Angkor Shoe Draws Ire of Foreign Minister

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer

Original report from Phnom Penh

13 January 2010

via CAAI News Media

Foreign Minister Hor Namhong on Wednesday condemned the use of the Cambodian flag in the production of a new line of footwear advertised on the Internet and reported in local media this week.

The shoes were designed with the iconic symbol of Angkor Wat, on Keds canvas, infuriating many Cambodians and irking the foreign minister, who lambasted the design before flying to Hanoi Wednesday.

“The shoe is insulting and defames Cambodian honor and dignity,” Hor Namhong told reporters at Phnom Penh International Airport. “This we cannot tolerate.”

Similar shoes were designed around the flags of many other countries, but Hor Namhong said he was concerned only with the image of Cambodia.

“In fact, the shoe issue affects our nation because Angkor Wat is a respectable [symbol] to the Cambodian people and the nation,” he said. “So Cambodia must investigate the production of the shoe. And then we will protest.”

Angkor Wat is a powerful national icon for Cambodians. In 2008, flip-flop sandals bearing the temple’s image appeared in markets in Vietnam’s Tai Ninh province, provoking a government investigation.

In November 2008, a Thai man was arrested for carving the temple’s image in a slab of concrete in front of a public toilet in Poipet, on the Thai border.

In 2003, unconfirmed rumors that a Thai actress had claimed the temple for Thailand sparked a night or rioting and looting in Phnom Penh that destroyed the Thai Embassy and many Thai businesses.

“Angkor Wat is the symbol of the Cambodian nation,” Hor Namhong said. “Angkor Wat and the national flag of Cambodia always stay in all Cambodians’ souls, hearts and minds. We cannot accept the production of these shoes, and the company must be responsible for violating Cambodia.”

Justice Officials Graduate US Tech Course

By Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer

Original report from Phnom Penh

13 January 2010

via CAAI News Media

Nearly 100 Cambodian justice officials on Wednesday received diplomas for a five-month technology course sponsored by the US, one that aims to improve the judiciary’s ability to track cases and detainees and analyze trends.

The 97 officials were trained on an information system being installed by the US government, “which will modernize the way the Ministry of Justice documents the work of the courts,” according to a US Embassy statement.

“Justice officials will take this knowledge to use to work with the general administration and insert the data on all cases that are provided from provincial courts,” said Pen Someathea, deputy general-director of research and judicial development at the ministry.

The US is providing $2 million in 2010 to strengthen Cambodia’s judicial system, which critics say is politically biased and susceptible to corruption.

The information system anticipates an improved judiciary, where “more and more Cambodians come to trust the country’s courts to resolve disputes,” the embassy said.

The system includes a database to track human trafficking cases “and allow for analysis of trends in the prosecution of human trafficking,” the embassy said.

It will also track detainees, allowing officials to identify excessive detentions, another criticism of today’s courts.

The ministry will also be able to chart annual trends in “caseloads and clearance rates” to identify backlogs and reduce case delays, the embassy said.

Little Change in Tonle Sap Fishing Villages

By Ros Sothea, VOA Khmer

Original report from Phnom Penh

13 January 2010

via CAAI News Media

A foul odor rises from the water of the Tonle Sap lake, where sunlight reflects off the surface and the heat of noon pervades three floating villages. The floating houses here are small, some without walls, others pierced with holes. Wind shakes the homes, as do the wakes of boats that pass by from time to time.

In these floating villages—Chnok Trou, Kampong Preah and Sess Slap—30 kilometers north of Kampong Chhnang town, some women prepare dry fish or prepare them to make paste; others care for pigs.

Little has changed here since the national elections in July 2008, when campaigning officials promised to improve villagers’ lives, to combat illegal fishing and corruption and to improve agriculture.

"They promised to help the poor, to let people become rich before the state,” said Khieu Sokha, a 37-year-old villager, as he sat on a small boat filled with wood. “But finally villagers are still poor.”

Sitting in a wooden chair in his floating home, his back curved under 71 years of living, Chhoun Sam Ban, who was born here, said the political parties have not built a close relationship with villagers.

“They respected some [promises], and haven’t others,” he said with a dry face. “We are the poor, and we are not taken care of.”

Not all share his point of view. Thay Kim San, a leading businessman in Chnok Trou commune, said officials repsected promises, “especially in infrastructure.”

Here there are 195 families: about 9,000 villagers, and 1,500 voters, a mix of mostly ethnic Khmers, Vietnamese and Cham, who all sell their fish to Phnom Penh, Vietnam or Poipet, on the Thai border.

