To Trust the Law Means to Trust that the Law is not only Written, but that It Is Implemented – Sunday, 29.8.2010

http://cambodiamirror.wordpress.com/

 

via Khmer NZ

 

Posted on 30 August 2010.
The Mirror, Vol. 14, No. 679

 

Social stability depends on a situation where the citizens trust that the law is implemented. Not every time when somebody thinks to be treated unjustly this is also true. But the fact that every week there are several reports of demonstrations of groups of people, in different parts of the country, who feel they are suffering injustice – mostly related to land use and land rights – should be a sign of alarm. Social stability can be enforced for some time, but that is different from social stability based on peace and justice.

In 2002, the Prime Minister had said in his opening speech to the Consultative Group Meeting between representatives of the Cambodian Government and representatives of cooperating countries and international institutions:

“We are conscious that corruption in the public machinery, be it judiciary or administrative or any other, increases transaction costs for everyone and reduces predictability in law enforcement and implementation of government’s policies… The government believes that enactment of adequate laws and regulations to prevent and punish corruption is crucial for addressing this problem.”

And in December 2005 he warned that if illegal land seizures were not brought under control, they could lead to a farmers’ revolution.

Are these words of the Prime Minister out of date?

Seeing that during many of present demonstrations people carrying pictures of the Prime Minister and the First Lady shows that many people still have hope in interventions by the Prime Minister to provide justice – even when they have lost confidence that the normal process of the courts will achieve this goal.

Violations of the law happen regularly and massively, as claimed in the Cambodian press, and this is also confirmed by high ranking officials of the government. Just to quote some examples from the current week reported in The Mirror:

• Contraband Is Massively Imported while Members of the Authorities Are Collecting Colossal Amounts of Money
• Prime Minister Hun Sen Had Often Warned against It, but Frequently Heads of Some Institutions and Units Continue to Nominate Their Children’s Spouses or Other Relatives to Take Their Positions When They Retire
• Tax Officers Who Collect Excessive Amounts of Money from Road Tax Payments Face Dismissal [so this is happening]
• Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Order to Intercept Forestry Crimes Is No Longer Followed [recently, there is more illegal wood transported]
• Disabled Veterans and Retiring Civil Servants Complained about Difficulties to Get Their Salaries [as they were told to wait from day to day]

 Not all press reports are verified – but if there are repeatedly reports about the same kind of violations, one would expect concerned statements from the Press and Quick Reaction Unit of the Council of Ministers, explaining to the public what the authorities are doing to check what is going on to rectify what is wrong.

It is surprising that, instead, the spokesperson of the Press and Quick Reaction Unit of the Council of Ministers, Mr. Tith Sothea, when requested to look into problems in the way society is operating in spite of the regulations of the Constitution of 1993, made appeasing statements. He said that the government always rules the country following the law, adding, “If the opposition party wants further reforms beyond this, it has to wait until it wins the elections.” Many people who are convinced they suffer injustice do not want to see a complete political change, they just want to see that the laws and the Constitution of 1993 are really implemented.

When the 2010 report of Amnesty International drew the attention to the plight of thousands of Cambodian citizens suffering from forced relocations – in case of Group 78 in the Tonle Basak commune and other cases – the same spokesperson of the Press and Quick Reaction Unit of the Council of Ministers accused Amnesty International not to have studied the actual situation. Even accusations were made that such reports about the plight of Cambodian people asking for justice are only written to gain money for the writers. One might expect that the spokesperson would rather elaborate what the government is doing to help the people who have lost their homes, where they had had their livelihood – though poor – established for many years.

Will the Minister of Justice also be accused of “not to have studied the actual situation” for blaming the court system of not functioning according to the law, and therefore not delivering justice:

• The Ministry of Justice Released a Letter to Warn Judges and Prosecutors Who Read Newspapers during Hearings and Assign Clerks to Assume Their Responsibility Instead .

When a Delegation of the European Parliament recently visited Cambodia to study the medical sector, they observed the gap between what the Constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia says, and the realities they met. The Mirror carried repeatedly reports about sick people who could not get proper attention in hospitals if they were not able to pay first.

The public is not so much interested in claims by the Press and Quick Reaction Unit of the Council of Ministers that everything is all right. It would rather be interesting to read more about what measure are taken or planned to bridge the gap between the requirements of the Constitution – from which we quote here – than to be referred to a possible change by electoral vote, if the people want to see the Constitution implemented.

Some related quotes from the Constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia – always interesting and important reading:

• Article 72: The health of the people shall be guaranteed. The State shall give full consideration to disease prevention and medical treatment. Poor citizens shall receive free medical consultation in public hospitals, infirmaries and maternities
• Article 74: The State shall assist the disabled and the families of combatants who sacrificed their lives for the nation.

Govt plans special economic zone

via Khmer NZ

Published: 30/08/2010

PHNOM PENH: The government plans to set up a special economic zone in Sa Kaeo to boost trade and investment ties with Cambodia, Deputy Commerce Minister Alongkorn Ponlaboot says.

Mr Alongkorn said in the Cambodian capital the government would consider a special zone for trade in Aranyaprathet district in Sa Kaeo.

The zone would be linked with Cambodia's 2,500 rai investment area which has been established at Poipet and O'Neang opposite Ban Pa Rai in Aranyaprathet.

The Commerce Ministry would hold talks with other agencies on the plan which was expected to be forwarded to the economic ministers for approval in three months, he said.

The special economic zone would be the second with neighbouring countries after the first which straddles Mae Sot district in Tak and Myawaddy in Burma. A special economic zone would give entrepreneurs more investment flexibility through such things as relaxed labour rules.

Mr Alongkorn, who travelled to Phnom Penh by road from Aranyaprathet, identified contract farming and the processed food industry as potential investments in the zone.

"Now the United States is the top trade partner with Cambodia followed by Thailand," Mr Alongkorn said in talks with Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Nhek Bunchhay, Deputy Commerce Minister Kim Sitan and Information Minister Khieu Kanharit.

