Spokesman denies Thaksin-Phreah Vihear link

(BangkokPost.com) - Pongthep Thepkanchana, spokesman of ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, dismissed accusation that Mr Thaksin is behind a so-called plan to trade off land below Phreah Vihear for oil and gas concession.

The government has denied there is any such plan, and has vowed never to yield "one square inch" of Thai border territory to Cambodia, especially around the Cambodian temple.

Mr Pongthep said the disputes over the Phreah Vihear has been unsettled a long time ago.

He insisted that the Thai government will have to protect the benefit of the country, and such accusations are not true.

He refused to answer questions about Mr Thaksin's reported plan to build a casino and entertainment complex on the main island off the Cambodian province of Koh Kong, just south of Trat, saying he knows nothing about it.

Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama, a former Thaksin spokesman, addressed roughly the same conspiracy theory, and denied that the project to construct Thai Route No 48 project including four bridges in the south of Trat province near Koh Kong was developed for the benefit of Mr Thaksin.

Cambodian Defence Minister Tea Banh on Friday confirmed that Mr Thaksin may be on the verge of an agreement to develop the island Koh Kong, off the west coast of the province of the same name.

The road, costing one billion baht, was supposedly built to facilitate the transport of goods from Cambodia to Laem Chabang port in Chon Buri, passing through Trat.

Mr Noppadon told reporters he believes Mr Thaksin will not be able to start a Cambodian business until authorities release 50 to 60 billion baht ordered frozen by the military-appointed committee set up to investigate alleged corruption charges.

Feature: Cambodia actively donates for China's quake-relief efforts

http://www.chinaview.cn/

2008-05-16

PHNOM PENH, May 16 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Cambodia and the Association of Qingtian County People (of Zhejiang Province of China) in Cambodia here on Friday evening donated 31,340 U.S. dollars to the Chinese Embassy for the Chinese government to carry out relief works in the earthquake-affected areas, thus chalking up the total donation in the kingdom to some 250,000 U.S. dollars.

"You are the first batch of Chinese organizations in Cambodia to donate for China's quake-relief efforts. The devotion tells your close connection to our motherland," Ambassador Zhang Jinfeng told their representatives.

Not only the Chinese, but also the Cambodian government, the ethnic Khmer people and the Chinese Cambodian, have shown enthusiasm to support China in its fight against the wide-ranging disaster that has killed about 20,000 people so far, she added.

The Cambodian government on Thursday donated 100,000 U.S. dollars for the relief works in China.

On behalf of the Cambodian government, Hor Namhong, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, handed over the donation to Zhang Jinfeng, along with a letter of condolence from Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen to Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.

"I feel extremely saddened that your country has suffered the loss of thousands of lives, injuries and extensive damages due to the powerful earthquake in Sichuan province, central part of China," Hun Sen wrote in the letter dated May 14.

"On behalf of the Royal Government and people of Cambodia, may I convey to Your Excellency and the People of China, particularly the victims and members of the bereaved families my deepest sympathy and profound condolences for the tragic loss and great suffering brought about by this natural disaster," he wrote.

On Wednesday, the Cambodian Red Cross donated 10,000 U.S. dollars through the Chinese Embassy in Phnom Penh to the Red Cross Society of China to facilitate its humanitarian activities in the earthquake-affected areas.

"We, therefore, would like to ask your kindness in conveying the message of condolence to the families of the dead and our sharing of the hardships and difficulties being struggled over by the survivors and the rescuers," said Bun Rany, wife of Hun Sen and president of the Cambodian Red Cross, in a letter to Peng Peiyun, president of the Red Cross Society of China.

On Tuesday, a deputy of the royal family of Cambodia presented 50,000 U.S. dollars and two letters of condolence to the Chinese Embassy to express the family's support for China to carry out relief works in the earthquake-affected areas.

King Norodom Sihamoni and king's father Norodom Sihanouk respectively wrote letters to Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao to express their sympathy for the victims and their families, as well as their support for the Chinese government to salvage the survivors.

Meanwhile, Sihanouk donated 50,000 U.S. dollars for China to beef up its relief works.

In regard of the Cambodian government's generous help, Zhang Jinfeng on Thursday told reporters that "we don't think about the amount of money, but the amount of kindness. This is strong support for China."

Meanwhile according to the embassy, Khmer citizens in Phnom Penh are also active in donating money to China.

In recent days, each time a Khmer entered the office for visa affairs, he would usually ask a question first: is this the right place to donate?

To meet their charity and enthusiasm, the embassy has put a donation box at its consulate office.

"They come. They drop money. Although not too much, it shows their affection for our country and people," said an embassy official.

As to the Chinese Cambodian, they surely came no later than the others, said Ambassador Zhang.

A major-shot Chinese Cambodian businessman donated some 80,000 yuan RMB (about 11,500 U.S. dollars) in condition of anonymity.

"It is convenient for the people in China to use RMB. I sent my men to all the money exchange shops in Phnom Penh and this is all they can find," the ambassador quoted him as telling her.

A Chinese Cambodian woman, with her baby still less than one month old, donated the 400,000 riels (about 100 U.S. dollars) that her father-in-law had given her for nourishment and recuperation.
"My affection for China is much more important than my health and body," the ambassador quoted her as saying in a letter for the embassy.

In addition, local media is also focused on the help that Cambodia has extended to China in the most sincere way.

The Commercial News, the longest running Chinese newspaper in Cambodia, will start to publish articles on Saturday to appeal for its readers to donate for China's relief works.

Its publisher and banking tycoon Pung Kheav Se has already offered 10,000 U.S. dollars to spearhead the campaign.

Meanwhile on Friday, almost all major Khmer-language newspaper printed the news about the Cambodian government's donation and Ambassador Zhang's speech at the donation ceremony was even published word by word.

"I have to extend my heart-felt thanks as today Cambodia is at a crucial stage in strengthening the economy, but it has still provided 100,000 U.S. dollars to help China," she was quoted as saying.

A 7.8-magnitude quake rocked Wenchuan county, 159 km northwest of the southwest Sichuan province's capital of Chengdu, at 14:28 (0628 GMT) on Monday, killing thousands of people in eight affected provinces.

Editor: Mu Xuequan

Social activists deliver bundled copies of an anti-corruption petition to the country's parliament in Phnom Penh

Social activists deliver bundled copies of an anti-corruption petition to the country's parliament in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, May 16, 2008. Cambodian social activists pressed lawmakers on Friday to take real and serious steps to enact a long-awaited law for combating widespread corruption in the impoverished Southeast Asian country.(AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni gestures while attending the unveiling of a new statue of Daun Penh (Grandmother Penh) in Phnom Penh

Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni greets well-wishers as he presides over a ceremony to inaugurate a landmark statue in the center of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, May 16, 2008.(AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni gestures while attending the unveiling of a new statue of Daun Penh (Grandmother Penh) in Phnom Penh May 16, 2008.REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea (CAMBODIA)

Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni is greeted while attending the unveiling of a new statue of Daun Penh (Grandmother Penh) in Phnom Penh May 16, 2008.REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea (CAMBODIA)

Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni is greeted while attending the unveiling of a new statue of Daun Penh (Grandmother Penh) in Phnom Penh May 16, 2008.REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea (CAMBODIA)

Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni waves while attending the unveiling of a new statue of Daun Penh (Grandmother Penh) in Phnom Penh May 16, 2008.REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea (CAMBODIA)

Election committee: Less parties but more representation in Cambodian election 2008

May 16, 2008

Although there will be far fewer political parties competing in this year's national election, the National Election Committee (NEC) of Cambodia has announced that party representation over the electorates as a whole will be much greater this year, local media reported Friday.

Only 12 political parties have registered for this year's parliamentary election, while in the 2003 election there were 23, and in the 1998 election there were 39, the Mekong Times newspaper said, citing NEC officials.

The NEC said although the number of registered parties has decreased, 10 parties can field candidates to stand in all the electorates of Cambodia's 24 provinces and municipalities, while the rest will only be able to field candidates in seven to nine of the country's electorates.

NEC Secretary General Tep Nytha said that the reduced number of parties was due to the lack of confidence in the "50 percent plus one" formula and Cambodia's current social, political and financial situation.

Meanwhile, Koul Panha, director of the Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia, said political parties should not take the risk of offering candidates for all electorates.

