Visa exemption for Thais and Cambodians

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Friday, 12 November 2010 15:01 Cheang Sokha and Cameron Wells

FOREIGN Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong said yesterday Cambodia and Thailand would sign an agreement next week allowing nationals from each country to cross the border without having to obtain a visa.

He said the agreement would be signed during the two-day Ayeyawady-Chao Phraya-Mekong Economic Cooperation Strategy Summit in Phnom Penh, which begins November 16.

“At the ACMECS meeting we have planned to sign this exemption for ordinary passport holders,” he said.

Thani Thongpakdi, deputy spokesman for the Thai foreign ministry, said he hoped the agreement would be signed “as soon as possible”.

“Thai nationals and Cambodian nationals [currently] need to get visas [to cross],” he said. “This agreement is about exempting that.”

He said procedures for crossing the border remain in place, stating that nationals must still pass through designated border gates.

Koy Kuong said yesterday Cambodia has signed similar pacts with ASEAN members Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Laos, Vietnam and Indonesia.

Meanwhile, the Thai newspaper The Nation yesterday quoted Thawatchai Samutsakorn – commander of the Thai troops stationed near the Preah Vihear temple – as saying that he would push for the Preah Vihear border gate to be reopened before the New Year so that tourists could visit the temple from the Thai side.

But Koy Kuong said the gate would only be opened when Thai troops withdrew from the temple.

“Samdech [Hun Sen] stated clearly that if Thailand made the situation normal again, the border gate can open anytime,” he said. “It was closed when Thailand sent troops to invade Cambodia.”

Relations between Thailand and Cambodia soured in July 2008 when the temple was listed as a World Heritage site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation. Both countries claim a 4.6-square-kilometre zone adjacent to the temple.

Thai parliamentarians are set to meet next month to discuss agreements made between the two countries to undertake joint demarcation and demining projects and to redeploy troops in the area.

“The Preah Vihear issue will have to be discussed,” Thani Thongpakdi said.

Kingdom's lenders should take responsibility for rates

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Friday, 12 November 2010 15:01 Steve Finch

THE call for lower interest rates this week by Cambodia’s SMEs points to an enduring concern within the Kingdom’s immature financial sector, but there are currently few opportunities for lower borrowing rates unless the government and financial sector motivate themselves to address the issue.

While the likes of Japan and the United States maintain base rates close to zero in a bid to stimulate economic activity, Cambodia has retained among the highest interest rates in the world with few mechanisms for lowering the cost of borrowing.

Given the highly dollarised economy, the National Bank of Cambodia has few options for lowering the base rate, which means the private sector will remain in charge of dictating interest rates for the foreseeable future. And, unfortunately, banks and microfinance institutions will see few incentives to reduce rates.

With more MFIs receiving deposit-taking licences, in theory, there would appear to be an opportunity for lower borrowing rates in Cambodia – given the likes of Amret and AMK can now draw on client savings rather than international lenders to finance loans.

But most have opted instead to offer extremely high savings rates in a bid to raise their competitiveness in attracting deposits rather than passing on these lower operating costs to borrowers.

AMK offers a staggering 12 percent per annum on 18-month fixed-rate deposits, which ranks as one of the most attractive savings products on the planet in an age of rates in the low single digits.

Cambodia remains a country where many people still consider deposit accounts as counter-intuitive. Many people in rural areas remain reluctant to hand over their life savings for what essentially amounts to a piece of paper with a number on it – a savings book – preferring instead to horde money under the mattress where it cannot be used to fuel borrowing and in turn the economy.

The absence of both a credit agency and land titles on many properties that could offer all-important collateral means borrowing remains as expensive as ever.

Cases such as Choice Taxi Company’s collateral-free US$300,000 loan from ABA Bank this year remain the exception rather than the rule. In this case, ABA Bank considered the attractiveness and future growth of the metre-taxi market sufficient security – but this model is not realistic in the case of most lending packages. Cambodia remains a risky prospect for international lenders.

The onus is therefore on the government and financial sector to offer a solution. The government must improve regulation of the financial sector and improve transparency to then improve the country’s standing in the eyes of the global financial market. Addressing dollarisation and establishing a credit agency in the Kingdom would help assert greater control of monetary policy and offer lenders improved security.

But lenders themselves have to take the responsibility. More sensible rates would help pass on lower financing costs to borrowers and stop the current race within the banking sector that has seen deposit rates go through the roof. By encouraging people to save courtesy of high interest rates the sector is only hurting Cambodia’s recovery.

Rice partnership inked

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Friday, 12 November 2010 15:01 Chun Sophal

A CAMBODIAN association has signed a deal worth US$22.4 million with a Vietnamese firm to plant 20,000 hectares worth of paddy rice for export.

The Community of Takmoa Agricultural and Industrial Development yesterday signed an investment deal with Vietnam’s Thai Thinh Company.

Lim Kimkhun, head of the Takmoa association, said that the cooperative agreement between his community and the company would help to boost yields of the grain in Cambodia.

Thai Thinh will be responsible for both technical planting and rice production in an area of Kampong Cham province’s Bateay district and Kampong Thom province’s Kampong Svay district.

“We expect our community will have more rice to supply the international demand in the future,” said Lim Kimkhun.

Next January, both sides will develop irrigation systems for the area and construct a rice mill, set to be capable of producing 500 tonnes of rice per day.

“We hope to plant paddy twice per year, yielding seven tonnes per hectare, and be able to export 100,000 tonnes [of rice] per year from 2012,” he said.

Nguyen Lam Duy, general director of Thai Thinh, said during the signing that his south Vietnam-based company would supply fertiliser and seeds to the community.

“The sole purpose for which we are here is to help [the]community to produce many tonnes of rice.

“The government’s policy aims to boost rice exports to up to 1 million tonnes by 2015,” he said.

Ponh Kosal, advisor to president of Cambodia’s senate Chea Sim, who was present at the signing, said both companies could double the amount of rice produced in the area.