Villagers here say their fish yields have been declining in recent years.

“First of all, because of the destruction of flooded forests, and second because 90 percent of villagers depend on fishing,” said Phat Phalla, an environmental activist in the commune.

Oeur Rattanak, an activist for the Human Rights Party in the commune, shared the same view.

“Not many villagers have seen an improvement in their living conditions,” he said, adding there had been some political discrimination in the community.

Five parties competed here in 2008, where the ruling Cambodian People’s Party gained the most votes, followed by the Sam Rainsy, Norodom Ranariddh and Human Rights parties, successively.

The commune council is led by the CPP, which has four seats, versus three seats for the Sam Rainsy Party.

Cheang Kong, an SRP council member, said people’s lives were “improving,” even if there were some negative points.

“We’ve achieved our committment in developing the commune, in assuring security,” said Samreth Heng, CPP head of the commune council. “But we still have been incapable of having the means of securing villagers when they are in an emergency.”

In 2008 and 2009, the government released 64 million riel, about $15,400, to develop the commune, but the adminstration has not yet used it, “because it is a small amount,” Samreth Heng said. Local officials were waiting for the 2010 budget, around 60 million riel, about $14,400, he said.

Meanwhile, the rest of the community depends on the support of non-governmental agencies and the Asian Development Bank, which is focusing on women capacity development, small infrastructure, fisheries and pork.

Cham Writing Founders Under Malay, Arabic

By Pich Samnang, VOA Khmer

Original report from Phnom Penh

13 January 2010

via CAAI News Media

Bhann Tes carefully opened a thick holy book, whose pages have turned brown with age. He fetched a small notebook from a shelf and began writing, copying the work line by line.

“These are Cham scripts, which look like Khmer Pali scripts,” the 76-year-old Muslim said recently, sounding out the religious texts in his single-room him in Samaki Meanchey district, Kampong Chhnang province. “I try to copy the scripts so that they will stay on after I pass away.”

Despite the efforts of men like Bhann Tes, researchers say Cham scripts are likely to disappear in the next few decades if they continue to be ignored as they are now.

Emiko Stock, a French anthropologist who has studied the Cham, a minority Muslim group in Cambodia, for the past decade, said only a few elder Chams can still read documents written in the Cham language.

“Now there are just a few old Cham literates left,” she said, “so it is a great concern that in the next five to 20 years, there will probably be no one who can read or understand poems, history or other documents in Cham.”

Cham illiteracy could result in the loss of Cham tradition, history and culture as a whole, said Stock, who speaks Khmer fluently.

Cham scripts are still in use by Cham people in Vietnam, who are mostly Hindu. Cambodia’s half a million Cham, who fled the fallen kingdom of Champa in today’s Vietnam, tend to use Arabic rather than Cham.

Stock said the trend of globalization has put Cham scripts in danger, as young Chams rarely learn their own writing.

Matt Roshat, 26, said he never learned Cham writing, even though he speaks the language. Instead, he learned Arabic and Javy, a mix of Arabic and Malay.

“We don’t know why we should learn Cham scripts when we can use Javy to demonstrate Cham pronunciation and Arabic to read and understand the Quran,” said Matt Roshat, a university graduate who works for a local non-governmental organization in Phnom Penh.

Matt Roshat is a member of a larger and more orthodox Islamic community in Cambodia, which prefers Islamic practices with Arabic or Malaysian touches.

The smaller Muslim sect, called Imam San, is the guardian of Cham scripts and culture. Imam San leader Kai Tam said the reason more and more young Chams prefer Arabic to their own scripts is that they are attracted by materialism.

“At the moment, they prefer learning from the other side, because that side has money, and we don’t,” Kai Tam said, referring to the larger Muslim community. However, he still writes and compiles the Quran in Cham for distribution and does whatever he can to preserve the Cham scripts.

“I am teaching the scripts to youths and villagers in their homes, in mosques and in any place I can teach, so that our Cham traditions, customs and culture will live forever,” he said in a recent interview at his home in Kampong Tralach district.

Sos Kamry, a mufti for the larger Muslim community in Cambodia, said any tradition affecting or in contrast with Islam must be abandoned or forgotten.

Emiko Stock said that any tradition or culture that does not change at all ultimately will die, so they need modernizing. However, she said the preservation of scripts is also needed for a tradition’s survival.

“When the young do not want to learn their own scripts today,” she said, “tomorrow there will be no one to be able to read books or anything left behind by their elders.”