Rather, he stressed, they should only spend their money on the electorates where they can win majority votes.

Source:Xinhua

Noppadon rejects claims of concession on temple

By The Nation
Published on May 16, 2008

The opposition yesterday grilled Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama over whether the government had made a deal with Phnom Penh on overlapping territories in order to resolve the Preah Vihear temple dispute.

Democrat Sukhumbhand Paribatra quoted Cambodian Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh as saying in the Cambodia Daily that Thailand had linked negotiations on territorial waters with the disputed temple.

"What the Cambodian minister said contradicts Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, who said there is no linkage between the two issues, so why does the ministry not protest to the Cambodians over the allegation?" he said.

Sukhumbhand did not indicate how the two issues were linked.

News commentators have accused the government of trading off land below the temple for an oil and gas concession for former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

"There is a huge interest in the overlapping area. The Foreign Ministry should handle the case with care, and not allow any private investors to get involved," said Sukhumbhand, a former deputy foreign minister. Noppadon said nobody in his government could exchange the Preah Vihear land for an oil and gas concession in the overlapping maritime area.

Preah Vihear came before the International Court of Justice in 1962. It ruled the temple belonged to Cambodia. The dispute was rekindled last year when Phnom Penh sought listing for the Hindu temple as a world heritage. Thailand opposed the proposal as Cambodia had annexed the surrounding land over which Thailand claims sovereignty.

"Negotiations are still going on and the two sides should be able to reach common ground within two weeks," Noppadon said.

Cambodia's Deputy Prime Minister Sok An, who is in charge of the matter, will dispatch experts to wrap up the issue with Thai officials next week. Preah Vihear and the maritime boundary are completely separate issues and could not be linked, Noppadon said.

Remembering the 'Killing Fields'

Lynnwood man plans genocide foundation in honor of his late father

By Oscar Halpert
Enterprise editor

LYNNWOODHis father survived death camps in Cambodia and went on to become a spokesman for its victims.

Now, Lynnwood resident Titonath Dith wants to honor his father's memory by creating a memorial to Cambodian victims of genocide.

"It's so easy for people to not want to think about it because it's so horrific," said Titonath, 39. "We always say 'it should never be forgotten.'"

An Edmonds physical therapist, Titonath was a child when he boarded the last evacuating helicopter out of Phnom Penh, Cambodia's besieged capital city, April 17, 1975, with his mother, brothers and sister.

His father, Dith Pran, had worked as a freelance photographer and translator with former New York Times reporter Sydney Schanberg, who covered the Vietnam War. When the communist Khmer Rouge regime under Pol Pot took control of Phnom Penh in 1975, Schanberg and other journalists were forced to leave but Dith was forced to stay behind. He spent the next five years in labor camps before escaping to Thailand in the fall of 1979. Dith went on to work as a staff photographer with the New York Times.

The 1984 film "The Killing Fields" was based on Schanberg's book "The Death and Life of Dith Pran," about his experiences with Dith, who died of pancreatic cancer March 30.

Titonath, who moved to Lynnwood eight years ago after visiting his brother in the Puget Sound area, said he spoke to his father about starting a genocide memorial shortly after his father's diagnosis in January. He plans to call it the Dith Pran Foundation and it will likely be located in Washington, D.C.

"I didn't give him the specifics; I just told him I'd like to form a foundation," Titonath said. "He was happy."

Titonath has enlisted the support of his sister Hemkarey, his brother Titony Dith and Schanberg's nephew, David Barron. Schanberg, who gave the eulogy at Dith's funeral, will serve as president of the board of directors for the nonprofit that will be formed, Titonath said.

"I think there are a lot of ideas floating around," Barron said. "The main idea was really to empower the Cambodian people in a lot of ways, potentially in terms of setting up scholarships for educational purposes. In order for (genocide) not to happen again, you have to educate people."

A long-term vision, Barron and Titonath say, is to expand the memorial into a museum about global genocide.

Genocide in Darfur, the Balkans, the Holocaust and others all may have a place within that new museum, Titonath said. In the shorter term, however, his focus is on a memorial of the Cambodian genocide under Pol Pot, whose regime was responsible for the deaths of nearly 2 million people.

Cambodia has a memorial, the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Pehn, the site of a high school turned death camp.

"This is where they executed dozens of people," Titonath said. He noted that the Khmer Rouge killed families intentionally "because they didn't want the children to grow up seeking revenge.

"Titonath knew at an early age that he wanted to be a physical therapist, largely because he knew too well how Cambodians suffered from war.

In 1989, he worked on public health projects in his native country and longed to bring orthotics and other assistive devices to Cambodians who'd lost limbs because of land minds.

Next June, he'll fly to Washington, D.C., to join family and friends for a ceremony in the Buddhist tradition: a 100-day memorial for his father.

Marathoner on a mission

Bora Chheang, 19, will graduate from Front Range Christian School this month and will attend The Master's College in Santa Clarita, Calif. on a scholarship. He's lived in Colorado since July. (John Leyba, The Denver Post )

Bora Chheang will run to raise scholarship funds for other Cambodian orphans

By Kieran Nicholson
The Denver Post
05/16/2008

Nineteen-year-old Bora Chheang is running the race of his life Sunday, hoping to use the Post-News Colorado Colfax Marathon to raise college funds for Cambodian orphans.

Chheang was orphaned in Cambodia as a 9-year-old when his father was killed and his mother deserted him, he said.

For more than a year, Chheang lived with other orphan boys about his age, he said, using sling shots to kill birds to eat and stealing food when they could. They often slept outdoors.

The boys played soccer, kicking coconuts around on a hardscrabble field because they didn't have a ball.

Eventually an aunt steered Chheang into a Christian orphanage, The House of Hope, in Phnom Penh, run by the nonprofit Asian Hope Inc.

"I didn't know where I was going," Chheang recalled of his life as an orphan.

"I was ready" to get off the streets, he said. "That's pretty much when my life started."

Now Chheang, who is in the United States on a visa, is graduating from Front Range Christian School in Jefferson County this month.

He'll attend The Master's College in Santa Clarita, Calif., on a scholarship.

But Chheang wants to raise college funds for other orphan students from Cambodia so they can follow in his footsteps.

Two childhood friends and fellow orphans, Ehud Seng and Sopoan Keo, both 19, will also run in the marathon. They are flying to Denver from Virginia, where they go to school.

Chheang, who has been in Colorado since July, began marathon training about seven weeks ago.
A natural and competitive athlete, Chheang played football and basketball this past year at Front Range, where he also maintained a straight A average.

Chheang has secured a couple of marathon pledges for less than $200. But he hopes to raise about $2,000 for his cause.

He trains and runs with Blake Murri, 50, a manager at Lockheed Martin whose family sponsors Chheang.

"It's been a learning experience for all of us," Murri said. "It's been great seeing all the things Bora is involved in."

Murri and his wife, Janiece, have three children ages 27, 24 and 17.

The 17-year-old, Sam, attends Front Range with Chheang and helps by driving the Cambodian student around, since he doesn't have a driver's license.

Beyond learning at school, Chheang has been absorbing, and adjusting to, American culture, said Janiece Murri, a registered nurse.

Initially Janiece and Chheang had to work on their relationship to dispel his Cambodian viewpoint that she be subservient.

As Bora stood in a hallway at Front Range this week, a line of students streamed by and one girl called out his name and blew him a kiss. He smiled and waved at the girl.

Chheang, who is popular at the school, said he's not dating anyone because he's too focused on schoolwork and the future.

He plans to become a minister and return to Cambodia.

Jordan Fischer, director of development with Asian Hope, met Bora in 2004 when he visited Cambodia. The organization runs boys' and girls' orphanages, a preschool and a K-12 school in Phnom Penh.

"He's an amazing young man who has overcome some difficulties in his life that we'll never experience," Fischer said. "This will allow him to achieve his dreams and to be a great leader and success in helping to transform Cambodia."

The 2008 Post-News Colorado Colfax Marathon kicks off Sunday about 6 a.m. in Denver's City Park and includes a wheelchair championship race that starts at 5:55 a.m.

For more information on the charities and how to contribute, go to coloradocolfaxmarathon.org and click on "Our 2008 Charity Partners."