Around 280,000 farmers would profit from the cooperation between the Kingdom’s company and Vietnamese firm, according to estimates provided at the signing.

Two Vietnamese men jailed for drug dealing

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Friday, 12 November 2010 15:01 Chrann Chamroeun

PHNOM Penh Municipal Court yesterday sentenced two Vietnamese men to two years each in prison after finding them guilty of attempting to sell 40 ecstasy pills in May.

Ly Heng and Ngieng Yong Fong were arrested on May 20 on suspicion of drug dealing, after 40 ecstasy pills were confiscated as they attempted to sell the drugs to a third party, known to the court as Yoeung.

Both suspects denied the charges during testimonies delivered to the court at the hearing yesterday, but later acknowledged their guilt following questioning by prosecutors.

Ly Heng, a motorbike taxi driver, told the court that he had purchased one pill for personal use at a cost of US$5, “in order to empower my energy and not feel sleepy”.

Ngieng Yong Fong told the court that he had ordered the supply for the unknown third party from a drug dealer named David, and that he was simply acting as a middle man between the two parties.

“Yoeung counted on me to buy the drugs for him,” he said.

But prosecutor Hing Bunchea rejected both denials, claiming the testimonies conflicted with previous statements made by the accused to police officials that they “bought the ecstasy pills for $5 per pill and sold them for a $7.50 profit at a night club, because the ecstasy drug is a drug that makes happy and wavy feelings”.

“You don’t have any hard evidence to support your testimonies,” he added.

Judge Din Sivuthy also ordered the pair to pay a fine of 2 million riel (US$492) each.

Mfone affected by baht's power

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Friday, 12 November 2010 15:00 Jeremy Mullins

MFONE faces a “price war” and intense competition among the Kingdom’s nine mobile operators, according to results from parent company Thaicom, released yesterday.

The mobile provider now claims 569,472 Cambodian subscribers, a 30.2 percent decline on 815,363 for the third quarter 2009. Mfonwe was pegged as the third largest provider in Cambodia in statistics from June, with 782,073 active subscribers, according to data complied by the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications.

Revenues suffered at the provider during the most recent quarter. Thaicom claimed a loss of 102 million baht (US$3.5 million) in the Kingdom, compared with a loss of 25.3 million baht in the same quarter last year. Currency fluctuations in the most recent quarter hit its Cambodian revenues as Mfone reports its domestic revenues in US dollars, which are then converted to baht for reporting statements, Thaicom says.

“The appreciation of the baht [against the dollar] has caused lower revenue from the telephone business in Cambodia,” it said.

But drops in electricity costs and interconnect charges, as well as the baht’s appreciation, had decreased total costs. Thaicom holds 51 percent of Shenington Investments, which operates Mfone.

Asian Games open floodgates

Artists perform during a rehearsal ahead of today’s opening ceremony of the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou. This year’s ceremony has a water theme. AFP

Cambodian boxers Phal Sophat (left) and Svay Ratha perform some punching drills under the watchful eye of coach Van Sophal during a training session yesterday morning at the Athlete’s Village in Guangzhou ahead of the Asian Games fights next week. AFP

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Friday, 12 November 2010 15:00 Ken Gadaffi

All is set for today’s grand opening of the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou under the theme ‘Thrilling Games, Harmonious Asia.’ This year’s tournament will be the biggest in the history of the event, according to the Olympic Council of Asia.

The official the official figure of 9,704 athletes - 184 more than the 9,520 who competed in Doha four years ago – was confirmed at a Chefs De Mission meeting on Wednesday by Haider A. Farman, Manager of the OCA’s Asian Games Department. 4,750 team officials are also present in the Southern Chinese city.

At the officials meeting, Farman gave praise to the efforts of the organizing committee in deciding to broadcast more live sports events and increase the number of outside broadcast vans to expand the coverage. “Team sports such as football and volleyball will benefit greatly from this broadcasting move,” he said,

Today’s opening ceremony is expected to be spectacular showpiece according to Chen Weiya, the show director. Weiya stated that the organizing committee drew experience from the successful staging of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, however, he noted today’s extravaganza will be remarkable because of the role of water.

“The opening ceremony will start with a drop of water from the Pearl River,” he said. “There will be a 170-metre long fountain matrix, the longest one in the world. There will also be a huge area for performance, including a 3-metre deep area which has never been seen before.”

The director also highlighted the uniqueness of Haixinsha as the location for the pageant. The site which is shaped like a boat is said to represent the spirit of the Guangdong people. “The opening ceremony will go out of a stadium, with a pearl river as the stage and the whole city as the backdrop. It will be an ‘open opening ceremony,” he added.

Cambodia’s 38-man delegation will file out sixth of the 45 nations taking part in the traditional parade. 21-year-old men’s taekwondo star Chhoy Bouthorn will lead the team out by carrying the Kingdom’s flag. The opening ceremony is scheduled to commence at 8pm Cambodian time.

Atheletes get straight into training

After a warm welcome from officials of the Games organizing committee on arrival in Guangzhou on Tuesday evening, the Cambodian contingent were quickly accredited and checked into the Athletes Village, located right in the middle of the metropolis.

At 6am, the athletes were woken to hit the training fields and begin their acclimatisation to the cooler air in Guangzhou.

The volleyball team, comprising of Mon Rom, Nget Sothearith, Samath Vann Sak and Taing Mengheak, squared themselves up under the watchful eyes of coach Ky Mengham, while boxers Phal Sophat and Svay Ratha, went through drills with coach Ven Sophal.

Meanwhile, wrestler Chum Chivinn, who is still nursing a thigh injury sustained in training, did some light jogging around the Games Village. The SEA Games silver medalist has been entered for the 120kg wrestling and will have to shed off about 5 kilograms before his opening bout on November 21.

National Olympic Committee of Cambodia Secretary General Vath Chamroeun arrived at the Cambodian camp at about 3pm on Wednesday and held a briefing with the coaches and team officials on their preparations and readiness for their events. All coaches were then given updates on their various venues and events schedules.