"The new cooperation on the economic zone with Cambodia will keep Thailand as a top partner with that country."

The plan was part of a Thai strategy to open more economic links with its neighbours and came under the Mekong subregional cooperation scheme, Mr Alongkorn said.

Nhek Bunchhay supported the plan, saying industries to be set up in the proposed zone would help end problems associated with the influx of illegal Cambodian workers into Thailand. More than 100,000 Cambodians work illegally in Thailand, including Bangkok, he said.

The Thai economic zone would allow Cambodians to cross the border to work and return home again on a daily basis, Nhek Bunchhay said. It also would contribute to peace and development, and reduce border conflicts.

"Developments along our border can take place if we help turn the boundary into a border of peace and sincerity," the Cambodian deputy premier said.

Nhek Bunchhay called for the two countries to quickly find ways to resolve the disputed territory on the border.

Khieu Kanharit urged the media in Thailand and Cambodia to play a role for the two countries to foster economic cooperation and create better understanding.

Area mother, daughter take fulfilling trip to help others

via Khmer NZ

August 29, 2010

New Smyrna Beach dentist Jan Westberry works on one of the hundreds of patients she treated during two months of volunteering with Pacific Partnership 2010 aboard the USNS Mercy. Jan Westberry

When Jan Westberry saw an announcement in one of her dentistry magazines about the need for volunteers to travel to Third World nations and provide humanitarian medical aid, she showed it to her daughter.

Then the University of Florida pre-dentistry student showed her mom the pictures of her 2009 South American cruise on the U.S. Navy hospital ship Comfort, and the adventurer in Westberry surfaced.

"I am a timid traveler," the New Smyrna Beach dentist said.

The idea of sleeping in a tent or out in the open didn't appeal to Westberry, 57, at all. Still, the prospect of helping people and knowing she would be living aboard the displacement hospital ship, prompted her to apply to participate in Pacific Partnership 2010.

"With the U.S. Navy, I knew I would feel safe," Westberry said. "And aboard ship I knew I would have a bed and a shower.

Pre-dental student and New Smyrna Beach resident Wendy Westberry poses with one of the people she helped while volunteering with Pacific Partnership 2010 in Cambodia. Jan Westberry

"Life is short and I wanted an adventure before I got too old," she said.

That was in January. A couple of months later she got word she had been accepted to join more than 1,000 military, civilian and governmental personnel, both foreign and U.S., aboard the Comfort's sister ship, the U.S.N.S. Mercy, during its visits to ports in Cambodia, Vietnam and Indonesia.

She was aboard to offer her expertise to people who likely had never seen a dentist before -- much less been treated by one.

Pacific Partnership 2010 was the fifth of the U.S. Navy Pacific fleet's humanitarian assistance program in place to enhance relations between the United States and the host countries. The 4-year-old project provides medical, dental and engineering outreach for the civilian populations of countries in need. During that time, it has served thousands of civilian patients in 10 countries.

"This is a life-changing experience," said Dr. Irvin Silverstein, of the University of California in San Diego's Pre-Dental Society. His work with the Navy on its aid mission to Southeast Asia during the 2006 tsunami helped spark the partnership, which now provides about 100 volunteers for each voyage.

From June 13 to Aug. 9, Westberry and her daughter, Wendy, spent their days doing extractions, putting in fillings, fixing cleft lips and performing other dental procedures. Westberry's son, Will, a 21-year-old UF biology major, spent two weeks with the pair during the trip.

"He did scut work," his mother said.

Between working ashore in 100-degree heat and treating patients aboard ship, the family matriarch said the work was exhausting, fulfilling and memorable.

She recalled the surgery to close a man's cleft lip, which gave him the appearance of having a gaping hole in his face.

"He looked like a monster," Dr. Westberry said. But when the team was done, they had not only closed the gap in his upper lip, but also created a device to fit over his cleft palate so he could eat normally.

"After the surgery, he sat down at the table and started shoveling food in," she recalled with a smile.

Another memory hangs around Westberry's neck. A Cambodian woman needed such extensive work they took her aboard the ship and worked on her for two days, extracting teeth, giving her fillings, and even making her a partial set of dentures.

"She was so grateful, she reached around her neck, removed her necklace -- a small cross hung from a bead-chain -- and gave it to me," Westberry said. "But the hardest challenge was not being able to help or save some of the people."

None of the Westberry clan classified the trip as "a pleasure cruise,",but it was an experience they will never forget.

"This was a once in a lifetime opportunity," Jan Westberry said. "Something I would like to do again."

Freight Train Imports Planned in Cambodia

via Khmer NZ

29.08.2010

Peter Brimble, Asian Development Bank senior country economist for Cambodia, said the main rationale for the railway upgrade, partly funded by the ADB, was to develop a more cost-effective freight system. “The logistics cost of carrying agricultural produce is critical and if you don’t have an effective way of doing it then it’s difficult to get the product out. I think the idea behind this is that it’s one option that’s relatively cost-effective".

Toll Royal Railway is planning to spend up to US$81 million to import new trains as part of the multi-million-dollar railway upgrade of the Kingdom’s major freight routes, according to the Ministry of Public Works and Transportation.

“The company has already set a plan to buy 11 engine carriages, 500 freight carriages and some other train materials for their operation by the end of this year or next,” the ministry’s Secretary of State Touch Chankosal said yesterday.

He said that Toll Royal Railway was preparing the paperwork to apply to the Council for Development of Cambodia requesting permission to import the locomotives; however, he said he could not confirm where the trains would be purchased from.

He said that refurbishment of Cambodia’s existing trains would continue, but that the expectation was that they would not suffice.

“In fact, we still have many carriage heads and carriages which can be mended, but they do not completely run well, so we need to import the new ones,” he said.

Peter Brimble, Asian Development Bank senior country economist for Cambodia, said the main rationale for the railway upgrade, partly funded by the ADB, was to develop a more cost-effective freight system.