Election committee: Less parties but more representation in Cambodian election 2008

May 16, 2008

Although there will be far fewer political parties competing in this year's national election, the National Election Committee (NEC) of Cambodia has announced that party representation over the electorates as a whole will be much greater this year, local media reported Friday.

Only 12 political parties have registered for this year's parliamentary election, while in the 2003 election there were 23, and in the 1998 election there were 39, the Mekong Times newspaper said, citing NEC officials.

The NEC said although the number of registered parties has decreased, 10 parties can field candidates to stand in all the electorates of Cambodia's 24 provinces and municipalities, while the rest will only be able to field candidates in seven to nine of the country's electorates.

NEC Secretary General Tep Nytha said that the reduced number of parties was due to the lack of confidence in the "50 percent plus one" formula and Cambodia's current social, political and financial situation.

Meanwhile, Koul Panha, director of the Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia, said political parties should not take the risk of offering candidates for all electorates.

Rather, he stressed, they should only spend their money on the electorates where they can win majority votes.

Source:Xinhua

Canines are the latest victims in Cambodia amid food crisis

The China Post
Friday, May 16, 2008
dpa

PHNOM PENH -- Dognappings are sharply up in some areas of Cambodia as people seek alternative sources of protein and the prices of more conventional meats continue to rise, dog owners and police said Wednesday.

Military police officer Ra Dy, who lives on the outskirts of the capital, said he personally had lost three dogs in quick succession and had decided to stop keeping any more until things settled down.

"If you check on them every hour, they might still be there, but if you forget and leave them for two hours, they are gone," he said.

Khieu Viriya, 22, a dog fancier from the western suburb of Toul Tom Poung, said he has also lost three dogs recently to thieves.

"And the story is the same for the neighbors, too. It is terrible to lose a dog, because they are like family, but even worse when you know they are to be eaten," he said.

Traditionally most Cambodians have refused to eat dog, viewing it as an unclean meat, although in 2003 the capital's mayor urged citizens to consume more to keep the stray dog population down.

Dog is sold in some restaurants, including high-end Korean establishments, and has become increasingly popular as a drinking snack amongst the country's avid rice wine fans as an energy food.

Dy said organized bands of dog thieves had begun cruising the city, snaring dogs with wire nooses and speeding off on motorbikes.

Vendors said although dog, sometimes euphemistically sold as "special meat," remains inexpensive, like pork and other meats it has nearly doubled in value in recent months.

Other exotic meats such as rat have also nearly doubled in price, but with the rice harvest still months away, the rodents are out of season, pushing up the demand for dog and other alternatives.

Cambodia donates 160,000 dollars for China quake relief

M&G
May 16, 2008

Phnom Penh - Government officials confirmed Friday that the Cambodian royal family, Red Cross and Prime Minister Hun Sen had donated a total of 160,000 dollars so far to assist victims of the earthquake that hit China.

King Norodom Sihamoni, his father and former king Norodom Sihanouk and Hun Sen were amongst others who had written letters of condolence to the Chinese government.

China is a major donor to impoverished Cambodia and the two nations retain strong ties, with Norodom Sihanouk most recently accepting a personal invitation to attend the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony scheduled for July.

Norodom Sihanouk, who maintains a residence in Beijing and spends months out of every year there undergoing medical checkups was the first to pledge substantial aid to relief efforts.

Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Zhang Jinfeng appeared on national television Thursday to convey China's thanks to the Cambodian people to their support in a time of need.

Cambodia, Vietnam launch direct bus route to Angkor temples

M&G
May 16, 2008

Phnom Penh - Vietnamese company Saigon Passenger Transport Company (Sapaco Tourist) is launching a new luxury bus service from the Vietnamese capital Ho Chi Minh direct to Cambodia's northern tourism hub of Siem Reap, a company spokesman said Friday.

The new nine-hour, 500-kilometre trip cuts hours off the former route through the Cambodian capital and is just the latest in a stream of Vietnamese tourism investments in Cambodia as its travel industry booms, according to the Tourism Ministry.

The new route, which crosses into Cambodia through Vietnam's southern Tay Ninh Province, launches Monday and one-way tickets will cost 24 dollars, Sapaco's spokesman said.

Siem Reap's Angkor Wat temple is Cambodia's largest tourism attraction, bringing in the bulk of the country's more than 2 million visitors last year, and the route is expected to prove especially popular with budget travellers, the company predicted.

Noppadon: Thaksin doesn't benefit from Thai-Cambodia link

(BangkokPost.com) - Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama said the Route No 48 project and four other bridges were not developed for the benefit of ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

His statement came after Cambodian Defence Minister Teah Banh said Mr Thaksin is interested in developing another casino and entertainment complex in the Cambodian province of Koh Kong.

The road was built with one billion baht in financial assistance from Thailand. It facilitates the transport of goods from Cambodia to Laem Chabang port in Chon Buri through Trat.

Mr Noppadon told reporters to ask for further detail on the matter with Mr Thaksin's spokesman Pongthep Thepkanchana.

He, however, said he believes Mr Thaksin will not be able to start business there as his accounts worth 50 to 60 billion baht are being freezed as he is fighting corruption charges against him.

Cambodia Offers $100,000 to China

By Chiep Mony, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
15 May 2008

Khmer audio aired May 15 (621KB) - Download (MP3)
Khmer audio aired May 15 (621KB) - Listen (MP3)

The Cambodian government offered $100,000 to China on Thursday, to help the country recover from a devastating earthquake that has killed tens of thousands.

Foreign Minister Hor Namhong called the money “a gesture to express our condolences and sympathy for China.”

The money will be added to $50,000 offered by former king Norodom Sihanouk earlier this week and is the second donation Cambodia has made to its neighbors this month. Cambodia gave the Burmese junta $50,000 last week in the wake of a deadly cyclone.

Chinese Ambassador Zhang Jinfeng said her country was grateful.
“Cambodia is at an important step of its economic development, but it still takes $100,000 of its budget,” she said. “We don’t think about the amount. We think about the heart. We regard this as No. 1 support for China.”

Petition Against Corruption Sent to Assembly

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
15 May 2008

Khmer audio aired May 15 (0.97MB) - Download (MP3)
Khmer audio aired May 15 (0.97MB) - Listen (MP3)

Apetition of more than 1 million Cambodian signatures calling for anti-corruption legislation will be passed to the National Assembly Friday, and organizers hope it will push lawmakers to act.

The signatures were collected over several months “to demand quick passage” of an anti-corruption law of international standard, according to a statement by the Coalition of Civil Society Organization Against Corruption.

“This anti-corruption petition is very important for politicians and voters, before the July national election, to demand the government and National Assembly quickly pass the anti-corruption law after the election,” said Pok Puthearith, a project manager for the Khmer Institute for Democracy. “We want the National Assembly to make a promise to the people.”

Sok Sam Oeun, director of the Cambodian Defenders Project, called the petition “a strong message for all political parties.”

The coalition wanted political parties to make the elimination of corruption a main part of their platforms, he said.

Most political parties have already done that; corruption has dogged the government since its inception, costing the nation as much as $500 million per year.

Prime Minister Hun Sen has promised to pass legislation to curb the practice many times, but that legislation has remained in the draft stage for years.

Another casino proposed for Cambodia

RGT Online
15 May 2008

CAMBODIA -- As reported by the Bangkok Post: "Thaksin Shinawatra is interested in developing another casino and entertainment complex in the Cambodian province of Koh Kong, Cambodian Defence Minister Teah Banh said yesterday.

"...The Cambodian minister said in Koh Kong, opposite Trat, that talks about Mr Thaksin's plan were still unofficial. 'Prime Minister Hun Sen trusted and wanted Mr Thaksin to advise on developing Koh Kong as a special economic zone,' the general said.

"Koh Kong now has a casino complex operated by Koh Kong International, a firm owned by Pat Supapa, a senator representing the province and former governor..."

Cambodia draws interest of private equity

A tourist surveys the site of Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, Cambodia in this Nov. 29, 2007 photo. Private-equity investors are venturing into Cambodia, as the nation that three decades ago abolished money under the Khmer Rouge seeks more than US$6 billion to rebuild itself. (Bloomberg News)

The China Post
Thursday, May 15, 2008
By Netty Ismail, Bloomberg

SINGAPORE -- Private-equity investors are venturing into Cambodia, as the nation that three decades ago abolished money under the Khmer Rouge seeks more than US$6 billion to rebuild itself.

