

“Mr. Katsuta Hozumi stressed that under the cooperation between the Phnom Penh Municipality and JICA during the last year, these efforts have led to improvements in the situation of the traffic in Phnom Penh.

“Mr. Chom Iek, a secretary of state at the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, stated that ‘the ministry and the municipality are building a bridge near the Monivong Bridge, along National Road No. 2, and we are also reconstructing the Stung Meanchey Bridge near the Preah Kossomak traffic light, in order to minimize traffic congestions in Phnom Penh.”

Rasmei Kampuchea, Vol.16, #4553, 29.3.2008

Khmer rice crisis

The Bangkok Post

Phnom Penh - Cambodia banned rice exports to protect domestic food security on Wednesday, after spiraling food prices pushed the price to the equivalent of 31 baht a kilogramme.

The move comes amid the steady climb in the price of most staple goods, including the doubling of the cost of cooking gas, which has put increasing strain on large numbers of Cambodians.

"Cambodia will halt the export of rice for two months," Prime Minister Hun Sen said.

"It is a temporary measure ... but it is to ensure food security," he added.

Rice prices have risen sharply from about 40 US cents a kilogramme as speculation of shortages grip local markets, sparking demands that the government put a cap on costs.

But Hun Sen said on Tuesday that Cambodia is experiencing a rice surplus, and blamed the price hike on "economic sabotage" - people spreading rumours of dwindling rice supplies in a bid to undermine the government.

Despite GDP growth averaging 11 per cent over the past three years, more than a third of the country's 14 million people live on less than 50 US cents (less than 16 baht) a day, making even the slightest rise of food costs devastating to Cambodia's poorest.

Petrol remains at record highs on the back of global oil prices while inflation cracked the double digits late last year, hovering around 11 per cent and further driving up food costs. (Agencies)

Asia weary of rice prices hike

Bangladesh News
Independent Bangladesh
Sunday, 30 March 2008

Philippine activists warn about possible riots. Aid agencies across Asia worry how they will feed the hungry. Governments dig deeper every day to fund subsidies, reports AP.

A sharp rise in the price of rice is hitting consumer pocketbooks and raising fears of public turmoil in the many parts of Asia where rice is a staple. Part of a surge in global food costs, rice prices on world markets have jumped 50 percent in the past two months and at least doubled since 2004.

Experts blame rising fuel and fertilizer expenses as well as crops curtailed by disease, pests and climate change. There are concerns prices could rise a further 40 percent in coming months.

The higher prices have already sparked protests in the Philippines, where a government official has asked the public to save leftover rice. In Cambodia, Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered a ban on rice exports Wednesday to curb rising prices at home. Vietnamese exporters and farmers are stockpiling rice in expectation of further price increases.

Prestoline Suyat of the May One Labor Movement, a left-wing workers group, warned that "hunger and poverty may eventually lead to riots." The neediest are hit hardest. Rodolfo de Lima, a 42-year-old parking lot attendant in Manila, said "my family will go hungry" if prices continue to rise.

Vietnam has cut its 2008 rice export target to 3.5-4 million tons from its initial goal of 4- 4.5 million tons to ensure the country''s food security, according to local newspaper Labor. The Vietnamese government has also asked businesses to temporarily sign new rice export contracts.

Local firms have inked contracts of shipping abroad 1.8 million tons of rice this year. Vietnam, the world''s second biggest rice exporter after Thailand, is estimated to export 859, 000 tons of rice worth 366 million U.S. dollars in the first quarter of this year, posting respective year-on-year rises of 5.3 percent and 42.6 percent, according to the country''s General Statistics Office.

It sold overseas 4.5 million tons of rice worth nearly 1.5 billion dollars, mainly to the Philippines, Malaysia, Cuba, Indonesia and Japan, in 2007. Another reports from Hanoi adds: Fertilizer prices in Vietnam have increased by 59-300 percent, the highest level over the past 35 years, due to rising material costs and world prices, according to local media.