Voices from the Cambodian camp

“I am quite lucky to be here in Guangzhou,” said boxer Phal Sophat after training on Wednesday evening. “I really enjoyed today’s training, and I am looking forward to the start of the competitions.” His sparing partner Svay Ratha said: “I hope to do well. I want to have a good start and I will try my best to perform well.” Both Boxers will enter the ring next Tuesday, and eagerly await the names of their opponents, with the draw to be held after the opening ceremony.

Tennis duo Bun Kenny and Orn Sambath play their first matches tomorrow in the team event at the AOTI tennis arena.

Bun Kenny, who scored his first ATP points recently, will be looking to improve his ranking with a good run at the Games.

“I don’t know if I can win a medal here. For sure I want to give my best, but improving on my ranking will be a huge success for me,” he said. The lads are not new to China, and will not be intimidated by the crowd and the field, featuring some of Asia’s best tennis players.

“I have been training hard, and we learnt a lot during our tournament in Shanghai, so we will not be afraid of any player,” said Orn Sambath echoed.

Bun Kenny and Orn Sambath start off with the team events before splitting to take part in the Singles, and then team up together again to play the doubles. However, they faced a tough task after being drawn yesterday against the Chinese Taipei team of Chei Ti and Lu Yen Shui.

Hem Thon Ponloeu and his niece Hem Thon Vitiny are also set to honour Cambodia’s legendary swimmer and grandfather, Hem Thon, as they hit the pool on Saturday morning. Both are competing in the 50m freestyle and breaststroke events.

“I feel happy to be here. I have been training for this for a long time and will do my best,” said Vitiny after a workout yesterday morning. “I don’t hold too much hope personally, but as an athlete, I hope I can get one medal. It doesn’t matter which one.”

Ponloeu said he meant business in Guangzhou. “This is an important competition, so we are taking it very seriously and want to prepare for our first round on very well,” he said.

Taekwondo coach Choi Yongsok is quite optimistic that his wards will go far in the Games, but hopes they will avoid his home country in the draw. The Korean-born coach, who accompanied the four-strong Cambodian taekwondo team in South Korea for six months training prior to the Games, would be happy to see his adopted country beat his homeland, but thinks the Korean’s experience will prove too much. The draw will be made on Monday.

“I have confidence on my athletes, we have trained hard in Korea for six months and I am sure they will do well in this Game,” said Choi.

“We haven’t started training since we arrived. We have been trying to locate our venue and to find out the scheduled time for our training. Hopefully we will resume after the opening ceremony.”

Crown unveil new jewels

Phnom Penh Crown’s new signing Kuoch Sokumpheak was a celebrated hotshot at former club Khemara Keila. Photo by: Andy Brouwer

Phnom Penh Crown’s newly appointed Croatian coach Bojan Hodak conducts a fitness session with his players at their training ground in Tuol Kork yesterday. Photo by: Andy Brouwer

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Friday, 12 November 2010 15:00 Dan Riley

Phnom Penh Crown have announced the appointment of new head coach Bojan Hodak and his coaching team ahead of tomorrow’s friendly encounter against the visiting French Khmer Select XI at Olympic Stadium. Five exciting new signings have also been made for the league champions.

Hodak, 39, arrived in Phnom Penh this week to begin his one-year contract with Crown, determined to retain the Metfone C-League title and move the club onto a more professional footing.

“I will be pleased if everyone can see an improvement in the club,” he said at Crown’s training ground in Tuol Kork. “I like my teams to have possession of the ball and to play attacking football, and that is what we’ll be aiming for this season.”

“I’m a young coach and this will be great experience for me. The club will allow me to take my UEFA ‘Professional’ coaching license, which will help a lot. We have a game on Saturday – it’s early but we need games.

“We need to improve our fitness, in fact I’d like half a dozen friendly matches over the next two months to work on our match fitness.”

Hodak turned to coaching after completing a successful playing career as a hard-nosed central defender in Croatia, playing for six years in the Croatian first and second divisions with NK Trnje, NK Vrapce, NK Hrvatski Dragovaljac and NK Ponikve.

He headed to Asia in 1997 to play a further five years in the top divisions in Singapore and Hong Kong at Balestier Central, Jurong FC and Hong Kong Rangers. He earned his UEFA ‘A’ License badge in 2004 and came to prominence when he partnered ESPN’s Shebby Singh on the Malaysian reality television show, My Team, which saw them coach a squad of amateur players to take on the Malaysian national team.

Their success earned them entry into the Malaysian Premier League, they gained promotion in their first season and then spent two more years in the Super League before financial problems forced the side to drop out.

Hodak, who has worked for the Asian Football Confederation as an analyst for the last three years, turned to television and radio punditry for the Malaysian media before accepting his latest challenge in Phnom Penh.

The Croatian tactician will also be on hand to advise Crown’s Elite Football Academy, which is rapidly being established with final trials in Phnom Penh this weekend.

“It’s so important to involve the community, especially the kids,” said Hodak. “For football to take hold, we need the kids to love football, to follow local football, to build their passion for the game and to get involved. That’s what we will be doing here at Crown.”

Aiding the new head coach on the training ground will be assistant coach Vann Piseth, a former Cambodian international who assisted Scott O’Donell with the national team during his two spells in charge. Goalkeeping coach will be Prak Vanny, who has also performed duties with the national team for the last few years.

Not content with winning the league for the third time, Crown aim to extend their domestic dominance, as well as making an impression in two regional competitions, the AFC President’s Cup and the Singapore Cup.

They have confirmed their intent by signing five new players, three of which are current Cambodian internationals and two who have arrived fresh from the highly-rated Singapore League. They join a successful core of players retained from last season’s Championship-winning squad.

Strikers Kouch Sokumpheak and Khim Borey need little introduction to Cambodian football fans, as both have been rated as the country’s best homegrown talent for the last few seasons. Their addition to the Crown squad will strike fear into the hearts of their opponents.

