Bets each way

Photo by: Soeun Say
New Ha Tien Vegas Casino & Hotel that opened in Kampot last week.

via CAAI

Sunday, 26 September 2010 19:19 Soeun Say

KAMPOT province’s first casino has opened along the border with Vietnam, prompting a mix of celebration and concern among residents.

The nine-storey US$50 million Hatien Vegas Entertainment Resort is about a kilometre from Prek Chak international border in Russei Srok Khang Lek Commune, Kampong Trach district.

At the grand opening of the Cambodian-American joint venture, general manager Paul Simmonts said: “We were interested in the area because we believe that it will develop. We also believe that the casino industry in Cambodia is growing very strongly.”

The gambling centre will be marketed primarily to Vietnamese tourists, but Hatien Vegas plans to promote itself throughout the region in countries such as Singapore, Malaysia and Laos.

The four-star hotel and casino has 161 rooms, 80 gaming tables, five VIP gaming rooms, 150 gaming machines, 20 massage rooms, and several restaurants, bars and entertainment areas.

The company is also planning investment in a similar project in Takeo province, according to Simmonts.

Reaction within Kampot has been mixed. Although many welcomed the casino, others were concerned about its social impact.

Kang Sao Khorn, deputy governor of Kampot province, highlighted that the newly opened casino, capable of employing 1,000 workers, would provide much-needed jobs in the area.

She said: “A lot of people in this province leave home to work outside the country, so it can reduce that issue and also reduce poverty and human trafficking.”

The deputy governor said she hoped that the complex would also boost tourism. Another large casino development, owned by chairman of Sokimex Group Sok Kong, is being constructed on Bokor mountain, close to the provincial capital Kampot.

However, despite the buzz, some residents remain unconvinced. Lim Chheut, 36, of Kampot’s Kampong Trach district, said he would rather see investment in the province’s agricultural sector.

“I am very worried for those who are gaming in the casino – they may forget to do work or do something wrong for society if they lost all the money,” Lim Chheut said.

Leading government officials have also warned that the domestic sector is still under pressure following a slump in business during the economic crisis.

Ros Phearun, deputy director of the finance industry department at the Ministry of Economic and Finance, said on Thursday that some international investors have found it difficult to find local partners. Casinos in Poipet and Bavet have seen profits slump, and some have gone bankrupt.

Development company hexed

Photo supplied
Villagers from Kandal province perform a Buddhist ceremony on Friday, “cursing” a company they say has stolen their land..

via CAAI

Sunday, 26 September 2010 19:47 May Titthara and Chhay Channyda

VILLAGERS in Kandal province say they fear arrest after they staged a ceremony to curse the development company with which they are locked in a land dispute.

On the first day of the Pchum Ben holiday, about 400 villagers joined a ceremony at Tuol Tamark pagoda in Kandal Stung district to curse the Heng Development Company, which has threatened to level the pagoda and push 292 families off their land by October 28.

Community representatives said unidentified officials in black uniforms were patrolling the area.

“I am worried about my safety because police and military police have mistreated villagers here before,” said community representative Ly Siha, 30. “I am afraid they will arrest me.”

Various altercations related to the dispute have led to the wounding of three villagers, the arrest of one man and the issuing of arrest warrants for two others, according to local rights group Adhoc.

Earlier this month, military police arrested 45-year-old Vorn Vun on suspicion of destroying private property in connection with the dispute.

Kandal Stung district military police chief Chin Vanny said the villagers were mistaken about the security presence.

“My military police officers did not go on patrol in the village,” Chin Vanny said. “I don’t know why the villagers said that.”

Kandal provincial Police Chief Eav Chamreun said he was unfamiliar with the case.

Villagers say rulings from the Kandal provincial court in 2006 and 2007 have awarded the land in question to the 292 families, and that the Heng Development Company is flouting the court orders.

“We believe that during Pchum Ben, evil spirits are released from hell. We tried to use the court system to solve our problems, but the authorities do not care, so now we’re using magic spirits to help us,” said community representative Ieng Yan, 55.

“We cursed the person who is taking over the villagers’ land to melt into salt, but now we are worried about our safety because the police may arrest us,” he added.

Ouch Leng, land programme officer for Adhoc, said it was a reflection of the government’s poor handling of the case that the villagers had resorted to the cursing ceremony.

“The court dares not take action according to the law and is letting that company do whatever it wants to the villagers,” Ouch Leng said. “This company does not have the documents to do this according to the law.”

But Sieng Chanheng, director of Heng Development, said it could be the villagers who feel the wrath of the spirit world.

“They are living anarchically and illegally on my land, but they are cursing me, so that curse will return back to them,” she said.

Police Blotter: 27 Sep 2010

via CAAI

Monday, 27 September 2010 15:01 Sun Narin

Stress of bigamy too much for crazed man

An intra-household love triangle in Banteay Meanchey province’s Malai district took a turn for the obtuse on Friday when a 25-year-old man stabbed his two wives and then turned the knife on himself. All three survived, as neighbours heard the commotion and sent them to a local hospital, though one of the wives remains in serious condition. Following the attack, the perpetrator explained that the polyamourous relationship had soured because the two wives never listened to each other, and that he had sought to end the conflict by killing the women and then himself. Police said they had not yet made inquiries about the case.

RASMEY KAMPUCHEA

Spirit feared at fault in crematorium accident

One man was killed and other seriously injured on Thursday in Kampong Thom province’s Stoung district when a tree fell on them at a local crematorium. The men were cremating a body when the tree collapsed. Some local residents speculated that the spirit of the recently deceased had played a role in the incident, though others said it was just an accident.

KOH SANTEPHEAP

Father and son found murdered in Pursat

A father and son were found dead last Wednesday at their home in Pursat province’s Krakor district. The two victims, 46 and 16, were stabbed to death at around 10pm in a cottage near their rice field. Police said they believed that at least three assailants had staged the attack for revenge of some kind, though they have yet to identify any suspects.

