Nigerians claim cultural bias

Photo by: Sebastian Strangio

Congregants worship during a service at the Wonders Harvest Church, a predominantly Nigerian congregation in Chamkarmon district.

Congregants worship during a service at the Wonders Harvest Church, a predominantly Nigerian congregation in Chamkarmon district.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

I’d say that one out of 10 schools would be ready to take on an african.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Post by CAAI News Media)

Tuesday, 29 September 2009 15:01 Sebastian Strangio and Cheang Sokha

Community leaders say govt unfairly targets Nigerians for visa violations and fees while limiting employment opportunities within the Kingdom.

A FIERY figure behind the pulpit, evangelist Prince Osang Joshua strikes a quieter note in person, relaxing in his small office at the back of the Wonders Harvest Church in Chamkarmon district.

Founded with his wife Fatima in 2007, the church is one of several small Pentecostal congregations serving the spiritual needs of Phnom Penh’s growing Nigerian community. But following a recent series of raids on Nigerian residents – including one on a different house of worship in August – the church services, a noisy mix of African chants and American South gospel sermonising, have begun to incorporate more worldly concerns.

Following a recent spate of police raids and visa complications that have drawn accusations of racism from some Africans, Joshua said the local Nigerian community – the largest African nationality in the country – was falling victim to the bad deeds of a minority.

“Just like in my country Nigeria, there are good people and there are bad people,” he said.

Joshua’s sermons, delivered in a mix of English and the Nigerian Ebo language, touch on many of the issues facing new Nigerian arrivals – such as finding work, avoiding visa complications and forming a “vision” for their lives in Cambodia.

“We try to advise [Nigerians] not to overstay their visas. We try to guide them to make sure they don’t overstay, and if they do overstay, what is the best possible means [of addressing it],” he said.

Although the Kingdom has long been known for its liberal visa-issuance policy, other Nigerians said the last year has seen an unexplained tightening of visa restrictions.

On August 2, armed police raided the Christ Embassy, a house of worship in Chamkarmon district, and detained 57 members of the predominantly Nigerian congregation for questioning. The sting followed the arrest of three Nigerians a further 20 Africans – most of whom were found to have overstayed their visas – only months before.

Turning the screwsGabriel Ken Gadaffi, the president of the Nigerian Community Association (NCA) in Cambodia, which represents around 150 of the country’s estimated 600 Nigerian residents, said that although business and tourist visas were usually issued a month at a time, many Nigerians had

reported to him that they were only being granted entry for a week or two. (Disclosure: Gadaffi is a frequent contributor to the Post).

“It can be very difficult for someone who comes as a tourist or to find a job – he can’t do that in a week or two weeks,” he said. “Then they find themselves stuck.

Others said that Cambodian immigration officials were requesting large cash bribes for standard-issue visas. Emmanuel Tony Jackson, who runs an educational consultancy and is also the NCA’s vice-president, said visas were now the “main problem” facing the community.

“Immigration [officers] at the airport make Nigerians pay a lot of money, and the prices are exorbitant: They pay $400 or $500 to gain entry.”

Bede Uwalaka, who has been living in Cambodia since 1999, said that in the past year he had faced unprecedented problems renewing his visa and those of his wife and two children. He said that the government could lose valuable contributions if the issue is not dealt with.

“The Ministry of Interior has the jurisdiction to determine how to issue visas, but those who are rejected should receive a plain reason why they have been rejected,” said Uwalaka, an English teacher and the director of marketing and liaison at Action for Health, a local NGO.

Others, however, said the recent series of raids are underpinned by prejudice against black Africans. Following the Christ Embassy raid last month, church members, including pastor Lenee Lahben, decried the action as “racist”.

Gadaffi also cited the difficulty experienced by Nigerians seeking work as English teachers, saying Cambodian schools often associate white skin with English proficiency.

“From my own experience, the schools do not consider your intellectual ability,” said Gadaffi. “I’d say that one out of 10 schools would be ready to take on an African.”

Cambodian officials said the law laid down clear guidelines for all foreigners, saying recent stings had only involved clear cases of drug trafficking and visa violations.

“The behaviour of Nigerian people is noisy, which is different to Cambodian culture,” said Mom Sitha, director of the Foreigner Office of the Phnom Penh Municipality, but denied that Nigerians were being unfairly targeted by the police.

“We have explained that they can stay in Cambodia only if they have ... a visa permitting them to live in Cambodia.”

Sona Soth, director of Phnom Penh International Airport, said he there had been no formal complaints about the behaviour of immigration officers, despite rumours that some foreigners were forced to pay bribes to gain visas.

Either way, Gadaffi said, it was important for police to judge actions rather than skin colour when dealing with legal issues.

“Look at the name, don’t look at the nationality,” he said. “Around the world, Nigerians are doing great things.”

Arrivals rise 10pc in August, but data masks downturn

Photo by: Steve Finch

Foreign tourists visit Angkor Wat last month. Government figures for August showed a 9.98 percent rise in arrivals, but analysts said the gains were came courtesy of low-spending day-trippers.

Tourism in 2009


Arrivals up to end of August by type of transport with the percentage change year on year:


Air 730,936 -13.03pc
Land 562,867 +20.54pc
Sea 54,062 +15.03pc
Total 1.42m +1.37pc
Source: Ministry of Tourism

Post by CAAI News Media

TOURISM arrivals climbed again in August, but analysts warned that the data did not signify a recovery in the sector, with the gains mostly coming from visitors crossing overland borders rather than air arrivals from the higher-spending developed world.

Last month 171,668 foreigners came to Cambodia, Minister of Tourism Thong Khon said Monday at an inauguration ceremony for a new ministry building in Phnom Penh, a 9.98 percent rise on last August when the Kingdom received 156,098 overseas tourists.

“We can determine that Cambodian tourism is recovering due to a rebound from the global financial crisis,” the minister said.

August’s rise in tourists follows a 10.35 percent annualised increase for July after the previous six months of 2009 all saw year-on-year decreases in arrivals. For the first eight months of this year, tourist numbers rose 1.37 percent compared with the same period last year, Thong Khon said Monday.