Sokumpheak, 23, has been a loyal talisman at Khemara Keila for the past five years, whilst 21-year-old Borey has provided most of the ammunition for the Army team for the last four years, after spending a season with Koh Kong. It was Borey who netted a hat trick for the Cambodian national team in the recent AFF Suzuki Cup game against East Timor.

Joining them will be their international teammate San Narith, a utility player who commands a regular slot in the Cambodian line-up at either left-back or central midfield. Narith, 24, played for Preah Khan Reach last year after four years apiece with the Army and Khemara Keila.

The two new arrivals from the Singapore League are Nigerian-born duo, Odion Obadin, a 21-year-old central defender, and 24-year-old forward Kingsley Njoku. Both players spent three years each at Gombak United in the S-League.

Artist on the move – yet again

A painting from Touch Khchao’s Care series. Photo Supplied

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Friday, 12 November 2010 15:00 Nicky McGavin

SHE’S been tipped as one of Cambodia’s leading artists, and her work in Siem Reap has certainly been on the move – from one venue to another.

Touch Khchao, 28, is a Battambang artist; a graduate of the Phare Ponleu Selpak school of Art. A series of her work, entitled Care, has been on display at The Red Gallery at the FCC Angkor complex on Pokambor Avenue for some time.

But the shockwaves from the recession still reverberate, making running the gallery unsustainable. It closed last month, and much of the work formerly displayed in the space – a showcase for Cambodian painters and artists living here – has been returned to the artists.

But the Heritage Suites Hotel is the happy, temporary holder of the Care series of paintings.

An exhibition of the same series was held at the Art Café on Street 108 in Phnom Penh last year, and at the time the artist explained the concept behind her work.

“Where is the care? Where is the love in our world? When I see husbands and wives fighting, old people abandoned and left to beg in the streets or children fighting with their parents, I hurt inside.

“Why don’t people care for themselves, each other or the planet that we all share? The purpose of these paintings is to transmute this negative energy into the positive energy of care and love,” she said.

The radiantly colourful, dreamy and surreally blended pots in the paintings are used to represent people and the relationships that count. As receptacles, we are able to both give and receive that care that holds us together and gives us value, Touch Khchao says.

According to the artist, that care and love “radiates this energy through colour and form to the viewer, and to the world at large”.

Touch Khchao has been a full-time artist since 2008, and first stepped into the spotlight of the Kingdom’s art scene with an exhibition of works at Comme à la Maison in Phnom Penh in 2007.

Since then, she has received commissions from Spain, the UK and Australia, and she has exhibited internationally in both France and California.

Her works have also been shown at the Ministry of Culture, and at the French Cultural Centre in the capital.

Now’s the chance to catch her work in Temple Town before it heads off to Phnom Penh again.

Care is on show at the Heritage Suites Hotel in Siem Reap.

Cantonese offers the eel deal

Sizzling eel at Golden Sand. Photo by: PETER OLSZEWSKI

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Friday, 12 November 2010 15:00 Peter Olszewski

IT’S difficult to fully focus on the menu at the Golden Sand, Siem Reap’s newest flash Chinese restaurant, because attention is constantly diverted by a parade of waiters grappling with struggling live fish, netted from large water tanks at the front of the eatery and rushed to the execution chambers in the kitchen at the rear.

One waiter nets a pair of pale orange tilapia and scurries by. Next comes an odd-looking thrashing fish, which I’m told is a marbled sand goby that can be cooked in soy sauce for a mere $12.

Then another lad zips past with two pretty, delicately tinged green turtles guaranteed to give the PC contingent the wobbles.

Yet another waiter tries to lug his haul to the kitchen, but the writhing snake-like critter escapes his grip, albeit only momentarily.

It’s an eel, or as my dining companion Madame Chhout Chhout declares, it’s her dinner. Following its recapture, it will soon be served on a hot iron platter as “sizzling eel slices” ($5).

The slim eel, she says, is an ideal size because bigger, fatter eels don’t cook well and the flesh has an uncomfortable gummy consistency that makes it seem undercooked when it is, in fact, well cooked.

She babbles on about her eel, which is all well and good for her because she’s already ordered, whereas I’m still struggling; decisions, decisions. I try to concentrate on the comprehensive menu which is littered with bizarre exotica: Should I be adventurous and choose, for example, “stir-fried crocodile organs with celery and Jew’s ear ($8)?”

Perhaps not. Ditto the “crocodile paw with abalone sauce” ($18). Double ditto the “steamed bullfrog with medlar” ($6). Incidentally, from what I can understand, medlar is similar to the fruit known in Australia as loquat.

The fruit appears on several items on the Golden Sand menu, such as “steamed crocodile meat with dates and medlar” ($8).

I’m not sure exactly what “squilla” is, but it’s listed under the market price section which means it’s expensive, along with abalone in premium oyster sauce, shark fin soup and Chinese ginseng and mushroom.

Our friends the turtles also star in this section, rendered steamed. In fact, Madame Chhout Chhout seems to be an expert on the turtle front too, saying she used to catch them to eat as a girl in Svay Rieng province. But those reptiles were not like the pretty green ones in this restaurant, but rather a more superior dining turtle.

Well may she rave on about the tasty Testudines of her girlhood, but I am still undecided about what to eat.

Why does the menu have to be so damned difficult? Time to dispense with the exotica, and with the high priced “market value” items. Time to dispense with anything that involves internal organs, including stewed duck kidney at a very modest $3, too.

I briefly pondered roast pigeon at $8, and skipped the list of interesting prawn dishes. Meanwhile, Madame Chhout Chhout was talking at length about the restorative and medicinal properties of choice turtle meat. From this she segued into the medicinal qualities of spiders, adding that she only eats spiders from Skuon, not the overpriced weedy specimens sold in Siem Reap. In fact, she recently had spiders sent up from Skuon and gave most of them to her two nieces and nephew to ward off mild flu. The Skuon spiders are fried in reddish oil and Madame Chhout Chhout delights in telling how the oily residue on the kids’ fingers looked like blood. After they’d eaten the spiders, the kids ran around wiggling their fingers, resembling bleeding spider legs.

