World Situation Might Slow Down the Development of Cambodia - Monday to Friday, 10 to 14.11.2008

Posted on 15 November 2008.
The Mirror, Vol. 12, No. 585

Further down also:

A Memorandum of Understanding Which Hinders to Solve the Problem of Immigrants

“A groups of industry and business leaders from developing countries in Asia met in Phnom Penh to exchange ideas regarding economic growth and poverty alleviation at a time when Cambodia is energetically making efforts to alleviate poverty by adding a lot of work in a growing economic sector - that might contain obstacles to development.

“The Minister of Commerce, Mr. Cham Prasidh, said that the exchange of experience is fundamental while the world moves toward a very painful financial crisis, due to the collapse of stock markets, the losses of banks, the sale of many banks, and the volume of exports goes down which make many people around the world to fall into poverty. He added that we meet under unclear circumstances, and only those who can adapt themselves to these changes can escape from poverty.

“Mr. Habib Ouane, the director of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development [UNCTAD] Division for Africa, said that among the 49 Least Developed Countries in the world, 14 are in Asia Pacific.

“He continued that since the 1990ies, many Least Developed Countries in ASEAN have gained fairly successful results, achieving a change of infrastructure with industry and with services, which play an important role in the economy, as economic growth occurs mostly in the industrial sector.

“However, he added that 69% of the citizens of the Least Developed Countries in the ASEAN countries live by earning less than US$2 per day, and they have no chance to a more comfortable life, especially when this would require further development of techniques as measures to encourage more economic growth.

“Mr. Cham Prasidh said that Cambodia is developing towards further reduction of poverty, adding that Cambodia’s economic growth was 9.4% per year from 2000 to 2006, and foreign investment increased from US$33 million in 1992 to US$149 million in 2000, to US$483 million in 2006, to US$2.7 billion in 2007, and to 8.9 billion from January to August in 2008.

“Mr. Cham Prasidh went on to say that in the meantime, the poverty rate in Cambodia dropped from 45% in 1993 to 35% in 2004, and to 31% in 2007; every year we could reduce the poverty rate by 1% in Cambodia. But if everything happens at the same time of the global financial crisis, I might affect the 1% poverty reduction development of Cambodia.

“He added that these are problems for which he is very concerned, and these are important factors for Cambodia and for other Least Developed Countries; therefore, it is crucial to make joint efforts, so that our country is rightly and surely known and supported by developed countries, and so that Cambodia achieves development to alleviate poverty and to boost the economy to grow mainly in the industrial sector.”

Khmer Sthapana, Vol.1, #138, 11.11.2008

Book Review: The Road of Lost Innocence - The True Story of a Cambodian Heroine by Somaly Mam

BC Blogcritics Magazine
Written by Jennifer Bogart
Published November 14, 2008

Some books are dangerous; reading them opens your eyes and makes you see the world around you in a different way. After reading them this new understanding of reality lingers and is not easily dismissed. Stories like these drive you to action, serving as a call to take up arms. Somaly Mam’s memoir, The Road of Lost Innocence, is one such book.

Born in Cambodia during years of political turmoil, Somaly never knew her parents – she still doesn’t know what became of them. Left by her grandmother in a tribal village, her early years were spent outdoors, roaming amongst the huts looking for food. These years were happy compared to those that would follow after leaving northern Cambodia with a man who claimed to know of her parents at the age of six.

This man, her “grandfather” would proceed to beat and molest her, sell her virginity to pay his debts at the age of 11, marry her to an abusive husband at the age of fourteen and finally sell her to a brothel at 16. As you can imagine Somaly’s story is not an easy, feel good read. The list of travesties, betrayals and corruption she has known is far too lengthy to detail here.

Catching glimpses of a better life, Somaly is eventually able to escape from the bondage of sexual slavery. Using the only currency at her disposal she begins to make alliances with foreign men – those with wealth and power – and uses them to begin her slow ascent out of prostitution. After achieving her freedom the girls she left behind haunt her. Knowing the devastation trafficking in girl-flesh wreaks she cannot stand motionless while atrocities are committed; hopefully you won’t be able to either when this story comes to a close.

Presented in spare, matter of fact prose the writing itself mimics the Cambodian attitude towards life; silent, understated. Coming from a people who disguise their emotions to the utmost – simply writing this memoir is a break with traditional Cambodian culture. Somaly however, has long since ceased to be a traditional Cambodian.

The words seek to describe without betraying the depths of emotional pain behind them, but it still seeps through. Between each and every line, in the silences and pauses the pain is there alongside the fear and anger. The Road of Lost Innocence is the anguished soul cry of a woman who has never truly been loved, the heart breaking sobs of a shattered little girl.

Somaly brutally exposes the truth of modern sexual trafficking in south-east Asia through her own story and that of those she has rescued from slavery. She outlines the beginnings of her non-profit organizations that rescue girls and women from brothels, sketching out plans for their reintegration into society. Free of her physical bonds and able to offer hope to those in chains, she remains a broken woman. The aching sadness created throughout her life’s circumstances is still present; only slightly mitigated by her relentless drive to rescue the weak and defend the defenseless.

She tells her story not to evoke sympathy for herself, though her pain is apparent. She writes, offering herself up to the public eye to draw attention to the plight of the girls and women who are still captive; taken against their will and viciously used. Somaly truly wants nothing for herself other than the opportunity to continue working with the victims of sexual trafficking and to draw awareness to their plight.

Truly, every responsible citizen of the world should engage Somaly’s work. The difficult stories need to be told, more than that - they must be acted upon. Only with eyes opened to the atrocities surrounding us can we step out in faith, reaching into the darkness to rescue those bound there.

Visit the Somaly Mam Foundation to learn how you can make a difference in the lives of those affected by sexual trafficking.

Cross border trade shows VN demand for high quality rice

Motor-tricycles loaded with large bags of Cambodian and Thai rice park near Xuan To bridge

15/11/2008

VietNamNet Bridge - Long lines of motor-tricycles loaded with large bags of rice are parked near the Xuan To Bridge in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang that lies on the border with Cambodia. These tricycles have transported rice from Cambodia into Vietnam and are waiting for traders to collect it.

On the Vinh Te canal, ships loaded with rice from Cambodia are berthed close together. At least five large purchase points have recently been set up near the canal to purchase rice from Cambodian traders for supplying local markets.

Each point has its own team of stevedores. Po Tha, a Cambodian stevedore, says, “Our team consists of 30 members. We carry over 300 tons of rice from storehouses to ships every day.”

“It’s estimated that 1,500 tons of rice are transported to An Giang Province from Cambodia through Tinh Bien border gate daily,” says Giang Lam, deputy director of the Tinh Bien Border Customs. “Most of them are Khaodak Mali, a long- grain rice variety from Thailand and a small- grain rice variety from Cambodia. Both are good varieties of rice whose flavor, aroma and softness suit the taste of the local people.”

In fact, traders from provinces throughout the Mekong Delta, southern granary of Vietnam, flock to the purchase points to buy rice. Khaodak Mali is sold at VND5.300 a kilo and the Cambodian small-grain rice at VND 5,000 per kilo. After they are unhusked, the rice will be distributed through wholesale channels to retailers in the provinces of Tien Giang, Long An, Dong Thanh, and Can Tho; and in HCM City.

Tran Thanh Hao, a rice retailer in Tinh Bien, says farmers in the Mekong Delta grow high- yielding rice like IR50401 and 3217 to supply the local market, but now more and more Vietnamese consumers buy Thai and Cambodian rice because of both their taste and prices.

In fact, Tinh Bien is not the only border gate through which a large volume of Thailand and Cambodian rice are transported to Vietnam everyday.

Thousands of tons are finding their way into Vietnamese markets through other Southwestern border gates including Khanh Binh and Vinh Xuong in An Giang Province, Thuong Phuoc in Dong Thap Province and Ha Tien in Kien Giang Province.

The imports from Thailand and Cambodia prove there is a large demand in the local market for high quality, tasty rice.

