Making mentoring work

Photo by: MARK ROY
Having a mentor can help you make better career decisions and evaluate your work performance and career goals.

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A good mentor is somebody who facilitates and supports
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The Phnom Penh Post
Thursday, 09 July 2009
Sean Power and Sandra D'Amico

HR ADVICE
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By Sean Power And
SANDRA D'Amico

The practice of "mentoring" is a bit like eating healthy food - everybody says it is good for you, but few people actually do it.

Many employers talk enthusiastically about introducing mentoring systems for their staff, but they never seem to get around to it.

Many young professionals have only a vague idea of what mentoring actually involves.
In simple terms, having a mentor is a bit like having your own personal coach or advisor.

A mentor is someone - usually more senior or experienced than you - who is there to offer you advice and support in all aspects of your professional development.

They might work in your organisation or they might work somewhere else. They might be appointed by your employer or they might be someone you have chosen yourself.

There are plenty of benefits from having a mentor. Most importantly, you are more likely to reflect on how things are going in your job and your career.

Mentoring encourages you to evaluate yourself, in terms of your work performance and career goals. If we are left to our own devices, we tend to push these matters to the background and not give them the attention they deserve.

Having a mentor can also help you to make better career decisions, as you can benefit from your mentor's wisdom and experience. Mentors often have good insights about things such as part-time study options, applying for promotions and considering job offers.

If your mentor works for the same organisation as you, then they are a great source of knowledge about how the organisation really functions - how the systems and procedures work, who the key decision-makers are and how best to deal with certain individuals.

You can ask them all those "silly" questions that you don't want to bother your manager with.

You may be lucky enough to work for an organisation that has a formal mentoring programme, where a mentor is appointed to you. More likely, however, you will have to seek out a mentor on your own initiative. So the big question is: How do you find a mentor?

First of all, think about what you want to achieve out of a mentoring relationship.

For example, do you want to learn about how your organisation functions or are you looking for more of an "outside" perspective where you can talk about sensitive issues such as changing jobs?

This will help you decide whether to look for a mentor within or outside your organisation.

Try to find somebody whom you admire and respect, who is a good listener and with whom you can talk openly and frankly.

Don't pick somebody who is always too busy to make time for you, or who is known as the office gossip. It isn't appropriate to choose your supervisor as a mentor, since you might need advice about sensitive issues that directly involve your supervisor. In football terms, that would be a bit like asking the opposition captain to be your coach!

Most importantly, a good mentor is somebody who facilitates and supports, not somebody who commands and controls.

Beware of potential mentors who might indulge their own ego by turning you into a copy of themselves.

Once you have made your selection, ask the person if they would be kind enough to be your mentor. Explain what you want to achieve from the relationship, why you think they would be a good mentor and how you envisage the arrangement working.

The arrangement can be as simple as going out for coffee or lunch every so often.

Don't become a burden to your mentor, and don't let your mentor make all your important decisions. You are still responsible for the choices you make.

If you have been working for a few years, you may actually be in a position to mentor a junior staff member.

This is a great way to develop your own people skills (or "soft skills"), which will help you become a successful manager when you get the opportunity one day.

It will also broaden your own perspectives by making you aware of the views and challenges of other staff. More simply, it can be a nice feeling to help someone else achieve their own career goals.
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Sean Power is a consultant to HRINC, one of Cambodia’s leading HR services firms, and Sandra D’Amico is the managing director. Contact hrinc@hrinc.com.kh

Call for ministry to crack down on exam cheats

The Phnom Penh Post
Thursday, 09 July 2009
Khuon Leakhana

THE Cambodian Independent Teachers Association has appealed to the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sports to strictly grade tests from the national junior high school examinations.

Rong Chhun, president of the teachers union, told the Post Tuesday the ministry needed to act to prevent bribery facilitated by middlemen.

"We would like the Education Ministry to be strict on criteria of grading tests," he said. "I think that bribery may begin on Friday this week when the grading period starts. If the ministry does not have the proper means to control such wrongdoing, our country will be full of disqualified students and poor students will be desperate, with no hope of justice."

Keu Naileang, director general of the ministry told the Post Wednesday the ministry had not heard anything about middlemen because they were "too busy to think about it".

"People who spend money to buy a certificate for their children are cheated because the examination and grades are done strictly," Keu Naileang said. "Punishment will be put on teachers or inspectors who violate the regulation."

But Rong Chhun said the middlemen were no different from last year.

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The exam was done as usual, neither too strict nor too loose. The teachers under-stand and let them cheat.
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"Every year is the same, though the number of case of bribery is varied. This year, it is a hundred percent sure that bribery will take place," he said.

"I think that the middlemen are government officers who take this opportunity to earn money."

Up until now, the association has not uncovered bribery cases by middlemen yet, however they say it is well known that it costs US$50 to $80 to pass an exam.

According to Rong Chhun's claims, the association received many phone calls during the three-day examination from students' parents negotiating the price of a certificate.

Among those parents, some called to complain that they were too poor to afford to buy a certificate for their children.

"A letter from the association was sent to the Education Ministry in mid-June, urging them to put their effort into preventing some officer from seeking clients for their under-the-table business," He said.

"Middlemen are everywhere, and they are usually paid $20 commission."

Lim Theng, a glass shop owner from Boeng Keng Kang 3, told the Post it was a simple matter.

"As parents, we are always concerned about our children's examination," he said.

"We are afraid that they will fail. We have spent a lot of money throughout their academic year. If they fail the exam, it would be a waste of time to start over again.

"My son and nephew are in the same examination room at Tuol Tompoung high school. They told me that the exam was done as usual, neither too strict nor too loose. The teachers understand and let them cheat."

Lim Theng said his son gave money to the teachers, but his nephew did not because he was an outstanding student and able to do the test.

"I have also heard about bribery between my neighbours and an officer at the Department of Education," he said. "They discussed quietly behind doors, so I could not hear the detail.

"My son said that he was not worried, because my nephew threw the completed answer sheet to him. They are close and helping each other.

"Even if bribery is commonplace, I would never bother myself and waste my money on such thing," he said.

Lim Theng said whether there was bribery or not, he only wanted examiners to give scores fairly to all students.

"Not different from my sons - other people's children also want to pass exam, have higher education and a bright future. Without fair grading, some students would fail the exam and end up in despair."

According to the Cambodia Independent Teachers Association, the examination was done a little better than in the previous year.

"As we observed during the three-day examination, the situation around exam buildings was just a little better than last year," Rong Chhun said.

"Despite the normality around the buildings, the examination room still filled with anarchic atmosphere. Money was collected and given to teachers to buy their permission to allow cheating in class."

He said it cost between 3,000 and 5,000 riel per student for one subject teacher, and on the second day at math session, the rate rose up to 10,000 riel.

Keu Naileang said he thought the teachers were not so thoughtless that they would barter their dignity and pride for such little money.

"I do not accept that teachers are bribed. Those who claimed like this should have proof to back up their words. They should not defame teachers on groundless rumour," he said.

"Concerning to the case of middlemen, please do not point your fingers at the ministry officers unless you can identify the person exactly so that I can easily deal with the matter."

Siem Reap Scene: 9 Jul 2009

The Phnom Penh Post
Thursday, 09 July 2009

Post Staff

Pimp my tuk-tuk
Four garishly decorated tuk-tuks drove through town last Thursday night in a Globalteer "Pimp my tuk-tuk" fundraiser rally that earned US$278 for Globalteer Community Development Centre, New Hope Community Centre and Anjali House. The tuk-tuks were decorated with recycled materials to represent Australia, Cambodia, England and the US, while similarly costumed volunteers shook donation buckets. The procession was the brainchild of English Globalteer volunteer Pamela Jackson, who previously took part in a "Pimp my wheelbarrow" fundraiser at her UK university.

Trixie O'Sullivan, office administrator at Globalteer, said the group came up with the idea last week and started work on the tuk-tuks on Wednesday. They decided to model them on the home countries of their volunteers. O'Sullivan said the night was a success despite their attempts to march down Pub Street being thwarted by zealous security.

Photo by: Photo Supplied
Tuk-tuks participate in Globateer’s “Pimp my tuk-tuk” fundraiser last Thursday.