But why are we talking spiders? There are none on the menu. Luckily, the felicitously-named Golden Sand manager, Miss A. Fang, who had been patiently waiting by our table, delicately interrupted the spider story and recommended I opt for “fried squid with special sauce” for $5.

What a prize choice. The plump, juicy, super-fresh squid, which was neatly sliced and covered with the unidentified special sauce that looked like caramel gravy, had just a hint of hot spiciness.

Madame Chhout Chhout was elated with her sizzling eel, which also was coated with a piquant sauce that had just a touch of spice.

She declared it the best eel she’d ever had. And I declared the squid the best I’d had. Then we both declared that Golden Sand served the best Cantonese food we’d encountered in Siem Reap.

Golden Sand Restaurant is located on Sivutha Boulevard, Siem Reap (next to Angkor Market). Call 076 361 7979 for further details.

The Phnom Penh Post News in Brief

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Trapang Phlong make a smash at championship

Friday, 12 November 2010 15:00 H S Manjunath

Trapang Phlong club from Takeo province took the men’s team title at the National Badminton’s Championships thanks to an impressive victory over Khemarak club in the final at the National Sports Complex yesterday. In the third place playoff, Monithapana prevailed over Metheavy. Individual events involving men’s singles and doubles, junior singles and doubles in different age groups, and also women’s singles, will be gone through over the next two days leading to a card of all finals Sunday.

Three monks killed in tractor, truck collision

Friday, 12 November 2010 15:00 Phak Seangly

THREE monks were killed and six others severely injured on yesterday when a homemade tractor collided with a truck hauling wood in Siem Reap’s Varin district. Ny Savon, police chief of Sre Nouy commune, said the injured were taken to a provincial hospital for treatment.

Man about town

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Friday, 12 November 2010 15:00 Peter Olszewski

Celebrity media wedding

EXPECT Siem Reap to be awash with high-profile international journalists early in December. The Asian and Australian celebrity media pack will be here to celebrate the wedding at the temple precinct on December 11 of prestigious Australian television journalist Hugh Riminton.

He will marry Mary Lloyd, also a television journalist who has recently been based mainly in Hong Kong.

Riminton is well-known to Australian TV viewers, but non-Aussie expats may remember him from his stint with CNN. From January 2005 until September 2008, he co-anchored CNN Today with Kristie Lu Stout of Hong Kong.

During that time, the program twice won the Asian Television Award for Asia-Pacific’s Best News Programme.

That upcoming weekend will be a hectic time in Temple Town. On Friday December 10, The Phnom Penh Post will hold its inaugural Siem Reap Finishing Post networking night at Sokha Angkor Resort. The following day will see the Texan Scramble golf social tournament at the Angkor Golf Resort.

During those days, the Cambodia Open golf championship will be underway at Sofitel Angkor’s Phokeethra Golf Resort, with the final to be played on Sunday, December 12.

Science film festival

AS part of the Khmer Science Film Festival in Siem Reap, nine films will be shown next Tuesday, November 16, at the 10 January 1979 High School with proceedings getting underway in the morning.

The Khmer Science Film Festival this year will run from November 12 to 21. UNESCO, the Goethe Institute and the Khmer Youth and Social Development Organisation, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, have organised the festival, which, in the provinces, will take place at various universities and schools. Organisers are hoping to screen films in the evening in the Angkor Kyong Yu entertainment area, but at time of writing were waiting for the necessary permission from the Apsara Authority.

Police Blotter: 12 Nov 2010

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Friday, 12 November 2010 15:00 Phak Seangly

Cops nab ‘gangster’ wielding two cleavers

Battambang provincial police on Monday arrested one of eight “gangsters” accused of injuring two people from a rival gang with meat cleavers. Police said the two gangs fought outside a dance party in Moang Russey district, but so far were unsure of the reasoning behind the scuffle. They arrested one suspect, 30, and confiscated two long cleavers used to injure two rivals, aged 42 and 16. The suspect denied involvement in the fight, despite having the cleavers. KOH SANTEPHEAP

Police finally catch crooks 10 years later

Kampong Thom provincial police on Sunday arrested two men accused of committing an assortment of crimes more than 10 years ago. One of the men was accused of robbery in Prasat Sambo district in 2000, while the other was accused of a murder committed in Prasat Samou district that same year. Police said the suspects fled to live in Oddar Meanchey province. Both were sent to provincial court for further questioning. KOH SANTEPHEAP

Man warned against walking, not hanging

A 26-year-old man hanged himself in Phnom Penh’s Meanchey district on Wednesday because his parents warned him against walking. Police claimed the man committed suicide by hanging himself with a scarf after his parents warned him not to go walking very often. Instead, they wanted him to concentrate on the family business, and his constant walking was preventing that. Police concluded that the suicide was caused by the warning. RASMEY KAMPUCHEA

Wine vendor assaulted for refusing service

A 24-year-old man was arrested after assaulting an alcohol seller who refused to sell him more wine in Takeo’s Samroang district on Saturday. Police said the suspect joined a local festival, where he drank wine at a local pagoda. He went to the alcohol vendor to purchase more wine, but the seller refused because the suspect looked like he had no money. The suspect then punched the victim in the head. Police said the suspect had been jailed twice previously on assault charges. KOH SANTEPHEAP

Suspect charged with murdering friend

Police in Poipet town on Tuesday arrested a man 10 days after he was accused of murdering his friend in a drunken dispute. Police said the pair were drinking wine together, when the suspect flew into a rage and stabbed his friend in the hand, then the head. The victim was sent to hospital but died soon after. The perpetrator escaped, but was caught as he tried to visit his home in secret. RASMEY KAMPUCHEA

Nuon Chea’s wife defends her husband

Photo supplied

Ly Kim Seng and Nuon Chea at Angkor Wat in 1998, shortly after he defected to the government with ex-Khmer Rouge head of state Khieu Samphan.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------I know he had good ideas for the people and wanted them to live in prosperity ... but bad people tried to destroy his policies.”