However, the nation’s famed rice granary, Mekong Delta, grows high quality rice for export and high-yielding rice for the local market, while consumers are demanding rice of better quality.

If the national agricultural sector can not supply rice of the quality desired by consumers, they will have little choice but to seek other sources in other countries. Consumers can not be forced to eat rice of lower quality all the time, market observers say.

Huynh The Nang, deputy chairman of the An Giang Province People’s Committee, says that agricultural production in the Mekong delta so far has only paid attention to growing high-grade rice for export, and that it is time for the provincial authorities shifted their attention to local demand.

He added that relevant authorities in the agricultural and trading sectors should reconsider the structure of export and local markets for rice and work together to prepare a proper plan to boost production in the coming winter-spring crop to serve both markets.

(Source: SGGP)

Court won't annul marriage that man says wasn't consummated

Gerry Bellett, Vancouver Sun
Published: Saturday, November 15, 2008

METRO VANCOUVER - A 53-year-old Surrey denturist who went to his native Cambodia to find a wife and married a 19-year-old in 2006, only for her to run away within a week of arriving in Canada, has failed to have the marriage annulled.

Chhun Lim testified in New Westminster B.C. Supreme Court that his marriage to Mouy Chhung Teav was a sham and that she had used him to immigrate to Canada.

He testified the marriage was never consummated and sought an annulment and damages from her for misrepresentation.

But Justice Carol Ross dismissed the action and awarded legal costs to Teav.

Lim told the court that he had immigrated to Canada in 1982 after his family died while Cambodia was controlled by the Khmer Rouge.

He had never married and was keen to start a family when he visited his native country in September 2006, with the intention of finding a wife. He was introduced to Teav on Sept. 10 and after negotiations with her family it was agreed they would marry.

The couple were married on Dec. 9, but Lim told Ross that the marriage was never consummated and that his bride slept with her sister on the wedding night.

However, his wife disputed that, and denied that the only reason she married Lim was to move to Canada.

Lim returned to Canada and she joined him on May 23, 2007.

According to his evidence, when he met her that day he asked why she was so skinny and she replied she had AIDS. She also said she didn't want to have sex that night.

But she denied making any comment about having AIDS and said her resistance to having sexual relations that night was because she was tired. When Lim persisted, they had intercourse despite her wishes.

Two days after her arrival, the pair argued about her using the phone to talk to her relatives. Teav testified that Lim slapped her face and told her he wanted a divorce and to send her back to Cambodia. He demanded she write a letter promising to pay him back in full, she said.
She was also told to sleep on the floor, she said.

When Lim left home to attend a three-day convention on May 31, she got in touch with a Cambodian association in Toronto that gave her advice. She called the police then she was taken from Lim's apartment and placed in a women's shelter.

Ross found that Teav's evidence was the more credible and that she didn't tell him she had AIDS.

"I find that Mr. Lim invented this allegation in an effort to bolster his case," the judge wrote in her reasons for her decision.

"It is clear from the testimony of both Mr. Lim and Ms. Teav that their expectations of each other were disappointed . . . The result was a destruction of the very slender foundation on which this relationship rested," Ross said.

She found that Lim did not establish the necessary grounds for an annulment nor did Teav make any misrepresentation to induce marriage.

Thailand protests Cambodia over religious ceremony at disputed temple

BANGKOK, Nov 15 (TNA) - Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs lodged a protest against Cambodian authorities who performed a religious ceremony at a temple located in Thai territory.

In an Aide-Memoire dated November 13, the Thai government protested Cambodia’s Kathin ceremony which was held at Keo Sikha Kiri Savara pagoda on November 12.

Thai officials in the border province of Si Saket reported seeing around 500 Cambodian people at the temple.

"Such action was considered a blatant and willful violation of Thailand’s sovereignty as the crowd had entered Thai soil without permission from the Thai government," said the aide-memoire.

The statement also mentioned Thailand still maintained its standpoint in working constructively and closely with Cambodia within the existing framework of the Thai-Cambodian Joint Boundary Commission on Demarcation for Land Boundary or JBC to resolve their border conflict in a peaceful manner. (TNA)

Cambodian FM names 9 new ambassadors

www.chinaview.cn

2008-11-15

PHNOM PENH, Nov. 15 (Xinhua) -- Foreign Minister Hor Namhong has named new ambassadors to nine countries, including Kuwait, which is to receive Cambodia's first diplomatic posting there, and Japan, where the minister's son Hor Moniroath is expected to head the Cambodian mission, state media reported Saturday.

The Japanese government had been notified of the appointment, which is awaiting the approval of the Cambodian and Japanese governments, Foreign Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong was quoted by the Cambodia Daily as saying.

"We have notified the Japanese government but we haven't received any response yet. We need the agreement of the host country first before sending the new ambassador," he said.

Hor Namhong's son Hor Nambora is currently serving as Cambodia's ambassador to the United Kingdom, making Hor Moniroath's appointment the second top diplomatic posting in the minister's family.

Japan is Cambodia's largest bilateral aid donor, according to the Cambodia Daily.

Editor: Mo Hong'e

Angkor Wat

A woman holds a python for fun at a tourist shop near the Great Lake of Cambodia in Siem Reap. (Ellen Creager/DFP)

A Cambodian fishing boat on the edge of the Great Lake in Siem Reap. The ancient complex of Angkor was built nearby to take advantage of the lake's plentiful water. (Ellen Creager/DFP)

No, it's not a god come to life. It's an actor who poses for photographs in front of Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, Cambodia. (Ellen Creager/DFP)

An actress dressed as an Apsaras, or heavenly nymph, poses for pictures with tourists at Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Images of Apsaras are common at Angkor Wat. (Ellen Creager/DFP)

A small child plays in the early morning, oblivious to the massive site of Angkor Wat, the amazing palace and temple complex built in the 12th Century. (Ellen Creager/DFP)

Tourists get comfortable on the grounds of the Angkor Wat temple complex in Siem Reap, Cambodia. The temple is so famous its image is on the Cambodian flag. (Ellen Creager/DFP)

A worker cuts out weeds by hand on the Elephant Terrace at the Angkor complex. If humans didn't keep back the jungle, it would take over once again, as it did from about 1500-1900. (Ellen Creager/DFP)

The Tara Angkor Hotel is one of the newest in the hotel boom there. (Ellen Creager/DFP)

Angkor Wat, the amazing palace and temple complex in the middle of the Cambodia jungle. (Ellen Creager/DFP)

No, it's not a god come to life. It's an actor who poses for photographs in front of Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Free Press Travel Diva Ellen Creager journeyed to Laos and Cambodia recently and shares her experiences in the Sunday Travel section and on www.freep.com this weekend. (Ellen Creager/DFP)

Southeast Asia Travel Could Get Way Easier

JAUNTED

November 14, 2008

The strong pros for visiting Southeast Asia (awesome food, beautiful countries, kind people, cheap) balance out its hardy cons (killer language barrier, suffocating climate, pricey plane travel). Soon, a coalition of countries will tip the scales in the favor of travelers--and we'll be booking our flights right quick.

Last week, delegates from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam came together in Hanoi to talk about creating a five-country, single-visa tourism scheme. The reduction in costs and headaches for travelers will be close to immeasurable--and it's a savvy move for leaders who want to boost their tourism revenues. This means one price, one stamp and we can pass through all five countries with ease, no shady border crossings, no bribes and no giving up valuable passport space for stamps from other cool places.

The Cambodian and Vietnamese reps agreed to allow 14-day, cross-border travel for any of their citizens holding a passport. This part of the pact goes into effect December 4. Summit attendees also suggested a "travel card" that Southeast Asian businesspeople could use to travel, without needing any visa, to all five countries. Those of us not lucky enough to come from SEA may have to wait a little longer to collect our pass, but the Cambodia-Vietnam agreement is a show of good faith and an indication this plan has serious potential.