However, the figures mask the fact that high-spending tourists from areas including Europe are still in decline as the developed world struggles to recover from the global economic crisis, and that gains in visitors were made largely in regional tourists, said Kong Sopearak, director general of the ministry’s statistics office.

“Although we see the number of tourists from the region has increased, they do not spend much during their visit,” he said.

The ministry’s latest figures showed a 13 percent slide in air arrivals in the first eight months of 2009 year-on-year, whereas land arrivals were up 20.54 percent: Visitors from Vietnam rose 43.66 percent and from Laos a staggering 126.29 percent over the same period. Overall day arrivals climbed more than 50 percent in the first eight months of this year, the figures showed.

Visitors from the United States increased slightly, by 2.26 percent in the first eight months, and from the United Kingdom 15.1 percent more visitors came to Cambodia during the same period.

However, Japanese visitors were down 14 percent, and those from South Korea – previously the top visitors to Cambodia – slid 31.23 percent up to the end of August this year, the data showed. Visitor numbers from Australia were also down – 5.38 percent during the same period.

“It just declined by country – our main tourist markets are still doing well,” said Kong Sophearak.

However, an International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation to Phnom Penh last week said recent figures, if taken at face value, painted a distorted picture of what would appear to be a tourism recovery in the Kingdom.

The IMF projected a contraction for the tourism sector in the second half of the year at a press briefing last week, citing a double-digit decline in air arrivals and reports from hotel operators of a “sharp reduction” in occupancy rates and forward bookings that are “sharply down” from last year.

“We don’t have a lot of reason to be optimistic with regards to near-term performance in this sector,” said David Cowen, deputy division chief at the IMF’s Asia and Pacific Department.

Headline arrival numbers were a poor gauge of tourism sector fortunes, he said, as an increase in same-day arrivals had masked a drop in tourists from key countries including South Korea and Japan.

“Tourism is up but driven by regional tourists, particularly from Vietnam where the waiver of visa fees has made it an attractive destination,” he said. “Air arrivals are down and air arrivals are typically going to bring you higher-spending tourists.”

Despite the IMF forecast, the Cambodian Association of Travel Agents (CATA) said Monday that it remained optimistic about the rest of the year.

“Although [tourist numbers] merely went up just over 1 percent … it is better than a drop…. It is a good sign,” said CATA President Ang Kim Eang, referring to the first eights months of 2009. “I think our sector will get better over the next few months because the global economy is now in recovery.”

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY NATHAN GREEN

Top trade official urges WTO to ease membership rules

Photo by: AFP

Trade representatives from some of the world’s poorest countries meet in Phnom Penh on Monday to discuss ways to speed up the process of joining the World Trade Organisation.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
We think that WTO membership is a very attractive opportunity that can bring positive economic results to all countries....
------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Post by CAAI News Media)

Tuesday, 29 September 2009 15:01 Chun Sophal

Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh warns meeting of trade representatives from least-developed nations of ‘systemic’ barriers to admission to trade body.

Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh called on the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Monday to address “systematic” obstacles to the admission of least-developed countries (LDCs) into the trade body.

Only three countries categorised as least-developed had been admitted to the global organisation since it was launched in 1995, he told officials from the WTO, World Bank, the European Commission and United Nations as they met in Phnom Penh with trade representatives from 12 LDCs to discuss ways of speeding the entry process.

“We think that it is time we faced the problem, and it is also time we re-examined the systematic problem more thoroughly because these [admission] problems can cause negative effects for the development of the future members of the organisation and can also be an obstacle for balance in the organisation,” Cham Prasidh said.

Trade representatives from Cambodia, which was admitted to the WTO in 2004, were joined by counterparts from fellow LDCs Cape Verde and Nepal in giving advice on entry procedures to negotiators from 12 of the least-developed countries in Asia and Africa at the three-day meeting that concludes Wednesday.

The countries – Afghanistan, Bhutan, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Laos, Sudan, Vanuatu, Yemen, Comoros, Liberia, Samoa, and Sao Tome and Principe – are among 29 negotiating to join the WTO.

Cham Prasidh said he expected Laos to be granted full-member status at the seventh WTO Ministerial Conference, which will be held in Geneva over three days from November 30.

Finance Minister Keat Chhon said he expected the accession of the remaining LDCs to be a major issue at the ministerial conference, but that it is critical aspirants gain access to the benefits of trade liberalisation.

“Helping the remaining least-developed countries get accession into the WTO and thus the multi-party trade system will give them the equal and fair trade opportunities they need to reduce poverty and achieve their millennium development goals,” he said.

Keat Chhon added that the world economic crisis had a disproportionate impact on LDCs that were excluded from some of the trade advantages WTO membership conferred.

“We think that WTO membership is a very attractive opportunity that can bring positive economic results to all countries that are proposing to join this organisation,” he said.

The meeting came after developing nations pleaded Friday for progress in the long-languishing Doha round of global trade negotiations as the leaders of 20 major economies met at a G-20 summit in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

In a statement issued at the summit, emerging powers such as China and India, along with the WTO’s least-developed nations, said the poor were particularly hurt by the global economic woes.

The conclusion of the Doha round would boost confidence in the world trading system, “prevent the rise of protectionism and provide a much-needed boost to the global economy,” they said.

“It is time now for real leadership and strong action in order to meet the 2010 goal” of a free-trade agreement, they said.

The Doha round of negotiations, named for the Qatari capital where they started in 2001, collapsed last year amid major disagreements between developed and developing nations. But recent talks in New Delhi agreed to the resumption of high-level dialogue aimed at jump-starting negotiations.

Emerging economies are pressing rich nations to curb politically sensitive support for their farmers, which poorer nations contend distorts the global economic system.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY AFP

US embassy to host Mekong subregion energy conference

(Post by CAAI News Media)

Tuesday, 29 September 2009 15:01 Steve Finch

THE US embassy in Phnom Penh will host a Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) energy conference starting today in the capital, with delegates set to discuss energy needs in the region which encompasses Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand and southern China.