Boutique boom
Siem Reap's boutique hotel scene is swelling with two new accommodation houses set to open in the next few weeks. The Cockatoo Resort and Restaurant is expected to launch by July 22, and the Suites and Sweet Resort is scheduled to open at the beginning of August. Both hotels are removed from the town centre, with the Cockatoo on the dirt track that forks off past Quad Adventure Cambodia, and the Suites and Sweet about 500 metres past the Angkor Golf Resort. Suites and Sweet Resort General Manager Janwillen Van Ver Kolk said that the detached location was a deliberate part of the plan. "We didn't want to be on National Road 6. We wanted to be in the countryside, away from the noise. But we're still kind of central." The Suites and Sweet is modelled on a floating village, with 18 villas bordering a snaking man-made lake. Van Ver Kolk said that the plan is to introduce two small boats for the guests. The seven-room Cockatoo Resort and Restaurant is owned by Peter Oxley and Virgilio Calaguian. Oxley said that after two final Balinese-style villas are constructed behind the pool, the hotel will be ready to open. He has also clinched one of the more unique selling points for the hotel - live Cockatoos.

Strictly for the birds
Staff at the Victoria Angkor Resort & Spa are becoming decidedly twitchy as they learn about the secret obsession of their new general manager, Hanno Stamm, formerly of the Victoria Phan Thiet Resort and Spa in Vietnam. He is an avowed twitcher and, armed with binoculars, he already rounded up a crew to go bird-watching at Bantei Chmar.

Stamm confesses that he was "infected by the birding bug" as a young lad in Kenya, and of course having moved to Siem Reap, he is now in a bird-watchers paradise. Ironically, while devoted to the cause of observing and identifying flying critters, Stamm reveals that he himself is "pretty scared" of flying. He also harbours a further obsession: saving the environment. To this end, shortly before he moved to Siem Reap last month he gave a talk at a seminar hosted by The Vietnam Economic Times, held to mark World Environment Day. He told seminar participants that travellers were more likely to include the state of the environment in deciding where they would spend their time and money. "Many of our guests come from countries where the environment plays a large role and they will not accept coming to a destination that shows little concern for the environment," he said.

Poetry in motion
Australian poet Adam Aitken, who last year did a volunteering stint with Siem Reap NGO Sirchesi, has a new book of poetry on the market that draws on his recent Cambodian experiences. Aitken, who has a Thai mother, spent some of his childhood in Thailand and also attended a Malaysian college, was commissioned to write a poem for the birthday of the King of Thailand in June 1996, sponsored by Department of Foreign Affairs and the Australian embassy in Bangkok. His new book, published by trendsetting indie Aussie publisher Giramondo, is titled Eighth Habitation, the name of the Buddhist notion of purgatory, a mystic realm where the meaning of a human life is judged. In a glowing review in MC Reviews: Culture and Media, critic Alison Clifton writes: "Reading Aitken's work is like listening to a favourite album of songs which could all be singles, although this is not jangly synth-pop by any means. This is serious reading, emotionally charged and socially critical, if not political in its nature."

Angkor's decline
Every year, it seems, a new theory is posited about the decline of the Angkorian civilisation. In recent weeks, climate change has become the latest culprit, wreaking havoc on a city already weakened by urban sprawl. The climate change theory is driven in large part by the July issue of National Geographic magazine, the first major piece in the magazine on Angkor Wat in 30 years. The article reveals that studies of annual growth rings on po mu trees, a rare cypress, shows that the Angkor region suffered "back-to-back mega-droughts," from 1362 to 1392 and from 1415 to 1440, while in other years, "megamonsoons" lashed the region. According to National Geographic the "extreme weather could have been the coup de grace" to an already tottering kingdom.

Temple Watch: The hole truth

The Phnom Penh Post
Thursday, 09 July 2009
Dave Perkes

There has been controversy surrounding damage supposedly caused by the installation of the fixed lighting at Angkor Wat for the Angkor Light Show. I had no objections about the lighting, provided it was installed in a non-damaging way, and I visited Angkor on the weekend to see what visual impact the lighting had. I looked closely above the cornices opposite the bas-reliefs. The lights have recently been taken down, revealing regular oblong holes about 10 cm long above each pillar. Some holes had rough patches of concrete surrounding them. Tour guide Ta Elit said that many rectangular holes had been cut for support beams during French restorations last century. I looked at photos I had taken of these areas within the last five years, and I could see old areas of poor repairs above these cornices in some of my images. But no rectangular holes. It's possible the lighting contractors removed the rough cement repairs to expose the older holes when they installed the wood to attach the lights. I cannot say for certain whether any additional holes had been cut, but I can see how people could get the impression that serious damage had been done.

Govt rejects design for stock exchange

Photo by: Tracey Shelton
Construction workers take a rest at Camko City on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, the proposed site of the Cambodian Stock Exchange.

The Phnom Penh Post
Thursday, 09 July 2009
Souen Say

Contractor World City Co Ltd of South Korea was told that designs were not sufficiently Khmer in style, it says

THE Ministry of Economy and Finance has rejected designs for the forthcoming Cambodian stock exchange, the South Korean company responsible for the building's design and construction said Wednesday.

Kheng Ser, assistant to World City Co Ltd Vice President Duk-kon Kim, said the plans were rejected by the Cambodian government because they were not considered sufficiently Khmer in architectural style.

"They [the ministry] have asked us to redesign it again because they want a Khmer-style design," he said.

Officials at the Finance Ministry were unavailable for comment Wednesday.

Kim said last month that the ministry had already seen a draft version of architectural plans and had submitted adjustments to World City to include in the final plans.

Hang Chuon Naron, secretary general at the ministry, said at the time that finalisation of plans for the four-storey, 6,000-square-metre exchange building "should be soon".

However, a final decision now looks to have been delayed.

Kheng Ser said that architects in South Korea will again adjust the designs for the building, which are to be constructed at Camko City on the outskirts of Phnom Penh. Original plans placed the trading floor itself on the first floor of the building, Kim said, adding that all necessary infrastructure - water and electricity supplies included - had been in place for some time.

"We don't know when they [architectural plans] will be finished or when they will be submitted to the Ministry of Economy and Finance to take a look," he said.

Kim said Tuesday that World City still planned to begin construction on the US$6 million building by the end of the rainy season this year.

However, Ming Ban Kosal, director general of the Cambodia Securities and Exchange Commission, said Wednesday that rejection of the architectural plans would undoubtedly lead to further delays in the opening of Cambodia's long-awaited stock exchange.

"It will affect our work to open the stock exchange because when we do so, we must have an office ... or how could we run the stock market?" He said Wednesday. "Given these problems, the government must make a decision on whether to look for a temporary location.... We don't know yet."

While the Stock Exchange Company - a joint venture between the Ministry of Economy and Finance and Korea Exchange (KRX) - is still thought to be on schedule for incorporation before the end of the year, prior to the recent delay in designs, the building itself had not been scheduled to go online until about August next year at the earliest.

Construction will take about eight months, Kim said last month, and once the building is complete, system checks will take a further three months.

"I think it [the opening] will be 2010," Hang Chuon Naron said in June.
The government had previously said it had scheduled to open the Cambodian stock exchange in December.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY STEVE FINCH

Cambodia to receive $3.45m to diversify

The Phnom Penh Post
Thursday, 09 July 2009
STEVE FINCH

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) announced Wednesday that Cambodia will receive a US$3.45 million technical assistance grant aimed at boosting the skills and incomes of people living in and around the Tonle Sap basin.

The money is to be used to help low-income groups in the area to diversify their vocational skills with the help of training programmes, demonstrations on modern farming techniques and Internet-based communication facilities, ADB said.

"The technical assistance will helpdiversify and improve the incomes of small land holders, marginal farmers and poor households in the Tonle Sap basin by increasing their access to good agricultural practices, technologies and information," Giap Minh Bui, rural development economist in ADB's Southeast Asia Department, said in a statement released Wednesday.

The Finnish government is providing the lion's share of the money - $2.7 million - with the Republic of Korea e-Asia and Knowledge Partnership Fund offering $500,000. The ADB, which will manage the funds, will give a $250,000 grant and the government will make up the remaining $200,000, ADB said.

The money will be used in four provinces around the lake - Banteay Meanchey, Kampong Cham, Kampong Thom and Siem Reap.

ADB said that the project will include a pilot communication project using Internet linked e-kiosks to provide up-to-date information on agricultural practices to be passed on to locals.