The water and sanitation crisis through the lens of six students

A boy baths in the arsenic-containminated river in Chroy Takeo Commune, Kandal Province. Photo: Yeo Kai Wen.

NP TRIBUNE

By Lee Xian Jie
November 15, 2008

Imagine living in a community where sanitation is a nightmare: villagers fish and defecate in the same place.

There, a fifth of the children will die before their fifth birthday because of water-transmitted diseases.

That was what six students from the School of Film & Media Studies experienced when they went to Cambodia from Sept. 1 to 11

In their visit to the Tonlé Sap, a drinking water source for Cambodians, students gained a better understanding of the scarcity of clean, safe water.

“We even had to bathe with arsenic-contaminated river water,” says Chiam Sing Wei, 25, a third-year Film, Sound & Video student.

Together with two Lien Aid staff, the six students produced three short documentaries about the non-governmental organisation’s water and sanitation programmes in three different provinces: Kampong Chhnang, Kandal and Kampong Speu.

They also captured stories of these villagers with photography and radio capsules to raise awareness about the chronic problems. In turn, they hope to inspire other Singaporean youths to improve the situation in Cambodia.

“Although solving the crisis in its entirety is impossible, we hope we will be able to help them with our work,” says Yeo Kai Wen, 19, a third-year Mass Communication student, who is also npTribune’s Photo Editor.

Mr Craig McTurk, the lecturer-in-charge says he was impressed with the students’ willingness to overcome language and cultural barriers.

Vivocity Exhibition

“The Demon in the Water” photographic exhibition, will tell the story of water and sanitation issues Cambodia faces.

It will be held from Nov. 27 to Dec. 3 at Vivocity. The exhibition will also include toilet seat art by students from the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and LASALLE College of the Arts.

Govt to set up panel to prepare testimony in Preah Vihear case

The government will set up a working group to prepare testimony for Cabinet members, including Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat, who have been indicted by the anti-graft agency for their endorsement to a communiqu? supporting Cambodia's bid to list Preah Vihear Temple as a World Heritage site.

The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) on Thursday resolved to charge 28 members of the previous Cabinet led by Samak Sundaravej for negligence and violating Article 190 of the Constitution, which states that any treaty that would affect Thai territories or sovereign rights must be approved by the National Assembly.

Many of those indicted are in the current Cabinet, including Somchai, who served as education minister in the Samak administration.

The Nation

EU bans Siem Reap Airways, all Angolan carriers

BRUSSELS2008-11-14 (Reuters) — The European Commission banned Cambodia's Siem Reap Airways International from operating in the European Union and extended a ban on TAAG Angola Airlines to all carriers certified in Angola, citing safety concerns.

The Commission, executive arm of the 27-country EU, on Friday also maintained a ban on all operations of Ukraine Mediterranean Airlines and Ukraine Cargo Airways, saying they had failed to deal with previous safety concerns.

"The European Commission will pursue actively its dialogue with all states ... to ensure that they conform to internationally required levels of air safety on a sustainable basis," EU Transport Commissioner Antonio Tajani said.

Former Sex Trade Victim Turned Activist Wins $1.3M Award

FOX News
Friday, November 14, 2008

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — A Cambodian woman activist who has spearheaded her country's battle against sex traffickers is the first recipient of an award from a recently established human rights foundation, the German Embassy announced Friday.

The 1 million euro ($1.269 million) award to Somaly Mam from the Munich-based Roland Berger Foundation rivals in amount the Nobel Peace Prize, which includes a grant of 10 million Swedish kroner ($1.268 million).

The Roland Berger Human Dignity Award was given to Somaly Mam — who herself is a former sex trade victim — "in recognition of her fight for a world without slavery," the German Embassy said in a statement.

Somaly Mam was sold into prostitution as a child and later escaped with the help of foreigners and aid workers. She has written about her experience in a recently published book, "The Road of Lost Innocence."

She currently heads a group named AFESIP — from the French acronym for Acting for Women in Distressing Situations — which has helped build safe houses that provide refuge, care and schooling for girls rescued from slavery.

AFESIP has rescued about 4,000 girls and women from the sex trade since it was founded in 1996, AFESIP spokesman Som Sophatra said. There are 166 former victims now living in the group's three shelters in Cambodia.

Somaly Mam could not be reached for comment Friday. Colleagues said she was traveling abroad.

Som Sophatra said she received news of her award two weeks ago.

"First she didn't believe it and she went to confirm the story (with the foundation) about the donation," he said. "She was nervous and very happy at the same time because she never got such a big amount of money."

He said the award could not have come at a better time as the group has been facing a shortage of funds since the beginning of the year.

German Federal President Horst Kohler will present the award at a ceremony in Berlin on Nov. 24, the embassy said. It praised Somaly Mam for her "fearless voice for political lobbying and numerous campaigns against human trafficking."

In April, Somaly Mam received an award from the Swedish Children's World Association for her work. In 2006, she was honored as one of Glamour magazine's women of the year.

The independent Roland Berger Foundation, which documents human trafficking and slavery, was founded in March by Roland Berger, a guest professor of business administration at the Brandenburg Technical University in Cottbus, Germany. It says the award is intended "to raise awareness on human dignity and human rights worldwide."

Cambodia an increasingly popular destination for expeditions

Floating communities in Chhnoktrou Commune directly use the lake water to cook and to drink. This lady is a grocer. Photo: Yeo Kai Wen

NP TRIBUNE

By Nuratiqah Bte Ali
November 15, 2008

Technology

Together with two lecturers from the School of Life Sciences & Chemical Technology and BA students, 24 student volunteers reached out to a Cambodian home for orphans and widows in September. The health-and-hygiene mission under the Youth Expedition Project (YEP) saw these students armed with anti-worm tablets and bottles of treatment shampoo for head lice. For two weeks, students travelled an hour from Phnom Penh to the home to donate fresh medical supplies.

School of EngineeringMechanical Engineering

Mechanical Engineering students travelled to the island of Kom Rumdual, 20km south of capital city Phnom Penh, with two of their lecturers, from Sep. 22 to Oct. 6.The 19 students laid foundations for the construction of walls to surround a school.They also helped to refurbish the rundown hut of a disabled Cambodian widow on the island.Using Service-Learning methodology, students learnt about different cultures and lifestyles in Cambodia.

School of EngineeringElectronic & Computer Engineering

Alongside Mechanical Engineering students, students from the Electronic and Computer Engineering division were involved in various community projects in Cambodia from Sep. 15 to 28.The 29 students who went on the trip conducted English classes for local Khymer children, set up computers for them, and also taught computer lessons.The students had also visited the homes of local families to learn about how locals live.

Citizens Should Report Police Abuse: Lawyer

Ouk Phuri, member of the Cambodian Bar Association

By Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Washington
14 November 2008

Khmer audio aired 13 November 2008 - Download (MP3) Khmer audio aired 13 November 2008 - Listen (MP3)

Citizens should lodge complaints against authorities who violate their rights or the law, a leading lawyer said Thursday.

The constitution guarantees a citizen’s freedom from abuse of authority and right to file legal complaints against it, said Ouk Phuri, a member of the Cambodian Bar Association, as a guest on “Hello VOA.”

“I’m not just telling people to file a complaint because I’m a lawyer,” he said. “We have to do it. If there’s any question, there are many lawyers than can help, such as lawyers who aid the poor.”

Cambodia’s police are widely criticized for being politically controlled or for abuses such as wrongful arrest, unlawful detention and abuse in custody.

There was a dearth of complaints filed against such abuse, Ouk Phuri said.

Controversial Rice Aid Hailed a Success

By Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
14 November 2008

The Asian Development Bank and government announced success on Friday for emergency food assistance that was widely criticized by villagers as unfair.

The ADB and government undertook a $40-million emergency food distribution between Oct. 29 and Nov. 5, handing out nearly 120,000 tons to 68,000 poor families in 200 communes around the Tonle Sap lake and in Phnom Penh.

“The assistance is making a very real difference in the lives of Cambodia’s most vulnerable, in particular its children,” Arjun Goswami, ADB country director, said in a statement.