The event will include the participation of a number of energy companies – including Chevron, General Electric and ConocoPhillips – that will present energy implementation plans for the GMS region, according to a press statement released on Friday by the US Embassy.

“Steady supplies of energy will be a critical element of future GMS trade and growth,” it said.

Among the presentations likely to be relevant to Cambodia’s energy situation are those by Bill Lafferrandre, vice president of ConocoPhillips, who will deliver a talk on the joint development of overlapping claims, and a presentation on best practices in the sector by Gerry M Flaherty, Chevron’s general manager of exploration and new ventures.

Cambodia in 2001 agreed a joint-development agreement with Bangkok over a disputed area in the Gulf of Thailand, but discussions over the exact breakdown of revenues that would come from such an arrangement have never been concluded, a result that has stalled development of the area.

Chevron, as the most likely company to first produce energy for Cambodia at its off-shore Block A, remains a significant presence in the Kingdom’s energy sector as it seeks a deal with the government on an extension to its concession deal in talks that remain stalled.

“The GMS-EC (Economic Cooperation) programme envisions regional production and distribution of energy, creating new opportunities for energy-related technology producers, distributors and traders,” the statement said.

Other speakers include Te Duong Tara, director general of the Cambodia National Petroleum Authority, energy officials from the other GMS countries and Carol Rodley, the US ambassador to Cambodia.

The event, which concludes Wednesday, is to be held at the InterContinental Hotel.

PM again dismisses 2009 GDP forecasts

(Post by CAAI News Media)

Tuesday, 29 September 2009 15:01 Nguon Sovan

PRIME Minister Hun Sen on Monday dismissed recent GDP growth forecasts by international organisations, urging the population to concentrate on work rather than predictions on the Kingdom’s economic output for 2009.

Speaking Monday at an inauguration ceremony for a new Ministry of Tourism building in Phnom Penh, Hun Sen again predicted that the agricultural sector would flourish this year.

“Whatever the forecast is – positive or negative – it is not important because it is just a figure,” he said.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) last week projected that the agricultural sector would be one of the few bright spots for the Kingdom’s economy, forecasting 5 percent year-on-year growth for 2009.

But ADB and the International Monetary Fund both lowered their predictions last week for Cambodian growth in 2009, to 1.5 percent and 2.75 percent contractions respectively.

In contrast, the London-based Economic Intelligence Unit, which has traditionally pitched its forecasts below the ADB in particular, this month revised upwards its prediction for the economy from -3 percent to -1.5 percent for this year. It cited signs of a global recovery for the improved forecast.

Nevertheless, Hun Sen said, such predictions remain meaningless to most of the population.

“The most important issue is the people’s living conditions.... If they have enough water and food, if there are people that are dying from starvation or not,” said Hun Sen, adding that most Cambodians had not shown any interest in GDP forecasts previously, even when the Kingdom experienced double-digit growth in recent years.

Earlier this year the government predicted GDP growth of about 6 percent for 2009, although some officials have since said that the economy would likely expand at around half this level.

Digi set to launch phone services

Photo by: Nathan Green

DTV Star Chief Marketing Officer Maria Teplukhina and Chief Executive Officer Andrey Shin.

(Post by CAAI News Media)

Tuesday, 29 September 2009 15:00 Nathan Green

Broadband service provider also plans to offer cable television in a bid to crack open the ultra competitive internet market in Phnom Penh through a ‘triple play’ bundled offering.

BROADBAND service provider DTV Star is set to bring the second component of its “triple play” communications offering to the Phnom Penh market at the start of next month with the launch of internet protocol (IP) telephone services.

Digi will bundle the telephone services with its broadband internet offerings from October 1 and add cable television services later this year or early next when testing and negotiations with content providers are completed, Chief Marketing Officer Maria Teplukhina said.

The company has been offering broadband internet services under its Digi brand since December last year but had not yet tried to crack the residential market.

“Until this moment we have been working with corporate clients but the retail market is our core market and we have prepared very attractive, low cost packages for residential clients,” Teplukhina said. “Telephony and internet is ready, and TV is coming soon.”

Chief Executive Officer Andrey Shin acknowledged the tough competition in the broadband market in Phnom Penh, particularly given low internet penetration rates and the presence of around 30 licensed internet service providers, but said the bundling of services through a single connection would give it the edge.

“We understand that to make an attractive proposal for residential clients we need to offer more than only the internet,” he said. “We are focusing our service offering around a triple play of broadband internet, telephone and TV services.”

The ability to access all three services through one company – and one fibre optic connection – is an attractive proposition for customers, Shin said, although they would be able to pick and choose the services they subscribed too. A wide range of pricing and bandwidth options were available, with data speeds up to 100 Megabits per second (mbps) available within the Digi network.

Broadband packages with unlimited downloads ranged from US$38 for a 64 Kilobits per second connection (kbps) up to $238 for a 512 kbps offering. Capped data offerings started at $15 per month with download speeds up to 1 mbps

Around 50 percent of households in Phnom Penh were within reach of the company’s fibre optic network, which it has been building since last year, Teplukhina said. The company was continuing to develop the network, and will eventually extend it to the rest of the country, with a long-term goal of capturing 20 percent of households. “Our final goal is to build a vast network and provide all kinds of services over it,” she said.

Negotiations with television channels were continuing and the company planned to offer at least 100 channels, though Shin said a timetable for launch had not yet been finalised.

Its main competitors are Taiwan-owned Cambodian Cable Television (CCTV), which has been in operation since 1995, and new entrant Phnom Penh Cable Television (PPCTV), which bundles digital cable television with broadband internet but does not offer telephone services.

DTV Star is owned by investors from Kazahkstan, including Visor Group, the owner of Advanced Bank of Asia.