Axiata makes bid for Mobitel

Photo by: Sovann Philong
A Mobitel-branded vendor sells mobile phone cards in Phnom Penh.

The Phnom Penh Post
Thursday, 09 July 2009
STEVE FINCH

COMPETITION for control of Cambodia's mobile phone market has intensified with news that Axiata - the Malaysian company with the controlling stake in local operator Hello - may have bid for Millicom's International Cellular SA's Asian assets, which include a majority share in the Kingdom's market leader Mobitel.

Bloomberg News reported Tuesday that Kuala Lumpur-based Axiata may have bid US$500 million for the controlling share in Mobitel after Millicom announced July 2 that Goldman Sachs had been appointed to advise a strategic review of its assets in Cambodia, Laos and Sri Lanka.

"If there are opportunities which make financial and strategic sense, the group would certainly consider them," Bloomberg reported an Axiata official as saying.

Millicom was unavailable for comment on Wednesday but the Post understands that the Luxembourg-based mobile operator may have received up to eight offers for a combination of its Asian assets after it first announced it would consider selling at the end of last year. It owns a 58.4 percent stake in Mobitel.

The Royal Group, which owns a 38.5 percent share in Cambodia's leading operator by users, made a bid for Millicom's stake earlier this year, meaning that it is effectively now competing with Axiata for the market leader - Mobitel held a 55 percent share of the market at the end of last year while Axiata's Hello, the No 3 operator, had a 15 percent market share.

The Royal Group on Wednesday confirmed that it was still in negotiations to purchase Millicom's stake in Mobitel, adding that a successful bid by another company for the stake - including by Axiata - would require a level of cooperation.

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Anyone who wants to come in has to have our [Royal group's]say so.
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"We have got shareholder protections," Chief Financial Officer Mark Hanna told the Post. "Anyone who wants to come in has to have our say so."

Other bidders for the Milllicom stake remain unknown. Millicom's Luxembourg office was unavailable for comment on Wednesday.

The possible permutations of a deal for Millicom's Cambodia assets create intriguing possibilities given the dominant position of Mobitel in the market and the competitive nature of the Kingdom's mobile sector.

There are already nine operators in the country, a situation most analysts agree is untenable in the long term.

Should Royal Group be successful in its bid - the details of which it has not disclosed - then it would secure a commanding position in Cambodia with a 96.9 percent stake in Mobitel.

Former Millicom employee Muhammad Akhtar Zaman controls the remaining 3.1 percent share of the company.

In the event of an Axiata acquisition, the Malaysian company would then hold a controlling stake in both the No 1 and No 3 operators in Cambodia with a combined market share of 70 percent at the end of 2008 and would conceivably have to receive the green light from Royal Group CEO and Chairman Kith Meng, as acknowledged by Hanna.

According to Millicom's financial results for the first quarter, Mobitel added 52,620 users this year up to the end of March, a 16 percent year-on-year increase that brought its total number of users to 2.17 million.

Millicom's performance in Cambodia was outstripped by its Asian assets when combined, which saw a 34 percent annualised increase in users in the same period. Revenues for Millicom's three Asian assets climbed 7 percent in the first quarter year-on-year

"There's a lot of interest [in the Millicom stake]," Hanna said.

Simon Perkins, Hello's newly appointed CEO in Cambodia and a former Millicom employee, declined to comment on Wednesday.

Perkins, as a Millicom employee, was previously on Mobitel's board of directors from 2002 to 2005 and is understood to know Kith Meng well.

"We haven't had discussions with anyone else," Hanna said, referring to other mobile operators in Cambodia.

Hanna added that Royal Group had only made a bid for Millicom's Cambodia stake, while Axiata looks to have bid for Cambodia and Sri Lanka - the Malaysian company owns an 85 percent stake in Dialog Telekom Plc, Sri Lanka's largest mobile phone operator.

Asset split unknown
Although Millicom has said it is ready to sell its assets in Cambodia, Sri Lanka and Laos, it remains unclear whether these would be sold separately or as a package, or whether a bidder would be in a stronger position were it to make an offer for multiple country assets, as appears to be the case with Axiata, according to reports.

"I don't think it's got any bearing on that [a possible decision by Millicom] whatsoever," Hanna said, adding that Royal Group would not be in a position to take on assets in Laos or Sri Lanka.

The expected length of time required to complete the process remains unclear, although Hanna predicted that a Royal group acquisition would speed up the process.

Despite the apparent level of interest in Millicom's Asian assets, its Nasdaq shares fell 1.4 percent to $56.27 on Tuesday at the close of trade. On the Nordic OMX exchange its stock climbed 1.11 percent Wednesday.

PHO24 due to expand

Photo by: Christopher Shay
A chef drains noodles Wednesday at a PHO24 branch at the Phnom Penh Centre off Sihanouk and Sothearos boulevards.

The Phnom Penh Post
Thursday, 09 July 2009
ROS DINA

Cambodian-based franchisee says more stores will open in the Kingdom as popularity of its Vietnamese cuisine grows

THE franchise owner operating the well-known Vietnamese noodle chain PHO24 said his firm aims to add two new outlets in Cambodia by the end of this year.

Tian Toh Seng, director of franchisee 2H Company Ltd, said market demand was proving to be strong.

He and his Cambodian business partner paid US$200,000 for a 10-year master franchise contract from the parent company in Ho Chi Minh City, he said.

"My business partner and I frequently travelled to and from Vietnam and saw that people really liked PHO24 noodles," he said, explaining their decision to buy into the franchise. "The chain operates 60 outlets in Ho Chi Minh City alone."

2H Company, a Cambodian-Malaysian joint venture, opened its first outlet in late 2007. It now has two outlets in Phnom Penh and one in Bavet in Svay Rieng.

Ly Qui Trung, the founder and CEO of PHO24, told the Post by email on Wednesday that the plan for the Cambodian market is to have a total of 10 outlets after three more years, and 20 outlets seven years after that.

Ly Qui Trung said the brand would take time to establish itself within the Cambodian market.

"The first few years will be for testing and refining the menu, the design and the business concept. After that the brand will grow faster and stronger," he said. "At the moment the master franchisee opens [their] own PHO24 shops, but in the future [they] will sell sub-franchises too."

Tian Toh Seng said one reason for the brand's success is that it provides good value and good quality fast food.

"For example, we require people who sell us meat to show us the vet's licence, otherwise we won't buy from them," he said.

Tian Toh Seng said that prospective sub-franchisees would require a capital investment of between $30,000 to $40,000 to buy the franchise, rent the location, purchase material and train the workers.

Var Rath San, director of the intellectual property department at the Ministry of Commerce, said the brand was first registered here in 2005.

Aside from Cambodia and Vietnam, PHO24 also has outlets in Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia, South Korea and Australia.

Insurance industry records first half contraction but remains optimistic

The Phnom Penh Post
Thursday, 09 July 2009
NGUON SOVAN

Ministry of Economy and Finance due to release detailed figures on first six months in August, but early results suggest decline up to end of June compared to the same period last year

THE government and the insurance industry expressed optimism about sector growth this year, despite warning that the environment in the first six months of 2009 was worse than the same period last year.

In Meatra, the head of the insurance division in the finance department of the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF), said the overall situation remained positive.

"Insurance companies are generally sound and healthy in terms of their cash position, and there were fewer claims in the first half of this year," In Meatra said.

His division is currently collating the financial statements from the nation's insurance firms, he said, and official figures for revenue premiums would not be available until next month.

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Insurance companies are generally sound and healthy in terms of their cash position.
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In Meatra said the global economic crisis had indirectly hurt the sector.

"The crisis has affected garment exports, so there have been some cancellations or reductions of some of the less important premiums for garment factories," he said. "However, it hasn't resulted in the wholesale cancellation of premiums because those factories that remain open still need to insure their risk."

The Kingdom has five insurance companies: Forte Insurance, Asia Insurance, Caminco, Infinity Insurance and Campubank Lonpac. In Meatra said there is also one reinsurance company.

He said the industry generated revenue premiums of US$20.5 million, an increase of 18 percent on the previous year.

"Our ambition is to achieve the same growth as last year, but it might fall short due to the crisis," he said. "I am not going to predict how much it will grow this year, but it will still likely be double-digit growth."