Leopard Capital and Cambodia Investment & Development Fund are among those planning to put more than US$450 million in the second-poorest of 10 Southeast Asian nations. Cambodia Investment is getting advice from Jim Rogers, who predicted the start of the commodities boom in 1999, and Marc Faber, who forecast Asian assets would decline before the regional financial crisis in 1997.

"It's a country that's changed a lot and investors are finally waking up to that," said Douglas Clayton, founder of Leopard Capital, who is based in Phnom Penh and is seeking to raise US$100 million. "Most people have an outdated perception of Cambodia; clearly the country has made significant progress."

Prime Minister Hun Sen is relying on the country's oil and mineral resources to attract foreign investments and reduce Cambodia's dependence on clothing exports and tourism for growth as he prepares for an election in July. The funds will move money into banks, office buildings, luxury hotels, ports and other projects.

"Cambodia does have a lot of natural resources, it does have an ambitious population, and it does have some assets," said Singapore-based Rogers, who co-founded the Quantum hedge fund with George Soros during the 1970s, and is now chairman of Rogers Holdings. "Most countries that come out of something like they have are inclined to be pretty safe for a while because they're trying to get money in."

Leopard Capital's first planned investment, a housing project in Siem Reap, probably will generate a return of more than 60 percent a year, about three times the internal target for private-equity investments, said Clayton, who moved to Phnom Penh from Bangkok last June.

Clayton was a hedge fund manager at Knight Asia Group and head of CLSA Securities in Thailand before setting up Leopard Capital in 2007. Faber, publisher of the Gloom, Boom & Doom report, is a director at Leopard Capital.

Peter Brimble and Bradley Gordon, Clayton's former partners at Leopard Capital, are starting the US$100 million Cambodia Emerald fund this year to invest in tourism, agriculture, financial institutions, infrastructure and real estate.

The fund plans to close at least one deal before the end of the year, said Brimble, who's based in Phnom Penh. LR Global Partners in New York and London-based Kazimir Partners are investors in Cambodia Emerald, he said.

Cambodian Muslims have full religious freedom says Prime Minister

The Earth times
Thu, 15 May 2008
Author : DPA

Phnom Penh - Cambodian Muslims must be integrated into the community and their religious restrictions and needs universally respected, Prime Minister Hun Sen said Thursday. Speaking at the inauguration of a new mosque, Hun Sen called for religious tolerance and acceptance of Muslims, who make up just a small percentage of the population but have been part of Cambodian culture for centuries.

"Some countries prohibit Muslim uniforms in schools. Cambodia allows it ... it is up to the individual," he said, in reference to headscarves sometimes worn by Muslim women.
He also demanded that Muslim prayer rooms be widely available, especially in places such as airports.

And he called on international media to be slower to blame Muslim groups when covering suspected terrorist attacks, alleging some major international news groups such as CNN appeared biased against Muslims in their coverage.

Jewish family builds mosque for Cambodia villagers

Contra Costa times
By Ker Munthit
Associated Press
05/15/2008

TRAMOUNG CHRUM, Cambodia — When residents of this poor, Cambodian village need something built, they call on the Lightmans.

The Jewish-American family's latest gift: a mosque.

"We never had such a beautiful mosque in our village," said 81-year-old Leb Sen, a toothless, village elder with a wrinkled face. "The young people said to me that I am very lucky to live long enough to see one now."

Flashing a broad grin, Leb Sen brought his palms together and bowed repeatedly in gratitude toward his American donors — Alan Lightman; his wife, Jean Greenblatt Lightman and their daughter, Elyse.

Alan Lightman, a 59-year-old humanities professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said building the mosque was not part of his family's original plan to improve education in the village, about 44 miles northwest of the capital, Phnom Penh.

"It's too much to comprehend. We never imagined that we would build a mosque in a remote village in Cambodia," said Lightman, author of the best-selling novel "Einstein's Dreams."

"It was so strange for us to be there," he added, " ... halfway across the planet, and it's a religion that's far from our religion."

The Lightmans first learned about the village in 2003, when a friend introduced them to various rural education projects. Two years later, the Harpswell Foundation, an organization founded by Lightman to help children and young women in developing countries, built a four-room concrete school, the village's first.

Some of the 600 villagers came to Lightman in 2006 asking him to fund a new health center, a popular choice among the women, and a mosque, which the men favored. He told the villagers they would have to choose one.

In the male-dominated community, it was a mosque.

"The men have won again, but the mosque is also very important for preserving our culture and tradition," said 50-year-old Sit Khong, one of the five women in the village who were part of a committee to pick the project.

"We will never find enough money to build it ourselves anyway."

The mosque, with the gold-colored inscription "Funded by Loving Gift of Lightman Family" above the front door, opened on May 9. It can accommodate about 200 people and replaces a tiny building on wood stilts that held only 30 worshippers.

The villagers follow Imam-San, a small Islamic sect that incorporates Buddhism, Hinduism and animism. The Imam-San makes up about 3 percent of Cambodia's 700,000 Muslims, who themselves represent only 5 percent of Cambodia's 14 million people, according the U.S. State Department annual report on religious freedom.

Besides mixing in elements of other religions, Imam-San followers pray only once a week, not the traditional five times a day.

"In the view of the real teaching of Islam, they are not pure," said Tin Faizine, a 24-year-old Muslim student who was interpreting for the Lightmans.

Lightman said this would be his "first and last" mosque, because "I don't think I have the resources or the time to build more mosques."

The mosque was built with $20,000 from his family's savings, not the foundation's funds, he said.

In the future, he plans to focus on education for underprivileged Cambodians, which is his foundation's main goal.

Digging up mines buries war horror

Daily Mercury
May 16, 2008

WHEN Marty McCarthy steps off the plane in Cambodia on Sunday, he's hoping to lay to rest ghosts from his past.

The 64-year-old Vietnam veteran from Airlie Beach will spend three weeks helping remove land mines from outside the city of Siem Reap.

He is joining his war mate Neil Anthony "Bomber" Bower-Miles who helped form the Vietnam Veterans Mine Clearing Team.

Mr McCarthy and "Bomber" served with the Australian military as members of the Royal Australian Engineers in the 1970s.

As engineers based near the land mine-littered Vietnamese village of Phuk Tue, on hands and knees they had to prod the ground with a bayonet and mark a safe path to and around casualties to enable medics to get in and treat the wounded.

Haunted by the vivid memories of the carnage and human suffering he saw, Mr McCarthy said helping clear land mines in Cambodia was something he had thought hard and long about.

"Understandably my wife and children would rather I stayed at home," he said
"But I'm hoping that by helping save the children in Cambodia, my life will come full circle.

"Little children will always explore and wander and are unable to comprehend the real danger mines pose to them.

"It's tragic to hear about so many kids with prosthetic limbs."

Mr McCarthy said land mines were cleared using a purpose-built mine detector from Australian company Minelabs.

"Bomber has taken seven detectors to Cambodia in the past and four more this month," he said.
"They're capable of detecting all metal and minimum metal mines at full sensitivity."

Accidental First Aid Supplies donated $1500 of equipment, after hearing about Mr McCarthy plan on radio.

The material will make up emergency kits for McCarthy's expedition.

Book recounts struggles of Asian refugees

Boston.com

By Russell Contreras
Globe Staff / May 15, 2008

Please watching video http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/05/15/book_recounts_struggles_of_asian_refugees/

The 1970s, Tem Chea remembers, were a time of fear, running, and crowded refugee camps.

The Cambodian refugee and his family moved four times from camp to camp while escaping the horrors of the Khmer Rouge regime that claimed about 1 million lives. After landing in Oregon, he later moved to Lowell, where he integrated into American society by becoming a teacher and eventually helping create the Cambodian American Voter League.

Last week, a book recounting the struggles of Chea and other Southeast Asian-Americans in Lowell was released at a special event at the Mogan Cultural Center. The collection of essays, "Southeast Asian Refugees and Immigrants in the Mill City," written by academics and published by the University of Vermont, is a scholarly endeavor that tries to make sense of the setbacks and victories of Lowell's largest ethnic group in politics, education, and healthcare.