Giving voice to the voiceless

Photo by: Nhim Pheakdey

Lynn Nottage guides actors through a Khmer translation of her script during a rehearsal at Amrita Performing Arts last Friday.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
WE ARE NOT JOURNALISTS – THEATRE ARTISTS ARE SOUL HEALERS.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Post by CAAI News Media)

Tuesday, 29 September 2009 15:00 Sarah Outhwaite

Khmer actors discover an award-winning play about the pain and suffering of women in war-torn Congo resonates with their experiences in Cambodia.

At a public reading in Phnom Penh last week, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage made her case for theatre in regions torn by violence and oppression.

Theatre can heal cultural horrors and is necessary for human survival, she said.

“It’s like oxygen,” Nottage said. “If we cut off the source, the culture withers and dies.”

Nottage leaves Cambodia today after two weeks helping Royal University of Fine Arts artists direct scenes in a new Khmer translation by Sok Sokunthy of her Pulitzer Prize-winning play Ruined.

Ruined centres on the tragedies of exploited women in the Congo, in a horrific ongoing war zone that Nottage visited in 2004. She said the experience had moulded her budding play into a story of women’s suffering.

“So many women wanted to tell me their stories that I couldn’t hear them all,” she said. “Rape was a word repeated so many times that I was physically sick.”

Ruined is set in a Congo brothel, where tough-as-nails proprietress Mama Nadi protects and exploits the women living under her.

Brutally raped by soldiers, then rejected by their communities as “ruined”, these companions survive amid constant war and their own anguished emotions.

Translating emotion

Nottage said the script underwent minor modifications in translation for the RUFA students.

“All of the curse words have been removed from the script,” Nottage explained.

“They’ve found ways of softening it for the Khmer actors because the language is quite salty.” However, this has not taken the sting out of any of the play’s raw feeling.

“I don’t understand the translation – but I understand the emotions,” said Nottage of the student rehearsals she saw.

At the showing of the Ruined workshop last Friday, four master teachers presented four scenes from the play.

Still carrying scripts after only three days of rehearsal, students engaged the material deeply, committing to the continuity of their characters beyond the missed cues.

In several scenes, tears rose in the eyes of the actresses playing the brothel workers, and songs performed by Sun Ratana as the character Sophia set a haunting mood.

Moeung Sok Lorn, who has been on the faculty for four years, described Nottage’s workshop as “a new, modern form that I never did before”.

Nottage led teachers in the techniques that dominated American theatre over the past century, helping actors create their own character interpretations through guided script analysis.

“Usually when we learn in the school, the master always teaches how to follow,” Moeung Sok Lorn said. “You do this. You walk one step, you turn around, and then speak.”

He said he had more freedom working on Ruined.

“The writer or director explains how to make the full character, and then you must understand the story by yourself, read carefully and think what is right or what is wrong,” he said.

Chhon Sina, a teacher who directed one of the scenes, said she discovered something new – how to differentiate internal feelings and external appearance.

“In some scenes the character shows themselves very happy, smiling and laughing,” she said. “But actually it is really sadness inside. That energy has to contact the audience.”

Playing the role of Josephine, student and actress Chiek Chanthy found images of unsettling familiarity in the story. “[The play] is similar to Cambodia because the character of the bad man who gets drunk in a bar is seen a lot,” Chiek Chanthy said.

Nottage said she used her work to give voice to “marginalised people, the voiceless, women”.

“We are not journalists,” says Nottage. “Theatre artists are soul healers.”

The ideas brought by Nottage will be powerful tools for these artists, after she shared with them the same strong voice she lent to the women of the Congo.

Nottage’s visit was organised by the US embassy with help from Amrita Performing Arts and Cambodia Living Arts.

Vy Savuth steps in to capture Cambodia’s first boxing belt

Photo by: Nick Sells (www.nicksellsphotography.com)

Cambodia’s Vy Savuth (left) throws a punch at Filipino Paul Apolinario during their WBC super bantamweight world title fight Sunday at Olympic Stadium.

(Post by CAAI News Media)

Tuesday, 29 September 2009 15:00 Robert Starkweather

Vy Savuth scores a stunning sixth-round knockdown against Paul Apolinario Sunday to lay claim to the vacant WBC international super bantamweight title.

EIGHT days ago, Vy Savuth was an unheralded amateur boxer with few prospects. But at Olympic Stadium on Sunday, against terrible odds, the 19-year-old Takhmao native became Cambodia’s newest national hero, stopping Filipino boxer Paul Apolinario in the sixth round to win the vacant interim WBC international super bantamweight title.

Before Sunday, there was no professional English-rules boxing in Cambodia. Now it claims a world champion.

With a minute gone in the sixth round, Vy Savuth appeared to hurt Apolinario with a left-right combination. As Apolinario stood frozen with his chest against the ropes, Vy Savuth hammered him with a left hook.

Apolinario dropped to his knees clutching the back of his head, then tumbled face down to the canvas.

Vy Savuth jumped into the air, raising a victory fist, and the jubilant, 4,000-strong crowd erupted into thunderous cheers, celebrating the arrival of Cambodia’s first international boxing title.

It wasn’t even Vy Savuth’s fight. He was filling in for Svay Ratha, the amateur champion who was originally scheduled to face Apolinario. But Svay Ratha had pulled out of the bout some days previous, opting instead for a chance to train in Portugal. Vy Savuth got just seven days’ notice.

“He’s never been more than four rounds,” said Duong Boray, Vy Savuth’s trainer at the Phnom Pich boxing club in Takhmao. None of that mattered Sunday.

Vy Savuth came out sharp from the opening bell, firing crisp jabs and landing hard combinations. To the delight of the roaring crowd, the two fighters traded flurries of combinations in every round. Apolinario proved tough, and until he went down in the sixth, he never appeared hurt, despite taking the harder shots.

The knockout came at just the right time. Vy Savuth looked tired in round five, and Apolinario stared to pick up the pace. The bout was scheduled for 10 rounds.

“He was strong,” Vy Savuth said after the fight, fingering some slight puffiness in his cheeks. “He caught me a few times with good overhand rights.”

Photo by: Nick Sells (www.nicksellsphotography.com)
Vy Savuth celebrates his victory by knockout in the sixth round Sunday.