David Carter, chief executive officer of Infinity Insurance, said the global economic crisis had delivered a small impact.

"We're ahead of last year but the sales environment is not as favourable," Carter said. "However we aren't seeing any unusual changes in claims at this stage."

Carter said the market should increase 10 percent this year, adding that Infinity is on track to meet or exceed that.

Duong Vibol, managing director of newly privatised Caminco, said the global economic crisis had not overly affected his company.

"That's because our main premiums are from auto insurance," he said. "Our net income last year was $100,000 and we are forecasting growth of between 10 and 15 percent this year."

How 'Song' is leading style a merry dance

A view of Song Design’s Phnom Penh boutique (above); and Cameron Diaz wears Song for Vogue (left). Store Photo By Holly Pham

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With cameron diaz's endorsement in vogue, market penetration is inevitable.
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The Phnom Penh Post
Thursday, 09 July 2009
HOLLY PHAM

An eco-friendly emerging Vietnamese fashion label is making waves on the local and international style scenes, with a bump by Vogue and Cameron Diaz

In June, Vogue magazine's Green Issue introduced the world's fashion circuit to a new name - Song, an eco-conscious high-end clothing line owned by French-born designer Valerie Gregori McKenzie.

Song, literally means "to live" or "life" in Vietnamese, was inspired by the founder's desire to create fashion beyond collections - one that could link to a way of life.

"A brand that embodies and celebrates life," says Valerie via email.

"For me life is about innovation [in alignment with] ecological sustainability - the reach toward others' and our social impact," she added.

Aesthetic choice
This principle is reflected throughout Song's choices of materials and aesthetics, as seen in products made from modern and traditional fabrics such as bamboo fiber, silk, and hemp.

The French-born McKenzie graduated from ESMOD Paris and held design and creative positions with fashion companies in Europe and the US, including Taverniti and Vuarnet.

She founded the luxury resort-wear fashion label in 1996, and since then the label has been consistent with the "fashion and ecology must walk hand in hand" philosophy. Song chooses organic over chemically treated materials and 100 percent handmade over machine-based embroidery in all operation and production decisions, "[to add] a little soul supplement and preciousness over generic garments," said Valerie.

Song adopts traditional Vietnamese silk techniques and is 100 percent handmade, making it even more exclusive and luxurious.

Indochina ambience
Based in Hanoi, Song embraces the "Indochina" imagery ambiance, reflected on the store decorations in contrast with the modern collections.

Since its launch in Cambodia last December, Song has been primarily offering a wide range of evening dresses and ball gowns, thus appeals more to the sophisticated and high-end audience rather than the ordinary lifestyle that the label is better known for.

Song has a store in Singapore and two outlets in Cambodia, one in Phnom Penh and one in Siem Riep. The label has gained a growing number of local followers, according to Song's store manager in Phnom Penh.

Perhaps it's fortunate that Song is enjoying growing international market appeal, as Cambodia is too small a fashion market.

Local connections
As McKenzie told the Post's Peter Olszewski earlier this year, she encourages incorporating Cambodian elements into her range, but will not do so "unless I find beautiful Khmer fabric that could also be produced on a large scale.

"The difficulty is to work with artisans while also being able to stay reactive and up to the international market demand. We already do this in Vietnam and while I have no connections yet to do it Cambodia, I welcome them."

Nonetheless, with Cameron Diaz's endorsement on Vogue this month and the growing middle class in Cambodia, market penetration is only a matter of time.

CPL clubs struggle to fund their existence

The Phnom Penh Post
Thursday, 09 July 2009
KEN GADAFFI

FOLLOWING the emergency appeal for sponsorship by Cambodian Premier League (CPL) club Spark FC's last month, other clubs have also revealed a desperate need for funds to continue their campaigns. With the CPL due to recommence its schedule this Saturday after a week's break, many teams are looking to reduce their running costs to guarantee survival in the top flight while frantically seeking new sponsors amidst the tough economic climate.

A source close to Post Tel club, who claimed anonymity, revealed that the management held a crisis meeting with players this week to announce their decision to cut salaries of the players by 50 percent. Players have expressed their bitterness at the decision, especially foreigners who are concerned whether their reduced pay will be enough to live off.

The signing of former Kirivong Sok Sen Chey midfielder Amara Onyeahiri is in jeopardy, unless the Nigerian is ready to accept the lower wage.

Spark FC, whose manager Vann Dara warned his club may be disbanded if help is not found imminently, has come under sharp criticism from one of its players, who refused to be named. "They are not paying me what they agreed to pay me," said the player. "I have had to collect only half the amount [stated] in my contract."

"We cannot continue to give our best with [an] empty stomach," the player retorted.

Meanwhile, Post Tel's relegation zone companions Phouchung Neak have yet to come to a conclusion over which players to sign during the transfer window. After two local players have transferred to richer opposition, more are rumoured to be jumping ship in the near future.

Seven foreigners are presently training with the team, with only one possible place up for grabs unless some of the old players are shown the way out. With funds running out fast, a mass exodus seems destined unless the club can attract new sponsors.

As the league enters its crucial second half, one hopes that the likes of Spark, Phouchung Neak and Post Tel can gain sponsorship soon to maintain their competitiveness with the financial powerhouses of Naga Corp, Phnom Penh Crown, Kirivong Sok Sen Chey and Build Bright United.

The Phnom Penh Post News in Brief

The Phnom Penh Post

In Brief: City hall nixes evictee meeting

Thursday, 09 July 2009

May Titthara

City Hall has rejected a request from the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights (CCHR) to host a meeting at Wat Phnom of recently evicted Phnom Penh residents, according to a letter released to the public on Wednesday. CCHR President Ou Virak said the meeting, which was planned for July 17, would have brought together at least 500 recently evicted residents, adding that the residents had hoped to meet with officials to discuss problems they have encountered at their various relocation sites. The released letter from Phnom Penh Deputy Governor Mann Chhoeun stated that officials had decided to put a stop to the meeting out of concerns for public safety and security. Ny Chakrya, head of monitoring for the rights group Adhoc, said the decision was regrettable. "Free expression of opinions is essential for a democratic country, whether against or in support of the government."

In Brief: SRP, intl donors raise funds

Thursday, 09 July 2009

Meas Sokchea

The opposition Sam Rainsy Party said Wednesday that party members and overseas supporters have contributed donations on behalf of Hang Chakra, publisher of the opposition-aligned newspaper Khmer Machas Srok, who was convicted on charges of spreading false information last month and sentenced to one year in prison. The donations follow an appeal last week by the party seeking funds to help support the embattled editor's family. "Hang Chakra's family is very poor. We are helping him as a humanitarian issue, not as a political one," the party's acting president, Kong Korm, said Wednesday.

Axiata denies buying Millicom assets

The Star Online
http://biz.thestar.com.my

Thursday July 9, 2009

By B.K. SIDHU

But exec director says merger makes sense in a competitive marketplace

PETALING JAYA: Axiata Group Bhd continues to look at ways to expand its business but there is nothing on the table with regard to the purchase of assets owned by Millicom International Cellular SA in Asia.

“It does make sense for two parties to combine (merge) in a very competitive marketplace.

“Internally, we look at all sorts of transactions but there is nothing going on,’’ said executive director and chief financial officer Datuk Yusof Annuar Yaacob.

Then again, even if Axiata were to consider buying the stakes, the issue of funding would arise and as Yusof puts it: “If it makes sense, do we have the money to buy the assets?’’

Yusof was responding to queries from StarBiz on a report which quoted sources as saying that Axiata was considering an offer for Millicom assets in Cambodia and Sri Lanka.

On Tuesday, Bloomberg reported that Axiata might pay as much as US$500mil for Millicom’s stake in Cambodia and US$200mil for the Sri Lanka operations.

Millicom is reviewing several proposals to sell its businesses in Cambodia, Laos and Sri Lanka separately or together.

Separately, Axiata – in an e-mail response to queries – said it would not comment on articles which were speculative in nature.

Millicom owns 100% of Celltel Lanka Ltd, the second largest mobile player in Sri Lanka; 58% of Cambodia’s dominant player MobiTel, which has 2.8 million subscribers; and 74% stake in Millicom Lao Co in Laos.