KOH SANTEPHEAP

Homeless woman dies in Daun Penh district

A 47-year-old homeless woman was found dead on Thursday evening in Daun Penh district’s Srah Chak commune. Local residents said the woman worked washing clothes for members of the community, and would buy and drink wine at the end of each day’s work. She was initially suspected to have passed out drunk when she was discovered, but local authorities later realised that she had died. Police said they were unsure whether the woman’s death had been caused by drunkenness.

RASMEY KAMPUCHEA

Spoiled teens attack unsuspecting drinker

A 23-year-old man in Kampong Chhnang province was injured in a seemingly random attack on Thursday evening as he was drinking at a local beer garden. Police said the perpetrators were two spoiled teenagers. As the victim was drinking, the teens called to him to asked him to join them at their table. As he approached, they jumped up and one slashed him in the stomach with a knife, seriously injuring him. The perpetrators escaped and police are currently searching for them.

KOH SANTEPHEAP

Decade sees huge jump in traffic deaths

via CAAI

Monday, 27 September 2010 15:03 Brooke Lewis and Chrann Chamroeun

TRAFFIC-related deaths in the Kingdom have increased by 328 percent over the last decade, according to a new international study.

The Kingdom, along with Malaysia and Argentina, was one of only three countries where the number of traffic-related deaths had increased over the 2000s, according to a report from the International Traffic Safety Data and Analysis Group, an agency of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The report notes, however, that the three countries “have only recently joined IRTAD and hope to benefit from the expertise of the group in designing road-safety measures”. The figures for Cambodia are under review.

The report, which was released September 15 and draws on police records, found that the number of traffic-related fatalities in the Kingdom has increased at an average rate of 17.5 percent annually since 2000.

Figures in the report, however, suggest that the rate of increase is slowing.

There were 1,717 traffic-related fatalities in Cambodia last year, representing a 4.8 percent increase on the 1,638 deaths recorded in 2008.

Jeroen Stol, country director for Handicap International Belgium, said yesterday that he could not confirm the figures, as he had not yet seen the report, but he noted that there had been a “continuous increase” in traffic-related fatalities in Cambodia.

He said the rise was attributable in part to the fact that road-safety measures were not being improved in proportion with the increasing number of vehicles on the road.

“There is a huge increase in economic development and that goes hand-in-hand with an increase in the number of motorbikes and cars on the roads,” he said. “But the systems to improve road safety are not being put in place yet.”

He said that improved training for drivers and stricter law enforcement were key to reducing the number of deaths.

Tin Prosoeur, deputy chief of the Traffic Department at the Interior Ministry, yesterday questioned the accuracy of the 328 percent figure. “We acknowledge that traffic fatalities are still increasing, but they have not jumped up to these high statistics,” he said.

Farmers begin early harvest

via CAAI

Monday, 27 September 2010 15:03 Khouth Sophakchakrya

MORE than 1,400 farming families in Svay Rieng province have begun harvesting their wet-season rice crops nearly two months ahead of time, while the rest of the province’s farmers are only beginning to transplant their rice seedlings.

The families are the beneficiaries of high-yield, fast-growing rice varieties granted by a development project run by the Food and Agriculture Organisation and the European Union.

Kong Voeun, 39, a farmer from Romeas Hek district’s Doung commune and recipient of rice seeds and chemical fertilisers under the FAO-EU project, said the new rice provided a much higher yield than traditional varieties.

“I have never been received 5 tonnes per hectare of rice field,” he said, whereas previous harvests normally came in at between 2 and 3 tonnes per hectare.

Workers fired for illegal strike

Photo by: Heng Chivoan
Cambodian Labour Federation President Ath Thun speaks to garment workers at a protest in Phnom Penh earlier this month.

via CAAI

Monday, 27 September 2010 15:02 Mom Kunthear

MORE than 3,300 garment workers have been fired from three factories in Kandal province after striking in defiance of court orders, union representatives said yesterday.

Unionists said the workers, who had been striking for around a week and were fired on Friday and Saturday, have threatened to organise larger protests if they are not reinstated in their jobs after an industry meeting today.

Keo Boeun, a union representative at the Goldfame Enterprise factory, said workers at his factory had agreed on Thursday to call off their strike, but had learned upon arrival at work on Friday that many of them had been fired.

“All of the workers agreed to return to work on that day, but there were more than 3,000 workers who were not allowed to work,” he said.

Around 10,000 workers began striking in Kandal province on September 17 to agitate for the reinstatement of more than 200 union representatives who had been suspended following a large-scale strike that began on September 13 and was called off in its fourth day.

Although numbers dwindled throughout last week, an industry representative estimated on Thursday that around 7,000 had ignored warnings that they would be fired if they did not return to work as ordered by the court, which had deemed the strikes illegal.

Labour leaders called off the original strike, which was spurred largely by a July decision that set the industry minimum wage at US$61 per month, after the Ministry of Social Affairs called for a meeting, scheduled to take place today, to discuss potential “benefits” for workers earning the minimum wage.

Keo Boeun said yesterday that the fired workers would strike if they were not reinstated after the meeting.

“The workers said that if the factory owners don’t allow them to return to work after the meeting between the unionists and the Social Affairs Ministry officials, a big strike will start again,” he said.

Un Sokrith, a union representative at the Winner Garment factory, said 237 garment workers had been fired on Saturday. Phin Sophea, a union representative at River Rich garment factory, said 108 workers had been fired. Both said workers would strike if they were not reinstated.

Chea Vuthet, a representative from Goldfame factory, declined to comment yesterday. Representatives from the other two factories could not be reached.

Soldier loses limb to mine in Anlong Veng

via CAAI

Monday, 27 September 2010 15:02 Thet Sambath

A SOLDIER was injured on Thursday after stepping on a land mine while patrolling a remote area along the Thai border in Oddar Meanchey province’s Anlong Veng district, his commander said yesterday.