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Thursday, 11 November 2010 19:42 Thet Sambath

Ly Kim Seng, the wife of accused war criminal Nuon Chea, speaks out about her husband’s legacy

When did you get married and how did you meet your husband?

I married him in 1957. I met him through the Cambodian communist party, which introduced him to my parents and me. I was shy at the beginning. He came to see me when I was carrying water to irrigate the vegetables. I didn’t say anything to him. I ran away from him and I threw away the buckets.

I saw he was very handsome and he looked like a man who was smart and had a firm stance. For me, I didn’t think of his good looks. I was married to him because of my parents’ agreement, not because of his looks. [My parents] both asked me to marry him and I agreed because I saw he was a good, polite man and he looked like he had leadership character, but at the time I didn’t know he was a high Cambodian communist leader.

How are your current living conditions?

I have had a hard life since I married him. We never had our own house – we rented a house in Phnom Penh from the 1950s until the liberation in 1975. He always thought of the nation and the people. He sacrificed his whole life for the people, but at the end of it he was accused of genocide and war crimes.

How did you feel when your husband was first accused of these crimes?

I didn’t believe the accusations. I never heard anything about him ordering people killed. He always talked about the people and the nation, and ensuring Cambodia’s independence from Vietnam. What he did in the past was for the people and the nation. He never thought of his children and relatives – he just focused on his work.

What did you do during the Khmer Rouge regime?

I was a cook for Pol Pot, my husband and other Khmer Rouge leaders, and followed Pol Pot into the provinces and zones to cook for him. The work as a cook was very important at that time because there were people trying to kill Pol Pot and my husband with poison. I was responsible for cooking and checking the food to prevent any poisonings. He trusted me and he was worried someone would try to kill him by poisoning. Pol Pot was serious and he was very careful with food. I had to be careful: If he was poisoned, I would be in danger.

What did your husband do under the Khmer Rouge regime? Did you support what he did at that time?

He was president of the National Assembly, but I didn’t know exactly what he was doing at that time. The Khmer Rouge leaders had their principles of not telling anyone anything and I had a principle of not asking him, even though I was his wife. I never asked him a question about his work and leadership.

Even though I was a wife of a top leader, I didn’t have a car during 1975-79. I just rode a bicycle to work in Phnom Penh. I had no bodyguards and car to accompany me to any place, and I didn’t use my husband’s role to oppress other people. My husband didn’t want family members to get involved in his work and use his role to influence other people. His policy was that all people must be equal.

I can’t say whether I supported his work. I know he had good ideas for the people and wanted them to live in prosperity, with equal amounts of food, rice and clothes. But bad people tried to destroy his policies.

Were any of your relatives killed under the regime?

More than 18 of my relatives died or were killed under the Khmer Rouge regime, including aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews. Traitors killed them and my husband didn’t know about this. My husband’s relatives were killed at that time, too. As far as I know, 40 of his relatives died or were killed.

How is your family situation at the moment? Have you had any difficulties since your husband was arrested?

Even before he was detained I had no money and he didn’t have any money for me and our children. But when he was detained at the ECCC, the burden on me and the children worsened. I have no money to pay taxis to come to Phnom Penh. I receive some money from my children for a trip once a month: I wish to come to see him frequently, but the budget is an obstacle for me.

He received many millions of dollars from Khmer Rouge cadres during the 1990s and I asked him to keep a million dollars, but he said no. He sent all the money to Pol Pot and the rest of the money he gave to soldiers and people for weapons and food. Many people and relatives want to meet with him but the court officials refuse them. The court should start the trial as soon as possible in order to let his relatives see him.

What is your view on the Khmer Rouge tribunal?

They will not give my husband justice and release him. They want him to stay in prison and to die in prison. They have had that purpose for a long time and now it is time for them to do whatever they want.

How do you expect the ECCC to rule in your husband’s case?

I have no hope about the court’s decision because the trial is like revenge. I don’t see the court releasing him, and they will try to find him guilty and to imprison him.

Today, former Khmer Rouge leaders are rich and have become high officials in the government. What do you think of them?

They are lucky. What they have today is from the work of my husband and other leaders. They should thank my husband and other Khmer Rouge leaders for trying to educate farmers to get them to work in the party and government in the past. Now they have roles in government. If there was no revolution at that time, they would have no chance like today.

What did your husband tell you when you met him in prison?

He asked me to take care of myself and not to visit him frequently because I don’t have enough money. He told me that if he is found not guilty, he would go to the pagoda and become a monk until the end of his life. Now he reads books about Buddhism and feels released. I almost couldn’t walk out from that place. Even though I left his cell, my feeling is there with him.

If there is a next life, would you wish to be his wife again?

Yes, I would. I would wish to meet him and be his wife again. He is a good man. In his whole life, he never betrayed me with any other girl. He just focused on his work for the party and the people.

KRT lawyers appeal to UN

Photo by: Heng Chivoan
Spectators watch proceedings of the Extraordinary Courts in the Chambers of Cambodia from the public gallery in June 2009

via CAAI

Thursday, 11 November 2010 21:00 James O'Toole

LAWYERS for former Khmer Rouge Brother No 2 Nuon Chea have appealed to United Nations investigators to address allegations of political interference at Cambodia’s war crimes tribunal.

In letters dated yesterday that were also forwarded to Prime Minister Hun Sen, King Norodom Sihamoni and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, the lawyers said all efforts thus far to address the issue of political interference within the framework of the tribunal had been stymied.

“Transparent resolution of the allegations at issue is a vital next step in the current proceedings,” the lawyers wrote to Gabriela C Knaul de Albuquerque e Silva, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers, and Surya Subedi, the Special Rapporteur for human rights in Cambodia.