The aid was in response to rising food and fuel prices that have squeezed Cambodia’s poorest, but a number of villagers complained that the distribution was plagued by corruption and favoritism by local leaders.

“Unfortunately, the project’s funding simply could not cover all of those families in need of food assistance,” Goswami said. “It is understandable that some of those who could not be reached with assistance feel let down.”

A statement from the Minister of Economy and Finance called the emergency distribution “highly positive, except in one commune in Kampong Chhnang province, where the distribution was suspended because of villagers’ protests.”

The ADB and government said they would conduct further investigations into distribution irregularities starting Nov. 17.

“The protests that were mentioned in the media, it’s not sure they are true, but we have a mechanism to check,” said Vong Sandab, deputy secretary-general of the Ministry of Finance, who was in charge of the distribution.

The ADB has so far received 51 phone complaints of distribution irregularities, said Long Piseth, program officer at the ADB.

Police Chief’s University Worries After Loss

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
14 November 2008

Khmer audio aired 14 November 2008 (983 KB) - Download (MP3)
Khmer audio aired 14 November 2008 (983 KB) - Listen (MP3)

When late police chief Hok Lundy died in a helicopter crash Sunday, he left behind a multi-million dollar legacy, Svay Rieng University, and students here say they are now worried their academic futures will be jeopardized.

The death of Hok Lundy, who suffered heavy criticism for his human rights record but was a major contributor Svay Rieng province, where he was raised, could mean less money for scholarships, materials and construction at the university, students said.

Hok Lundy contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to the university to sponsor scholarships in the name of Prime Minister Hun Sen, Svay Rieng Governor Cheang Am said Friday.

“Hok Lundy paid more than $1 million for the construction of Svay Rieng University, and he paid $200,000 per year for scholarships under Hun Sen,” Cheang Am said.

The university now has more than 2,000 students, more than half of whom are on the Hun Sen scholarships, Cheang Am said.

“Hok Lundy’s death will affect our studies at the university,” said Sok Navuth, 21, who is studying on such a scholarship. “The majority of students have been sponsored by Hok Lundy. When we’ve lost Hok Lundy, we’ve lost our sponsor.”

Svay Rieng University, near the center of Svay Rieng town, the provincial capital, consists of one building of 50 classrooms surrounded by gardens and backed by dormitories for men and women.

Its computers, chairs, tables, desks, books and research materials were all purchased by Hok Lundy, Cheang Am said.

Students learn management, rural development, information technology, agronomy, law, political science and other subjects.

Many said they don’t believe accusations leveled at the former police chief, a powerful Cambodian People’s Party official aligned with Prime Minister Hun Sen who rights groups say collaborated in murder, execution, a deadly grenade attack and human trafficking.

Nuon Sopheak, 22, who is studying English literature, said this week students were worried about diminished academic chances.

Hok Lundy had promised a new wing to the university, Nuon Sopheak said, and he encouraged students to do well and seek work in Bavet commune, Chantrea district, on the Vietnam border, where he hoped to develop a modern city.

“Hok Lundy always came to meet the students in the university, once a month,” she said, “and he would give recommendations to students in the university: ‘Try to study hard, then after university you can get a job in Bavet.’”

Governor Cheang Am said he had been reassured that Prime Minister Hun Sen would work with Hok Lundy’s wife, Men Pheakdey, and family to continue to develop the project started by Hok Lundy.

‘Same Positions’ at Temple Following Talks

Preah Vihear temple

By Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
14 November 2008

Khmer audio aired 14 November 2008 - Download (MP3)
Khmer audio aired 14 November 2008 - Listen (MP3)

Soldiers had not moved from their positions near Preah Vihear temple Friday, two days after tentative agreements by Thai and Cambodian officials to withdraw troops from a disputed pagoda on the border.

Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong and his counterpart, Sompong Amornvivat agreed in Siem Reap Wednesdday to withdraw soldiers from Keo Sikha Kiri Svara pagoda and from positions surrounding it.

However, Maj. Gen. Srey Douk, commander of Intervention Division 12, based in Preah Vihear, said that following the meetings in Siem Reap, Thai soldiers remain in and around the pagoda.

"It seems like the Thai forces have kept the same positions before and after the meeting," he said.

Cambodian forces "did not have an order yet from the higher-ups" to withdraw, he said.

Var Kimhong, chairman of Cambodia's national border committee, could not confirm whether soldiers would be withdrawn.

"We haven't set a specific date when to withdraw," he said.

Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan said Friday that following Wednesday's meeting, Thailand should send documentation to its parliament, in order to adopt the agreements.

Preah Vihear temple and the nearby pagoda remain at the heart of a months-long border dispute that has led to at least two armed clashes and the deaths of at least four soldiers.

Khmer Rouge minister delays trial

www.haber27.com

The former foreign minister of the Khmer Rouge regime has reportedly managed to postpone his trial before a United Nations-backed court

14 Kasım 2008

Ieng Sary has extended his detention for a year to avoid his trail by an international tribunal, The Cambodia Daily newspaper reported Thursday.

The 82-year-old was arrested last year along with his wife, the former Khmer Rouge minister for social action, Ieng Thirith .

In October, A judge denied Sary's appeal for release from partial detention under concerns that he would he would flee the country.

An estimated 1.5 million people, a fifth of the country's total population, were killed under the genocidal “Red” regime, which was removed from power in 1979, as a result of an invasion by the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

The paper quoted Judge You Bunleng as saying that the conditions of Ieng Sary and Ieng Thirith's detentions would be outlined following this week's Water Festival, a 3-day public holiday.

The UN-backed court was established in 2006, to try Ieng Sary and four other Khmer Rouge leaders for their crimes against humanity during the four-year reign of terror of the ultra-communist regime of 1975 to 1979

Cambodia to unveil hybrid rice to interest investors

2008/11/14

PHNOM PENH, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- A newly developed Cambodian high-yielding hybrid rice variety will be presented in Kampong Thom province on Monday to interest investors in large-scale cultivation, national media said on Friday.

Louis Kek, director of Malaynesia Resources, part of the Malaysian-Cambodian joint venture responsible for the new variety's development, said that his company is holding discussion with foreign investors to cultivate 50,000 hectares of this kind of rice in the province.

Singaporean and Middle Eastern investors had been invited to inspect the first harvest of a 2-hectare test plot of the Cambodian Super Hybrid Rice, he was quoted by English-Khmer language newspaper the Cambodia Daily as saying.

The project will enlarge its production area in the province to200 hectares in the next growing season, he said.

"We are ready for large-scale implementation. I expect it to become widely accepted because of the increase in yields," he said, adding that 7 to 8 tons of yield of rice variety per hectare over the traditional 2.5 tons of yield of other types.

Cambodia used to lead the Southeastern Asian countries in exporting rice, but later lagged behind due to years of war. The government in recent years has established plans to improve its rice production for export and foreign currency income.

Farmers caught out by sudden change in rice demand

Porters and rice dealers bring high-quality Cambodian fragrant rice through the border at An Giang Province.

ThanhNien
November 14, 2008

Competition from cheap high-quality rice from Cambodia has left Mekong Delta farmers with mounting stockpiles of suddenly unpopular low-quality rice.

The farmers from Vietnam’s southern rice bowl have thousands of tons of IR50404 variety rice from their fall-winter crop, harvested in late September.

Farmers had been expecting rice traders to snap up the high-yielding low-quality IR50404 variety rice, which was grown in about 30 percent of the Mekong Delta’s cultivated land.

But rice traders are no longer interested in IR50404, preferring to buy high-quality rice to meet increased domestic demand for fragrant rice.

IR50404 has a 15-25 percent broken grain rate, the cheapest type of rice. High-quality rice only has a 5 percent broken grain rate.

Rice dealers, who used to buy unhusked rice from farmers and resell the husked rice to traders, are now preferring to buy fragrant rice such as Jasmine or Khawdakmali from Cambodia.