In February, prices of super phosphate and nitrogen- phosphate- kalium (NPK) fertilizers increased respectively by 126 percent to 2.5 million Vietnamese dong (VND) (nearly 156.3 U.S. dollars) per ton, and 80 percent to nearly three million VND (187.5 dollars) over the same period last year, newspaper Vietnam News reported.

Meanwhile, costs of diammonium phosphate (DAP) and kalium fertilizers even tripled to 18 million VND (1,125 dollars) per ton and doubled to nine million VND (562.5 dollars), respectively.

The Vietnam Fertilizer Association has proposed the government to cease export of antraxit, a main material for fertilizer production, and facilitate fertilizer producers in terms of loan accession. Local fertilizer demand is estimated at over 8.3 million tons this year.

The country is expected to increase its annual urea fertilizer production capacity to 1.7-1.8 million tons by 2011 from the current 900,000 tons. Vietnam is estimated to import 999,000 tons of fertilizers worth 375 million dollars in the first quarter of this year, posting respective year-on-year rises of 18.2 percent and 106.1 percent, according to the General Statistics Office.

Cambodia''s prime minister Hun Sen on Wednesday banned rice exports in a bid to halt the staple food''s spiraling prices, which have reached highs of nearly one dollar a kilogramme. The move comes amid the steady climb in the price of most staple goods, including the doubling of the cost of cooking gas, which has put increasing strain on large numbers of Cambodians.

''Cambodia will halt the export of rice for two months,'' Hun Sen said.

''It is a temporary measure ... but it is to ensure food security,'' he added. Rice prices have risen sharply from about 40 cents a kilogramme as speculation of shortages grip local markets, sparking demands that the government put a cap on costs. But Hun Sen said Tuesday that Cambodia is experiencing a rice surplus, and blamed the price hike on ''economic sabotage'' - people spreading rumours of dwindling rice supplies in a bid to undermine the government.

Despite GDP growth averaging 11 per cent over the past three years, more than a third of the country''s 14 million people live on less than 50 cents a day, making even the slightest rise of food costs devastating to Cambodia''s poorest. Petrol remains at record highs on the back of global oil prices while inflation cracked the double digits late last year, hovering around 11 per cent and further driving up food costs.

Vietnam and India move to limit rice exports

By Keith Bradsher
Published: March 29, 2008

HANOI: Vietnam and India on Friday tightened limits on rice exports, joining Egypt and Cambodia in trying to conserve scarce supplies for domestic consumption at the risk of triggering further increases in global rice prices, which have roughly doubled since the start of this year.

Soaring prices for rice, a staple for nearly half the world's population, are already causing hardship across the developing world, particularly for urban workers. Together with rising prices for other foods, from wheat and soybeans to pork and cooking oil, higher rice prices are also contributing to inflation in many developing countries.

Rice-importing countries have become increasingly desperate, with fast-food restaurants in the Philippines even cutting rice portions in half.

Ben Savage, a rice broker at Jackson Son & Co. in London, said that even before the latest restrictions by Vietnam and India, international rice trading had practically stopped as exporters had become reluctant to sell as they waited to see how high prices would go. "The market has pretty much ground to a halt for the past few weeks," he said.

Shipments are still being made to complete contracts signed months ago, and governments are still doing deals with each other using state-controlled companies. But with virtually no private contracts being signed, the rice market has become extremely volatile, with prices jumping ever higher as governments impose more export restrictions.

Global rice consumption has exceeded production in each of the last seven years, so rice stockpiles have been falling steadily. Rising affluence in India and China has increased demand even as a plant virus has damaged the harvest in Vietnam and poor weather has hurt output in other countries.

Vietnam, the world's second-largest rice exporter after Thailand, announced Friday that it would reduce rice exports by 22 percent in the hope of curbing the rapidly accelerating inflation rates in the country.

India on Friday set a new minimum price for rice exports of $1,000 a ton, far above the price of $700 to $750 for most grades of rice. The new price makes it unlikely that India will export any rice except the highest grades of basmati rice for which the market within India has long been small.