“The logistics cost of carrying agricultural produce is critical and if you don’t have an effective way of doing it then it’s difficult to get the product out. I think the idea behind this is that it’s one option that’s relatively cost-effective,” he said.

Touch Chankosal said it was also the first step to ease the amount of heavy transportation damaging roads.

The ADB and AusAID are providing $141 million in funding for Toll to upgrade the 254-kilometre line from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville town, a 388-kilometre line from Phnom Penh to Poipet and a 48-kilometre line from Poipet to Sisophon.

Brimble said there were no plans for the ADB to fund future railroad projects in the Kingdom, but that he understood a “spur” would be added to the rail line in Sihanoukville to link it to the nearby port.

Toll Chief Executive David Kerr declined to comment, and ADB senior transport economist Peter Broch said he could not confirm the figures provided by the ministry.

Toll is jointly owned 55 percent by Australia’s largest trucking and freight company, Toll Holdings, and 45 percent by Kit Meng’s Royal Group. The duo teamed up last year to secure a 30-year concession to operate the network.

Toll Holdings reported a full-year net profit yesterday of A$278.9 million (US$247 million) for the 12 months ending June.

Its shares rose 2.7 percent to A$5.99 at close of trading in Sydney yesterday.

State President concludes Laos, Cambodia visits

via Khmer NZ

08/29/2010

State President Nguyen Minh Triet returned home in the afternoon on August 28, wrapping up an official visit to Laos and a State-level visit to Cambodia.

In the morning the same day, the President attended and delivered a speech at the talks on “Experience, potential and opportunities for Vietnamese investors in Cambodia ” in Cambodia’s capital city of Phnom Penh .

The talks were attended by Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Economic and Financial Minister Keat Chhon and over 200 representatives of the two countries’ business circles.

Representatives of Vietnamese businesses currently doing business and investing in Cambodia presented the results of their invested projects in agriculture, mining, finance-banking, healthcare, energy, light industry and hydro-electricity. They put forth recommendations for boosting the two countries’ economic, trade and investment cooperation on a par with the current growing political ties.

The Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister told President Triet and the participants that his country expects its economy to boom this year with an estimated GDP growth rate of at least 5 percent.

He pointed to the young and dynamic population as one of his country’s advantages together with untapped potential, saying there will be many opportunities for Vietnamese investors.

Noting the participants’ recommendations and specific initiatives, President Triet said the two countries’ economic, trade and investment cooperation has attained encouraging developments though yet to match their potential.

Opportunities still lie ahead, President Triet said, expressing his hope that Vietnamese investors will go to Cambodia with the spirit of solidarity and friendship.

He urged Vietnamese investors to be responsible and cautious to avoid sparking problems that can affect their partners’ trust, and participate actively in poverty reduction, cultural, healthcare and educational activities in Cambodia.

Also in the morning, President Triet visited the construction site of the Technology and Senior High School in Kampong Chnang, which is built with 10 billion VND that General Secretary Nong Duc Manh presented to the Cambodian Royal Fund during his visit to Cambodia in 2005. Once competed, the school will be named “the Vietnam-Cambodia Friendship School”.

In an interview granted to the press, Deputy Foreign Minister Dao Viet Trung said the good outcomes of the two visits will contribute greatly to strengthening and lifting Vietnam’s ties with Laos and Cambodia to a new height.

He said the leaders have affirmed the importance of their growing traditional friendship as an invaluable asset that needs to be preserved and handed down to the next generations.

Trung reiterated that Vietnam has placed importance to strengthening and enhancing its special solidarity and friendship and comprehensive cooperation with Laos and good neighbourliness, traditional friendship and all-sided cooperation with Cambodia.

In the future, Vietnam will increase the exchange of visits with Laos and Cambodia at all levels in order to deepen their currently fine political ties to create a foundation for their cooperation in the fields of economy, investment, trade, and others.

Regarding cooperation with Laos, Trung said the two countries should quickly carry out their agreements in the fields of hydro-electricity and the plantation of industrial plants and mining, while pushing up cooperation in healthcare, agriculture and rural development, infrastructure construction, tourism, culture, and post and telecommunication.

For her part, Vietnam will step up the training of human resources for Laos to help it meet the needs for industrialisation and modernisation, Trung noted.

In the short term, Trung said the two countries need to work on their plan on enhancing the quality and effectiveness of Vietnam-Laos cooperation in education and human resource development and carry out the projects to establish the Faculty of Vietnamese language in the Lao National University and other cooperative projects in education and training.

With Cambodia, the two countries will strive to raise their two-way trade to 2 billion USD in 2010 and encourage Vietnamese businesspeople to invest in Cambodia, especially in banking, the growing of rubber plants, fertilizer production, the processing of farm products, mining, oil and gas industry, telecommunication and hydro-electricity.

Vietnam will boost its cooperation with and help Cambodia in other fields, such as agriculture, forestry, fisheries, transport and communications, education, healthcare and tourism, Trung said.

VOVNews/VNA

State President wraps up visit to Cambodia

via Khmer NZ

08/29/2010

State President Nguyen Minh Triet has wrapped up his official visit to Cambodia to promote the traditional relationship between the two countries.

Over the past days, all of Cambodia was decorated with colourful banners and flowers to welcome Mr. Triet and his delegation.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Doan Viet Trung said the visit was motivation to develop the time-honoured Vietnam-Cambodia relationship.

The visit laid a foundation to bring the relationship to a new height, said Trung.

In a party for the President, Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni said Cambodia people are very happy to have such good friends as the Vietnamese, who have helped them in their struggle against colonialism and imperialism.

In agreement with the king, Cambodian senior officials expressed their great gratitude to Vietnamese volunteer soldiers for their assistance in fighting the regime of genocide.

Great Supreme Patriarch Tep Vong and Great Supreme Patriarch Bou Kry said Vietnam not only helped Cambodia in its struggle but also in its re-construction and the development of Cambodian Buddhism.

Cambodia is now a developing country with industrial parks emerging from the “killing fields.”