“In view of the gravity of the matter, we believe a prompt reaction from your office would be in order.”

Subedi said in an email that he had received the letter and was “studying it carefully”, declining to comment further.

In their letters, the lawyers pointed in particular to a September decision by the court’s Pre-Trial Chamber in which the chamber’s two international judges called for an investigation of alleged political interference in the work of the court; the PTC’s three Cambodian judges, however, ruled that no investigation was necessary.

This ruling came following a request from the Nuon Chea team in relation to public comments made by Hun Sen and Information Minister Khieu Kanharith last year. Following attempts by the court to summon six senior government officials, the premier and the information minister publicly expressed opposition to the summones, which were ultimately ignored.

Further controversy came during a visit to Cambodia last month by Ban Ki-moon, when Hun Sen informed the UN head that he would not allow pending investigations in the tribunal’s third and fourth cases to move forward due to concerns about national security.

“Staunch, public condemnation by the Special Rapporteur of the current state of affairs at the ECCC would both spotlight the challenges facing the tribunal and send a strong message to the [government] that might move it to exercise restraint in the future,” lawyers Michiel Pestman and Victor Koppe wrote to Subedi and de Albuquerque e Silva.

Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan called the letters “an insult to the Royal Government of Cambodia and an insult to the United Nations”.

“There are a few organisations that try to spit out obfuscation of information,” Phay Siphan said, noting that Ban and United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had applauded the work of the court during recent visits to Cambodia.

UN court spokesman Lars Olsen said defence teams were “free to do whatever they want and deem proper to ensure their clients’ rights”.

“Sending these letters is obviously part of their rights,” Olsen said.

China vs Vietnam

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Thursday, 11 November 2010 21:07 David Boyle

CHINA’S commercial influence has grown in Cambodia with the signing of a refinancing deal for mobile provider Mobitel, according to international commentators, who said the People’s Republic may leverage its business interests for political advantage.

Last Thursday, Cambodian conglomerate The Royal Group signed a US$591 million deal to refinance its subsidiary Mobitel with the Bank of China. It will enable The Royal Group to pay off a $421 million debt as well as fund future capital expenditures.

One week on, political and economic commentators said there were likely political considerations with the agreement – a viewpoint government and company officials rejected yesterday.

“At the moment anything China does is viewed as having ulterior motives,” Carlyle Thayer, a politics professor at the Australian Defence Force Academy, a school managed by the University of New South Wales, told The Post.

“China has always manipulated loans to suit larger political purposes,” he said, highlighting the potential for a power play between Vietnam and China in the telecommunications sector.

Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications statistics show Mobitel is the largest mobile provider by subscriber numbers, while Metfone – a subsidiary of the Vietnamese military – has grown to become the second biggest.

China and Vietnam had been engaged in “something of a tussle” over influence in Cambodia since the 1991 Paris Peace Agreements, Thayer said.

“China may leverage its commercial interests to gain political influence … and also to use that influence to block [Metfone’s] drive to increase market share,” he said.

Nick Owen, Shanghai-based editor at the Economist Intelligence Unit, a research and analysis resource, said the Mobitel deal “underscores China’s growing influence in Cambodia”.

“Long-term, low-interest loans make little sense commercially in what is still a relatively risky market,” he said.

The loan deal should not be viewed in isolation from a $500 million agreement The Royal Group signed with China’s Huawei Technologies, he said.

Yesterday, officials within Cambodia dismissed such suggestions.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Koy Kuong said he “totally rejected” claims that there was political motivation behind the deal.

The Royal Group said it was purely a business decision to refinance with Bank of China. Chairman Kith Meng said yesterday it was “a commercial deal”.

Chief Financial Officer Mark Hanna wrote: “The deal that we have signed is a commercial transaction that has no political angle.” He said it improved the Kingdom’s image with international bankers.

“This refinancing raises the profile of Cambodia on the international debt market,” he said.

Chinese Embassy spokesman Qian Hai said the agreement was entirely business related.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY SOEUN SAY

Exchange uncertainty

IN DATES The road towards the exchange

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May 2006

Officials from Cambodia and South Korea sign a memorandum of understanding to launch the Kingdom’s first stock exchange by December 2009.

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September 2009

Three state-owned enterprises, including the Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority, Telecom Cambodia, and Sihanoukville Autonomous Port, are ordered to prepare for public offerings on the bourse.

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November 2009

Developers from World City sign an agreement with government officials to build a US$6 million building to house the exchange at Phnom Penh’s Camko City. The exchange’s launch is pushed back until December 2010.

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July 2010

A further delay towards launching the exchange is announced by Finance Ministry officials. The Stock Exchange of Cambodia is set to launch in July 2011 “at any cost.“

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November 2010

Ministry of Economy and Finance officials leave Sihanoukville Port out of a list of state-run companies set to list, saying there would be a future announcement on the matter.

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Thursday, 11 November 2010 20:29 May Kunmakara and Chun Sophal

GOVERNMENT officials declined to name Sihanoukville Autonomous Port as one of three state-owned firms set to list on the Cambodian Stock Exchange yesterday, raising questions over its floatation.

In September 2009, three state-owned firms – Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority, Telecom Cambodia, and the port – were ordered by the government to list on the planned bourse.

But yesterday, Aun Porn Moniroth, secretary of state at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, said the three state-owned enterprises were the Water Supply Authority, Telecom Cambodia, and “another state-owned enterprise which will be appointed later by the Royal Government of Cambodia”.

Ministry of Economy and Finance Secretary of State Hang Chuon Naron, speaking at a press conference, also said the third state-owned company to list would be the subject of a future announcement.

“At this time I cannot say exactly what the company is,” he said yesterday.

“The third company actually needs time – we don’t have an exact time as to when it’s going to be.”

Sihanoukville Port Authority Director General Lou Kim Chhun told The Post yesterday he was not aware of the exact situation regarding its listing, adding he was not an expert on the exchange.

“We always comply with the government’s decision because we are under their supervision,” he said.