Chea said the book depicts how people from Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam have contributed to Lowell. "This gives us the opportunity to share our story," Chea said at the book-release event. "It's kind of therapeutic, so to speak, for some of us who went through so much and rarely talk about it."

Tuyet-Lan Pho, director emeritus of the Center for Diversity and Pluralism at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell and one of the book's co-editors, said the idea for the book emerged more than 10 years ago when more scholarly articles about Lowell Southeast Asian-American populations started being widely published.

"Lowell has always been an immigrant city," said the 67-year-old Vietnamese immigrant, who now lives in San Diego. "These essays put our experiences in perspective."

Her husband, Hin Pho, a UMass-Lowell professor emeritus of political science who contributed an article for the book, said: "There is such a rich history here. It needed to be written."

UMass-Lowell political science professor Jeffrey Gerson and Sylvia Cowan of Lesley University were the other editors of the book, which can be purchased in bookstores or ordered online at amazon.com.

Southeast Asian-Americans make up about one-fifth of Lowell's population of 100,000, according to the 2000 US Census. Tuyet-Lan Pho said the number of Southeast Asian-Americans settling in Lowell picked up in the 1980s as jobs attracted refugees who had originally settled on the West Coast. But like any new group, the Southeast Asian refugees faced discrimination and alienation, she said.

Since those early days, Pho said, she has seen a transformation as the children of Cambodians and Laotians enrolled in college and the groups got more politically active.

Former Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis and his wife, Kitty, attended the book-release event that drew around 100 residents. Dukakis praised the Southeast Asian-American community for helping the economic development of Lowell.

Kitty Dukakis was among nine community leaders who were presented special awards for their work with Southeast Asian refugees in the area.

Chea, another honoree, said he hopes some of the essays inspire other Asian refugees in the Lowell area to share their stories for other projects and books. Part of the problem, he said, was persuading those who fled war-torn countries to talk about the past.

"There is still this fear that what we saw back there isn't over, that something bad is still going to happen," said Chea, who is now retired. "We are stuck to the past, but there is a fear of the past."

Former Khmer Rouge head of state appears before genocide tribunal

Khieu Sampan is charge with crimes against humanity and war crimes committed under the Khmer Rouge regime. [AFP]

Radio Australia

Cambodia's genocide tribunal has abruptly halted a pre-trial hearing for the former president of the Khmer Rouge, Khieu Samphan.

It came after Khieu Samphan's French lawyer, Jacques Verges, stormed out of the hearing.

Mr Verges says he told the tribunal its failure to translate the case file into French, the trial's official language, made the proceedings invalud.

Mr Verges says he should be capable of knowing the details of the accusations against his client.He says the judges asked his client to find a new lawyer.

The tribunal has charged Khieu Samphan with crimes against humanity and war crimes committed under the Khmer Rouge regime in the late 1970s.In a book published last year Khieu Samphan put the blame on the Khmer Rouge leader, Pol Pot, who died a decade ago.

Most of the bail hearing was held in-camera, and it's not known when a decision will be made.

Defending the indefensible

Resident evil: Verges and Noun Chea, Brother Number Two of the Khmer Rouge

By Derek Malcolm, Evening Standard 15.05.08

French lawyer Jacques Vergès has defended Nazi lieutenant Klaus Barbie, terrorist Carlos the Jackal, the Serbian dictator Slobodan Milosevic and Holocaust denier Roger Garaudy. Saddam Hussein’s family prevented him from defending the Iraqi dictator, so he took on the case for Tariq Aziz, Saddam’s vice-president, instead. There seemed to be no one, however evil, for whom he would not take a brief.

Yes, he says with a smile in Barbet Schroeder’s fascinating documentary about the man and his times, he would even defend George Bush — but only if he pleaded guilty.

Yet this advocate of the “rupture defence”, during which he accused the prosecution of “capitalist crimes” as bad as any of those of the men and women he defended, was not always the kind of lawyer we love to hate.

A communist in his student days, he was the advocate for Djamila Bouhired, known as “La Pasionaria”, who bore Algeria’s fight for independence on her shoulders and was sentenced to death for planting bombs in cafés. Having brilliantly obtained her release, Vergès married her and had two children. Then suddenly, at the height of his career in 1970, he disappeared without trace, emerging eight years later to become the well-known “devil’s advocate”.

Interviewing the cigar-smoking Vergès, Schroeder attempts to discover what happened during those fallow years and, when he can get no answer except that Vergès grew bored with the first independent government of Algeria, goes to other witnesses for their opinion.

Some associates claim they met him in Paris during that time, while others suggest that he went to a KGB school before acting as an agent for Moscow in East Germany. There is also the theory that he acted as an adviser to Pol Pot and met Mao Tse Tung, Fidel Castro and Nelson Mandela, all of whom might have concealed him.

Whatever the facts, his return was far more controversial than anything he had previously achieved and Schroeder forces the bland, self-justifying mask to slip on several notable occasions. Everyone, says Vergès, deserves to be defended and some of the West’s favourite hate figures were essentially on the right side, even if they committed terrible crimes.

This is an astonishing portrait of an astonishing man who somehow convinced himself that he has forged a unique path in law and politics.

No fiction could equal it without being accused of gilding several lilies. And no film-maker could have done better than Schroeder. He does not prompt us to approve of or like the man, but he does cause us to see the history of terrorism more clearly.

48 hours in Phnom Penh

The ornate rooftops of the National Museum are silhouetted against a blue sky in Phnom Penh December 1, 2007. REUTERS/Emma Goh

PHNOM PENH (Reuters Life!) - Got 48 hours to explore the boutiques and markets of Phnom Penh? The Cambodian capital may be lesser known than Siem Reap, butits designer boutiques, colorful markets, art galleries and upscale restaurants are worth visiting.

FRIDAY

7 p.m. - Usher in the weekend with dinner at a European establishment, but the elegant bistro Art Cafe (St. 108) holds regular classical music performances and features a French-German menu. Beautiful artwork by local and international artists adorn the walls and are available for sale.

SATURDAY

9 a.m. - Grab a sandwich from The Deli on St. 178 and rush over to Khmer designer Romyda Keth's "Ambre", the first stop for any fashionista. This two-storey colonial villa on the same street is the place for stunning cocktail dresses, one-of-a-kind office wear or gorgeous wedding dresses. The friendly staff can make adjustments and you can order tailor-made outfits too. There's also a small but equally luxurious men's collection. Cross the Norodom Boulevard for more shops including Reyum Gallery and Silk & Pepper.

11 a.m. - The next stop is Keo (St. 222), home of Cambodia's haute couture king Sylvain Lim. Having worked for Parisian brands including Balmain and Dior, Sylvain's designs are classic. Browse through the small collection of prototypes from which you can order. For those with time and money, Sylvain's bespoke haute couture pieces are spectacular. By appointment only.
1.00 p.m. - Hop over to Street 240 for fuel at The Sugar Palm, a relaxed eatery serving local food -- don't miss the eggplant with pork or beef with ginger. The restaurant is also decorated with antiques that you can buy.

2.30 p.m. - Walk down the length of St. 240 and enjoy the shops. Couleurs d' Asie offers unique silk products to wear and decorate the home, all in big, bold patterns. Next door is Bliss, boasting paisley-print dresses and cotton wraparounds, massive cushions and home spa products as well as a spa with a plunge pool if you prefer a break in between the shopping.

Bead enthusiasts should not miss Water Lilly, showcasing Christine Gauthier's whimsical creations. Opening the hundreds of drawers hiding the jewellery is an experience in itself. Le Lezard Bleu offers top-notch home decor: think bronze sculptures, dark wood tables. Two more not to be missed boutiques are "Song", with its chic resort wear and yoga outfits and "Jasmine" for gowns, skirts and tops in various shades using Cambodian silk.

5.30 p.m. - Relax with a sundowner at the famed FCC on Sisowath Quay, just make sure you face the National Museum if you want to see the sunset. The FCC is also a good place to combine culture with souvenir hunting: there are photo exhibitions with items for sale, T-shirts and other memorabilia.

7.30 p.m. - Dinner at Metro Cafe, a short walk from the FCC. The best way to enjoy the delicious food on the eclectic menu is to share. The martinis, especially the tamarind and chocolate ones, are a must-try.