The victory gives Vy Savuth a professional record of 1-0-0 with one knockout. Paul Apolinario drops to 3-4-1.

Cambodians win foreigner bouts In the two international kickboxing fights on the card, Bhuet Kam outpointed Thiego Teixeira of Brazil and Nuon Soriya scored a second-round TKO victory over Peter Pikinic of Uganda.

Both Teixeira (13-2-0) and Pikinic (8-2-0) were last-minute replacements for Stephen Meikle and Danny Taylor, who were originally scheduled to fight Bheut Kam and Nuon Soriya, respectively.

Teixeira, who weighed in at 72 kilograms, held a noticeable size advantage over Bhuet Kam, who weighed in at 67 kilograms.

“He was a lot bigger than me, which made it difficult in the clinch,” Bheut Kam said afterward. “If we were the same size, I would have knocked him out.”

Nuon Soriya beat Pikinic with a flurry of unanswered punches in the second round, scoring three eight-counts and triggering the three-knockdown rule.

“That’s what happens when you don’t train,” Pikinic said afterward. “Before the fight, I told him my weakness. I told him, ‘It’s your game. Take it.’”

On the undercard, Nuon Phireak scored a fourth-round TKO victory over Sarim Vonthon due to doctor stoppage because of a cut, and Les Tuk scored a fourth-round knockdown with a head kick on his way to earning a decision over Phon Sophorn.

Young Lions rout Cambodia

Photo by: Nick Sells (http://www.nicksellsphotography.com/)

Singapore U23 player Eddie Chang (right) slides in to make a tackle on Cambodia’s Prak Monyoudom during their interntional friendly match Sunday at Olympic Stadium.

(Post by CAAI News Media)

Tuesday, 29 September 2009 15:00 Andy Brouwer

Cambodia’s U23 national football team feel the full force of their Singaporean counterparts, the Young Lions, with a 6-0 thumping at Olympic Stadium Sunday.

THOUGH the score looks horrifying, don’t read too much into it. That was the message coming out of the Cambodian camp after a 6-0 drubbing by Singapore at the Olympic Stadium on Sunday. This was the first game in Scott O’Donell’s return to coach the Cambodian national team, and most of his team had played the day before in Cambodia’s domestic Super 4 championships.

Singapore – big, strong and athletic – included a dozen players from club side Young Lions, who play in their domestic S-League with the sole aim of producing well-drilled and ready-made international players. It’s actually a model that Cambodia is seriously thinking of copying.

For O’Donell and his team, it’s all part of the learning process. “Its beneficial to play teams as good as Singapore,” said the national coach after the game. “It shows us how far we have to go. I pick the team, so I take full responsibility for the result today.

“I hate losing, and so do the players. They are very disappointed, especially after we played so well for 35 minutes. But I’ve told them the game lasts 90 minutes, and we stopped doing in the second half what we did so well in the first. We’ll get better,” promised O’Donell.

Photo by: Nick Sells (http://www.nicksellsphotography.com/)

Cambodia coach Scott O’Donell (left) chats with old friend and Singapore coach Raddy Avramovic after the final whistle Sunday at Olympic stadium.

Teams play on sodden turf

The rain lashed the teams as they lined up for the national anthems, with the downpour making the field slippery, though that suited both teams as they zipped the ball around in a bright opening to the friendly international. Looking composed, the Cambodian back four dealt with Singapore’s more direct style with relative ease, and in Nov Soseila they had a real threat down the left flank.

Cambodia’s Kuoch Sokumpheak almost created a great opening for himself on 16 minutes when he cut inside his marker but fired his shot well off target.

The same player went a lot closer with a far post header 10 minutes later, but a deflection took it out for a corner. From the flag-kick, Tieng Tiny was head and shoulders above everyone else, but powered his header just over the crossbar.

It was all Cambodia at this point, but they were rocked back on their heels on 35 minutes when Singapore scored with their first real chance.

Shaiful Esah was allowed too much freedom on the left flank, and his low-drilled cross eluded Sou Yaty in the Cambodian goal and was touched over the line by Khairul Nizam, with Sun Sovannarith just failing to clear.

Singapore quickly seized the initiative, catching Cambodia napping six minutes later with a smartly taken free kick. Sahfig Ghani spotted Gabriel Quak in acres of space on the edge of the box and played him in, only for Sou Yaty to smother his first shot. However, the alert midfielder reacted quickly to tuck the loose ball over the line and extend his team’s lead going into half-time.

With unlimited substitutions for both sides, much of the second half was stop-start, but that didn’t trouble Singapore, who took advantage of a demoralised Cambodian team that failed to recover the form they’d shown for much of the preceding half.

Young Lions striker Fadhil Noh made it a game for him to remember with a hat trick in 16 minutes, cashing in on some slack defensive play and netting his goals on 56, 66 and 72 minutes.

His first was provided by a Gabriel Quak cross that he controlled well and slotted past replacement keeper Samrith Seiha. A tap-in from inches out was Noh’s simple second, after a spectacular save from Samrith had denied Shahdan Sulaiman, and Noh’s third came from an Eddie Chang header, which he controlled and lifted over the advancing keeper.

Despite a spirited final 15 minutes, Cambodia never seriously troubled the Singaporean goal, and the visitors had the last laugh four minutes from the end. Fairoz Hasan showed three defenders a clean pair of heels and finished with style to seal an emphatic win.

Cambodia will lick their wounds with a training camp in Vietnam over the next month as they begin their preparations for the SEA Games in earnest, hoping they don’t encounter an equally rampant Singapore in the group matches in Laos in December.

We are worthy champions, says Naga boss

Photo by: Nick Sells (http://www.nicksellsphotography.com/)

Naga Corp players celebrate their victory in the Cambodian Premier League Super 4 playoff final Saturday at Olympic Stadium.