More verbal attacks from Hun Sen to Thailand

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has reportedly said the days are numbered for the government his Thai counterpart. [Radio Australia]

via CAAI News Media

Girish Sawlani

Last Updated: 7 hours 5 minutes ago

Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen has launched a scathing verbal attack on the Thai government, saying the current administration's days are numbered.

He has told an audience at a student graduation ceremony in Phnom Penh that Thailand's current government, led by Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva would not survive much longer.

He's also labelled Thailand's Foreign Minister the "chief of terrorists" for orchestrating the collapse of the previous government, and says he's waiting for a new administration to take power before restoring diplomatic relations.

His comments follow a series diplomatic incidents over the past 15 months, that include deadly border clashes centering on an ancient Buddhist temple, and Cambodia's appointment of former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra as a government adviser.

Thaksin was thrown from office in a 2006 coup and is a wanted fugitive in his homeland.

Though both countries have acknowledged that ties are at an all-time low, Thailand is refusing to weigh in on the latest outburst from Phnom Penh.

Thai Government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn told Radio Australia that Bangkok is firmly focused on improving relations with its neighbour.

"I assume he was talking to Cambodian students. So we're not going to comment on what he said to his students," he said.

He says Cambodia's recent pardon and release of a Thai man accused of stealing security information is a positive step in the countries' relations.

Domestic benefits

Professor Carl Thayer, a Southeast Asia analyst at the University of New South Wales, says present developments are playing well into the hands of Hun Sen on the domestic front.

"Thai relations with Cambodia have been a political football inside Cambodia, and Hun Sen has been playing the issue for several years now to maximum effect," he said.

"I think we're just seeing this that he used that in the elections in 2008 to make a major victory because of the Preah Vihear temple incident. And with relations at an all-time low, he just gained some popularity at home. At the same time, he has his own opposition on the run. So he's reigning supreme and enjoying the political game."

Part of that political game could be Thaksin's appointment, which has infuriated the Thai government and prompted a recall of ambassadors from both countries.

Cambodia has refused Thailand's requests to extradite Thaksin, saying the charges against the former prime minister are politically motivated.

"Yes, Cambodia always supports the appointment of Mr. Thaksin as an economic adviser to the government of Cambodia. And the appointment, it is the sovereign right of the Cambodian government to appoint his Excellency Mr. Thaksin," said Cambodian Government spokesman Koy Kuorn.

That statement doesn't bode well for future diplomatic relations.

Thai Government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn says if that's the case, "then certain negotiations may not be able to move forward because any country in this position would do the same thing when there is a possibility of being put in a disadvantaged position."

China to invest over 550 mln USD in Cambodia's hydropower plant

http://www.chinaview.cn/

2010-01-13

via CAAI News Media

PHNOM PENH, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's Deputy Minister for Industry, Mines and Energy Ith Praing said on Wednesday that China Huadian Corp., one of China's biggest state-owned power companies, will build a 558 million U.S. dollars hydropower plant in Cambodia's southwest province.

Ith Praing said that the Cambodia's government has approved the project since last year for the company to run 30-year investment of Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) project in Koh Kong province.

"The company has been seeking financial support for this project and once the money is there, the construction to begin soon," Ith Praing told Xinhua.

China Huadian Corp., inked last week a financing deal with the Export-Import Bank of China during a regional gathering in China's South-western city of Nanning, according to a news report.

The "government's goal is to lower the price of electricity to attract more investments," Ith Praing said, adding "we would have sufficient electricity by 2011 or 2012."

Currently, the country produced 300 megawatts which is much less than the total demand, and the unit price is 0.20 U.S. dollars per kilowatts hour which is double higher compare with the price in its neighbors of Thailand and Vietnam.

Cambodia has planned to build nine hydropower plants by 2019 to generate 1942 megawatts of power in which Cambodia saw the Chinese-funded plants will play vital part of the plan to feed the country's electricity-starved economy.

Editor: Han Jingjing

Explore Mekong Discovery Trail: The Northeastern River Life in Cambodia

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2010-01-13 - Do you want to enjoy the unique travel experience while contributing your financial support to accelerate economic growth of the poor in sustainable manner?

It would not be at the end of traveling in Cambodia if you miss to explore Mekong Discovery Trial and experience the northeastern life of Cambodia where diverse natural beauty and warm-hearting greetings of the people create a remembrance experience. Mekong discovery trial will bring to explore the river life adventure along an extensive Mekong in Kratie and Stung Treng

Province of Kingdom of Wonder.