The soldier, Sim Pheat of Anlong Veng, was sent to a hospital in Siem Reap province for treatment.

“His leg was blown off by a mine while he was patrolling the border,” said Kong Knar, commander of Royal Cambodian Armed Forces in Anlong Veng district. “This is the first time one of my soldiers has been injured by a mine since tension with Thai soldiers began two years ago.”

Heng Ratana, director of the Cambodian Mine Action Centre, said that in demining efforts in Oddar Meanchey, populated areas took precedence over mined areas with no residential populations to speak of.

“We still have more mines along border in places that don’t have people,” Heng Ratana said. “It is in our plan to [demine them], but right now our priority is focusing on places where people are living and farming.”

206 Cambodians were injured by mines and unexploded ordnance between January and August this year, Heng Ratana said, as the Kingdom struggles to clear the dangerous remnants of decades worth of conflict.

Anlong Veng district deputy governor Peuy Saroeun said yesterday that local authorities had told residents to exercise caution when travelling in remote areas.

“We have advised people to be careful in areas that have mines and to report them to local authorities, because mines exist in many places in this region,” Peuy Saroeun said.

‘Anarchically’ roaming cattle sent off to rehab

via CAAI

Monday, 27 September 2010 15:02 Phak Seangly

POLICE in the capital’s Dangkor district have captured 12 cows that were roaming “anarchically” and disrupting traffic, local officials said yesterday.

Dangkor district governor Kit Sopha said he had ordered police to arrest eight wayward cows on Saturday and another four on Sunday. The bovines are being detained at the My Chance Centre, a drug rehabilitation facility in the city’s Sen Sok district.

“This is not the first time we have cracked down on roaming cows,” Kit Sopha said.

He added that the animals had been detained in connection with the Kingdom’s Land Traffic Law, which prohibits animals from “walking in a disorderly manner on a public road”. Their owners must now write letters to City Hall in order to get their animals back, he said.

In March, police in Dangkor district detained 15 cows and bulls after a spate of incidents in which lustful bulls had vigorously pursued potential mates, disrupting traffic and endangering passersby. Local officials said at the time that seven of the animals were to be slaughtered and used to feed troops stationed at Preah Vihear temple.

Yin Kea, deputy department chief of Dangkor district, said wild livestock had proved a consistent problem.

“Authorities have repeatedly informed cow raisers not to allow their animals to roam because it can cause traffic accidents, congestion and public disorder,” Yin Kea said.

Gravel firms shut down

via CAAI

Monday, 27 September 2010 15:02 Tha Piseth

KAMPONG Cham provincial governor Hun Neng has ordered the closure of four gravel and sand transportation companies for damaging roads with overloaded lorries, local officials said.

The four companies closed on Friday, according to Thuch That, Kampong Cham town mayor. He said they had damaged roads and spread debris along the Mekong River. “This road was repaired last year and it is now again in crisis,” Thuch That said.

Three of the four companies have also been ordered to pay for damage to the road, he said.

Sixty-five year old Seng Poun, the owner of one of the companies, said he would not pay the full cost of repairs, as the lorries were only partially responsible for the damage.

Anti-graft unit prepares first public report

via CAAI

Monday, 27 September 2010 15:02 Vong Sokheng and Kim Yuthana

THE Kingdom’s newly formed Anticorruption Unit is scheduled to release the first report on its progress in combating corruption later this week, after holding meetings today with civil representatives to discuss graft complaints submitted by the public.

Keo Remy, newly appointed spokesman of the National Anticorruption Commission said that the ACU’s president, Om Yentieng, would meet with NGO workers today.

“I don’t know about the topics of discussion, but I think that they may potentially discuss the work that the ACU has done so far, such as a mechanisms for safeguarding individuals who to file a complaint to the ACU,” he said.

He added that following the meeting, the ACU planned to release its first public report, if the NAC is able to finalise the ACU’s most recent internal progress reports. “I think that if the report is approved by the NAC, we will be able to release it on September 28 with the participation of the media,” Keo Remy said.

The Civic Alliance for Social Accountability, a coalition of 11 nongovernmental organisations, confirmed that it planned to meet with graft officials today to submit a compilation of corruption complaints against 80 officials accused of levying illegal road taxes.

San Chey, the Cambodia-based network fellow of the Affiliated Network for Social Accountability in East Asia and Pacific, a regional umbrella group, said that at least 10 members of the coalition would attend the talks in order to seek its full cooperation in fighting against corruption in Cambodia.

“We will discuss with the head of the ACU about the possibility of being a partner of the ACU and submit corruption complaints related to road tax collection filed by Cambodian people in 14 provinces,” he said.

San Chey said that road-tax collection agents had forced people to pay as much as US$1 million in illegal road taxes every year. “We have to be a partner of the ACU in order to make sure that our work will encourage government’s tax agency to change their behaviour,” he said.

Charges laid over explosion

Photo by: Heng Chivoan
Firefighters attempt to put out a blaze that resulted from the explosion of a petrol tanker in Prampi Makara district last Wednesday.

via CAAI

Monday, 27 September 2010 15:02 Kim Yuthana

PHNOM Penh Municipal Court has charged the owner of a garage operating out of a petrol station with arson following the explosion of a fuel tanker near the station last Wednesday, court officials said.

Deputy court prosecutor Heang Sophak said yesterday that Nuth Samoeun, 49, was charged on Friday in relation to the explosion of the Sokimex fuel truck, which destroyed around five homes and sent a plume of black smoke rising over the city.

The driver of the truck, which was carrying around 8,000 litres of petrol at the time of the incident, faces similar charges, Heang Sophak said, but fled the scene following the explosion and is still on the run from the authorities.

Arson, as defined under Article 53 of the UNTAC Penal Code, applies to “any person who damages or attempts to damage the property of another through use of fire or explosives” and carries a punishment of between one and three years in prison.