Cambodian farmers are selling Jasmine and Khawdakmali rice for VND5,000-VND5,300 (US$0.30-0.32) a kilogram. Cambodian farmers are keen to sell their harvest so they have money for an upcoming moon festival and rice dealers are eager to buy, as they are offered tax breaks on rice traded with Vietnam’s neighbors.

Vietnamese farmers, meanwhile, have only a small amount of Jasmine rice, which is being sold for VND6,900 ($0.40) a kilogram.

Domestic IR50404 is being offered by farmers for as little as VND2,500 ($0.15) a kilogram but “the dealers just show no interest,” said one farmer from Hau Giang Province.

Some dealers have even told farmers, “If you have IR50404, please don’t call. Thanks.”

Over the past 10 days there has been more than 1,000 tons of unhusked fragrant rice a day imported from Cambodia over the border at An Giang Province’s Tinh Bien District, according to a Vietnamese rice dealer.

Cambodian Kim Pou said his team of 50 porters and three other groups of porters had been busy lugging rice across the border in recent weeks.

The change in demand has led to many Mekong Delta farmers considering turning all their fields over to fragrant rice for their winter-spring crop, planted in December and January, according to Ho Minh Khai, director of Co Do Agriculture Company, which owns thousands of hectares of rice field.

In the past, the farmers had not planted high-quality rice varieties because they were considered difficult to grow. But their large stockpiles are making them rethink.

Khai said his company also planned to further invest in growing fragrant rice in a bid to attract more customers.

However, if all farmers do the same it could be a disaster, said Le Van Banh, director of Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta Rice Research Institute (CLRRI).

Banh said Vietnamese fragrant rice wouldn’t be able to compete with Thai fragrant rice in terms of quality and the domestic consumption of this type of rice remains low. “If every farmer grows fragrant rice, who will we sell it to?”

Up to 80 percent of Vietnam’s rice output is consumed by the domestic market, Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Cao Duc Phat told a National Assembly session on Tuesday.

Cambodia and Thailand are growing only one crop of high-quality low-yielding rice a year. However, Vietnam should not try to copy the rice growing methods of its neighbors because “we have a big population and not much farmland and so we have to rely on high-yielding varieties,” Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper quoted Nguyen Tri Ngoc, director of the ministry’s Cultivation Department, as saying.

The best way to maximize yields and profits would be to reserve parts of the region’s rice fields for high-quality rice, said Ngoc.

He said five years ago the ministry started a program to promote this method but farmers had not changed their crop growing habits as “no local officials told them to.”

In August Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung asked food companies and rice traders to buy rice from the Mekong Delta’s farmers for at least VND4,000 (25 cents) a kilogram.

Now that the farmers cannot sell their rice, even at VND2,500 (15 cents), the ministry can do nothing, Ngoc said. “The traders are not sharing the country’s difficulties,” he said.

Thailand must use Cambodian maps

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Chan Veasna
Friday, 14 November 2008

Dear Editor,

Thailand is not keen on settling border disputes amicably and mutually, but on Thailand's terms. Thailand has consistently reiterated that it will only agree to negotiate based on maps unilaterally drawn by Thailand. In other words, Thailand will not settle the current border disputes with Cambodia if Cambodia does not allow Thailand to keep the territories it had claimed and occupied to date. So, is peace and a border solution possible between Cambodia and Thailand in the future?

Thailand's insistence on the use of maps drawn by itself, without Cambodia's agreement, is against the spirit of good neighbourly respect and contrary to international laws. Those maps have no legal basis under international laws.

If the 1904, 1907 maps are not used, it would be a betrayal of the treaties and a tragedy, as it will set a precedent that triggers future violations of subsequent [border] treaties.

So, if Thailand is insisting on using the maps unilaterally drawn by Thailand itself, will there ever be an agreement and peace at all?

If that is the case, is there any room for Cambodia to manoeuvre in the negotiations?

If Thailand does not conform to international laws by accepting the internationally-recognised treaties of 1904, 1907, the Khmer-Thai border disputes will become a quagmire and result in future deadly armed conflicts, similar to what already happened on October 15.

That would be a tragedy in Khmer-Thai relations. Not one single country, but both countries, will lose from these insignificant and petty disputes.

Chan Veasna
Cabramatta,
NSW, Australia

Send letters to: newsroom@phnompenhpost.com or P.O. Box 1234, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The Post reserves the right to edit letters to a shorter length.

68,000 poor families of Cambodia receive emergency food assistance from ADB

www.chinaview.cn

2008-11-14

PHNOM PENH, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- Over 68,000 poor families of Cambodia have received emergency food assistance following the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Board of Directors' approval of the project last month, said an ADB press release here on Friday.

"This assistance is making a very real difference in the lives of Cambodia's most vulnerable, particularly its children," said ADB Country Director Arjun Goswami.

"Putting food on the tables of Cambodia's poorest families, just one month after the project's approval, is a commendable accomplishment by the government," he said, adding that food distribution has been supervised by independent NGO monitors.

One of the primary objectives of ADB's emergency food assistance is to help support Cambodia's efforts to ameliorate the food price inflation shock on the poorest and most vulnerable families in the seven provinces around the Tonle Sap Lake, and in three urban slums around Phnom Penh, said the release.

The project targeted the poorest 20 percent of poor families in 200 selected communes, it added.

The ADB, based in Manila, is dedicated to reducing poverty in the Asia and Pacific region through inclusive economic growth, environmentally sustainable growth, and regional integration.

Established in 1966, the ADB is owned by 67 members, 48 from the region. In 2007, it approved 10.1 billion U.S. dollars of loans, 673 million dollars of grant projects, and technical assistance amounting to 243 million dollars, according to the release.

Editor: Zhang

In Brief: Festival float fleet expanded

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by SAM RITH
Friday, 14 November 2008

Twenty-one illuminated processional floats, or pratips, were featured in this year's Water Festival compared with eight last year, as organisers looked to enliven the spectacle that has millions of rural Cambodians converge on the capital. The loudly decorated floats represent the Royal Palace and various government organisations. "We have more this year in order to pay tribute to the 55th anniversary of Independence Day as well as Cambodia's current economic growth," said Chea Kean, deputy director of the National and International Festival Committee.

In Brief: City raises duty on Doody

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by CHHAY CHANNYDA
Friday, 14 November 2008

Phnom Penh Municipality imposed a 300-riel "voluntary" fee for those wishing to use public toilets at this year's festivities, said city public works and transport department official Sam Samuth, adding that 10 times more bathrooms were on hand for visitors, including 100 holes dug into the ground on Chruoy Changvar to accommodate the thousands of boat racers encamped there. "After the festival, we will cover all the waste with dirt," he said.

In Brief: One death, three sinkings this year

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by MAY TITTHARA
Friday, 14 November 2008

Only one rower, from Pursat, drowned in this year's Water Festival, organisers said, following a disastrous 2007 that saw five Singaporean racers die after their boat capsized, as well as the death of one Cambodian. But three, boats did sink, said Bou Chomsarey, an undersecretary of state with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport. Last year's tragedy kept foreign boats out of this week's races, he added. "We didn't have any foreign boats join this year because we didn't invite them," he said.

Capital residents skip town in droves for Water Festival

Photo by: Tracey Shelton

Throngs of partygoers in Phnom Penh on the riverside. Cambodians are increasingly turning to Sihanoukville and Siem Reap to celebrate the Water Festival where crowds are thinner.

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by KHOUTH SOPHAK CHAKRYA AND MAY KUNMAKARA
Friday, 14 November 2008

Massive crowds, road accidents and pollution in Phnom Penh drove many cityfolk to favour getaways in Sihanoukville, Siem Reap

TRAVEL and tourism industry officials say a growing number of Phnom Penh residents this year have shunned the capital's Water Festival, choosing instead less frenetic environments offered by Siem Reap and Sihanoukville.