(Post by CAAI News Media)

Tuesday, 29 September 2009 15:00 Ken Gadaffi

MOMENTS after the final whistle Saturday that signified the third Cambodian Premier League title for Naga Corp, manager Michael Thachnen was rounded up by his players and thrown into the air in jubilation. “I am so happy,” beamed Thachnen. “At this moment, I am just so exuberated and short of words.

“We had an inconsistent performance throughout the season, and so not many people gave us the chance to emerge as champions. We have always been in the top four, but today [Saturday] we have made it happen and proved that we are worthy champions.”

Thachnen paid tribute to his team’s efforts in clinching this year’s CPL championship. “I am proud of my players,” he said. “We worked together and didn’t allow this chance to slip by us, and I am dedicating this victory to all of them for their cooperation.”

Winger Meas Channa was also delighted with the victory. “I am very happy and excited to be a part of this winning team,” he grinned. “For two years now, we didn’t win anything. It feels good to be the champions again.”

Skipper Om Thavarak shared his teammates’ joy during the post-match press conference. “We played well, we won through hard work and we hope to move on from here,” he stated.

Two-goal hero and Naga’s top scorer Sunday Okonkwo was proud his goals made the difference in the match that was heading for a penalty shootout. “I promised to find a way to break Khemara’s solid defence, and I did it today,” he remarked. “I am so happy to win for my team.”

Photo by: Nick Sells (http://www.nicksellsphotography.com/)

Khemara Keila manager Salang Kang thought his side “put up a good fight” in the final.

Coach blames his midfield

Meanwhile, Khemara Keila coach Ung Kanyarith, who had won the trophy as a player for the club in 2006, was visibly distraught at the end of the epic encounter. “My midfield was poor today,” he said, fighting back tears. “They couldn’t connect well with the attack, and on several occasions [Kuoch] Sokumpheak didn’t get enough service.”

Lanky Nigerian forward Nelson Oladiji, who netted 14 goals during the regular season, looked a shadow of himself throughout the game. “If we had converted the chances that fell to Nelson earlier in the first half, we probably could have gone on to win the game,” Ung Kanyarith opined.

Khemara manager Salang Kang was more upbeat. “I felt we deserved to get something from the game, and we can take a lot of positives from a good performance,” he asserted. “My boys put up a good fight, but I think we were just unlucky today not to have converted the chances that came to us.”

Captain Kouch Sokumpheak could only muster a few words through his disappointment. “I don’t know what to say, I feel so sad,” he said. “I thought we would win, but we lost.”

Satisfactory third for PKR

Preah Khan Reach’s technical director Prak Sovannara was satisfied with the team’s 2-1 win over last year’s champions Phnom Penh Crown Saturday, in the third-place playoff. “It was a good game, and we are happy to have finished third,” he declared. “I wanted [us] to be the champions, but it was not to be, so we go home with third instead.”

Suthep plans to meet Hun Sen

Tuesday September 29, 2009

(Post by CAAI News Media)

Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban plans to meet Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen to discuss the Thai-Cambodian border row after reports Mr Hun Sen has ordered his troops to shoot any trespassers in the disputed border area near Preah Vihear temple.

On Sept 19, yellow-shirt People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) protesters rallied near the ancient temple, demanding the Cambodian government remove its people from the disputed border area.

"I believe Prime Minister Hun Sen could misunderstand the situation and I am ready to talk with him," Mr Suthep, who is charged of security affairs, said on Tuesday.

Mr Suthep said he did not know the Cambodian premier announced that he will not attend the Asean summit, scheduled for next month in Thailand and will not talk with Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.

"I believe this has nothing to do with former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, and I have ordered the Second Region Army commander to keep a close watch on the border area and to prevent clashes between both sides," Mr Suthep said.

The border situation near Preah Vihear temple was still normal, he said.

"The Thai army is also ready to counter if armed Cambodian troops enter Thai territory," Second Army Region commander Lt Gen Wiboonsak Neephan said.

However, the two sides had been trying to negotiate and work together continuously to ease the tension.

PM's deputy secretary-general Panithan Wattanayakorn said the government hoped Cambodia will stick to peaceful means to resolve the border row.

Two journalists convicted of defamation, fined

http://www.ifex.org/

(Post by CAAI News Media)

(SEAPA/IFEX) - A Cambodian court found two journalists guilty of defamation on 22 September 2009 for publishing an article in which an opposition lawmaker criticized a group of military officers, media reports said.

The Associated Press said "Cambodian Daily" editor-in-chief Kevin Doyle and reporter Neou Vannarin were each fined US$1,000. Phnom Penh Municipal Court Judge Sin Visal said, "The article published in their paper caused confusion among the Cambodian people and damaged the dignity of the military officers."

Opposition legislator Ho Vann, who had also been charged with defamation by a group of 22 senior military officers, was acquitted for lack of evidence, according to Judge Sin Visal.

The "Cambodia Daily" ran a story in April of this year in which Ho Vann, a member of the Sam Rainsy Party, was quoted as saying that the military certificates received by the officers in a year-long program in Vietnam were "useless". The officers sued Ho Vann for defamation.

The conviction came on the same day that opposition leader Sam Rainsy told members of the international media in a press conference in Bangkok, Thailand that Prime Minister Hun Sen's government had been actively suppressing dissent in Cambodia.

In the SEAPA-sponsored event, Sam Rainsy accused Hun Sen of depriving the Cambodian government of hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue through graft, corruption and mismanagement of the economy.

He said that the worldwide economic crisis was also taking its toll on ordinary Cambodians, resulting in simmering discontentment among the population. Sam Rainsy said Hun Sen was thus cracking down on the media, the opposition and even civil society groups to contain the situation.

Duong Hak Sam Rithy, vice president of the Cambodian Association for the Protection of Journalists (CAPJ), claimed in the SEAPA-sponsored press conference that some 10 journalists have been killed by suspected government agents.

In July of this year, Ho Vann, along with a party colleague, Mu Suchoa, were stripped of their parliamentary immunity to enable the government to charge them with defamation.

Last month, the same court convicted Mu Sochua of defaming Hun Sen and ordered her to pay US$2,000 to the state and another US$1,882 in compensation to the prime minister.