Witnesses said that last week’s explosion, which occurred when petrol dripping from the Sokimex tanker was ignited by its exhaust, destroyed five homes and at least five vehicles parked in the area.

No major injuries were reported at the scene of the blaze, which took more than 20 fire trucks and 60 tanks of water to extinguish.

Heang Sophak said that around 10 people had also lodged had complaints to local authorities and the Phnom Penh Municipal court seeking civil compensation from Nuth Samoeun. He would not reveal the specific number of complainants or give an estimate of the total cost in damages incurred by the fire.

Miner runs $430,000 deficit in Cambodia

via CAAI

Monday, 27 September 2010 15:01 Jeremy Mullins

AUSTRALIAN miner Southern Gold lost more than US$430,000 operating in the Kingdom over the last year, according to its annual report, but remains in a “strong position” for future development.

Although still largely conducting exploration activities, it reported losses of A$449,467 (US$430,634) in its Cambodian business for the twelve months ending June 30, according to data released Friday.

The firm singled out several findings in northeast Cambodia for note, including a previously announced sample of 11.36 grams of gold per tonne of rock at a depth of 1 metre at it is Anchor project near Snoul, in Kratie province.

“In a country with no history of large scale commercial gold and base metal mining, Southern Gold is in a strong position holding both tenements and having expertise to further explore the region,” it said on its website.

Southern Gold wrote off exploration expenditures of A$1.48 million (US$1.42 million) for its Australia and Cambodia tenements during the year, and posted an A$1.23 million loss over the period.

But it claimed promising results for an Australian property, adding that its first Bulong South gold resource statement was “believed to be the first

in a story that will grow substantially”.

Gold prices have been testing all-time highs in recent weeks, briefly climbing above US$1,300 a troy ounce in New York on Friday.

Boost for 10 rice types

Farmers in Svay Rieng province harvest a strain of rice that grows in 100 days as part of a programme sponsored by the Food and Agriculture Organisation and the European Union. Photo by: Khouth Sophak Chakrya

via CAAI

Monday, 27 September 2010 15:01 Chun Sophal

THE Cambodian Agriculture Research and Development Institute has announced plans to promote increased production of 10 different strains of rice, which studies indicate may boost yields by up to 59 percent.

The different varieties of rice were selected because they produce fine, long grains suitable for export, according to Institute director Uk Makara.

Chosen in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, he said yesterday the Cambodian Agriculture Research and Development Institute would advertise the strains directly to farmers.

“Paddy production will increase in the future if local farmers and the private sector grow these species,” he said.

CARDI is a semi-autonomous institute founded by the government in 1999, and aims to improve agricultural science and technology to better farmers’ livelihood and the commercial agriculture sector. Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Undersecretary of State Kit Seng said yesterday: “Our country will not be able to increase paddy production if we do not encourage farmers to switch to high-quality species.”

A survey conducted by CARDI showed farmers who used recommended seeds saw yields increase 59 percent regardless of growing methods. The survey was conducted among 8,000 families in 14 provinces.

Debate widens on Siem Reap airport.

via CAAI

Sunday, 26 September 2010 21:40 Ellie Dyer and Nguon Sovan

AIRPORT management company Société Concessionaire Des Aéroports believes Siem Reap’s existing aerodrome can cope with future traffic demand, despite recently approved plans to build an alternative US$1-billion facility.

The Council for the Development of Cambodia last week announced it had approved investment from South Korean firms Camco Airport Co and Lees A&A Co to build a new airport at the tourist hub.

Provincial and central government officials said that a new facility, set 60 kilometres from the provincial capital, was needed to land large, long-haul planes and to protect historic Angkor Wat.

However, Société Concessionaire Des Aéroports (SCA) – which has a concession to run Siem Reap, Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville airports until 2040 – has questioned such claims.

SCA chief executive officer Nicolas Deviller has told the Post that the existing airport – set to handle 1.5 million passengers during 2010 – has an “ultimate capacity” of 6 million to 7 million passengers a year.

“Expert studies show that this level of traffic will be reached at earliest between 2025 and 2030,” he said in an email. “Siem Reap can handle flights with a range of 10,000 kilometres. All destinations within Asia, Australia or the Middle East, and some European destinations, can be served directly.”

The statement contradicted remarks made by State Secretariat of Civil Aviation that any expansion of the airport would negatively affect Angkor Wat, highlighting the importance SCA places on preserving the historic temples.

“To make it simple: no temples, no tourists, no air traffic,” Deviller said.

“Special air-traffic procedures set to protect the temples [including a ban on airplanes flying over the complex] have an impact on airport capacity, but they still allow the development of Siem Reap airport for at least 20 years up to its ultimate capacity.”

He said the firm was working with UNESCO and the Apsara Authority on scientific studies to ensure that future growth did not damage historic sites.

The government official in charge of airport engineering, SSCA Undersecretary Eng Sour Sdey, stood firm on the new airport. A 3-kilometre runway and weight restrictions limited the size of aircraft landing at Siem Reap, he said.

Eng Sour Sdey claimed the SSCA was in the dark about project details as it was being handled by the Council of Ministers. Final approval will eventually be decided by Prime Minister Hun Sen.

MFIs should remember to aid the poor along the way

via CAAI

Monday, 27 September 2010 15:00 Steve Finch

CONFIRMATION that Cambodia’s largest micro-lending organisation Prasac will start to accept deposits represents the latest sign the Kingdom’s microfinance sector is booming.

But MFIs need to be weary of straying too far from their original mandate – notably, to financially assist the country’s rural poor.

Cambodia’s MFI sector has become one of the most buoyant in the region, as shown by the decision of major microfinance investor BlueOrchard Finance to set up its first Asia office in Phnom Penh last month. However, in many ways, Cambodia’s MFI market appears to be losing sight of the model in its purest form, as represented by Bangladesh’s Grameen Bank.