SUNDAY

9 a.m. - The Russian Market can be noisy and busy but it also has lots of good buys and is best early in the morning. Products to take home include colorful shawls, embroidered handbags, woven baskets, paintings and silver jewellery. Don't miss the Tooit Tooit stall inside the market for fun, funky bags and hats produced by parents of former street children, and NYEMO on the outside for colourful soft furnishings and silk handicrafts.

12 p.m. - Lunch at Romdeng on St. 74. Not only will you get delicious, authentic Cambodian food served by former street children, but you can also take the delicious recipes home as the charity organisation behind the restaurant published a cookbook.

1.30 p.m. - It may not have the same buzz or variety of stalls, but the art deco Central Market (Psar Thmei) is one of the city's landmarks. The souvenir stalls around the entrance hawking T-shirts and other curios are worth a visit while inside is an interesting combination of shops selling glittering gold and jewelery, electronic goods and second hand clothes.

2.30 p.m. - For trendy silk outfits, it's time to stop at Kambuja (St. 110). Local designer Kulikar Sotho specializes in women's clothes using local silk, most of which are intricately embroidered.
3.30 p.m. - Take a break, and enjoy some coffee and cookies at the Camory Cookie Boutique on Sisowath Quay, which sells everything from standard chocolate ones to more exotic flavors such as palm sugar, sesame and pepper.

4.30 p.m. - If all that commercial activity is starting to irk your conscience, its time to do some shopping that soothes the soul. Artisans d' Angkor on St. 49 is trying to revive traditional craft skills and offers gorgeous silk paintings, stoneware and clothes, Smateria on St. 57 is great for recycled products that are stylish and funky and Rehab Craft on St. 322 for quality wood carvings, silk accessories and jewellery made by disadvantaged Cambodians. (Details at www.stay-another-day.org)

6.30 p.m. - End the weekend the way you started it, enjoying and buying art. Java on Sihanouk Boulevard is a well-known art gallery/cafe which also boasts a cosy atmosphere and simple, tasty fare such as pasta and sandwiches.

Cambodia donates $100,000 to China for quake relief

www.chinaview.cn
2008-05-15

Special report: Strong Earthquake Jolts SW China

PHNOM PENH, May 15 (Xinhua) -- The Cambodian government on Thursday donated 100,000 U.S. dollars for the relief to the earthquake victims in China.

On behalf of the Cambodian government, Hor Namhong, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, handed over the donation to Chinese Ambassador Zhang Jinfeng, along with a letter of condolence from Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen to Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.

"I feel extremely saddened that your country has suffered the loss of thousands of lives, injuries and extensive damages due to the powerful earthquake in Sichuan province, central part of China," Hun Sen wrote in the letter dated May 14.

"On behalf of the Royal Government and people of Cambodia, may I convey to Your Excellency and the People of China, particularly the victims and members of the bereaved families my deepest sympathy and profound condolences for the tragic loss and great suffering brought about by this natural disaster," he wrote.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Cambodian Red Cross donated 10,000 U.S. dollars through the Chinese embassy in Phnom Penh to the Red Cross Society of China to facilitate its humanitarian activities for the earthquake-affected areas.

A 7.8-magnitude quake rocked Wenchuan county, 159 km northwest of the southwest Sichuan province's capital of Chengdu, at 14:28 (0628 GMT) on Monday, killing thousands of people in eight affected provinces.

Editor: An Lu

Miracle: 3-year-old girl survives for 40 hours

www.chinaview.cn

2008-05-15

Song Xinyi, a 3-year-old earthquake survivor, receives medical treatment after being saved in earthquake-hit Beichuan County, southwest China's Sichuan Province, May 14, 2008. (Xinhua Photo)

Song Xinyi, a 3-year-old earthquake survivor, is saved in earthquake-hit Beichuan County, southwest China's Sichuan Province, May 14, 2008. (Xinhua Photo)

Song Xinyi, a 3-year-old earthquake survivor, is saved in earthquake-hit Beichuan County, southwest China's Sichuan Province, May 14, 2008. (Xinhua Photo)

Song Xinyi, a 3-year-old earthquake survivor, is saved in earthquake-hit Beichuan County, southwest China's Sichuan Province, May 14, 2008. Song was saved after being buried in the ruins for more than 40 hours. (Xinhua Photo)

Cambodian Red Cross donates $10,000 to help China's quake relief efforts

www.chinaview.cn
2008-05-14

Special report: Strong Earthquake Jolts SW China

PHNOM PENH, May 14 (Xinhua) -- The Cambodian Red Cross here on Wednesday donated 10,000 U.S. dollars through the Chinese Embassy to the Red Cross Society of China to facilitate its humanitarian activities for the earthquake-affected areas in China.

"We, therefore, would like to ask your kindness in conveying the message of condolence to the families of the dead and our sharing of the hardships and difficulties being struggled over by the survivors and the rescuers," said Bun Rany, president of the Cambodian Red Cross, in a letter to Peng Peiyun, president of the Red Cross Society of China.

A 7.8-magnitude quake rocked Wenchuan county, 159 km northwest of the southwest Sichuan province's capital of Chengdu, at 14:28 (0628 GMT) on Monday, killing more than 14,000 lives and the death toll is still expected to rise.

Editor: Wang Hongjiang

Cambodian Red Cross donates $10,000 to help China's quake relief efforts

www.chinaview.cn
2008-05-14

Special report: Strong Earthquake Jolts SW China

PHNOM PENH, May 14 (Xinhua) -- The Cambodian Red Cross here on Wednesday donated 10,000 U.S. dollars through the Chinese Embassy to the Red Cross Society of China to facilitate its humanitarian activities for the earthquake-affected areas in China.

"We, therefore, would like to ask your kindness in conveying the message of condolence to the families of the dead and our sharing of the hardships and difficulties being struggled over by the survivors and the rescuers," said Bun Rany, president of the Cambodian Red Cross, in a letter to Peng Peiyun, president of the Red Cross Society of China.

A 7.8-magnitude quake rocked Wenchuan county, 159 km northwest of the southwest Sichuan province's capital of Chengdu, at 14:28 (0628 GMT) on Monday, killing more than 14,000 lives and the death toll is still expected to rise.

Editor: Wang Hongjiang

Cambodian Airways to Be Cleaned Up

redOrbit.com
Wednesday, 14 May 2008

PHNOM PENH, May 14 (Xinhua) -- The Secretariat of State Civil Aviation (SSCA) of Cambodia has recently announced that it is toughening up on the use of illegal aircraft in an effort to improve the safety of the kingdom's airways, local media reported Wednesday.

The SSCA requested airlines, small aircraft companies, private airplane owners, government ministries and local authorities cooperate in its safety push and provide the SSCA any information concerning illegal aircraft operating in Cambodia, the Mekong Times newspaper said.

To maintain order and ensure security and safety, aircraft and other flight equipment which are not registered at the SSCA will be prohibited from operating anywhere in the kingdom, Mao Has Vannal, secretary of state of civil aviation, said in the announcement.

The SSCA has cooperated with other civil aviation authorities around the world to help ensure the world's airways are safe, the newspaper said.

Source: Xinhua News Agency - CEIS

King Sihamoni Celebrates 55th Birthday

A giant picture of King Sihamoni hangs in front of the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh to mark his 55 th birthday.

San Suwith
Radio Free Asia
14th May 2008
Reported in English by Khmerization

Courtesy of Khmerization at http://khmerization.blogspot.com/

King Sihamoni is celebrating his birthday outside of the Royal Palace, this time in Kampong Cham province where his subjects organised a Buddhist ceremony at a local temple in his honour. The king also planned to fly to celebrate his birthday in a location near the historic temple of Preah Vihear on the Khmer-Thai border.

But in Phnom Penh, despite no grand parade and pompous celebration, the king’s pictures were placed along the roads and boulevards everywhere in his honour.

King Sihamoni was born to ex-king Sihanouk and Queen Monique on the 14th of May 1953. He was educated in Beijing and later completed his doctorate degree in classical dance from Prague, Czechoslovakia in 1971.

Between 1975-1976, he studied cinematography in North Korea. From 1975-1979 he lived under house arrest with his parents and his brother, Prince Norindrapong, at Khmamarin Palace in Phnom Penh.From 1979-1980, he served as a private secretary to the then Prince Sihanouk. And from 1981 onward he served as a permanent representative of the Cambodian resistance to the United Nations, Cambodian Extraordinary Ambassador to the Unesco and also as the president of the Association of Khmer Artists in France.