Mekong discovery trail aims to mitigate and promote dolphin conservation through sustainable tourism and to diversify tourism product in response to an increasing demand for ecotourism. A wide range of touristic activities can be enjoyed along the trail such as Mekong River Dolphin Viewing, horse cart, mountain biking, house boating, local product, fishing, camping, and forest trekking which are the foremost interested activities for the ecotourism visitors, nature lovers and nature-based visitors.

Along the Mekong trial local people can provide you diversified experiences with their local product and their hospitality mood. Also, you have chance to see a critical endangered Mekong River Dolphin whist optimize impact on the environment they depend on. By using this trail and allow yourself to economically contribute to the local people will help the river communities with the positive change of local livelihood.

For Cambodia Tour

packages: www.tourismindochina.com/cambodia/tours/

U.S. help Cambodian judicial officials on IT data base

http://www.chinaview.cn/

2010-01-13

via CAAI News Media

PHNOM PENH, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Ninety-seven members of Cambodia's Ministry of Justice received diplomas on Wednesday after they had successfully completing an intensive information technology (IT) training program funded by the United States.

The statement released by the United States Embassy in Phnom Penh said the five-month course -- the first of its kind offered at the ministry -- provided basic technology skills to the graduates and trained them on the use of an electronic information system that is being installed at the ministry by the United States.

As more and more Cambodians come to trust the country's courts to resolve their disputes, the volume and complexity of the ministry's work will increase, an issue the new system will help address, said Flynn Fuller, the mission director.

The system consists of an office intranet for file sharing, a webpage to publicize court information such as caseloads and clearance rates, and a series of databases.

Many court officials still use hand writing for their reports and keep their information on shelves instead of using computer database.

According the statement, the United States is providing nearly two million U.S. dollars this year to strengthen Cambodia's legal system by training judges and lawyers and by providing the public with greater access to information about the courts.

Editor: Han Jingjing

Brother Number One

"Brother Number One" is a New Zealand documentary on the torture and murder of New Zealand yachtie Kerry Hamill by the Khmer Rouge in 1978. It follows the journey of Kerry's younger brother, Rob Hamill, an Olympic and Trans-Atlantic champion rower, who will travel to Cambodia to retrace the steps taken by his brother and John Dewhirst, speaking to eyewitnesses, perpetrators and survivors.

The film will be directed by award-winning filmmaker Annie Goldson (Punitive Damage, Georgie Girl, An Island Calling), shot by Academy-award winning DOP Peter Gilbert (Hoop Dreams, At the Death House Door) and produced by Pan Pacific Films.

Please visit http://www.brothernumberone.co.nz/

Five-year battle over Oakland Buddhist temple comes to an end

Members of the Oakland Cambodian Buddhist Temple quickly work to take the International Community of Khmer Buddhist Monks Center sign down after taking back their temple in Oakland, Calif. on Tuesday Jan 12, 2010. The Cambodian Buddhist community has been in a legal battle over the temple on E. 10th St. in Oakland for the past 5 years. A court order came down Tuesday giving the Oakland Cambodian Buddhist community the right to the temple that had been occupied by the International Community of Khmer Buddhist Monks Center. (Laura A. Oda/Staff)

Members of the Oakland Cambodian Buddhist Temple including 96 year old Bun Cheng(center) watch as the International Community of Kmer Buddhist Monks Center was taken down after taking back their temple in Oakland, Calif. on Tuesday Jan 12, 2010. The Cambodian Buddhist community has been in a legal battle over the temple on E. 10th St. in Oakland for the past 5 years. A court order came down Tuesday giving the Oakland Cambodian Buddhist community the right to the temple that had been occupied by the International Community of Khmer Buddhist Monks Center. (Laura A. Oda/Staff)

Members of the Oakland Cambodian Buddhist Temple were able to worship in the temple they had been banned from for the last 5 years after they took back their temple in Oakland, Calif. on Tuesday Jan 12, 2010. The Cambodian Buddhist community has been in a legal battle over the temple on E. 10th St. in Oakland for the past 5 years. A court order came down Tuesday giving the Oakland Cambodian Buddhist community the right to the temple that had been occupied by the International Community of Khmer Buddhist Monks Center. (Laura A. Oda/Staff)

Members of the Oakland Cambodian Buddhist Temple hold photos of Abbot Dharmasara Son Sam, their deceased leader, as they take back their temple in Oakland, Calif. on Tuesday Jan 12, 2010. The Cambodian Buddhist community has been in a legal battle over the temple on E. 10th St. in Oakland for the past 5 years. A court order came down Tuesday giving the Oakland Cambodian Buddhist community the right to the temple that had been occupied by the International Community of Khmer Buddhist Monks Center. (Laura A. Oda/Staff)

 

via CAAI News Media

Buddhist battle comes to an end

Angela Woodall

Oakland Tribune

01/12/2010

OAKLAND — Buddhists are perceived as being above church politics.