In 2010, Cambodia’s economic growth could reach 5 percent and annual per capita income is expected to hit US$1,900. Economic co-operation between the two countries has also increased strongly in recent years. Vietnam has 63 projects in Cambodia with combined investment capital of more than US$900 million. Two-way trade turnover is estimated to be more than US$2 billion and high-quality Vietnamese products are securing a firm foothold in the Cambodian market.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen affirmed that his country’s economic development can be attributed to Vietnam’s contributions through investment and trade exchange. During the visit, President Nguyen Minh Triet and PM Hun Sen agreed to expand co-operation in mining, telecommunications, finance, banking, agriculture, forestry, fisheries, transport, culture and information. The two sides also agreed to complete land border demarcation by 2012 to create borders with peace and stability.

Investment between the two countries has been blooming in recent years, said Mr. Trung. Vietnam is one of the leading investors in Cambodia. At its current pace, Vietnam’s investment in Cambodia will reach a minimum of US$6 billion in the next five years, mainly in energy, hydroelectricity, aviation, banking, finance, oil and gas.

Over the ups and downs of history, close ties of solidarity and friendship between the two countries have been forged and developed. Mr. Triet, the Cambodian King and other leaders reaffirmed that those traditional ties are an invaluable asset which should last forever.

Mr. Triet said the two nations have lived together for a long time and they always stand side by side in hard times. Cambodia expressed its deep gratitude for Vietnam’s support, particularly for saving it from genocide, while Vietnam thanks Cambodia for its support during the resistance struggles. History has seen fine relations between the two countries so the current generation has the responsibility to develop the relationship and sustain it in the future.

During his visit to Cambodia, Mr. Triet also cut the ribbon to inaugurate the Radio the Voice of Vietnam (VOV) bureau in Phnom Penh.

Within Six Months of This Year the Trade between Cambodia and China Amounted to US$627 Million – Saturday, 28.8.2010

http://cambodiamirror.wordpress.com/

via khmer NZ

Posted on 29 August 2010. Filed under: Week 679

The Mirror, Vol. 14, No. 679

“Phnom Penh: The Counselor of the Economic and Commercial Section of the Chinese Embassy to Cambodia, Mr. Jin Yuan, said that according to Chinese customs statistics, within six months of 2010, the Cambodian-Chinese trade amounted to US$627 million, an increase by 37.70% compared to the corresponding period last year.

“He said in a press conference in the morning of 27 August 2010 that Cambodia is an important member of ASEAN and a neighboring country with long lasting friendship, and it has benefited from the development of a China-ASEAN free trade region. Cambodia and China has achieved fruitful results through their cooperation in economy and trade. Through such quick progress, the amount of investment between both countries this year will arise beyond the amount before the global financial crisis.

“Mr. Jin Yuan added that the export from Cambodia to China rose by as much as 108.70% compared to the same period last years. Products imported from China to Cambodia increased three times. Also, Cambodia became a major target of Chinese entrepreneurs.

“He went on to say that investments from China in Cambodia range from the textile and garment sectors to other multi-sectors, such as agriculture and the development of special economic zones. According to the Council for the Development of Cambodia, by the end of July 2010, there were 360 Chinese investment projects or 23% of all investment projects in Cambodia, and therefore, China is the top country with investments in Cambodia compared with other countries.

“He continued to say that through encouragement by the Chinese Embassy in the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Department of Supervision on Product Quality of China is discussing with the Ministry of Agriculture of Cambodia a Memorandum of Understanding about strengthening of general sanitation standards and plant sanitation, to solve the supervision of agricultural products such as rice and cassava that are exported to China. [See also China Quality Focus – a Western managed and operated company in China] He said, ‘We believe that through joint efforts of both sides, there can be solutions for the problems relating to the export of agricultural products by the Royal Government of Cambodia.’”

Rasmei Kampuchea, Vol.18, #5288, 28.8.2010

Newspapers Appearing on the Newsstand:

Saturday, 28 August 2010

Laramie woman wants to befriend girls in Cambodia

via Khmer NZ

By EVE NEWMAN
lbedit6@laramieboomerang.com
Saturday, August 28, 2010

About five years ago, Ruth Williams was reading a magazine while waiting to see her hairdresser, and she came across an article about a woman rescuing children from sex trafficking in Cambodia.

She saw a photo of a 5-year-old girl she couldn’t forget.

“Her face just haunted me, and I couldn’t get her from my mind,” Williams, a mother of six who runs Puddle Ducks Day Care, said.

Williams wrote a letter to Somaly Mam, who runs a series of centers in Cambodia for girls who have escaped slavery. She never expected a reply, but her letter sparked a friendship with Mam and a special relationship with Srey Mach, the 5-year-old in the article, who is now 10.

“I asked (Mam) what I could do to help, and she let me start sending things for this little girl,” Williams said. “Really, it’s just befriending.”

Now Williams is looking for other women who want to befriend girls in Cambodia.

In 1996, Mam started an organization called AFESIP — the acronym, in French, means “acting for women in distressing situations” — that runs six centers for rescued children in Cambodia.

The centers provide care, rehabilitation, education, job training and help reintegrating victims into their communities. One of those six centers, the Kampong Cham Center, houses 54 of the youngest girls, ranging in age from 5-16 years old. The girl Williams befriended lives there, and Williams is hoping to find women who will take on similar roles for the rest of the center’s residents.

“They’ve all been either orphaned or sold or kidnapped,” Williams said. “Somaly Mam does her best to find their families in cases where she can, but usually if they’ve been sold, they can’t go back (home).”

She remembers sending Srey Mach a pair of pink pajamas. She wore them for a week straight.

“I realized how important it was just to love one little girl. I couldn’t change the lives of everyone, but we could do this for one little girl,” she said. “I’m asking any ladies that want to share part of their love with a little girl and have a personal relationship with them.”