Cambodia said Wednesday that it was halting all private sector rice exports. Egypt has barred all rice exports starting on April 1; while Egypt bars exports each year to conserve supplies for domestic consumption, the Egyptian government has acted earlier than usual this year and after less rice than usual has been exported.

Thailand has not imposed restrictions yet, but there has been public discussion about doing so.
Vietnam's restriction "is sure to cause more concern among rice-importing countries and push prices even higher," said Duncan Macintosh, a spokesman for the International Rice Research Institute in Manila.

China to pay farmers more for rice

China said Friday it would pay farmers more for rice and wheat, trying to raise output and cool surging inflation that threatens to fuel unrest ahead of the Beijing Olympics, The Associated Press reported from Beijing.

Beijing has frozen retail prices of rice, cooking oil and other goods in an effort to rein in food costs, which jumped 23.3 percent in February from a year earlier. But analysts warn that holding down the prices paid to farmers will discourage them from raising production and easing shortages blamed for the increases.

The price increase is meant to "raise farmers' enthusiasm for growing grain and make progress in the development in grain production," the government's National Development and Reform Commission said in a statement announcing the change.

Rice prices set to skyrocket

SUPPLY SHORTAGE: Vietnam and India have slashed exports of rice to combat domestic inflation, which is likely to send the price of rice soaring in the Gulf. (Getty Images)

ArabianBusiness.com
by Dylan Bowman
Saturday, 29 March 2008

Rice prices across the Gulf could skyrocket after major rice exporters Vietnam and India indicated they plan to slash exports to combat domestic inflation.

Vietnam, the world's second-largest rice exporter after Thailand, announced on Friday it would cut exports by 22%, while India said the same day it has hiked the minimum price for rice exports to $1,000 a tonne, preventing all but the most expensive grades of rice from being exported.

Analysts say the move is sure to push world prices, which have roughly doubled since the start of the year, even higher.

Vietnam and India's announcements come just days after Cambodia said it was banning all private sector rice exports, and just before Egypt bars exports from April 1. Both countries are facing increasing pressure at home as supply constraints tighten, fuelling inflation.

Egypt bans rice sales every year, but has does so earlier than usual this year and after less rice has been exported.

Thailand has yet to imposed restrictions, but there has been talk about implementing measures to boost domestic supply.

Rice-exporters' decision to cut back is likely to send the price of rice soaring across the Gulf.

The price of rice in the UAE has climbed more than 50% in the last year, according to data from UAE daily Gulf News.

The soaring cost of food is helping driving up inflation to record levels in the region, forcing governments to subsidies basic foods, such as rice, in an effort to reduce the burden on the consumer.

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain have all introduced or raised subsidies, while Qatar and Oman are looking into similar measures.

The UAE Ministry of Economy earlier this month agreed to allow the Union Cooperative Society chain of markets to sell 16 basic foods at a discount to help offset the effects on inflation.

Ricky Martin campaigns in Cambodia

Ricky Martin meets victims of sexual exploitation in Cambodia

The Press Association

Pop star Ricky Martin has taken his fight against child trafficking to Cambodia.

Martin, who arrived in the country on Wednesday, met with Interior Minister Sar Kheng and visited various projects run by non-governmental organisations fighting child trafficking and sexual exploitation.

"This is a fact-finding mission for us," Angel Saltos, executive director of the Ricky Martin Foundation, told The Associated Press. "He wanted to see for himself."

Martin learned of Cambodia's child trafficking problems in February during a three-day UN conference in Vienna. He joined Oscar-winning actress Emma Thompson, Egyptian first lady Suzanne Mubarak and other dignitaries in calling for action.

Some 2.5 million people are involved in forced labor as a result of trafficking, and 161 countries - on every continent and in every type of economy - are affected by the crime, the UN said.

Most victims are between the ages of 18 and 24, and an estimated 1.2 million children are trafficked each year, UN figures show.

The Ricky Martin Foundation does most of its work in Latin America.