Axiata, on the other hand, is a pan-Asian player that has investments in several countries. It owns 85% of Sri Lanka’s dominant player Dialog Telekom, which has 5.8 million subscribers.

In Cambodia, Axiata controls TMI Cambodia, the country’s third largest player with 600,000 subscribers.

Both are fragmented markets where size matters. Even though Dialog Telekom is the largest player in Sri Lanka, a merger with Celltel will allow it to solidify its dominant position, given the fact that competition has intensified with the entry of India’s Bharti in Sri Lanka.

Cambodia has nine players but the market offers huge potential for cellular growth and a deal with Millicom will give Axiata the strength and spread to strengthen its base.

Axiata is in consolidation mode but group chief executive officer Datuk Seri Jamaludin Ibrahim has often said that “at the right price, we will never say no.’’

Whether or not such a deal goes through, some analysts are already upbeat that a purchase will do Axiata good. However, others worry that Axiata may be taking on more debts.

For the first quarter ended March 31, Axiata’s net debt stood at RM17.1bil or a net gearing of 1.5 times.

A research house said the acquisitions, should they happen, could result in net debts ballooning by a further RM2bil if they were 80% debt-financed.

“We are unsure of the profitability of these units, hence uncertain over the potential earnings impact following the acquisitions,’’ it said in a report.

Growing capital expenditure requirements remain another concern, especially for its Indian operations, as bidding for the 3G spectrum there may be on soon.

More flexibility for tourists in Cambodia and Vietnam

Image via tourismcambodia.com

eTurboNews
http://www.eturbonews.com

By Luc Citrinot, eTN Staff Writer Jul 09, 2009

As the economic crisis takes its toll on tourism in Indochina, both Cambodia and Vietnam are introducing new measures aimed to boost tourist arrivals.

Cambodia currently is seeing a sharp contraction in tourist arrivals to Siem Reap and the famous temples of Angkor Wat. In 2008, total arrivals to the city declined by 5.5 percent including a 12.2 percent decline in air arrivals. Foreign tourist arrivals to Cambodia dropped again by 3.4 percent in the first quarter of 2009 compared to the same period of 2008 according to the Ministry of Tourism statistics.

Cambodia is now reacting by introducing more flexibility for visitors to the fabled Angkor Wat temples. Since July 1st, the 3-day entry pass to the Angkor Heritage Area will be valid on any 3 days within a calendar week instead of 3 consecutive days. Even better, the 7-day entry pass has now validity for an entire month instead of the week of issue. The strict rule of using the pass only in consecutive days was a main reason of complaint from both tour operators to the destinations and visitors.

Cambodian authorities are also mulling over the idea of opening some of the temples at night to draw more visitors to the World Heritage site.

In Vietnam, authorities are doing back-pedal. Last January, eTN reported that
Sport and Tourism Deputy Minister Tran Chien Thing did not see the possibility of granting visa on arrivals at international border crossings for travelers, while estimating that it would put the safety and security of the country at stake.

The economic crisis seems to make things now possible. After a decline of 10 percent in international tourist arrivals from August to December 2008, the declining trend is accelerating in 2009. From January to April, total international tourist arrivals reached only 1.297 million, down by 17.8 percent compared to the same period of 2008. According to market research company CB Richard Ellis Vietnam (CBRE), room occupancy at five-star hotels in Ho Chi Minh City in the first quarter plunged 31.5 percent year-on-year while room rates falling about 6.6 percent. Hanoi does slightly better.

The Vietnamese government has then officially announced that Vietnam will "soon" start to provide visa-on-arrivals at international airports and border crossing points for all international travelers. Vu The Binh, head of the travel department of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), officially gave the information to reporters. The implementation will take a few months to give time for the Customs Department to adapt its information technology system to accommodate the new system. VNAT and other concerned departments will then look at the new visa procedures.

In another effort to attract more travelers, Vietnam is also waiving visa fees for tourists buying a package tour under the "Impressive Vietnam" promotional program. Available until September 30, "Impressive Vietnam" package programs are sold by over 90 tour operators, all listed under a special website. If successful, the program could be prolonged until the end of the year. With visa available on arrivals, Vietnam is likely to enter into a new tourism era. At last!

Cambodian soldiers stand guard at Sekha Krisvarak pagoda near the ancient temple in Preah Vihear

Cambodian and Thai soldiers (in black) walk to Sekha Krisvarak pagoda near the ancient Hindu temple in Preah Vihear province 543 km (337 miles) north of Phnom Penh July 6, 2009. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered Cambodians, including Buddhists, on Tuesday to honour the one year anniversary of the Preah Vihear Hindu temple's listing as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a long-running source of Thai-Cambodian tension. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea (CAMBODIA SOCIETY POLITICS ANNIVERSARY RELIGION MILITARY)

Cambodian soldiers stand guard at the Sekha Krisvarak pagoda in Preah Vihear province, 543 km (337 miles) north of Phnom Penh July 8, 2009. Cambodia celebrated the one year anniversary of the ancient Preah Vihear Hindu temple' s listing as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a long-running source of Thai-Cambodian tension, on July 6.REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea (CAMBODIA SOCIETY ANNIVERSARY RELIGION MILITARY)

A Thai soldier (in black) talks to Cambodian soldiers at Sekha Krisvarak pagoda in Preah Vihear, north of Phnom Penh July 8, 2009. Cambodia celebrated the one year anniversary of the ancient Preah Vihear Hindu temple' s listing as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a long-running source of Thai-Cambodian tension, on July 6.REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea (CAMBODIA SOCIETY ANNIVERSARY RELIGION MILITARY)

A Cambodian soldier looks on from atop Dang Rek mountain in the compound of Preah Vihear temple, 543 km (337 miles) north of Phnom Penh July 8, 2009. Cambodia celebrated the one year anniversary of the ancient Preah Vihear Hindu temple' s listing as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a long-running source of Thai-Cambodian tension, on July 6.REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea (CAMBODIA SOCIETY ANNIVERSARY MILITARY RELIGION)

Cambodian soldiers stand guard as Thai soldiers (in black) walk to Sekha Krisvarak pagoda in Preah Vihear province 543 km (337 miles) north of Phnom Penh July 8, 2009. Cambodia celebrated the one year anniversary of the ancient Preah Vihear Hindu temple' s listing as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a long-running source of Thai-Cambodian tension, on July 6.REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea (CAMBODIA SOCIETY ANNIVERSARY RELIGION MILITARY)

Samdech Dekchor: “If There Is No Improvement in Alleviating Poverty, Those Who Succeeded in Moving out from Poverty Should not Fall Back into Poverty

Samdech Dekchor: “If There Is No Improvement in Alleviating Poverty, Those Who Succeeded in Moving out from Poverty Should not Fall Back into Poverty Again” – Wednesday, 8.7.2009

Posted on 8 July 2009
The Mirror, Vol. 13, No. 620
http://cambodiamirror.wordpress.com/

“Phnom Penh: The Cambodian prime minister, Samdech Dekchor Hun Sen, said that what is important during the global financial crisis is to avoid that those who have overcome poverty fall back into poverty again.

“Samdech Dekchor said this during the closing ceremony of a national forum on ‘Food Security and Nutrition under the Topic: Social Safety Network in Cambodia’ on the evening of 7 July 2009 at the Intercontinental Hotel.

“Samdech Dekchor said that Cambodia made efforts to reduce the poverty rate from formerly more than 40% to more than 30% in 2007. But the global financial crisis, which affects the economy of Cambodia, challenges our goal to lower the poverty rate by more than 1% per year. Another problem is whether those having passed over the poverty line might fall into poverty again. ‘This is what we have to try to prevent from happening so that they do not fall back into poverty again.’

“Samdech Dekchor considers that this national forum is very important, and it is a timely response to the global economic and financial crisis which is affecting Cambodia and the world.

“Samdech went on to say that the Royal Government knows this challenge well and has continuously taken flexible measures to prevent, and deal with any possible problems from the serious global crisis affecting the economic, financial, and social situation of Cambodia.

“Samdech continued to say that the government is strongly committed and vows to solve different negative impacts derived from the economic and financial crisis which is at present spread all over the globe. The Royal Government strongly adheres to the policy to strengthen economic activities to move ahead with sustainability and to create a social security system to save and assist vulnerable groups and communities through different mechanisms, such as emergency food, the provision of social assistance funds, and the creation of a budget to be used especially for skills training and professional education for the citizens, and particularly for the workers.