Initially, she worked with her church and the community to gather hygiene supplies, clothing and toys for the residents of the Kampong Cham center, but postal rates have tripled, and sending large packages isn’t feasible. By connecting individuals with girls, she’s hoping to continue supporting them without incurring huge costs.

“There’s no money involved. I’m just trying to find women who would be willing to befriend one little girl, send her a small package,” she said. “It costs about $8 to send a small outfit or a toy or something to Cambodia. Or maybe a postcard with pictures of Wyoming.”

She’s found about 40 volunteers so far. Many of the women who are participating do so together with their families, but Williams stressed that she wants women in particular to be the main donors because of the experiences the girls have had with men.

“Eventually, it would be great if they could have male figures in their lives, but I want to stick to women right now,” she said.

Most of the girls at the Kampong Cham center don’t speak English, so they probably wouldn’t be able to write back. Williams said the relationship would be one-sided, and she’s asking for volunteers willing to make a long-term commitment.

“The girls, more than anything — more than clothes or food — they crave a mother. I know we can’t be mothers, but we can be mother figures to them,” Williams said.

Somaly Mam was born in poverty in Cambodia and sold into slavery as a girl. She grew up working in a brothel before escaping and starting a new life. In addition to starting AFESIP to help victims, she started the Somaly Mam Foundation in 2007 to raise money to fight human trafficking.

“Don’t be scared. Stand up and help to fight,” Mam said in a video about her work. “Love costs nothing.”

The trafficking industry generates up to $12 billion a year and is the fastest-growing illegal industry in the world. An estimated 2 million to 4 million victims will be sold into slavery in the next year.

Williams will travel to Cambodia Sept. 7 with a television crew from Los Angeles that is filming a documentary. The crew heard about Williams from Mam during a recent benefit. Williams said she’s cramming her luggage full of gifts for the girls at the Kampong Cham center along with photographs of the women who will befriend them.

Williams and the crew, Orange County TV, will have a bodyguard with them during their weeklong stay. Mam also receives 24-hour protection, and the centers have been raided in the past.

Williams stressed that victims of sex trafficking are indeed victims, and many of them are children.

“Srey Mach was 5 years old. She didn’t have a choice, and they’re tortured to the breaking point. It’s a horrific thing,” she said.

Anyone who wants to join the effort can e-mail Williams at ruthjaneshirley@hotmail.com. They’ll receive information about the program before they have to make a commitment. Williams said she’s also willing to talk to women’s groups around Laramie about the program.

“Somaly Mam’s big thing is to show these girls that they are not nothing. They have been abused and degraded to the point they don’t think anything of themselves. They think they’re worthless. I think this can really help. Just one at a time,” she said.

For more information about the Somaly Mam Foundation, go to http://www.somaly.org/ .

Japan-South Korea ties / South Korea aiming high / Seeks to be world leader as economic strength increases

via Khmer NZ

The Yomiuri Shimbun

Today, Aug. 29, marks the centennial of the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty of 1910. This is the first installment of a series on the current state of the two countries' bilateral relationship, which has been evolving rapidly.

Many South Koreans have hated and envied Japan since this country annexed the Korean Peninsula 100 years ago, while many in Japan have looked down on Koreans, but with the recent rise of the South Korean economy, Japan can no longer afford such arrogance.

One recent example took place in Cambodia, a country Japan has thoroughly supported since the end of its civil war in the 1990s. In Sihanoukville, Cambodia's only full-fledged port city, a special economic zone is being developed using part of 20 billion yen in yen loans extended by Japan.

Covering about 70 hectares, the equivalent of 70 baseball fields, the zone is expected to have a profound effect on Cambodia's development.

A senior official at a Cambodian public corporation involved in the development was shocked when an official of Samsung Group, South Korea's largest chaebol, announced that the group wanted to lease all the land in the zone. The special economic zone is scheduled to be completed in autumn next year; not even the rents have been decided yet.

"This can't be. Japan was the country that provided assistance [for the zone]," the official thought. He declined politely but was unable to hide his surprise at Samsung's offer to in effect buy the zone, to take on Cambodia's entire future.

"I think [Samsung] planned to construct factories for TVs and air conditioners, to establish a major base aimed at the global market," he said.

Dalian--in China's Liaoning Province--has been considered a stronghold of Japanese companies. However, Changxing Island, off the coast of Wafangdian in Dalian, looks like a South Korean island.

South Korea's STX Corp., the world's fourth-largest shipbuilding company, invested 3 billion dollars (about 255 billion yen) to build factories there that employ more than 10,000 people. The number is to be increased by another 10,000 within a few years, sources said.

Japanese companies are losing ground to South Korean firms in many places around the world.

In home electrical appliances--an industry Japan has dominated--Samsung Electronics Co. made about 10.93 trillion won (about 780 billion yen) in operating profits in 2009, more than Japan's nine major electric companies combined.

In the same year, South Korea's trade surplus topped Japan's for the first time. The country's living standards are rapidly approaching those of Japan, and confidence is growing.

An increasing number of South Korean intellectuals now say the country's modern history began in the colonial period. It was breaking a taboo to accept this new idea and calmly link South Korea's current situation as an economically strong nation with what it learned from Japan in the past.

"Remarkably, the unilateral condemnation of Japan has faded. This is a great change that I couldn't have imagined," said Prof. Lee Yong Hoon of Seoul University, who advocated this theory in a 2006 book.

The Investigative Commission on Pro-Japanese Collaborators' Property, an organization directly under the South Korean president, ended its activities in July. The commission was set up in 2006 to seize property and other assets from the descendants of people identified as Japanese collaborators.

South Korean President Lee Myung Bak said the country will become a leading advanced nation.

"We aim to become the world's best in business and sports, and have the No. 1 pop star," a person

Thais held in Cambodia 'home soon'

via Khmer NZ

Published: 29/08/2010

SURIN : Surin governor Raphee Phongbuphakit has asked the families of three Thais detained for entering Cambodia illegally to be patient as they await their release.