Doyle, an Irish national, said the newspaper will appeal against the court's ruling.

Songchai Boxing: Savud Wins WBC International Belt

http://www.saddoboxing.com/

By Boxing Press

September 28th, 2009

(Post in CAAI News Media)

Cambodian boxer Vi Savud defeated Paul Apolinario of the Philippines to claim the vacant WBC International super bantam title at Olympic Stadium in Phnom Penh, Cambodia yesterday.

Mr.Songchai Ratanasuban was the promoter and Mr.Tanakorn Jirapasuksakul was the president of the competition accordingly.

The Cambodian was smaller but somehow beat down the Filipino in the sixth round and is the first Cambodian boxer to become an international boxing champion.

Vietnam’s NA delegation visits Cambodia

09/29/2009

(Post in CAAI News Media)

A delegation from the Vietnam National Assembly’s Committee for Culture, Education, Youth and Children is on a working visit to Cambodia.

The delegation, headed by the committee’s Chairman Dao Trong Thi, paid courtesy visits to Cambodia’s Senate President Chea Sim and National Assembly Chairman Heng Samrin on September 28.

At the meetings, the Cambodian legislative leaders welcomed the delegation’s visit, saying that it would help strengthen the traditional ties of friendship between the two countries.

The visit would also provide a good chance for the two countries’ legislative bodies to boost the exchange of experiences, they added.

The Vietnamese NA delegation met with Mom Chimhuy, Chairman of the Cambodian NA’s Commission on Education, Religious Affairs, Culture and Tourism.

The two sides compared notes on a number of laws and policies on culture and education.

Chairman Dao Trong Thi also had a working session with Ho Naun, Chairwoman of the Cambodian NA’s Commission on Health, Social Affairs, Veterans, Youth Rehabilitation, Vocational Training and Women’s Affairs.

The Vietnamese delegation is scheduled to visit the Cambodian Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts and meet with Nath Burnoeun, Secretary of State of the Cambodian Ministry of Education Youth and Sport on Sept. 29.

It was an accident, says family of SA man who died in Cambodia

http://www.eyewitnessnews.co.za/

Imraan Karolia

(Post in CAAI News Media)

The relatives of a South African man who died in Cambodia earlier this month says they view the incident that claimed his life as nothing more than a "tragic accident."

Paul Hutchins and his friend André Bester were enjoying a beach holiday in the Asian country ten days ago when the jet skis they were on collided. Hutchins died in the crash.

Bester was arrested on charges of manslaughter and is expected to appear in court on Tuesday.

Hutchins’s body is expected to be repatriated next week.

“As a family we see this tragedy as an accident and all we can say to the Bester family is, ’We are thinking about you and praying about you’ ” said Hutchins’s sister, Beverley Tromp.

Meanwhile, support is growing for Bester, who remains behind bars in a Cambodian prison.

A Facebook group called Help Fight for André Bester has over 500 members who are posting messages for him.

Report: Land Policy of the Government Affects Most Vulnerable People

Posted on 28 September 2009
The Mirror, Vol. 13, No. 632

http://cambodiamirror.wordpress.com/

(Post in CAAI News Media)

“According to a 81-page report issued on Monday last week [21.9.2009 - “Untitled: Tenure Insecurity and Inequality in the Cambodian Land Sector”], most vulnerable communities countrywide still encounter land ownership insecurity and forced evictions, even though a project has been implemented for seven years, spending millions of dollars to reform the land ownership sector.

“This report was made by a trio of national and international housing rights organizations, and it said that a Land Management and Administration Project was created in 2002 with funds from international donors, including from the World Bank, with the goal to create a ‘transparent and efficient land administration system’ within five years. This 81-page report recognized that this project has issued land titles covering more than one million plots countrywide. But it said that there is little success in several sections.

“This reported said, ‘Though this project has achieved significant success in some places, it has not improved land ownership security in Cambodian society, resulting in an increasing number of vulnerable people as a result of evictions. In general, vulnerable people who have the right to demand their land are not accepted to receive land ownerships and to participate in procedures to address disputes, resulting in a reduced efficiency of programs to alleviate poverty and to increase social stability.

“Some major shortages shown in the report are that the land titling system of the Land Management and Administration Project reserves areas where ‘disputes are likely’ or ‘where there is no clear situation,’ or [in one example] it excluded 10 families among thousands of families by not providing land titles according to the 2001 Land Law of the Kingdom of Cambodia. More than 4,000 families living in the area around the Boeng Kak lake in Phnom Penh cannot apply to ask for ownership documents for their land, because that lake is located in an ‘area for development.’ The report expressed also concern over the low level of protection of land ownerships of ethnic minority people, saying that procedures to address disputes in the Land Management and Administration Project do not provide just, efficient, and non-biased solutions for disputes.

“The director of Bridges Across Borders, that is involved in this report, Mr. David Pred, said, ‘If this system does not include vulnerable people, the advantages of the ownership will be affected by obstacles, and according to our experience with the Land Management and Administration Project, most goals of the provision of land ownership cannot be achieved if there is no rule of law and no procedures to settle disputes based on the intention to protect citizens’ rights.’

“The executive director of the Community Legal Education Center, Mr. Yeng Virak, said, ‘Actually the land titling program of the Land Management and Administration Project was not implemented in areas facing obstacles like at the Boeng Kak lake region, at Group 78, and at the Dey Krahom region in Phnom Penh.’

“The Minister of Land Management, Urban Planning, and Construction, Mr. Im Chhun Lim, could not be reached for comment on Sunday, but a Phnom Penh Deputy Governor, Mr. Mann Chhoeun, denied the content of the report, claiming that mechanisms to solve disputes at district and provincial levels have been implemented successfully. He told Phnom Penh Post, ‘Both institutions [the Ministry of Land Management and the Municipality?] have helped to establish adequate actions. Therefore, there will be improvements, and this will respond more effectively to the needs of people.’”