“Samdech Dekchor mentioned the efforts in the field of agriculture which help to withstand the economic crisis, while the garment sector and tourism are affected, as they are vulnerable sectors under the present hazards. Therefore, diversification in farming must be practiced, and the supply of water must be ensured, to encourage agricultural expansion.

“Also, Samdech encourages to give land concessions to Cambodian citizens who lack land, and he hopes for the the development of villages along the border from battlefields into development and investment areas. Samdech said that the government has spent more than US$600 million to build up infrastructure in the border regions. Therefore, this has to lead to real development, the purpose was, of course, not to crease better roads for monkeys living there.

“Samdech added that the Royal Government understands this challenge and has continually taken action to prevent possible bad impacts from this serious global crisis on the Cambodian economic, financial, and social conditions.”

Rasmei Kampuchea, Vol.17, #4940, 8.7.2009
Newspapers Appearing on the Newsstand:
Wednesday, 8 July 2009

Former King To Return Home For Visit

By Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
08 July 2009

Former king Norodom Sihanouk, who said last month he beat a third round of cancer, will be allowed to visit Cambodia for two months, before returning to China, according to his Web site.

Sihanouk, 86, has been undergoing treatment in Beijing for B-cell lymphoma, a cancer that hits the blood cells of the immune system, Agence France-Presse reported in June.

His doctors will allow him to stay in Cambodia for two months, after which he will return to China, according to a letter on the former king’s Web site.

After a two-month sojourn in their Siem Reap palace, the former king and queen will travel back to China, along with King Norodom Sihamoni, who will also received a medical check-up, the letter, hand-written in French, said.

Sihanouk was a key player for decades in Cambodian politics, and is sometimes referred to as “father of the nation.” He abdicated in 2004, giving his throne to Sihamoni.

Release of Prisoner ‘Not Possible’: Duch

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
08 July 2009

The former head of the Khmer Rouge’s Tuol Sleng prison objected to testimony of an alleged survivor Tuesday, telling the UN-backed tribunal the man’s claims he was held and then released were not possible in the deadly facility.

Lay Chan, 55, told the court he had been held for three months at Tuol Sleng, which, under the administration of Duch, or Kaing Kek Iev, saw the deaths of nearly all its inmates.

Lay Chan said he was arrested outside of Phnom Penh and taken to Tuol Sleng, known to the Khmer Rouge as S-21, for torture and interrogation. He was accused of stealing rice for “the enemy,” betraying the regime and being an agent of the CIA, he said.

“When the interrogator questioned me, I was blindfolded, handcuffed and shackled,” he said. “The interrogator beat me until I was unconscious during the interrogation.”

Lay Chan said he was held for three months, and then released. If so, he would be a potentially unique case. All but a handful of people were killed after interrogations—prosecutors say 12,380 people met their deaths after Tuol Sleng.

Those who did survive managed were alive at the prison when it was liberated by Vietnamese forces as they drove the Khmer Rouge from Phnom Penh, in January 1979.

Duch, who is charged with crimes against humanity, war crimes, torture and murder for his role as the prison’s administrator, told judges he sympathized with Lay Chan, but he found his testimony unbelievable.

“All inmates at S-21 found it difficult to avoid being murdered,” he said. “He said he was sent to S-21. He was released from S-21. It is not possible. I would not have dared to release him. All the inmates that I received at S-21 were sent by the [Khmer Rouge] Permanent Committee.”

“People coming into S-21 were killed,” Duch said. “I have read the list of names of inmates at S-21. I did not find the name of Lay Chan. I recognize that Lay Chan had suffering, but I stress there is no evidence to confirm Lay Chan was tortured at S-21.”

A civil party lawyer told judges there was no documentation related to Lay Chan’s alleged incarceration.

Australian Woman Found With H1N1 Virus

By Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
08 July 2009

Cambodian has confirmed its eighth case of H1N1, sometimes called swine flu, with a young Australian woman testing positive for the illness, health authorities said Wednesday.

Ly Sovann, deputy department of communicable disease control for the Ministry of Health, said the 15-year-old girl had flown in from Bangkok on Thai Airways and was red-flagged by scanners at Phnom Penh International Airport.

“She was taken to the local hospital, Calmette, on Tuesday night, for a health checkup,” he said, adding that her health had improved.

Authorities are now looking for people who may have been sitting near her on the plane.

“We’ve already searched their homes and the hotels where they are staying, but until now we have not found such cases,” he said.

The H1N1 virus, which spread from Mexico earlier this year but appears to be less deadly than initially feared, appeared in Cambodia in June, when four American students tested positive. In subsequent days, two Cambodians and one Filipino also tested positive.

The World Health Organization has declared a global epidemic of the disease, which authorities had first attempted to contain. Worldwide, the illness has killed more than 250 people, but it has infected tens of thousands.

ADB Helps Poor Households in Cambodia's Resource-Rich Tonle Sap Basin

ADB - Asian Development Bank
http://www.adb.org

8 July 2009

MANILA, PHILIPPINES - The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is providing a $3.45 million technical assistance grant to Cambodia to help diversify and boost the incomes of thousands of marginal farmers, small land holders, and poor householders living in and around the resource-rich Tonle Sap Basin.

The technical assistance will be funded by a $2.7-million grant from the Government of Finland, a $500,000 grant from the Republic of Korea e-Asia and Knowledge Partnership Fund, and a $250,000 grant from ADB. ADB will manage the funds. The Government of Cambodia will provide $200,000 equivalent.

The project will support training programs, demonstrations of modern agricultural practices, and the introduction of communication facilities in remote rural communities to provide access to internet-based agricultural knowledge banks.

Tonle Sap is the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia and provides an irreplaceable source of livelihood for more than one million people, or a third of the country’s total population. Despite its plentiful resources, the region remains one of the poorest in Cambodia, with almost 40% of its residents living on less than $1.25 a day. A reliance on old, unproductive farming practices and a lack of resources and access to information on modern techniques have left many households eking out a subsistence living.

The technical assistance will be used to support training sessions and demonstrations of high yielding farming techniques in four provinces – Banteay Meanchey, Kampong Cham, Kampong Thom, and Siem Reap. Funds will also be used for a pilot communication project that will establish internet linked e-kiosks and other facilities, providing updated information on modern crop, livestock, and aquaculture production practices, as well as best practices for water management.

"The technical assistance will help diversify and improve the incomes of small land holders, marginal farmers, and poor households in the Tonle Sap Basin by increasing their access to good agricultural practices, technologies, and information,” said Giap Minh Bui, rural development economist in ADB's Southeast Asia Department.

The cofinancing from Finland is coming from the Channel Financing Agreement, a joint technical assistance program between the Government of Finland and ADB. The Republic of Korea e-Asia and Knowledge Partnership Fund, administered by ADB, supports projects that boost knowledge development and information technology in the region.

The project will be carried out from September this year until August 2012 with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries as the executing agency.

Cambodia’s Remote Temple Ruins Worth the Trek

http://businessmirror.com.ph/
Written by John Burgess / Special to The Washington Post

Wednesday, 08 July 2009

IT’S early on a Sunday morning in Cambodia, and I’m standing at a 12th-century moat. Traces of mist hover above the lotus leaves that dapple the water. Across a causeway, through a tumbled-down gate, lies Banteay Chhmar, one of the largest temples ever built by the ancient Khmer Empire. My friends and I are going to have the place all to ourselves.

We walk in. It turns out that we do end up sharing it, with a local man who brings his cows onto the grounds to graze. And with an affable mason who leads us across acres of fallen stone to see a message from the past, an inscription chiseled into the doorjamb of a holy tower. This kind of company we welcome.

Cambodia’s great temples of Angkor, 65 miles away, have long since been rediscovered after a quarter-century of closure by war. They now draw more than a million foreign visitors a year, not a few of whom regret that so many other people had the same idea. At peak hours, human traffic jams can form at temple steps once reserved for kings and priests.

But go beyond Angkor and you can find places that serve up the old solitude and sense of discovery. You can explore at your own pace, to the sounds of birds and the breeze that stirs the leaves overhead. In postcards and e-mails home, you will search for words worthy of your sentiments of wonder.