Using a model that turns traditional finance on its head, the Grameen mantra dictates that borrowers club together so that localised peer pressure is the driving force behind timely repayment. The success of this approach is unquestionable – Grameen records non-performing loan rates rarely achieved among conventional lenders.

“There is no legal instrument between the lender and the borrower in the Grameen methodology,” according to the organisation.

Its group lending structure is the key. However, in Cambodia microlenders have increasingly, and openly, moved away from Grameen-style lending towards a traditional retail banking model.

In what it may well see as an inevitable step for growth, Prasac has stated its intention to become a commercial bank in five years. This is perhaps unsurprising following the success of ACLEDA Bank – given its expansion into Laos and the lender’s rising attraction following investments by Jardines Matheson and Leopard Capital. ACLEDA was once a humble MFI before the market expanded to 22 licensed institutions, five of which now accept deposits.

As noted by BlueOrchard’s Cambodia Director Julie Cheng: “The market has become very competitive in the past couple years, with very fast growth by a number of MFIs.”

But most of these rewards are not being passed on to Cambodia’s poorest. Although micro-loan interest rates did come down slightly last year, deposit-taking MFIs have yet to show significant benefits being passed down to borrowers.

To help reduce the cost of borrowing, Cambodia needs to establish a fully functioning credit agency. Furthermore, deposit-taking MFIs need to move towards savings rates that do not rank among the highest in the world, in some cases more than 10 percent – as when savings rates are more sensible, microlenders lower lending rates.

Perhaps most importantly, the sector needs to safeguard a focus on the methodology. By maintaining non-collateralised lending, Cambodia can ensure that MFI money reaches the most vulnerable populations.

The result is not only one of ethical advantage. Borrowers that suffer only humiliation from peers for loan default have little to lose financially and therefore everything to gain by borrowing and repaying on time. That can reap huge economic benefits on a countrywide scale.

Art benefits mine-clearing hero

Landmine clearer and CNN Hero finalist Aki Ra spoke at the opening of a sculpture exhibition in Siem Reap. Photo by: Ros Sambol

via CAAi

Monday, 27 September 2010 15:01 Nicky Hosford

CNN Top 10 Hero Aki Ra spoke about his experiences both as a child soldier and clearing landmines during the opening of an exhibition by international sculptor Blake in Siem Reap.

“I want to clear all the landmines in Cambodia, to help make peace and to help the children survive and give new life,” Aki Ra told guests at the opening of the show called Fragments at Hotel de la Paix.

His Cambodian Self Help Demining Team will receive all funds raised by the exhibition’s sales and donations. The show runs until November 3 in Siem Reap before opening in Phnom Penh at Meta House on November 5.

The opening evening was a double win for Aki Ra, who later learned he had been selected as a finalist in CNN’s Top 10 Heroes from among thousands of people worldwide.

Twisted torsos feature prominently in artist Blake’s sculptures, now on show at the Hotel de la Paix in Siem Reap until November 3. The show, titled Fragments, moves to Phnom Penh on November 5 at Meta House. Photo by: Ros Sambol

Aged 10, Aki Ra became a child soldier for the Khmer Rouge regime, which taught him to lay landmines. Later he worked for UNTAC helping to map and clear mines, and founded his own NGO to clear farmland and give new life to those working in Cambodia’s rural areas.

Artist Blake, who is known only by a single name, has crafted sculptures of beautiful but blasted human bodies. It’s fitting that the exhibition opened in Siem Reap, which is where Blake first learned that the many limbless people he saw in Cambodia and Vietnam were continuing casualties of wars long finished, and the landmines that were laid to fight them.

In the hotel’s Arts Lounge last Thursday, dry ice hung in the air over the shattered sculptures. Attendees were fascinated by the works, which sell for between $19,000 and $30,000.

The sculptures themselves take an extraordinarily long time to create, as Blake relies on ancient techniques used by the Greeks and Romans for casting bronzes.

Casting call

Each piece usually takes about a year to finish. Models spend between 60 to 100 hours posing, while Blake slowly carves their silhouettes out in clay, which then goes through several processes of casting in plaster, wax, rubber and porcelain before it is ready for the final bronze pouring. It’s a devotional act that drives home the importance of his message.

Blake was teaching at the Fine Arts University in Hanoi in 2003 when he took a few weeks out to tour around the region. He recalls being shocked at the number of amputees he encountered, but that shock turned to horror when he found out the real cause of their awful injuries.

“I was so upset by it all. I remember watching the Vietnam War on TV when I was a kid. It should have been over, but here it was, still taking casualties,” he said.

The artist took that horror home with him, where he set about trying to develop something that would help to bring this tragedy to an end.

By 2007, the result was a series of 19 sculptures of the human form that are beautiful in form and execution, except that each shows the ravaging consequences of an encounter between a soft, vulnerable human body and the indiscriminate destruction of these dreadful weapons. Each sculpture is named after a different kind of landmine.

This is art that aims to raise awareness and to raise funds to help educate vulnerable communities and clear fields of mines. The evening started with a short film showing projects supported by the money raised so far, almost US$250,000 now. Then Blake spoke about the need to keep raising awareness of this issue.

“The issue had been forgotten after [Princess] Diana died. Since then, everyone thought it was resolved and people switched focus. Ecology and a green future became the priority. But there is no land more contaminated than a minefield,” Blake said. At current rates of clearance, it would take 1,000 years to clear all the landmines in the world, he added.

Giant cake cooks up festival fever

Crème de la crème ... a barista decorates a cappuccino at a Camfood festival pressconference and a Bloom Cakes’ artist places petals on a giant confection. OU MOM/SUPPLIED PHOTO

via CAAI

Monday, 27 September 2010 15:00 Ou Mom

COMPETITIONS to decide Cambodia’s best coffee maker, wedding cake decorator and hotel housekeeper will be part of celebrations at the nation’s first international food and hotel exhibition next month.

And the country’s biggest cake will also be unveiled at Camfood and Camhotel 2010, which runs from October 21-23 at Diamond Island Centre, Diamond island, Phnom Penh.