Government authorities estimated that as many as four million visitors would visit the capital to mark this year's Water Festival, packing the banks of the Tonle Sap to view the dragon boat races and choking traffic at intersections throughout the city.

However, hotels in Siem Reap and Sihanoukville, which also host Water Festival celebrations, reported record bookings.

Eng Panharith, owner of My Home guesthouse in Siem Reap's Phsar Krom commune, said he has turned away customers and referred them to friends' guesthouses because he could not accommodate the nearly 100 people trying to book rooms with him.

"The number of customers here has doubled or tripled the normal number, which is about 40 percent or 50 percent occupancy," he said.

"Most of them have arrived from Phnom Penh. I've already turned away 28 people."

Hut Sokim, 25, a booking agent at a Phnom Penh-based travel company, spent this year's festival in Sihanoukville with friends to escape the holiday bustle.

"We didn't want to stay in Phnom Penh because it gets so crowded with traffic everywhere," she said.

"We never stay at home during the Water Festival because the pollution [in Phnom Penh] gets so bad."

So Vong, 48, teaches primary school in Phnom Penh's Russey Keo district.

He and his family returned to their home province of Battambang to spend the three-day holiday in a more relaxed environment.

"Phnom Penh gets so congested with all the crowds, and there are so many traffic accidents," he said.

"I can watch the festival on television at my home if I want, or my family and I can visit local temples, hike in the forest and enjoy the beautiful landscape of our province.

"Phnom Penh has attracted record crowds, but the increase in arrivals in Siem Reap and Sihanoukville outpaced the capital, said tourism sources.

Lorn Thin, supervisor of the Jasmine Hotel in Sihanoukville, said he has also seen a spike in business during the festival.

No vacancies

Jasmine's 55 rooms have been booked solid through the festival, while normal capacity generally runs between 18 and 20 rooms.

"While the number of foreign tourists has decreased recently ... local tourists have increased during the Water Festival," he said.

"Most of my customers have come from Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, Ratanakkiri and other provinces," he added.

Reaksmey Sreynaph, a ticket vendor with the Paramount Tour Co, said passenger loads on buses from the capital to Siem Reap have risen nearly 50 percent, with buses running at full capacity compared with other times of the year.

"We have four departures from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap each day, and every bus has been full during the festival," she said.

Meas Rotana, who sells tickets for the Sorya Transport Co in Phnom Penh, said she has also seen increasing numbers of passengers buying tickets for Sihanoukville.

"I think more people in Phnom Penh are looking to spend the holiday in an environment with fresh air, where they can relax with family or friends," she said.

No government figures were available on the exact number of arrivals in Siem Reap or Sihanoukville.

Tourism Ministry authorities were unavailable for comment.

Tying one on

Photo by: Rick Valenzuela

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Rick Valenzuela
Friday, 14 November 2008

Boat racer Sao Run, wearing a mask, dances for his fellow rowers from Kandal province's Lvea Em district as they celebrate the end of the Water Festival boat races Thursday on Phnom Penh's riverside with a bottle of hooch and some homemade musical instruments. Thousands of racers from some 424 boats competed in this year's competition.

Temples to get World Heritage inscriptions

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Cheang Sokha
Friday, 14 November 2008

THE government has announced plans to inscribe Angkor Wat and Preah Vihear temples with the date that they were listed as Unesco World Heritage sites, officials say.

Phay Siphan, secretary of state at the Council of Ministers, said that the government will inscribe Angkor Wat in early January and Preah Vihear temple when the situation along the border is peaceful.

"We plan to make inscriptions to mark the date the temples were listed as World Heritage sites," Phay Siphan told the Post. "In the original plan, [Prime Minister] Hun Sen was going to preside over the inscriptions, but we will wait and see."

Symbol of ownership

Preah Vihear, which sits on an escarpment near the Thai border, was given heritage status in July this year, sparking anger among Thai nationalists who claimed the temple was theirs.

The Cambodian government spent US$10 million "doing up" the 11th-century ruins before it was shown to delegates, officials said earlier.

Angkor Wat, located in the thriving tourist hub of Siem Reap, was listed as a World Heritage site in 1992.

Seung Kong, deputy director of the Apsara Authority, said that they had already posted signage outside the Angkor Wat complex to let tourists know it was a World Heritage site, but stone inscriptions would make it official.

"We have written them in Khmer, English, French and Japanese to make many people understand," Seung Kong said.

Land dispute arrests down in 2008, but still a problem, Adhoc says

PROBLEM PROVINCE
Land-grabbing is a particular problem for ethnic minority communities in the northeast. Since 2004, more than 3,000 hectares of land have been seized in Ratanakkiri province, where the majority of people belong to ethnic hill tribes.

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Thet Sambath
Friday, 14 November 2008

Arrests are still being used to combat land protests, claim rights groups, but local courts say they are only implementing the law

ARRESTS stemming from land disputes are down in 2008 compared with last year, but the number of people detained on charges of stealing or vandalising contested land remains a concern, say human rights monitors.

Ouch Leng, a land program officer at the rights group Adhoc, said that 117 people were arrested between January and October, 37 of whom remain in prison.

A further 300 are on the run from police as a result of unresolved disputes over valuable rural property.

"People usually protest against the rich and powerful for grabbing their land," said Ouch Leng.

" THE COURT NEVER ARRESTS RICH MEN IN THEIR DISPUTES WITH SIMPLE PEOPLE. "

"In some land disputes, villagers have been accused of stealing land, violating other people's property, committing violence and attempting to kill, so the courts have detained them in custody."

Land grabs endemic

With large hikes in the price of land since 2004, land-grabbing has become increasingly common in many parts of the country, pitting local villagers against large agricultural firms and well-connected figures.

"Villagers are always the ones who lose and are detained in prisons when they have disputes with powerful people. The court never arrests rich men and powerful people in their disputes with simple people," Ouch Leng said.

However, he added that the number of arrests and detentions resulting from land disputes was down from the same period last year, a change he puts down to Prime Minister Hun Sen's July 2008 intervention to halt the imprisonment of people involved in land dispute cases. Last year, around 130 people were jailed on charges arising from land disputes.

Ya Narin, director of the Ratanakkiri provincial court, denied accusations the courts had been used to break up village protests, saying officials followed the law and detained only those who have committed crimes.

"We have just followed the law. We don't detain innocent people," he said. "How can they say that courts arrest and detain only simple people? We are putting the law into practice.

"Anyone committing crimes will be arrested, said Prey Veng provincial court prosecutor Yam Yet.

"If anyone destroys another person's property and cuts trees on forested land, they will face detention because what they did is wrong," he added.

New photo exhibition offers rare glimpse into KR regime

AFP, Former Khmer Rouge leader Ieng Sary, who once dined with Bergstrom.

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Georgia Wilkins
Friday, 14 November 2008

Swede Gunnar Bergstrom is returning to Cambodia for the first time since 1978 to tell about the things he saw, and ignored

AN upcoming exhibition featuring never-before-seen photographs of life under the Khmer Rouge will offer viewers an unfamiliar glimpse into the genocidal regime - one of smiling faces, full-bellied children and lush rice paddies.

Beginning Tuesday, the Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam), in collaboration with the Living History Forum of Sweden, will exhibit photographs from a 14-day staged tour choreographed by the Khmer Rouge and taken by Gunnar Bergstrom, a member of a Swedish delegation invited to Cambodia in 1978 to rally support for the regime abroad.

Bergstrom, now 57, will return to Cambodia for the first time since the delegation to help the exhibition expose what he believed led to a "grave misjudgment" on his part for failing to see through the regime's thin veneer.

A new kind of truth

The photos, all of which are colour, offer a rare candy-eyed view of a regime determined to deceive Western visitors. Most of them are staged, but for Kalyanee Mam, one of the coordinators from DC-Cam, this is what makes them important.

"The staging process itself is revealing. It shows how much [the regime] was trying to hide," she told the Post Thursday.

As part of the Swedish Cambodian Friendship Association, Bergstrom was given a protected look into the country.