Phnom Penh Post, Vol.1, #13, 28.9.2009

Newspapers Appearing on the Newsstand:

Monday, 28 September 2009

Cambodia records first swine flu death: PM

A relative of Cambodia's first-recorded swine flu fatality burns ghost paper following in Chinese tradition, in Phnom Penh. (AFP/Tang Chhin Sothy)

Mon Sep 28

(Post in CAAI News Media)

PHNOM PENH (AFP) – Cambodia has recorded its first death from swine flu, Prime Minister Hun Sen announced Monday.

The victim was a 40-year-old woman with previous health problems who died on Sunday at a hospital in Phnom Penh, Hun Sen said.

"This is the first case. She has been sick for a long time -- she had lung problems," he said.

Hun Sen added that the woman had checked into a private clinic a week before she died, but her infection was only confirmed Friday when she was transferred to the capital's Calmette hospital.

Cambodia has confirmed at least 88 cases of swine flu since the virus was first detected in the country in June.

More than 3,900 people have died from swine flu worldwide since the A(H1N1) virus was uncovered in April, the World Health Organization said last week.

MediaWATCH: 'Shoot the Thais' Cambodia Call

Phnom Penh lifts the rhetoric in border temple dispute with Thailand

Photo by phuketwan.com

(Post in CAAI News Media)

By Phuketwan Reporters

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Phuketwan MediaWATCH

A daily wrap of Thailand news, with a Phuket perspective and reports from national and international media.

dailytimes.com.pk Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered his troops Monday to shoot any trespassers in a simmering border dispute with Thailand and angrily blasted the neighboring nation's territorial claims. His remarks came a little over a week after Thai protesters rallied at the disputed border area near the 11th century Preah Vihear temple, the site of clashes that have killed seven soldiers since tensions flared last year.

dailytimes.com.pk Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered his troops Monday to shoot any trespassers in a simmering border dispute with Thailand and angrily blasted the neighboring nation's territorial claims. His remarks came a little over a week after Thai protesters rallied at the disputed border area near the 11th century Preah Vihear temple, the site of clashes that have killed seven soldiers since tensions flared last year.

phnompenhpost.com Siem Reap Airways will resume international flights and the domestic Phnom Penh-Siem Reap route when it relaunches, most likely next month, a government aviation official says. The Cambodian government chose not to renew the licence for Bangkok Airways to fly the Phnom Penh-Siem Reap route from October 25. New national carrier Cambodia Angkor Air started the same domestic route at the end of July, with two domestic carriers on the Siem Reap-Phnom Penh route from next month.

No time to lose for Abhisit as reality bytes

By Sopon Onkgara

The Nation

Published on September 29, 2009

(Post in CAAI News Media)

BACK from the limelight in New York, Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva faces the painful reality of dealing with unresolved issues which, if mishandled, could escalate into a crisis of confidence in his leadership.

His speeches and responses to the media in the US reflected his comfort in speaking his mind without party hotshots looking over his shoulder. What he said about ideals and new democratic politics is suitable for a Western sensibility but it is difficult to end gutter politics at home.

The tough nut to crack is the appointment of the police chief, blocked time and again by antagonists in the National Police Committee. It is still unclear whether Abhisit will be successful in his choice, as other equations remain unchanged.This is a true test of his leadership. Failure on this will raise serious public doubt over his ability to control the national agenda amidst the prevailing economic problems. Already, there have been chuckles and taunts among political watchers who see the young prime minister as too soft towards his adversaries, even more so in his treatment of senior party members who disagree with his position. Weakness could embolden coalition partners to be more demanding in their push for approval of big projects promising large kickbacks.

There is ongoing haggling in the House over how the Constitution should be amended to accommodate MPs with self-serving interests. Six key points proposed so far have nothing to do with the public interest, but are mainly designed to open wider access for MPs to mess with bureaucrats and to pursue self-enrichment possibilities.

What Abhisit hopes to use as a delaying tactic is a public referendum for the amendment. He insisted on this condition during his talk to the press yesterday. If all parties agree, the amendment process could be completed within nine months, after which the House could be dissolved for a general election.

That's too long. The opposition, as well as the coalition partners, does not want to give the Democrats that luxury of time. The opposition and the red shirts have been demanding almost daily, and quite desperately, that Abhisit dissolve the House, resign and call a new election.

They do not want a referendum, being aware that their amendments could be voted down. A group of senators hostile to the opposition does not want such amendments. Pressure groups hiss that they will seek impeachment of MPs who push for changes in the Charter.

Then the hardest problem to solve is the occupation of 4.6 square kilometres of land surrounding the Preah Vihear temple by Cambodian soldiers, monks and villagers. This is an embarrassing issue now that Phnom Penh is handing out concessions to foreign oil companies to engage in surveys and exploratory drilling in disputed maritime areas.

The government and armed forces have been lukewarm on this issue, insisting that the dispute should be dealt with through negotiation. So far there has been no progress after rounds of talks. The encroachment by Cambodia is blatant and will not stop there. There are other areas susceptible to Cambodian occupation by force.

These are just a few hard issues to test Abhisit's leadership and courage to deal with potential crises. A Bangkok University Poll shows that 51.5 per cent of those surveyed still want him to stay on as premier, while 43.5 per cent said he is not decisive. Such opinions are not surprising. People want him on the job, but not as a wimp.

His weakness, perceived and tested, has made hotshots within the Democrat Party show disrespect to his leadership, much to the frustration of his supporters. That's why the public wants him to do what he said in the US, particularly the intention to uphold what is right and negate what is wrong, despite his earlier compromise over the acceptance of coalition partners with credibility and image problems.

The content of his speeches in New York must be translated into real action so that he will not be accused of just talking about grand plans and ideas. Friends and foes are waiting to see him show decisiveness and achieve things. The nine months he seeks for the Charter changes is too long for the country to endure; it would be another period without meaningful achievement.

What's more, Abhisit is not a politician with nine lives to survive endless adversity, unlike Newin Chidchob, the king-maker with increasing clout and influence who could step into his shoes after he is no longer banned from active politics. Such a scenario would be dreadful indeed.