The port had enough capital already for further development, he added.

Yesterday, Tong Yang Securities and its Cambodian subsidiary were announced as financial advisors to the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

Tong Yang will help prepare the state-owned firms for listing on the exchange.

“I would like to encourage Tong Yang Securities and Tong Yang Securities (Cambodia) Plc to continue scrutinising any potential issues and giving advice to the Ministry of Economy and Finance so that this project is executed in a smooth, highly effective and efficient manner,” said Aun Porn Moniroth.

The firm had signed an agreement on December 28, 2008, to act as financial advisor to the Ministry of Economy and Finance – which oversees the stock exchange – without charge.

It was also approved as one of seven underwriters for the bourse earlier this month.

Tong Yang Chief Executive Officer You Joon-ryeol welcomed the announcement, adding the firm was well equipped to handle floats by the state-owned firms.

“Tong Yang is committed to delivering the best possible results, by using our comprehensive knowledge and expertise to carry out successful IPOs,” he said.

“Furthermore, as a leading financial institution in Korea, we will continue to play our part in laying a firm foundation for the upcoming stock market and its continued growth.”

Claiming to be the first securities firm in Cambodia when it launched four years ago, You Joon-ryeol said Tong Yang was committed to the Cambodian economy and its new capital market development plan.

He added that the inaugural listings of the state-owned firms were vital for the success of the Cambodia Stock Exchange, and predicted it would become a milestone in the country’s capital market development.

Other approved underwriters said the government could appoint more firms to help the launch.

Lim Loong Seng, country head of OSK Indochina Bank – which has been approved as one of the Kingdom’s seven underwriters – said: “Of course we would like to be selected, but it’s up to the government to decide – they can appoint anybody – one or two or three underwriters.”

Home sweet home

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Thursday, 11 November 2010 20:26 Cheang Sokha

MORE than 20 Cambodian and Thai fishermen who were attacked by Somali pirates and rescued after being adrift in the Gulf of Aden will return to Thailand next week.

The 23 victims – which include 15 Cambodians, seven Thais, and one Yemeni policeman – were attacked 70 nautical miles off the coast of Somalia, when pirates hijacked their ship and later sunk it. The fishermen were saved by a Thai ship, the HTMS Pattani, which is patrolling the waters as part of a 28-country anti-piracy effort.

Koy Kuong, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the Cambodian embassy in Bangkok was told by Thai authorities that the victims, who are currently in Oman, would be picked up on Monday for their return.

“We do not have much detailed information about the Cambodian fishermen, and we’ll wait and find out once they return,” said Koy Kuong.

Thai authorities said that five other crew members were missing at sea.

The Bangkok Post reported that two 28-year-old Cambodian fishermen suffered severe burns and were being treated at a hospital in Salalah, Oman’s second-largest city. The paper also said two other Cambodian crew members were treated for sore throats and sharp stomach pains after drinking contaminated seawater.

Govt deflects torture claims

Photo by: James O'Toole
A prisoner carries water in June at Pusat province’s correctional center 4.

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Thursday, 11 November 2010 19:28 Chhay Channyda

CAMBODIA came before the United Nations Committee Against Torture in Geneva on Wednesday, where a government delegation defended itself against claims from rights groups that the use of torture continues to be widespread in the country’s prison system.

The two-day hearing assessed Cambodia’s adherence to the UN Convention Against Torture, which it signed and ratified in 1992.

But a report compiled by local rights groups and submitted to the committee painted a dire picture of Cambodia’s adherence to CAT, documenting 108 cases of torture in police custody in 2009.

“The situation of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment in Cambodia is still of concern,” the rights groups said in a joint statement. “The country’s legal and judicial system is unable to effectively prevent and punish acts of torture.”

In presenting a Cambodian report to the committee, Sun Suon, the Kingdom’s ambassador to the UN, defended the country’s progress on implementing the CAT provisions, saying “important steps” had been taken towards strengthening the Kingdom’s legal and institutional framework.

The recent adoption of a new Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code would both lead to positive impacts on the fight against torture and other forms of ill-treatment, he added.

Sun Suon said the government gave “unfettered access” to the UN Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture, which paid a surprise visit to the country in December 2009, and “demonstrated an exemplary openness to the discussion of its findings”.

An undefined crime

Although torture is punishable by up to 15 years in prison under the Kingdom’s new Penal Code, “torture” has no clear definition, which rights groups say complicates the prosecution of the crime.

In its report to the committee, the government claimed that such a definition was not necessary because Cambodia “abides by the principles of international conventions”.

During Wednesday’s meeting, committee member Felice Gaer noted the importance of having a definition of torture in domestic legislation and raised questions about what was being done to combat impunity for alleged torturers.

According to a hearing summary produced by the UN, Gaer pointed to the fact that the contents of the CAT were not widely known by judges, prosecutors and other legal officials and that “no international treaty had ever been invoked in a case in a Cambodian court”.

Committee members also question the independence of the judiciary and its effect on the prosecution of torture cases, asking how the state prevented the rich and powerful from exerting undue influence on judges.

In response to criticisms from committee members, Sun Suon also said that any assessment of Cambodia’s progress had to take into account the country’s cultural and historical context.

He said the government was “aware” of the shortcomings, many of which were the result of a lack of finances and human resources.

Khieu Sopheak, spokesman of the Ministry of Interior, yesterday questioned the testimony of torture given by inmates to rights workers.

“A thief never talks good about government officials,” he said. “The NGOs just raise small points and expand them into big things criticising the government’s efforts.”

But rights groups remain encouraged by the presence of a delegation at the meeting, only the second that has been held since Cambodia ratified CAT.

James Heenan, deputy country representative of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said Cambodia’s presence was a sign the government was “taking steps to comply with its international obligations on torture”.

Am Sam Ath, a technical supervisor for local rights group Licadho, said the government should consider the recommendations of the committee as a means of improving the human rights situation in Cambodia.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY JAMES O’TOOLE