Banteay Chhmar is among the most spectacular of these places. Getting to it entails hours on very bumpy and dusty dirt roads. Staying the night means making do with primitive accommodations: candlelit rooms in local homes, bath water drawn from that same moat.

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OVERGROWN with vegetation, a stone dharmasala, or rest house, lies outside one of the entrances to Banteay Chhmar. PHOTO FROM THE GLOBAL HERITAGE FUND
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I stayed the night, and it turned out to really make the visit. The next morning I rose early, as everyone here does, and took a walk in clean country air. I passed mother hens foraging with their chicks, boys tending to a mud oven in which charcoal was being made. I was seeing not only a temple but a way of life.

Today several thousand people—rice farmers, cattle herders, market vendors—make their homes on all four sides of the temple. They grow vegetables on the banks of a series of moats; they pile straw within the walls of lesser ancient buildings that dot their settlement. The ancient and present day coexist

Spending time here also means doing a good turn, spreading a bit of wealth in a part of a war-recovering country that has largely missed out on the tourist dollars that Angkor is bringing in. People do have cell phones (charged by generator), and some have small tractors, but there are few other signs of affluence here.

Banteay Chhmar was created in the Khmer Empire’s last great burst of construction, under the 12th-century Buddhist king Jayavarman VII. His engineers were thinking big even by Khmer standards: To contain a great settlement, they built earthworks and moats that formed a square measuring roughly one mile on each side. At its center, within another square moat system half a mile on each side, they built the temple.

More than a century ago, French archaeologist Etienne Aymonier found the temple to be in a state of “indescribable ruin.” It still is, despite the efforts of that friendly mason, who is part of a small reconstruction team. But that’s part of what makes the site so enticing. Exploring it means climbing over huge piles of large fallen stones, something to be tackled by only the sure-footed. We passed ruined towers, courtyards and ceremonial walkways. Sometimes the stones were so high that we were walking at roof level.

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COWS come to graze on the grounds of Banteay Chhmar, one of Cambodia’s spectacular ancient temples. PHOTO BY JOHN BURGESS FOR THE WASHINGTON POST
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The temple is no longer a formal religious site, but Cambodians believe that it, like all those that their forebears left behind, remains a holy site. In one surviving chamber we found a small contemporary shrine, with a Buddha image wearing a cloth robe, where people made incense offerings. When rain is needed, local people are reported to walk in a procession around the temple, imploring heaven to help.

One of the best parts of this temple is the many hundreds of feet of bas-reliefs on its outer walls. We had to scramble up more stones to get a good view. Before us was a full sample of life 900 years ago: processions of elephants, prominent ladies tended by maids, children roughhousing, villagers in a sampan, servants tending a stove. There were also many scenes of war with Champa, the long-vanished rival state to the east: The temple is in large part a memorial to four generals who lost their lives in that long conflict. On land, the men of arms go at one another fiercely with spears (you can identify the Chams by the curious blossom-shaped headdress they wear). On water, rows of men pull at oars from galleys as others strike at the enemy with spears. There are also images of the divine, notably the god Vishnu, with 32 arms arrayed like rays of light emanating from the sun.

The carving style is similar to that of the Bayon temple reliefs in Angkor. The difference is there’s no need to fight for a view. We did cross paths for a few minutes our first day with a party of about 20 French-speaking tourists. We saw no other visitors that day or the next.

Late in the afternoon, we went for a look at what the ancient Khmers could do with water. Just east of the temple, they created a reservoir that measures roughly a mile by a half-mile. Academics disagree over whether this body, and others like it, did only symbolic duty as earthly stand-ins for the mythic Sea of Creation, or were part of a vast irrigation system, or both. Whatever the truth, I was awed by the scale. The tree line way, way off in the distance was the northern bank.

The reservoir was now largely dry, but because its floor is low and collects water before the surrounding land does, it has been divided into rice paddies. We went for a stroll, walking along paddy dikes to keep our feet dry. We said hello to members of a farming family who were tinkering with a small tractor. A woman had caught a bucketful of paddy crabs and insects, which she would sell as food. In the final daylight, we passed a group of young men bringing cattle home.

I passed the night at the house of a Cambodian family, friends of a friend. They couldn’t have been more gracious. They gave me a room of my own, bottled water, mosquito coils and a big luxury: a car battery hooked to a fluorescent light. I could have light all night if I wanted it.

Other members of our party slept at a formal homestay, the term given to guesthouses as well as family homes that accept paying guests, a few steps from the temple’s gate. It had two rooms with large beds covered by mosquito nets. Downstairs there was a basic bathroom with a squat toilet and scoop bath.

Staying the night brought another cultural experience. A festival was going on nearby, and its amplified music carried into my room as I sat reading. Then around 10 pm, silence. Private generators don’t run all night, even for a celebration.

I got up at dawn, scoop-bathed in slightly murky water and walked to the moat from which it had been drawn. I took in the early morning sights: the mist, dogs prowling around in first light. I played amateur archaeologist for a bit, noting that an ancient feeder or outflow channel, now dry, was connected to the moat at this corner. Later we went exploring on foot. Mixed in among wooden homes were the stone walls of lesser 12th-century relics that had been monasteries or small temples. The ruins of one temple’s gate lay foliage-shrouded just a few steps from a house. Little boys ran about, and a teenage girl ironed clothing.

We had breakfast at a stall in the town’s market; there are no proper restaurants. It was noodle soup with chicken, and very good.

I first visited Angkor in 1969. Back then, you could be alone in the big temples even there. I once walked through the largest of them, Angkor Wat, encountering hardly a soul. It’s good to know that such an experience can still be had. You just have to work a bit harder for it.

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IN PHOTO -- IN the structure at the rear of the Banteay Chhmar temple, carved human features can still be discerned on one of the site’s “face towers.” PHOTO BY DAN THOMPSON OF THE GLOBAL HERITAGE FUND

UEM Group mulls jobs in Vietnam, Cambodia

Business Times

http://www.btimes.com.my

Thursday, July 09, 2009

By Mustapha Kamil and Shahriman Johari

UEM Group Bhd has been offered huge projects in Vietnam and is also mulling whether to accept a contract to build a bridge in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

The projects in Vietnam are worth a "few billion US dollars", chairman Tan Sri Dr Ahmad Tajuddin Ali said in an interview in Kuala Lumpur recently.

They are in Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City, and work includes building an airport and a port.

"It's so big that we may have to rope in other Malaysian contractors," Tajuddin said.

The bridge project in Cambodia is worth about US$100 million (RM356 million) and UEM is in the final stages of evaluating the job.

Vietnam has been a favourite destination for Malaysian builders, with companies like SP Setia Bhd and Gamuda Bhd already having a presence as they seek to grow profits amid a slowing home market.

UEM Group has ventured abroad through its construction arm UEM Builders Bhd, mainly to countries like India and Qatar.

Tajuddin also said that UEM was confident of defending itself against a legal suit from the Qatar Public Works Organisation.

"We have received from the Qatari authorities the certificate of completion for the entire Salwa Road project. We have also got the extension of time for the job to January 31 2009," he said.

Because of this, UEM Group will not make provisions for the suit. At the same time, it also has a RM1 billion claim for work already done for the same project.

It is understood that the Qatar Public Works Organisation is seeking damages, reportedly about 878.3 million Qatari riyal (RM880 million), against design consulting engineer Parsons International Ltd, UEM and Qatar Insurance Co over work on the Salwa International Road.

UEM has been named as the second defendant in the suit, Tajuddin said.

Paris accords failed to save Cambodia

UPI - United Press International, Asia
http://www.upiasia.com/

By Gaffar Peang-Meth
Guest Commentary
Published: July 08, 2009

Washington, DC, United States, — In 1991 there were high hopes for Cambodia’s future. The brutal regime of Pol Pot had been knocked from power; guerilla warfare between the four Cambodian factions was being transformed from a shooting war to a contest at the ballot box; and the Final Act of the Paris Peace Accords promised Cambodia a liberal democracy whose citizens would at long last enjoy fundamental rights and freedoms.

Some interpreters of historical events dub what followed in Cambodia after the Peace Accords as a United Nations “success story.” It could have been a success story. The words and the vision in the settlement framework pointed to that direction.