The three Surin natives _ Sanong Wongcharoen, Lim Puangpet, and Lan Sapsri _ were hunting and foraging in a forested area near the border when they wandered on to the Cambodian side and were nabbed by patrol officers.

Mr Raphee said the provincial administrative office was still waiting for the Cambodians to complete the paperwork necessary for the trio's release.

The governor's remarks came after seven family members of the three returned from Siem Reap where they had visited the men in detention.

Siem Reap governor Sou Phirin told the relatives that both Prime Minister Hun Sen and Defence Minister Tea Banh had received a report about the three Thais and were "happy to help".

He dismissed reports that Hun Sen himself had ordered the release of the three Thais, saying the prime minister did not have that authority.

Group including former refugees take part in mission trip to Cambodia

ALEX HICKS JR./alex hicks@shj.com

From left, Mary Hensley, Pastor Sam Duong with his son, Calvin, Vanny S. Sap and Docnga Sap talk about their trip to Cambodia.

via Khmer NZ

By Kim Kimzey
kim.kimzey@shj.com

Published: Saturday, August 28, 2010

Docnga Sap of Wellford fled Cambodia’s “killing fields” more than 30 years ago.

For five months, he sought refuge at a camp in Thailand. Sap noticed that hundreds of children in the camp received meals each morning.

“I ask somebody, ‘Who is the rich man to feed the children every day?’ ”

The person responded “Jesus.”

Sap noticed how some people treated the refugees with kindness. He questioned why they were kind. Someone told him “Jesus.”

Sap converted to Christianity in that refugee camp. He also lived at a camp in the Philippines before he and his wife, Vanny, arrived in the United States in 1980. They lived in California for 16 years before moving here.

Sap had not walked on Cambodian soil in 31 years. And it had been 40 years since he last saw his home village of Pong Tuk. Sap longed to return there, help the villagers and share the gospel.

Sap was able to realize his vision last month. He and Vanny journeyed to Cambodia with a small mission team organized by the Rev. Sam Duong, pastor of the Cambodian Ministry in Spartanburg.

Duong also survived the Khmer Rough regime. He fled Cambodia to Vietnam. He returned to Cambodia, but later left for Thailand and eventually the Philippines. Like Sap, Duong converted to Christianity in a Thai refugee camp.

Duong now lives in Charlotte, N.C., and is pastor of two churches, including a church in Greensboro, N.C., and the Cambodian Ministry sponsored by United Baptist Church in Spartanburg. The Cambodian Ministry is the only Cambodian-language Southern Baptist church in South Carolina.

Both churches collected money and assisted the mission team in their trek to Cambodia.

The team consisted of Duong, Docnga and Vanny Sap, Chenda Mroek, a member of the church in Greensboro, and Mary Hensley of Spartanburg.

They left for Cambodia on July 8 and flew into Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh. They spent 14 days in Cambodia, visiting congregations (including a church outside Phnom Penh that Duong helped establish several years ago), and leading worship services, baptizing believers and helping poor villagers.

It took six hours for the mission team to travel from Phnom Penh to Siemreab and another three hours on bumpy, dusty roads from Siemreab to Sap’s home village.

They were overwhelmed by the reception they received. More than 100 villagers gathered to welcome them. Sap was moved to tears and unable to speak.

“The whole town welcomed us,” Sap recalled. “But one lady ask me, ‘What do you bring with you?’ ” He replied, “I bring the good news from the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Weeks before the trip, Sap learned his son Putheavy, who lives in Cambodia, had converted to Christianity. Sap considers this a miracle.

Putheavy and six others were baptized during one service while the mission team was in Cambodia. More than 100 people also were baptized at a mass baptism. Because of limited transportation, Duong had to limit the number of baptisms. The converted crowded into beds and atop roofs of pickup trucks before setting out for a lake to be baptized. Hensley counted 27 people on a van for 15 passengers. Duong, with assistance from several other pastors, performed baptisms.

Duong said it was very hard to be separated from his wife and three young children. It brought a greater realization to the sacrifices made by missionaries like those who introduced him to his faith in a Thai refugee camp all those years ago.

The mission team’s days were long. Members were so busy making plans and working that they often fell asleep after midnight and arose at 6 a.m.

Money raised by the team’s churches was used to dig a pond to provide water to villagers in Pong Tuk. Property was donated for a church site, and 15 Bibles and five hymnals were purchased. Pigs and chickens were bought for the village. One Cambodian church received rice to feed hungry families. Gate City Baptist Church in Greensboro, N.C., also bought a farm tractor for a Cambodian church.

United Baptist Church members collected vitamins and over-the-counter medications, such as pain relievers, distributed to Cambodians on the mission trip.

Mary Hensley coordinates the Cambodian Ministry at United Baptist Church. She has been involved with the ministry since it began 15 years ago.

“We started by having fellowships once a year where we would invite the people to come,” Hensley said.

In 1999, a lay pastor from Atlanta began coming twice a month to lead the Cambodian congregation in worship. Hensley said they had about 11 members when that pastor left in 2005. Duong became pastor in October 2007. The Cambodian Ministry has grown since Duong’s arrival. Duong baptized about 70 people in less than a year and more are awaiting baptism, Hensley said.

Hensley said the Spartanburg church has more than 70 members. Average attendance was 35 to 40 but declined during their absence on the mission trip.

Members of the mission team hope to return to Cambodia in November 2011.

Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia get learning network

via Khmer NZ

August 28, 2010

Forty-two Vietnamese, Lao and Cambodian university rectors agreed to establish a network of universities and create its operational content and mechanisms.

The decision was made at a meeting of rectors from Vietnamese, Lao and Cambodian universities at Ho Chi Minh City National University on August 27.

Addressing the meeting for, “Promoting co-operation in tertiary education and scientific research,” Head of the Lao National Assembly’s Socio-Cultural Affairs Committee Douangdy Outhachak emphasised the necessity of implementing education and training, along with modernising science and technology.

The establishment of the education network will help Laos further develop its economy, trade and services, he said.