Wined and dined by regime leaders, and heavily guarded throughout the tour, he and his team members were largely oblivious to the turmoil around them. It was not until he heard stories of people escaping the regime that he realised his impressions were wrong.

The exhibition, titled "Gunnar in the Living Hell", will open at Reyum Arts Gallery and then travel to the ECCC, as well as galleries in Kampong Cham, Takeo and Battambang. It will finally be put on permanent display at the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum.

Khmer Krom gather in Mekong Delta for festival celebrations

LOST LANDS
Kampuchea Krom covers an area of 89,000 square kilometres in southern Vietnam. The Khmer Kampuchea Krom Foundation claims eight million ethnic Khmers live in the region, facing cultural and religious persecution by the Vietnamese government.

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by kay kimsong
Friday, 14 November 2008

Despite government restrictions on religious practices, Khmers in southern Vietnam take part in the traditional Cambodian festival

THOUSANDS of ethnic Khmers known as Khmer Krom turned out Tuesday and Wednesday to celebrate the annual Water and Moon Festival in southern Vietnam, witnessing two days of dragon boat races and other festivities.

Thirty dragon boats competed for prizes in the event, which was chaired by the Vietnamese provincial governor and the head Buddhist monk, according to the Khmer Kampuchea Krom Association.

Yoeun Sin, head of the Khmer Krom Monks' Association, said up to a million Khmer Krom from across the Mekong Delta attended the Water Festival celebrations in Vietnam's Soc Trang province - known in Khmer as Khleang.

" In kampuchea krom, we can't implement everything we would wish for. "

"Many monks came to support the dragon boats from each province," said Yoeun Sin, adding that the celebration was vital to preserve Khmer culture inside Vietnam.

"We have to organise the Water Festival every year to remember our traditions and cultural practices," he said.

Yoeun Sin added that the Khmer Krom boat races, which were held at a local dike, lacked the support of concurrent events inside Cambodia.

"There are no big sponsors here like in Phnom Penh," he said. "But Kampuchea Krom monks are following their boats and have supported them with food and money. The special thing [here] is that monks have freedom to support and watch the boat races freely."

Preserving Khmer culture

Hul Pirom, 26, a Khmer Krom student at Pannasastra University in Phnom Penh, said that cultural practices - including the celebration of the festival - were limited by the Vietnamese government and less lavish than the national festival organised in Preah Vihear.

"I am very proud of the government for an exciting celebration of the Water Festival," he said. "In Kampuchea Krom, we can't implement everything we would wish for," he added.

Thach Setha, president of the Khmer Kampuchea Community, said the festival was a way for the Khmer minority in southern Vietnam to resist government oppression.

"Every family in Kampuchea Krom celebrates the Water Festival to remember Khmer heroes and military commanders who once protected the territory," he said. "The special meaning of the festival is to demand freedom."

Capital wraps up smooth holiday week

Photo by: HENG CHIVOAN

Thoy Plo, 42, wipes down his boat following Thursday's final races that marked the end of the annual Water Festival.

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by Post Staff
Friday, 14 November 2008

Flood of visitors to Phnom Penh reverse direction as cleanup begins and city gets back to business following the year's biggest blowout.

Full Story

Global HIV effort kicks off in PPenh

Photo by: Rick Valenzuela

A booth worker arranges boxes of condoms as part of one of the safe-sex campaigns that are common at the Water Festival.

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by CHRISTOPHER SHAY AND KHOUTH SOPHAK CHAKRYA
Friday, 14 November 2008

Water Festival seen as perfect time to reach tens of thousands of Cambodians with message of HIV/Aids awareness in campaign that will travel worldwide in bid to test one million people

TAKING the opportunity to reach the millions of Cambodians visiting Phnom Penh for the Water Festival, the Aids Healthcare Foundation (AHF) launched the first phase of a global effort to test one million people for HIV/Aids this week.

The testing push, which started in Phnom Penh, will last until December 1, World Aids Day, according to Mam Sophal, the president of the HIV Program at the Phnom Penh Municipal Health Department, which has been working closely with AHF Cambodia.

AHF, the largest Aids group in the United States, currently provides Aids medical care and services to more than 83,000 individuals in 22 countries.

Dr Chhim Sarath, the country program manager for AHF Cambodia, said the group, which operates 11 free Aids clinics around the country, has donated 20,000 testing kits to the government.

AHF plans to test 10,000 Cambodians this month. According to Mam Sophal, they have already tested 579 individuals, with four positive results.

"The people who found out they had HIV have not been afraid. They've been given hope by the program," Mam Sophal said, "I tell the people with HIV/Aids, ‘Don't worry, because the program can help you live a long time. We have the medical care to support you'."

Needed support

Chhim Sarath said, "This testing is very important. If a person tests positive, we give them proper counseling and introduce them to care services. They also learn how to prevent spreading the disease.

"Initially, Mam Sophal thought this new campaign to encourage HIV tests might not be successful, thinking people would be too afraid to get tested, but he has been pleasantly surprised by the results.

"I thought people would be afraid of the results and would not join the program, but when it started, people came to the test with smiles on their faces," he said.

The goal, however, is not just to test people, but also to raise awareness and teach people about the virus. The Water Festival, organisers say, is an ideal place given the number of attendees.

"Many people from different provinces are in Phnom Penh. It is an opportunity to reach people and teach them about HIV/Aids," Chhim Sarath said, estimating that they reached 1,000 people a day during the festival, which ended Thursday.

In about a week, the testing push will expand into eight provinces. According to government statistics, Cambodia's HIV rate for people aged 15 to 49 fell from 1.9 percent in 2003 to 0.9 percent in 2007.

But AHF officials says HIV has spread beyond high-risk groups like injection drug users and sex workers to the general population, making a general HIV/Aids campaign even more important.

PPenh closes another festival

Photo by: Sovann Philong
A young boy sits on the Phnom Penh riverbank Wednesday night, watching a Water Festival fireworks display on the second night of celebrations.

The Phnom Penh Post

Written by May Titthara
Friday, 14 November 2008

Some revellers say better public order made for a more memorable celebration, but a major upset at the boat races has wrecked the year for one rowing crew

THE last dragon boats had crossed the finish line and the blare of the race announcer's voice over the speaker system had disappeared under the din of a city partying out the final few hours of this year's Water Festival.As the last concussion of the final burst of fireworks faded, Knol Samkol had only one complaint.

"I thought everything was great, but they only shot off fireworks for a few minutes," she said, standing amid the throng of party goers, talking loudly over the discord of wailing sirens and competing variety shows being played from multiple stages around the riverfront."

Last year they launched fireworks for about an hour," the 27-year-old, who had traveled to Phnom Penh from Prey Veng province, added.

Other visitors from the countryside commented on the more orderly nature of this year's festival, saying city officials had done a good job of curbing the chaos that often overtook previous celebrations, when millions of people descended on the city and partied unfettered for three days.

Better than before

"I come to join this ceremony every year, but I think this year I was happier than others because everything was so well organised, even the public parks," said Battambang native Ros Veasna, referring to the open spaces that had before become impromptu tent villages for crowds of rural folk with nowhere to stay."

There is a difference between this year and before."

" I HAD HOPED WE WOULD KEEP OUR NUMBER ONE PLACE BUT WE LOST. "

City officials before the festival sought to "beautify" the city's riverside neighbourhoods in anticipation of the coming crowds. But their sometimes heavy-handed approach earned them criticism from rights groups, which said homeless people and other undesirables were simply being detained, out of sight.

For Knol Samkol, city officials simply did not offer enough distractions beyond the obvious boats races and kerb-side shopping."

The government should try to develop more for people to do during the Water Festival," she said.

Major upset

This year saw a major upset among the dragon boat heavies, with a 10-year winning streak by the Kirivong Sok Senchey being broken in the championship race.

"We never dared to think we would win against that boat, but after we beat 84 others, we took the No 1 prize," said Ly Phal, a 33-year-old rower on the Preah Tineang Chang Han Hoy Sen Chestda, which took first place this year.