Ruth Larwill from Bloom Cakes and Cafe in Phnom Penh is in charge of making the giant cake, which will be 2.2 metres high and 1.1 metres in diameter.

Decorated with about 1,000 lotus blooms and leaves, the decorations would all be edible and take some time to carve, she said.

“We’ll need to spend about 1,000 hours to make the cake and place all the decorations. Everything on the cake can be eaten, even though it looks as if they are real leaves, lotus flowers and roots.”

A team of about 22 pastry chefs would work on the giant cake, she said.

Bakers and pastry chefs would be invited to take part in Cambodia’s first competition to decorate a wedding cake during the exhibition, said Larwill.

Candidates must bring their own ingredients, mixing tools and cleaning tools, and will be given two and a half hours to decorate one cake suitable for a wedding.

Bloom Cakes and Cafe will also run a demonstration of cake baking during the food festival. The cafe is committed to fair trade and the training of vulnerable young people.

Those interested in competing should email narath@peninsula.com.kh This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Another first is the country’s inaugural contest for baristas, to find Cambodia’s best coffee maker.

“Making coffee by hand is an unforgettable tradition,” said Canadian international barista trainer and committee member Nat Paolone. “Machines are just a tool for facilitating the work and saving time. What’s important is the method used to get a delicious and good quality cup of coffee.”

Each competitor will have 15 minutes to make four espresso, four cappuccino and four signature drinks, he said.

Paolone hopes the competition will throw up a competitor worthy to step up to the plate at the World Barista Competition, which has been running since 1990. It’s open to people who have been working in the coffee industry for at least six months.

First prize is a trophy and US$400, with second prize $200 and third place wins $100. So far 15 candidates have signed up, he said.

Teams from hotels will also compete for the title of best housekeeper during Camfood & Camhotel. They’ll have to make up a bed and table setting within a certain time, using their own materials to produce a creative design.

For more detail visit http://www.expocambodia.com/ .

Sen Bunthen clinches Thun Sophea rematch

via CAAI

Monday, 27 September 2010 15:00 Robert Starkweather

Sen Bunthen outpointed Thun Sophea on Friday night at the TV5 boxing arena in Takhmao to reaffirm his position at the top of the light-middleweight division.

After a slow start, Sen Bunthen took the later rounds and the fight with hard knees and superior clinch work.

“I lost it on knees [in the clinch],” Thun Sophea said.

Among the best in the light-middleweight division, the pair have met three times previously. Thun Sophea, from Svay Rieng, won the initial meeting, a July 2009 contest at the CTN boxing arena.

Three months later, Sen Bunthen suffered a badly dislocated left shoulder, throwing his career into question. He underwent surgery in March. The procedure, known as a Bankart repair, has allowed him to return to the ring.

After a warm-up outing against Vung Sithai in August, Sen Bunthen climbed into the ring against Thun Sophea for the second time September 10, and won by decision.

On Friday, in similar fashion to the fight two weeks ago, Thun Sophea staked an early lead with hard kicks to the body. He landed a spine-jarring one-two in the second round that sent Sen Bunthen reeling backward, followed with a straight right that drove him into the ropes.

The thin holiday crowd roared, sensing an upset.

But if Sen Bunthen was hurt, he didn’t show it. And after a close third, he turned up the pace for the final two rounds, landing the harder kicks and overpowering Thun Sophea in the clinch.

Um Dara loses to Palmer

Ireland’s Josh Palmer overpowered Ministry of Defence boxing club fighter Um Dara in their TV3 bout on Saturday. Photo by: Sreng Meng Srun

via CAAI

Monday, 27 September 2010 15:00 Robert Starkweather

IN his Cambodian debut six weeks ago, Irish kickboxing veteran Josh Palmer stunned local crowds with a first-round knockout over Koh Kong legend Outh Phouthang.

On Saturday, the six-foot-tall (1.83-metre) former soldier faced Um Dara, Outh Phouthang’s 22-year-old stable mate at the Ministry of Defence boxing club.

Although nowhere nearly as experienced, Um Dara turned in a dazzling five-round performance, blasting away with low kicks early and elbows late. Still, he could not slow the bigger, stronger Palmer, who marched right through Um Dara’s roundhouse to take the victory decision on Saturday at the TV3 boxing arena.

“He hurt me with the low kicks,” said Palmer, the 31-year-old former sports therapist. “After the second round I couldn’t walk. A few more and I might have gone down.”

For all the pain, however, Palmer knew he could not show it. “Cause then you’re fucked,” he said. “The guy is just going to come and finish you off.”

Palmer retook control in the third. He began countering punches with knees and forcing the clinch, where he could exploit his size and strength advantage.

Still, Um Dara, who is nicknamed ‘Black Face’ for the large black birthmark that covers the bridge of his nose, proved remarkably durable.

“I had him in the clinch, and I pushed his head down and caught him hard right [on the cheek] with a knee,” Palmer said. “Nothing – he just kept coming.”

In the fourth, Palmer drove Um Dara backward with two flush left knees. For a brief moment, Um Dara appeared hurt, and his work rate dwindled through the final minute of the round.

Um Dara fought hard to retake the lead in the fifth. He scored with low kicks and studiously tried to avoid the clinch. But Palmer just kept steamrolling through, tying him along the ropes and landing knees to the body and elbows to the head.

During the fight, a fan had donated 50,000 riels (US$142.50) to each fighter. And afterwards, Um Dara walked over to Palmer’s dressing room to shake hands with his opponent and pass along the money.

After a brief discussion on the value of the riel, Abbas Ahmedi, who lost in the second round of the co-feature against Long Sophy, asked how much his and Palmer’s opponents made. Upon hearing the answer – 600,000 riels – he made a face as if someone had hit him below the belt.

Palmer has fought around 50 professional fights around the world, including more than two dozen bouts in Thailand. “The tougher fights are here. They’re hometown boys, and they fight their hearts out,” he said, before handing the 50,000 riels back.