He expressed his hope that Vietnamese universities will receive more Lao students and assist Lao universities in human resources training programmes.

Associate Professor Phan Thanh Binh, who is also Rector of Ho Chi Minh City National University, said the network would be a foundation to promote co-operation among regional universities, thus contributing to regional development and raising the solidarity and traditional friendship among the three countries.

The rectors also discussed establishing of a digital university connected with the ASEAN Universities Network (AUN), and developing of a virtual university between Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

Representatives from 11 Vietnamese, Lao and Cambodian universities signed a memorandum of understanding on training co-operation in which they will exchange students, lecturers, learning, scientific information, and research. (VNA)

Vietnamese president wraps up visit in Cambodia

via Khmer NZ

August 28, 2010

Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet wrapped up his three-day state visit to Cambodia on Saturday.

During his stay in Cambodia, Triet had met with King Sihamoni, Chea Sim, president of the Senate, and Prime Minister Hun Sen.

In his meeting on Thursday in the Royal Palace, King Norodom Sihamoni said Nguyen Minh Triet's visit to Cambodia was historical and said the visit helps strengthen the friendship and cooperation between the two countries.

During the visit, Ngueyn Minh Triet also attended the opening ceremony of representative office of the Voice of Vietnam based in Phnom Penh and also visited the Cambodian-Vietnamese friendship school.

It was the second visit paid by Nguyen Minh Triet after he made the first visit in 2007 as president of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

In June, former King Norodom Sihanouk and his wife Norodom Moninieth and King Norodom Sihamoni made private visit to Vietnam.

Source: Xinhua

Vietnam to release more than 17,000 prisoners

via Khmer NZ

HANOI, Vietnam — Vietnam's president has ordered more than 17,000 prisoners freed as part of the country's annual National Day amnesty, officials said Saturday.

Twenty of those to be released have been charged with national security crimes, but no high-profile pro-democracy dissidents were included. Several were ethnic minorities from the restive Central Highlands bordering Cambodia.

Vietnam has been criticized by the United States and European Union for jailing political and religious dissidents. The Communist county does not tolerate any form of protest and often uses national security laws to convict those deemed a threat.

Of the 17,210 inmates being freed, 37 are foreigners from a number of countries, including France, the United States and Canada. The release will begin Sunday to commemorate National Day on Sept. 2.

Dane charged over sex tourism in Cambodia: official

Tourists are seen visiting Angkor Wat temple in Siem Reap

via Khmer NZ

PHNOM PENH — A Cambodian provincial court has charged a Danish man with providing his young male guesthouse staff for sex with tourists in the country's northwest, an official said Saturday.

Svend Erick Jonasson, 64, was arrested in Siem Reap for allegedly letting his guests have sex with his male Cambodian workers aged 15, 17 and 21, said Chea Heng, from the government's anti-human trafficking department.

He said the victims charged 15 to 50 US dollars for sex with the suspect's customers, with Jonasson, whose was arrested Thursday, taking five US dollars of the fee.

"The victims have told us everything, but he has not confessed," said Chea Heng. "He could face up to 15 years in jail."

Dozens of foreigners have been jailed for child-sex crimes or deported to face trial in their home countries since Cambodia launched an anti-paedophilia push in 2003 to try to shake off its reputation as a haven for sex predators.

Lifestyle News: Singapore's unique culture inspires Thai and Cambodian artists

via Khmer NZ

By Sharon See

Posted: 28 August 2010

SINGAPORE : An outsider's perspective can sometimes lead to new insights and this is what the work of two visiting artists from Thailand and Cambodia seems to show about Singapore.

Veasna Tith (left) and Vichaya Mukdamanee

To many foreigners, the Merlion is synonymous with Singapore. And what Thai artist Vichaya Mukdamanee found on his recent trip here was that Singaporeans perhaps think so too.

He said: "I bought 100 Merlion dolls in Little India, Chinatown, and I set them up in different locations in Singapore. The work is actually the situation when Singaporean people saw I was stacking them on the street, and I saw how they interact with the work.

"I see the Merlion as a symbol of Singaporeans, how people are walking along, following each other, doing something in the same direction, and throughout Singapore, people saw the Merlion and said, 'That is cute, that is like us.' Some people get the message, and it is really interesting."

He added: "I see Singaporean people as 'unity' - you guys think the same way, do the same thing, and approach the same goal, how to create changes in the country, so that is very interesting, how you guys are so different, but think in a similar concept."

Delighted, he documented his experience in works including paintings, videos and an installation.

Yet, all this came about through a stroke of serendipity.

Vichaya, and Cambodian artist Veasna Tith were here to research Thai and Cambodian art for the upcoming National Art Gallery.

But the sights and sounds that greeted them inspired them to create new art.

Veasna said: Many foreigners and also some Singaporeans say that Singapore does not have its own culture. But to me, I do not really agree with this.

"What I see, your basic, your traditional culture was Peranakan that mixed with Chinese and Malaysia. Because to my culture, Chinese and Malay is hard to mix together...It is unique of a country that you can combine a lot of people from different backgrounds, different religions, different cultures - they come and live together in peace."

Veasna set to work on a series of paintings that draw on elements of the Merlion, the Singapore flag and Singapore's various ethnic roots.

She observes that Singaporeans do not always see their rich culture, as the country seems to focus more on economic development, science and technology.

This is something she sees in Cambodia too, where bread and butter issues are key.

But she believes Singapore, through its National Art Gallery, could invigorate artists across Southeast Asia and, in so doing, kindle a collective appreciation of our cultures.

Meanwhile, through his attachment with the National Art Gallery, Vichaya felt deeply moved after visiting many different museums here.

He said: "The museums and the organising process here is really advanced and high quality. It is like you have the standard that the rest of the world can rely on, the conservation, and the idea of collecting the whole region into one.