"I can bring honour back to my province and we will try to keep our No 1 place in the coming years," said the Kandal province native.

The Kirivong's manager, Oum Chhun Streng, was dumbstruck. "I never thought my boat would get second place because we are faster," he said.

"I had hoped we would keep our No 1 place, but we lost, and I really don't know why," he added. "Maybe we have some mistakes with our technique."

Thai PM plans cabinet reshuffle after royal funeral

www.chinaview.cn

2008-11-14

BANGKOK, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- Thai Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat said Friday that he has planned a cabinet reshuffle after the royal funeral of Her Royal Highness Princess Galyani Vadhana, the late sister of King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

He would consider filling the vacant seat of deputy prime minister, which was left vacant by Chavalit Yongchaiyudh who, then in charge of security affairs, resigned after the Oct. 7 violent crashes between police and anti-government protesters.

He would not hint if the reshuffle would involve other cabinet positions. But when asked whether he will take opportunity to change other positions, Somchai said that he would think about it after the royal rites related to the cremation.

The premier also said that the ruling by the National Counter Corruption Commission (NCCC) against himself and other ministers in previous Samak Sundaravej administration for their handling of the Preah Vihear temple border dispute with Cambodia would not impact the work of the government.

Editor: Sally

Cambodia, Thailand promise troop withdrawal

Cambodia and Thailand have agreed next month to startmarking out disputed parts of their border.(CCTV.com)

WATCH VIDEO

Source: CCTV.com 11-14-2008

Cambodia and Thailand have agreed next month to start marking out disputed parts of their border.

Meanwhile, they will also withdraw troops in January to avoid a repeat of last month's armed clashes at the 900-year-old Preah Vihear temple.

After three days of negotiations in the Cambodian resort of Siem Reap, Thai foreign minister Sompong Amornwiwat said "99 percent" of the problems had been resolved.

Cambodian foreign minister Hor Namhong also said his country wanted to work together with its neighbor. One

Thai and three Cambodian soldiers died in last month's exchange of rifle and rocket fire, which both sides blamed the other for starting.

Editor:Zhang Pengfei

QSR to expand KFC outlets in Cambodia

Business Times
By Adib Povera
2008/11/14

JOHOR Corp (JCorp), via QSR Brands Bhd, will invest about RM7 million to expand its Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) fast-food outlets in Cambodia.

Its chief executive officer Tan Sri Muhammad Ali Hashim said another two outlets would be set up in Phnom Penh and one each would be open in Siem Reap and Kompong Cham by the end of next year.

It has already opened two stores in Cambodia early this year.

"Besides expanding the fast-food outlets, we are planning to set up our own chicken slaughter centre in Cambodia soon.

"The setting-up of the slaughter house would help to raise confidence among our Muslim customers, where we assured them that our fast-food chains serve 'halal' products," Muhammad Ali told reporters after giving a talk to some 300 entrepreneurs in Alor Star, Kedah, yesterday.

Present were Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Azizan Abdul Razak and State Industry and Investment committee chairman Amiruddin Hamzah.

JCorp, through its subsidiary QSR Brands Bhd, became the first foreign fast-food company to open up an outlet in Cambodia in April.

QSR, through its associate company KFC Holdings, now owns 489 KFC outlets across Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei.

Muhammad Ali said another KFC store would be opened in Kedah soon.

Cambodia to unveil hybrid rice to interest investors

People's Daily Online
November 14, 2008

A newly developed Cambodian high-yielding hybrid rice variety will be presented in Kampong Thom province on Monday to interest investors in large-scale cultivation, national media said on Friday.

Louis Kek, director of Malaynesia Resources, part of the Malaysian-Cambodian joint venture responsible for the new variety's development, said that his company is holding discussion with foreign investors to cultivate 50,000 hectares of this kind of rice in the province.

Singaporean and Middle Eastern investors had been invited to inspect the first harvest of a 2-hectare test plot of the Cambodian Super Hybrid Rice, he was quoted by English-Khmer language newspaper the Cambodia Daily as saying.

The project will enlarge its production area in the province to200 hectares in the next growing season, he said.

"We are ready for large-scale implementation. I expect it to become widely accepted because of the increase in yields," he said, adding that 7 to 8 tons of yield of rice variety per hectare over the traditional 2.5 tons of yield of other types.

Cambodia used to lead the Southeastern Asian countries in exporting rice, but later lagged behind due to years of war. The government in recent years has established plans to improve its rice production for export and foreign currency income.

Source:Xinhua

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Vested interestes behind rice pledging?

The Nation
By The deputy
Published on November 14, 2008

The deputy prime minister is always a hurdle for many of the ministry's projects.

It is simply a conflict between Deputy Prime Minister Olarn Chaipravat and Commerce Minister Chaiya Sasomsap, which may not appeal to the public. But there is also a hidden agenda - to turn a blind eye to a big lot of the ministry's latest rice bidding going to a company that was once an illegal bidder, writes Petchanet Pratruangkrai.

On Wednesday, Chaiya lamented over his conflict with Olarn, saying the deputy premier is always a hurdle for many of the ministry's projects drawn up to assist farmers in dealing with the problem of dropping prices.

Is the reason valid? Or is Chaiya deflecting public interest from the conflict instead of focusing on suspected illegal bidding for rice, the price of which is now being negotiated.

The ministry announced the cancellation of bidding for 1 million tonnes of white rice, claiming that firms had offered very low prices. The ministry last week opened a bid for a total of 3.1 million tonnes of rice aimed at releasing its huge stockpile.

Questions are being raised about the cancellation, and whether it would pave the way for one company to reap the whole benefit.

The price for the remaining lot of 2.1 million tonnes is being negotiated in order to force higher bids.

Higher prices will give Chaiya and the coalition government a chance to launch a propaganda campaign among farmers. The ministry is likely to increase the pledging price for the main rice crop from the Bt12,000 approved by the Cabinet, to Bt14,000.

The farmers are also threatening to put pressure on the government to increase the pledging price to Bt14,000 soon. However, nobody knows whether funds are available for such a move.

The government has never revised the pledging price once the Cabinet has given its final approval.

It is irrational to quote a high pledging price amid a downward trend in the global market. In fact, the ministry should be guided by market supply and demand as key factors in determining the guaranteed price.

All bidders have kept their eyes closed to a new bidder, Siam Indiga, known in rice export circles as the alleged nominee of the country's former biggest rice exporter President Agri Trading.

Banks have graded the company (President Agri) for its non-performing loans, while the ministry has seen the company default on rice contracts totalling more than 1 million tonnes.

Sources said Siam Indiga staff, who submitted the bidding document, belonged to President Agri Trading. Although it offered a high bidding price, the company's offer was not the highest.

Siam Indiga will offer an additional price of Bt1,000 per tonne to the ministry during the bargaining period in order to win the big-lot auction. This will enable the company to control huge volumes of rice.

Other rice exporters have to compete with each other to purchase from millers, for which they will have higher costs than Siam Indiga.

Exporters who handle a big supply at a low price can offer an attractive export price.

The modus operandi seems similar to one tried a few years ago by a company that was exposed and later blacklisted by the ministry.

If the ministry agrees to increase the pledging price, it means it is undertaking market distortion. Some rice-growing countries such as India and China will return to the export market after lifting their export bans this year.

China has signalled that it will return to the market by bringing down tariffs. The country exports an average of 1.2 million tonnes per year.

Cambodia has struck a deal with Senegal to export 120,000 tonnes of white rice.

Rice export prices are also declining. For instance, jasmine rice is quoted at US$ 796 (Bt27,908) per tonne, down from $800.

The prices of other varieties have also dropped - 100-per-cent white rice is at $591 per tonne compared with the previous price of $595, while 5-per-cent white rice has fallen from $580 to $576.

It is forecast that global rice prices will gradually drop in line with predicted increase in output. In these circumstances, is the government doing the right thing by increasing the pledging price?