Taekwondo golds lift team

Chhoy Bouthorn (left) and Chan Sovetha train at the National Sports Complex in Phnom Penh on Thursday under the watchful eye of head coach Choi Yang Sok. The two boys will attend the Asian Games in November. Sreng Meng Srun

via CAAI

Monday, 27 September 2010 15:00 H S Manjunath

THE Kingdom’s Asian Games taekwondo campaign has been given a shot in the arm following gold medal winning performances at the Korean Open by 18-year-old Sorn Davin and 21-year-old Chhoeung Puthearim.

The national team’s head coach Choi Yang Sok of South Korea, who has been part of taekwondo’s collective consciousness in Phnom Penh for nearly 14 years, is more than happy that the two girls can now look forward to the trip to Guangzhou in November with heightened optimism.

“It has done wonders to their self belief and it brings a lot more synergy to their preparation for the next tough test in China,” said the coach. “It is all the more pleasant because these two girls performed much above expectations in that Korean meet.”

Chhoeung Puthearin with a Cambodian flag after winning the under 53-kilogram taekwondo title at the Korea Open in Gumi. Photo Supplied

As part of a cultural and sports exchange programme between Cambodia and South Korea, Sorn Davin and Chhoeung Puthearim were given a six-month scholarship to train at the Incheon Asian Games Support Headquarters. Entry into the Korean Open A-class competition two weeks agp came as a welcome diversion and both competitors made the best of the opportunity. Sorn Davin, came through a tough line up in the under 73-kilogram division to claim gold, while Chhoeung Puthearim emerged victor in the under 53-kilogram section.

“It was an open competition and they had to deal with some strong contenders,” said Choi Yang Sok, who joined the girls in South Korea for the event. “Considering that the standard in Korea is quite high, it is good result for the two.

“Both the girls will stay back in Korea and will join the Kingdom’s team in time for the Asian Games. They will undergo tough training regimens in Korea with professionals. Besides honing their skills in taekwondo, there are experts to help them with mind exercises, physique and nutrition. This is one of the best overall packages for training you can ever imagine.

“Taekwondo in Cambodia has come a long way since I started coaching here in 1996,” added the coach. “We have made progress, but it has been slow. We need more and more men and women, boys and girls, to take up this sport to create a strong player base to build on.”

Choi Yang Sok is now back in Phnom Penh, coaching the remaining two athletes in the taekwondo team ahead of the November showpiece.

“Chhoy Bouthorn and Chan Sovetha are training hard here for the Asian Games,” he said. “The standards are very high in these games. Medals are not easy to get but the experience of taking part in such a mega event will help them a great deal. I hope the new found success [of the girls] in Korea will rub off on the team.”

Communism’s Nuremberg

http://www.city-journal.org/

via CAAI

The crimes of the Khmer Rouge are inextricable from Marxist/Leninist ideology.

26 September 2010

The four surviving leaders of Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge regime, including the former head of state, Khieu Samphan, have been imprisoned in Phnom Penh since 2007 and will be brought to justice in their own country. On September 16, a United Nations-backed Cambodian tribunal indicted them for genocide, crimes against humanity, and other crimes. The tribunal has already established its credibility with its first trial: this past July 26, it sentenced Kaing Guek Eav (better known as Duch), a cog in the Khmer Rouge’s extermination machine, to 35 years in prison. Duch ran a torture center from 1975 to 1979 that produced 15,000 victims. Unlike the Nuremberg tribunal that judged Nazi leaders in 1945, the Phnom Penh tribunal is not run by the victorious powers; it functions within the Cambodian justice system, sustained by Cambodian public opinion, though the U.N. provides financing. The tribunal’s legitimacy and objectivity are beyond reproach. Still, the Cambodian public did not see Duch’s sentence as sufficient in view of his crimes. The defendant apparently persuaded the court that he was obeying his superior’s orders—the same excuse Nazi leaders made at Nuremberg.

In the Western and Asian press, as well as in statements by various governments, a distinct effort has been made to reduce the crimes of Duch and of Khieu Samphan to matters of local circumstance. It is as if an unfortunate catastrophe had fallen on Cambodia in 1975 called the “Khmer Rouge,” killing 1.5 million Khmers. But who or what was behind what the tribunal has called the genocide of Khmers by other Khmers? Might this be the fault of the United States? Was it not the Americans who, by setting up a regime in Cambodia to their liking, brought about a nationalist reaction? Or, might this genocide not be a cultural legacy, distinctive of Khmer civilization? Archeologists are digging through the past in vain to find a historical precedent. The true explanation, the meaning of the crime, can be found in the declarations of the Khmer Rouge themselves: just as Hitler described his crimes in advance, Pol Pot (who died in 1998) had explained early on that he would destroy his people, so as to create a new one. Pol Pot called himself a Communist; he became one in the 1960s as a student in Paris, then a cradle of Marxism. Since Pol Pot and leaders of the regime that he forced on his people referred to themselves as Communists—and in no way claimed to be heirs of some Cambodian dynasty—we must acknowledge that they were, in fact, Communists.

What the Khmer Rouge brought to Cambodia was in fact real Communism. There was no radical distinction, either conceptually or concretely, between the rule of the Khmer Rouge and that of Stalinism, Maoism, Castroism, or the North Korean regime. All Communist regimes follow strangely similar trajectories, barely colored by local traditions. In every case, these regimes seek to make a blank slate of the past and to forge a new humanity. In every case, the “rich,” intellectuals, and skeptics wind up exterminated. The Khmer Rouge rounded up urban and rural populations in agricultural communities based on precedents both Russian (the Kolkhozy) and Chinese (the popular communes), and they acted for the same ideological reasons and with the same result: famine. There is no such thing as real Communism without massacre, torture, concentration camps, gulags, or laogai. And if there has never been any such thing, then we must conclude that there could be no other outcome: Communist ideology leads necessarily to mass violence, because the masses do not want real Communism. This is as true in the rice fields of Cambodia as in the plains of Ukraine or under Cuban palms.