King Sihamoni is conversant in many languages. Other than his native Khmer, he can speak French, Czech and English very proficiently.

He ascended to the throne on 14th October 2004, succeeding his father, King Sihanouk who had abdicated a second time a few weeks earlier.

Many political leaders hailed King Sihamoni as having a unique and special character.

Mr Ciem Yeap, MP from the Cambodian People’s Party, credited the king as having helped the country moving toward economic prosperity, judicial improvements and have helped solved political issues in the country.

Mr Keo Puth Rasmy, president of Funcinpec Party, said that the king has helped maintain national unity and peace in the country, despite acknowledging the king not being able to fulfil all his constitutional duties.

Mr Son Chhay, MP from the Sam Rainsy Party, said that the current king resides in the country more than the ex-king and therefore helped to ensure political stability. But he also said that the king is still unable to fulfil all his constitutional duties such as ensuring the independence of the judiciary and the army. Despite the king’s shortcomings, MP Son Chhay said that he does not blame the king for not fulfilling all his constitutional duties, but blames the government for not transferring all his constitutional powers to him.

Mr You Hockry, Secretary-General of the Norodom Ranariddh Party, said that the king is a symbol of national unity who can guarantee national independence, sovereignty and the territorial integrity of Cambodia.

Mr Kem Sokha, president of the Human Right Party, wish the king a long life, but also wish to see the king using all his constitutional powers to fulfil all his constitutional obligations. He believed that the king have not been able to fulfil all his duties. The case in point is that the king is a Commander-in-Chief but was and is still unable to ensure the neutrality of the army. Another example is that the king is presently the chairperson of the Council of Magistracy, but he is powerless to ensure the independence of the judiciary.

All civil societies as well as ordinary people have wished His Majesty good health and longevity.

Norodom Ranariddh Party Condemned The National Election Committee For Cancelling The Candidacy Of A Party Candidate

By Mao Sotheany
Radio Free Asia
14th May 2008
Translated by Khmerization

Courtesy of Khmerization at http://khmerization.blogspot.com/

The Norodom Ranariddh Party (NRP) has condemned the National Election Committee (NEC) for cancelling the name of Mr. Noranarith Annandayath (pictured), deputy secretary and a member of the National Council of the NRP, from the candidacy’s list after the party lodged an application to register his candidacy for the parliamentary seat of Phnom Penh for the upcoming election on 27th July.

(The NEC has said in the past that Mr. Annandayath was not registered as a voter in Phnom Penh).

It was unclear of the reasons for the cancellation of Mr. Annandayath’s name from the candidacy’s list , but in a statement released yesterday, the NRP has asked the NEC that: if the Mr. Annandayth’s name was not on the voters’ list for the seat of Phnom Penh, why then the chief of Toul Tumpuong II district issued him a certificate of confirmation on 10th of May saying that he was on the voters’ list?

Radio Free Asia is unable to obtain any comments from the NEC officials or the officials from the district of Toul Tumpuong II in relation to NRP’s complaints.

Former King Offers Money to Quake-Hit China

By Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh
14 May 2008

Khmer audio aired May 14 (735KB) - Download (MP3)
Khmer audio aired May 14 (735KB) - Listen (MP3)

Former king Norodom Sihanouk presented $50,000 to Chinese authorities Wednesday, to help the country as it struggles in the wake of a devastating earthquake.

The money and two sympathy letters were delivered to Chinese Ambassador Zang Jinfeng, said Prince Sisowath Thomico, a former adviser to the king.

Thousands have died in the aftermath of a massive earthquake that shook southwestern China Monday. Tens of thousands are still missing.

The donation comes after Cambodia gave $50,000 to cyclone-struck Burma last week.

Hun Sen Touts Road and Bridge Projects

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh
14 May 2008

Khmer audio aired May 14 (735KB) - Download (MP3)
Khmer audio aired May 14 (735KB) - Listen (MP3)

Prime Minister Hun Sen boasted Wednesday of creating more than 400 kilometers of roads and many new bridges in the last two weeks alone, in a move observers say is a kind of campaigning ahead of the election.

Campaigning is officially set to begin June 26 and will run through July 25, two days before the polls open for general elections. But observers say remarks by Hun Sen broadcast on local media are aimed at pulling in voters sooner.

Hun Sen had “inaugurated some new national roads and bridges of more than 400 kilometers, during the last two weeks,” the prime minister told a crowd gathered for the opening of 152 kilometers of road and four bridges in Koh Kong province. “This is a marvel in the 21st Century, in what the Cambodia government and the people are cooperating with development partners to make for our Cambodians.”

“The people have asked him to continue,” Hun Sen said of himself. “After the election, I will take the prime minister post.”

Hun Sen’s public appearances were part of a “very important election campaign,” said Human Rights Party Vice President Keo Remy. They also amounted to “demagoguery to capture ballots from the voters.”

Opposition Sam Rainsy Party Secretary-General Eng Chhay Ieng called the statements “propaganda.”

“He is proud of the right things,” Eng Chhay Ieng said. “But he must tell the public how much the government has in foreign debt.”

Yong Kim Eng, director of the People’s Center for Development and Peace, said Hun Sen’s speeches were an “election strategy” to show the public the achievements of the government.

Former Policeman Arrested in Acid Attack Case

By Mean Veasna, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh
14 May 2008

Khmer audio aired May 14 (950KB) - Download (MP3)
Khmer audio aired May 14 (950KB) - Listen (MP3)

A former municipal police officer has been arrested following an acid attack earlier this month, and officials said Wednesday he may have connections to senior government figures.

Ear Puthea, 34, was arrested and transferred to the courts Tuesday, said Lt. Gen. Sok Phal, deputy chief of National Police.

“He is charged, but please I do not want to say for what he is charged,” said Ek Chheng Huot, deputy prosecutor for Phnom Penh Municipal Court.

The arrest is linked to a May 8 acid attack on Ya Soknim, whose family have said she was the victim of violence in a love affair involving a high-ranking military police official.

Rights workers said the case was linked to “personalities” in the government, while noting that suspects in acid attacks are rarely punished.

Economic Activist Arrested for Planning Protest

By Chiep Mony, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh
14 May 2008

Khmer audio aired May 14 (1.04MB) - Download (MP3)
Khmer audio aired May 14 (1.04MB) - Listen (MP3)

An activist for the Independent Democracy of Informal Economy Association was arrested in Banteay Meanchey province Wednesday as he distributed leaflets for a May 16 protest against the rising cost of goods.

Morng Puthy, head of IDEA’s Banthey Meanchey office, was arrested and held by the province’s Or Chrov district police, said IDEA President Von Pov.

"The arrest means that Cambodian authorities are pressuring the freedom of opinion and expression of the people,” Von Pov said. “This contradicts the prime minister, who always says that Cambodia has clung to democracy and respect of human rights."

Banteay Meanchey Police Chief Hun Hean said leaflet distribution advocating protest without permission was illegal.

The demonstration “might cause turmoil in our society,” he said, adding that Morng Puthy had not yet been released.

Cambodian Official Rejects Request for Khmer Prostitutes to Work in Australia

Posted on 15 May 2008.
The Mirror, Vol. 12, No. 560

“A Cambodian official voiced concern earlier this month after an Australian association of prostitutes called for ”immigrant working visas ” for foreign prostitutes who intend to sell sex in Australia.

“Cambodia will not allow its prostitutes to travel to Australia with immigrant visas to continue their careers as prostitutes. This is according to the Minister of Information and the Royal Government’s spokesperson Mr. Khieu Kanharith’s information by phone, saying that ‘we have just stopped the permission for marriages between Khmers and foreigners because of exploitation. Now it is difficult to marry Khmer nationals, let alone talking about prostitution, it becomes more difficult.’

“It should be noted that the Royal Government of Cambodia stopped early March to issue permission for marriages between Khmers and foreigners until further notice, because some Khmer women who lack knowledge and live in poor conditions are often cheated under the pretext of a marriage to a foreign country, but finally they become prostitutes.

“There is an alliance of sex workers in Australia which raised the current needs of foreign prostitute immigrants on 29 April 2008, as Australia is expecting many foreign prostitutes as they are also expecting many doctors.