"It is a very interesting idea, how to relate our own communities together. I think that impressed me a lot." - CNA/ms

Cambodia welclomes back bronze medalist at Youth Olympic Games in Singapore

via Khmer NZ

English.news.cn

2010-08-28

PHNOM PENH, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia has expressed its pride after it had won a bronze medal at the first Youth Olympic Games in Singapore.

Nhan Sokvisal, Chef de Mission who led the Cambodian athletes to the Games said Saturday that upon arrival in Phnom Penh on Friday, the female medalist was cheerfully escorted back by many Cambodians including the Minister of Tourism who was head of Cambodia Olympic Committee.

Nhan Sokvisal said "it was a big pride for Cambodia" to have won the medal.

He said Som Sothea, 15, was one of the four Cambodian athletes who attended the games and won the bronze medal.

She won the game in Yudo, while the other three who competed in wresting, running and swimming did not win the medal.

However, Nhan Sokvisal said there were about 3,600 athletes who competed the first Youth Olympic Games in Singapore.

Those athletes came from 205 countries and regions in the world and Cambodia was classified as 79th following a bronze medal as won by Cambodia.

Editor: Tang Danlu

Vietnam and Cambodia agree to high-level contacts

via Khmer NZ

August 28, 2010

Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni receives President Nguyen Minh Triet

President Nguyen Minh Triet and Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni have agreed the two countries should maintain high-level contacts to promote and facilitate expansion of bilateral multi-faceted co-operation.

They reached the consensus at their meeting in Phnom Penh on August 27 during the current State visit to Cambodia by President Nguyen Minh Triet.

They welcomed efforts by both governments in implementing bilateral co-operation agreements.

King Norodom Sihamoni welcomed the current visit to Cambodia by President Triet, saying he believed it would be a historical event, create a strong dynamic to promote the two countries’ traditional friendship and comprehensive co-operation for prosperity of each nation.

The King expressed his gratitude to the Vietnamese leaders’ and people’s support and valuable assistance for the Cambodian people in the past, as well as the present national restoration and development.

The Vietnamese people are always the Cambodian people’s good neighbour, and the Cambodian stands shoulder to shoulder with the Vietnamese people, he affirmed.

King Norodom Sihamoni also pledged to continue fostering the traditional friendship and comprehensive co-operation between the two countries.

He expressed the wish that the Vietnamese people under the leadership of the Vietnamese Party and State would continue to obtain even greater achievements in their national construction and development.

President Triet hailed achievements recorded by the Cambodian fraternal people under the reign of King Norodom Sihamoni in the national construction and development.

He spoke highly of Cambodia’s increasing position and prestige in the region and in the world and wished the Cambodian people more achievements in the future in order to successfully build the Kingdom of Cambodia in peace and prosperous development.

President Triet also thanked the King, the government and people of Cambodia for their due attention to and for facilitating the Vietnamese community to live, work and study in Cambodia, thus contributing to Cambodia’s development and fostering the friendship of the two nations.

He affirmed Vietnam’s consistent policy of attaching importance and sparing no effort to foster the Vietnam-Cambodia traditional friendship and co-operation.

Earlier in the morning, President Triet laid wreaths at the Independence Monument and the monument commemorating Vietnamese voluntary soldiers who sacrificed their lives in Cambodia.

He also attended a ceremony to inaugurate the Radio the Voice of Vietnam Bureau in the capital city. (VNA)

Alongkorn leaves for Phnom Penh, Ho Chi Minh City to boost trade

http://www.mcot.net/

via Khmer NZ

NONTHABURI, Aug 28 -- Thai Deputy Commerce Minister Alongkorn Ponlaboot left Saturday on a three-day visit to the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh and Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City, aimed at boosting trade with the two neighbouring countries.

During the visit, Mr Alongkorn said prior to his departure, he will inspect road transport and logistics development linking the two countries including transport systems, warehousing facilities and customs procedures.

Mr Alongkorn said he would also try to develop Thailand’s trade with the two countries as part of an implementation of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) scheduled to be launched in 2015.

Also, he said he would survey proposed locations for special economic zones at the Thai border districts of Watthana Nakhon and Aranyaprathet.

The special economic zones will benefit both Thailand and Cambodia in terms of trade and tourism, Mr Alongkorn said.

During the first seven months this year, combined trade between Thailand and Cambodia totaled US$1.61 billion, up 76.1 per cent from the corresponding period of 2009. Thailand enjoyed a trade surplus of about US$1.3 billion.

Trade between Thailand and Vietnam between January-July this year totaled US$3.9 billion, an increase of 27 per cent from the same period last year, with Thailand enjoying a trade surplus of US$2.4 billion. (MCOT online news)

Cambodian girl with swollen arm arrives in Taiwan for operation

via Khmer NZ

2010/08/28

Taipei, Aug. 28 (CNA) A two-year-old Cambodian girl suffering from massive swelling in her right arm arrived at Taichung Veterans General Hospital (TVGH) in central Taiwan Saturday for treatment.

Reachny Mich, whose condition has been described as having an "elephant arm, " was discovered by a Taiwanese medical team when it was in Cambodia in April to provide local residents free medical services.

She then obtained the promise of Taiwan government's to treat her after Yu Tsi-hsun, a volunteer on the medical team, made repeated appeals on her behalf.

Following the hospital's initial examination of the girl Saturday, pediatric hematologist Chang Teh-kao said Mich's blood pressure, heartbeat and body temperature all appeared normal, but he feared that her disorder was far more "complicated" than originally thought.

Chang said Mich's right arm appears to be four to five times bigger than her left arm, possibly caused by the abnormal growth of blood vessels or bones.

"It is rare to see such a deformation of blood vessels, " he said.

Earlier in the day after the girl, her mother and Yu arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Yu said Mich's mother was worried about the operation facing her daughter but also trusted Taiwan's doctors and felt grateful for their help.

A special team of pediatricians from different departments convened by Lee San-kang, deputy superintendent of the hospital, has been assembled to perform the surgery. (By Lee Chun-chin, Hau Hsue-chin and Elizabeth Hsu) enditem/ls