The trial of Duch and the eventual trial of the Band of Four are thus the first trials, on human rights grounds, of responsible Marxist officials from an officially Marxist, Leninist, or Maoist regime. Nazism’s trial took place in Nuremberg beginning in late 1945, and Japanese fascism’s in Tokyo the following year. But until now, we have had no trial for Communism, though real Communism killed or mutilated more victims than Nazism and Fascism combined. Communism’s trial has never taken place, outside the intellectual sphere, for two reasons. First, Communism enjoys a kind of ideological immunity because it claims to be on the side of progress. Second, Communists remain in power in Beijing, Pyongyang, Hanoi, and Havana. And in areas where they’ve lost power—as in the former Soviet Union—the Communists arranged their own immunity by converting themselves into social democrats, businessmen, or nationalist leaders.

The only currently possible and effective trial of Communism must therefore take place in Cambodia. But make no mistake: this is no mere trial of Cambodians by other Cambodians. In the Phnom Penh trial, real Communism is confronted with its victims. The trial reveals not only how useful Marxism is for claiming, seizing, and exercising power in absolute fashion, but also a strange characteristic of real Communism. No one seems willing to claim the mantle of Marxism, not even former leaders. The Khmer Rouge killed in Marx’s, Lenin’s, and Mao’s names, but they prefer to die as traitors to their own cause or to run away. This cowardice shows Marxism in a new light: Marxism is real, but it isn’t true, since no one believes in it.

Guy Sorman, a City Journal contributing editor, is the author of Empire of Lies: The Truth about China in the Twenty-First Century and other books. This article was translated by Alexis Cornel.

The Phnom Penh paradox

via CAAI

Dhiraj Nayyar

Tags : dhirajnayyar, column

Posted: Mon Sep 27 2010

Contrasts don’t get much sharper than this: when Chinese vice-president Xi Jinping visited Cambodia last December, he announced soft loans and grants worth $1.2 billion to one of the poorest countries in the ASEAN bloc. When President Pratibha Patil visited Cambodia last week, the first visit by an Indian president in over 50 years, India offered Cambodia just $15 million (plus $246,000 for a rural school) in the form of aid. It isn’t hard to see which of the two countries is likely to come out on top in the battle for influence in Cambodia. President Patil may have reiterated the prime minister’s view that there is enough room for both India and China to grow simultaneously. But on the ground, it appears that China has already occupied much of the space.

In Cambodia, at least, India ought to have had a clear lead over China in the game of influence. To start off with, of course, India’s civilisational links stretch back thousands of years. The world heritage site of Angkor Vat, built originally as a temple for Vishnu by the Khmer king Suryavarman II, is the most famous symbol of those links. But even in more contemporary times, India has played its diplomatic cards better than China. China supported the notorious Khmer Rouge regime which presided over the mass murder of an estimated one to two million Cambodians. India, on the other hand, was one of the first countries (in fact, the first non-Soviet bloc country) in the world to recognise the government that replaced the Khmer Rouge regime in 1980 after a Vietnamese-led invasion.

Cambodia’s current prime minister, Hun Sen, was one of the leaders of the Vietnam-assisted rebellion against the Khmer Rouge and was foreign minister in the government that Indira Gandhi recognised as the official government of Cambodia. He isn’t likely to be favourably disposed to the Chinese for reasons of history, but finds it difficult if not impossible to look away from the massive amounts of money China is pumping into the Cambodian economy. Consider the scale: Chinese investments in Cambodia over the last four years total $6 billion; the total size of the Cambodian economy is just $10 billion. The economy is practically breathing on Chinese-infused dollars.

Andrew Burmon, an American national and associate editor of the English-language Cambodia Daily, worries about the excessive influence of China in this country and in the region that surrounds it (Laos and Burma in particular). He says, “The US and India need to get together to form a strong counterweight to Chinese interests in this region.” The US, of course, ceded its space in this region after the Vietnam War. In more recent times, the US has been too pre-occupied by the Middle East and Afghanistan to worry about East Asia, a region where it once wielded considerable influence, especially in the Cold War period.

Kay Kimsong, editor-in-chief of the Phnom Penh Post’s Khmer edition believes that people in Cambodia are ambivalent about China’s influence. “It’s 50-50 as far as China is concerned... the investments are, of course, an attraction.” He also points out that India’s visibility in his country, even in soft power terms, has actually declined over the last two decades.

“Indian films used to be big in the ’80s, but now South Korean films dominate the market,” says Kay.

That isn’t particularly good news for India as it tries to extend its influence in this part of the world. India is unlikely to be able to compete with China in either hard power or the doling out of dollars (even though we can do better than just $ 15 million): we aren’t, after all, a huge surplus economy like China’s. India’s best bet in the near future is soft power, and not simply films.

India’s great strength is to be a role model for countries like Cambodia. China, for all its success, is too unrealistic a role model for countries such as Cambodia to ape. It may not even be desirable given its continued disdain for democratic freedoms. On the other hand, India’s solid, even if sometimes slow-moving, democracy and experiment with free markets led by individual entrepreneurs rather than the state are better role models for countries which are following similar institutional paths.

Writing in the Phnom Penh Post during President Patil’s visit, columnist Steve Finch made this argument powerfully. In a column titled “Let’s learn from India’s wealth of rural expertise”, Finch wrote about how Cambodia’s telecom infrastructure, terribly lacking in rural areas, could take out a leaf from the Indian telecom sector’s book. His overall argument was best summed up by the following line: “In many ways Cambodia can glean more from India’s economic model than that of China.”

What the government of India needs to do more forcefully is to project these ideals, and share India’s knowledge base more openly. These would be useful and powerful counterweights to China’s dollars.

dhiraj.nayyar@expressindia.com