“Elena Jeffreys, the president of the Australian sex workers’ association, told the Australian media Australian Broadcasting Corporation, ‘We are considering an human rights approach to labor migration generally, and then any labor migration policy can include a non-discriminatory approach to sex workers as well.’

“She added that the Australian Immigration Department could save millions of dollars each year used for apprehending illegal immigrants and raids on brothels [searching for illegal immigrants], if those who are sex workers could ask for working visas.

“However, the Cambodian official called for caution about such kind of plan.

“Cambodian officials and human rights activists indicated that most Cambodian prostitutes earn only US$1.25 from serving one client, and it would be difficult for them to meet the requirements to apply for working visas to work in Australia.

“Ms. Kek Galabru [the director of LICADHO], a leading human rights activist, said by phone that she does not support such a request, but it depends on the sex workers themselves to ask or not to ask for such visas; and she will give them advice related to these issues.”

Deum Ampil, Vol.3, #68, 14-15.5.2008

Overseas Officials To See International Adoption’s Success

By Shereen Oca
Staff Writer

A group of high-ranking delegates and officers from China and Cambodia will visit Long Beach this Saturday in an effort to learn more about international adoption from the people it directly affects — adoptive families, their children and adult adoptees — at the annual Holt Family Picnic.

More than 300 people connected through Holt International Children’s Services will reunite, celebrate and share their adoption experiences this Saturday at El Dorado East Regional Park.

“It’s rare that we get the highest-ranking officials,” said Sally Dunbar, of Holt Family Recruitment.

The officials are members of the China Centre of Adoption Affairs and the Chinese Department of Civil Affairs as well as officers from the Royal Government of Cambodia. For some of them, including China’s Director of Civil Affairs, this visit will be a milestone, organizers said, as they haven’t had the opportunity to see the adopted children in their new environment.

“We want to let officials know how good these children grow in their family,” said Jian Chen, director of programs with China at Holt. “To see what kind of support these children have in the U.S.”

At the picnic, the international delegates will have a chance to meet with many of the 75 families expected to attend — families such as the Davees.

For 10 years, Mary and Bill Davee tried to have a baby, during which, Davee endured two ectopic pregnancies and one miscarriage. Then, Davee said she remembered seeing a news program in high school on the large number of G.I. babies left in Korean orphanages.

“I thought if my father hadn’t married my mom, I could have been one of those babies,” said Davee, who is of African American and Korean descent. “It had a special place with me, although I didn’t know it at the time.”

That impression remained with Davee throughout the years, she added. Although she couldn’t remember the specific name of the adoption agency, she said she knew it contained four letters. Holt.

The Davees contacted the adoption agency, and now are the parents of a girl from China, 27-month-old Jinji.

Harry and Bertha Holt were inspired in a similar way in the 1950s. Spurred on by images of mixed race children in Korean orphanages, the Holts were moved to take the children in as their own, a practice unheard of at the time, according to the organization. They moved both Houses of Congress to pass a law allowing them to adopt, and soon thereafter, the couple became parents of eight Korean War orphans. In 1956, Holt International was born.

In addition to the families, Chinese and Cambodian officials will meet with adult adoptees like Todd Kwapisz.

Korean-born Kwapisz was adopted in 1973. He grew up in what he called the mostly-white community of Lake Orion, Mich. People often ask him if he was treated differently, but he said he didn’t think about being adopted until he was 18. That’s when his parents sent him on a Holt-coordinated heritage tour to Korea with 40 others who also were adopted.

“(There was a) common thread of stories (about being) adopted,” Kwapisz said. “Families didn’t look like us. Questions about being adopted. Being different. To have that bond and be able to talk to other people who can relate to you was a powerful experience.”

Kwapisz now serves as director of Holt’s Adult Adoptee Outreach.

“Holt has learned adoption is a lifelong process,” Kwapisz said, which is the reason it puts together programs such as heritage camps and tours and hosts reunion picnics.

The presence of Cambodian officers this year is particularly important, Dunbar said, because currently inter-country adoption laws between Cambodia and the U.S. are closed and have been since 2001.

Dunbar said she hopes this experience will help the Royal Government “gain reassurance that results are positive.”

A Korean-style barbecue lunch and children’s activities, including a water balloon toss, a three-legged race and bounce houses, are planned for the picnic. It will take place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 7550 E. Spring St.

“It’s sort of a vision of the future for us,” Davee’s husband, Bill said of seeing adoptive families with children of all ages. “It’s a very joyful experience.”

Although the picnic’s primary focus is on Holt families, it is open to adoptive families from other agencies and also those interested in international adoption.

E-WG student makes mark at 'history day'

Wednesday, 14 May 2008

Erika Johansen's personal connection to her topic brought life to her performance
EXETER — Exeter-West Greenwich sophomore Erika Johansen is one of 49 Rhode Island students chosen to represent the state at the national History Day competition in Washington, D.C. next month.

Johansen earned her way to the national competition by winning at the state level in late April, an event that drew approximately 300 student competitors from 29 public, private and parochial schools.

What makes her win especially gratifying is that as a school, Exeter-West Greenwich doesn’t participate in the annual competition. Johansen decided to enter the event on her own.

“Some schools require students to enter but they don’t do that at EWG,” she said. “I wanted to do it independently.”

Johansen credits her mother, Lisa Johansen, and Matthew Brissette – both history teachers at Coventry High School – with guiding her through the process.

The theme of this year’s competition was “conflict and compromise” and projects ranged from the history of the Narragansett Indians to Roe v. Wade.

Johansen, who entered the competition’s performance category, took on the task of completing an annotated bibliography with 30 sources, writing a paper and writing, memorizing, and acting out a nine-minute script because she found a topic that truly inspired her: landmine victims of the Cambodian genocide.

It was a topic to which 16-year-old Johansen was especially sensitive because she is an amputee.
Johansen was born with a birth defect and, after undergoing surgery to cleanly sever her underdeveloped limb, she was fitted with her first prosthetic leg before she was 2.

“I’ve never known life with two legs,” she said. “I can’t really imagine what it’s like for these victims who were born with two legs, then lost one in an accident like that.”

Johansen became interested in the plight of Cambodians under Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge after reading two books by Cambodian author Loung Ung.

Ung, author of non-fiction works “First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers” and “Lucky Child: A Daughter of Cambodia Reunites With the Sister She Left Behind” survived the Khmer Rouge genocide campaign that claimed the lives of an estimated 2 million in the 1970s and 80s.

After both her parents were killed, Ung and her older brother escaped Cambodia in 1980, fleeing to Thailand where they lived in a refugee camp before eventually immigrating to the United States.

Landmines still litter the Cambodian countryside and since arriving in the United States, Ung has become an advocate for genocide survivors and amputees.

Today, the American Red Cross estimates that 35,000 Cambodians have lost limbs in landmine accidents.

One of Johansen’s primary sources of information for the project was Ung herself, whom she interviewed over the phone.

Johansen wrote her script “through the eyes of a survivor,” she said, a survivor preparing to leave Cambodia for America. Her presentation included music, a set and photographs. To make her performance even more personal, Johansen decided not to wear her prosthetic leg.

“My leg is a real security blanket for me,” she said. “I never go anywhere without wearing it so it made me feel a little vulnerable.

“I think I realize more than other people how this can affect your life. My leg broke one day and I was traumatized. I got it fixed right away but I don’t go one day without using it.”

In the United States, Johansen said a prosthetic leg costs about $15,000. In Cambodia where, according to a 2004 census 35 percent of the population lives below the poverty line, luxuries, such as prosthetics, are simply not an option for many.

“Amputees without prosthetics are seen as not being whole in the Buddhist religion,” she said.
Theravada Buddhists constitute 95 percent of the Cambodian population.

“Victims have a difficult time getting jobs. They often have no other choice than to beg for money on the streets,” Johansen said.

Johansen said she hopes the work she put into the project will count toward the new state-mandated senior project requirements but because she’s only a sophomore, she’ll have to petition the board and explain why she did the project early, rather than in her senior year.

If she’s unable to sway the board in her favor, she said she would like to organize a benefit at the school to raise money for Cambodian amputees with Loung Ung as the guest speaker.

As for the competition itself, Johansen said she would consider entering again.

“It was a lot of work but it was a great experience. I got a great sense of accomplishment from it.