The Final Act of the Paris Accords sought to “restore peace” to Cambodia, ravaged by “tragic conflict and continuing bloodshed,” through “an internationally guaranteed comprehensive settlement.” It was adopted on Oct. 23, 1991 by 18 participating governments – Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, Canada, China, France, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Soviet Union, United Kingdom, United States, and Vietnam – where officials of Zimbabwe and Yugoslavia represented the non-aligned movement and the U.N. Secretary-General and his special representative were participants.

Signatory states declared to “commit themselves to promote and encourage respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms in Cambodia, as embodied in the relevant international instruments to which they are party.”

Among other things, they agreed to maintain, preserve and defend Cambodia’s “sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and inviolability, neutrality and national unity”; restore and maintain Cambodia’s peace; promote national reconciliation; “ensure the exercise of the right to self-determination of the Cambodian people” through free and fair elections; and the “non-return to the policies and practices of the past.”

The Accords stipulated Cambodia’s Constitution as “the supreme law of the land”; promised adherence to fundamental rights of “life, personal liberty, security, freedom of movement, freedom of religion, assembly and association . . . due process and equality before the law, protection from arbitrary deprivation of property or deprivation of private property without just compensation . . . consistent with the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other relevant international instruments.”

Annex 5 states, “Cambodia will follow a system of liberal democracy,” with an “independent judiciary . . . empowered to enforce the rights provided under the Constitution.”

Yet, from the outset of the Accords, the necessary “neutral political environment conducive to free and fair general elections” was never ensured. “The strict neutrality” of “administrative agencies, bodies and offices” responsible for “foreign affairs, national defense, finance, public security and information,” which the Accords placed under the direct control of the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia, to “exercise (its authority) as necessary to ensure strict neutrality,” was never consummated. Authority was not assumed by UNTAC, but remained in the hands of the Hun Sen government.

Some people do things simply because they can, with no fear of consequences. When Prince Ranariddh of the royalist FUNCINPEC – the French acronym for the National United Front for an Independent, Neutral, Peaceful, and Cooperative Cambodia – won the elections in 1993 as the people expressed their right of self-determination, Cambodian People’s Party leader Hun Sen, who had ruled Cambodia under Vietnam’s protection since January 1979, was allowed to elbow himself into a co-premiership with Ranariddh. The peoples’ ballots were rendered irrelevant, with the blessing of the U.N. Transitional Authority.

Hun Sen and the CPP immediately began preparations for the 1998 elections. In 1997, Co-Premier Hun Sen’s forces fought Co-Premier Ranariddh’s royalist troops in the streets of Phnom Penh in a coup d’etat that killed many and sent Ranariddh fleeing to neighboring Thailand.

The world community realized that unless Ranariddh returned to participate in the upcoming elections, the Paris Peace Accords would be meaningless. It took coordinated high-level international pressures and threats for Ranariddh to agree to return to Cambodia. But Hun Sen and the CPP were already in firm control of the country. Recently, from eventual exile in Malaysia, Ranariddh was compelled to foreswear political activity before Hun Sen would allow him to return to his homeland.

In spite of the Paris Accords’ stipulation that “All persons in Cambodia . . . shall enjoy the rights and freedoms embodied in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other relevant international human rights instruments,” in contemporary Cambodia, Hun Sen runs the country with an iron fist. He exercises control over the three branches of government.

With opposition much in disarray, an alternative to his rule is lacking. With the international community desirous of political stability, human rights are neglected and donor countries continue to make up half of the national budget that sustains Hun Sen’s regime.

By controlling the purse strings, donor countries assert they have some leverage to demand good governance, even from a dictator. But Hun Sen has made a mockery of both the domestic political and judicial systems – lifting legislators’ parliamentary immunity, filing frivolous lawsuits against his opponents – and the international court that has been seated to try cases against alleged perpetrators of atrocities under the Khmer Rouge regime – of which Hun Sen was a part.

So blatant is his disregard for international norms that he has warned foreigners that he has other “laws” to deal with “foreigners” who play with Cambodian politics. Good governance is entirely absent.

Today’s Cambodia under Hun Sen and the CPP has more roads, bridges, modern buildings, and fancy villas. It is more appealing than the Cambodia of Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge whose regime of murder and mayhem devastated the country from 1975-79. But under Hun Sen, the rich get richer, nearly half of the population lives below poverty level, many live off the city’s refuse, and high officials are accused of siphoning several hundred million dollars each year for personal enrichment.

Generous monetary aid to Hun Sen and the CPP helps strengthen authoritarian rule, which is legitimized by elections in an environment of intimidation and fear. The level of deadly attacks may have declined, but how many fewer threats, how much less intimidation, and how many fewer deaths make elections “more free and fair”? Are Cambodians “more free” because they are given ballots to put in election boxes under the watchful eyes of party cadres and agents?

Does a government that sells natural resources for private gain, evicts the weak and the underprivileged from their land in order to permit development by the wealthy and the powerful, sues its citizens and lifts the immunity of lawmakers whose words and opinions aren’t in agreement with those of the party in power, represent progress toward a more democratic future?

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(Dr. Gaffar Peang-Meth is retired from the University of Guam, where he taught political science for 13 years. He currently lives in the United States. He can be contacted at peangmeth@gmail.com. ©Copyright Gaffar Peang-Meth)

Khmer Rouge twisted prisoner's ankles with pliers

Cambodian man takes photographs of a small shrine with human bones and skulls, alleged victims of the Khmer Rouge, at Ampe Phnom village, Kampong Speu province, about 45 kilometers (28 miles) southwest of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Sunday, July 5, 2009.
(AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

By SOPHENG CHEANG

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — A woman tortured by the Khmer Rouge testified Wednesday that she has spent most of her life trying to forget the horrors she endured in the 1970s and never spoke of the past, even to her husband and children.

Chin Meth, now 51, told the U.N.-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal that her ankles and wrists still bear scars where she was bound for beatings — attacks that sometimes lasted until she passed out. Her testimony is the first by a female survivor.

"They beat me with a wooden stick. They twisted my ankles with pliers," she said, speaking softly and staring straight ahead. "While they tortured me, they tied my hands behind my back and beat me very seriously. It was terrifying."

Her testimony came at the trial of Kaing Guek Eav — better known as Duch — who headed the regime's notorious S-21 prison in Phnom Penh. Up to 16,000 people were tortured under his command and later taken away to be killed during the Khmer Rouge's 1975-1979 rule. Only a handful survived.

Chin Meth, a former Khmer Rouge soldier, said she was arrested in 1977 and accused of being a spy for the CIA or Russia's KGB — a common accusation leveled at prisoners. She was sent to S-21 and kept there for 15 days of hard torture, she said.

"I told them I have no idea what the CIA or KGB is," she said.

She was transferred to a different prison in Kandal province, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of the capital, where other soldiers from her unit were being kept for "re-education."

At the new prison, she was held in a house not a cell and security guards ordered her to look after fruit and vegetable gardens that fed the Khmer Rouge officers. She stayed there until Vietnamese forces invaded to oust the Khmer Rouge in 1979, and then embarked on three decades of trying to forget.

"I did not want to hear anything about my past," she said. "When I got married, I never told my story to my husband and children."

"When I heard the word 'prison,' I felt so much suffering," she said.

S-21, also known as Tuol Sleng, is now a genocide museum with pictures of prisoners lining its walls. Chin Meth said she visited the prison for the first time in November 2007 after filing her initial testimony with the tribunal, which was seeking survivors' accounts.

"I saw my picture, and the pictures of my friends. I almost fainted, but someone caught me," she said.

Duch (pronounced DOIK) told Wednesday's hearing that he doubted Chin Meth spent time at S-21, because the only survivors were prisoners with skills who could serve the Khmer Rouge. All others under his command were sent for execution. He then suggested she might have survived a different prison, known as S-24, which was more of a "re-education" facility.

Three S-21 survivors testified recently. They included two artists who painted propaganda portraits of Khmer Rouge leaders and a mechanic who fixed the officials' cars, tractors and typewriters.

Duch, 66, is the first senior Khmer Rouge figure to face trial and the only one to acknowledge responsibility for his actions. He is charged with crimes against humanity and is the first of five defendants scheduled for long-delayed trials by the U.N.-assisted tribunal.

Senior leaders Khieu Samphan, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary and Ieng Sary's wife, Ieng Thirith, are all detained and likely to face trial in the next year or two.