But a bitter five-year battle over an Oakland temple pitted two Cambodian Buddhist organizations against each other and gave rise to restraining orders, threats and allegations of stealing.

The struggle ended Monday afternoon in a nondescript chamber of the California Superior Court on Oak Street with a simple decision that boiled down to one thing: the Oakland Cambodian Buddhist Temple nonprofit has a right to its East 10th Street center and temple.

The center had been taken over in 2005 by the Massachusetts-based International Community of Khmer Buddhist Monks Center.

"We had to endure a lot of pain and suffering to achieve this," said Christina Sam, the daughter-in-law of the center's founder, Sam Son.

"I didn't expect it would take this long," said Christina Sam after she, her husband, Paul Sam, and scores of members gathered in front of an 8-foot gold-hued Buddha statue for the first time since the dispute started.

"I'm very happy. I'm very elated, very ecstatic," said 79-year-old Caray Suy, an original member. Christina Sam interpreted for her.

"We finally got our temple back," Suy added, as other members began removing signs of the Khmer Buddhist Center outside the center.

The feud began in late 2004, when members of the Oakland Cambodian Buddhist Society board of directors decided to transfer ownership of the temple to the International Community of Khmer Buddhist monks. (The Khmer monks have no relationship to the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime that ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979.)

The board's decision set off intense opposition among members of the Oakland group, which called the board's decision illegal, and a legal battle ensued between the two groups over the modest, yellow and burgundy three-bedroom bungalow in East Oakland. Each side accused the other of wrongdoing and bully tactics.

Sunthay Sunly boiled down the issues to access and local control of one of the first community-owned Theraveda Buddhist temples in Oakland. "We are not fighting against a person, but for a place for the community to come together," he said. "They lost a lot already."

Son, a refugee who fled the Khmer Rouge, founded the Oakland Buddhist society in 1983. After he was evicted in 2005, Son and three monks moved across the street from the original location, at 5212 E. 10th St., and started the Oakland Cambodian Buddhist Temple. Many of their supporters followed and the battle continued.

Finally, on Tuesday, about 100 people gathered in front of the center, eager to visit the shrine for the first time in years. "Today is the day for us," said Theany Nov.

Not everyone agreed. "We had no choice," William Ley said. He was an original member of the Oakland society but continued on with numerous others from the original location after the Khmer Monks Center took over.

There are still details to be ironed out during the second phase of the trial about damages, after which the Khmer Monks Center would then decide whether to file an appeal, according to its lawyer, G. Robert Woodfin.

David Sternfeld, the Oakland Temple's lawyer, ruled out mediation as a possibility. In the meantime, the dozen or so International Community of Khmer Buddhist monks have to find a new home.

Vietnam, Cambodia strengthen ties for people’s sake

via CAAI News Media

01/13/2010

The Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security and the Cambodian Ministry of Interior need to strengthen their cooperation for the sake of the two countries’ people, said Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.

PM Dung made the comment during his meeting with Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior Sar Kheng in Hanoi on January 12.

The PM lauded the Cambodian Minister’s working visit and the results of his talks with Minister of Public Security Le Hong Anh earlier the same day.

He said he was delighted at the growing of bilateral traditional friendship and asked the two ministries to work more closely to implement a wide range of agreements reached by the two countries.

“Fine cooperation between the two ministries has helped facilitate the development of friendship and cooperation between the two countries and especially between the provinces which share the borderline,” PM Dung said.

He said the two ministries should enhance their assistance and cooperation in training and share experiences and professional skills to help maintain security, social order and safety in their countries.

PM Dung reiterated that Vietnam wants to implement its agreements reached with Cambodia effectively to elevate the traditional friendship and cooperation for the benefit of the two countries’ people.

Noting down PM Dung’s opinions, he affirmed that the Cambodian government is willing to coordinate with Vietnam to carry out bilateral agreements, including those agreed by the two ministries, in an efficient way.

Earlier, Deputy PM and Minister of Interior Sar Kheng held talks with Minister of Public Security Le Hong Anh during which they informed each other of the current situation in their respective country and discussed issues of mutual concern.

They reviewed the implementation of cooperative programmes in 2009 and exchanged views on measures to be taken to boost their cooperation in 2010.

The two officials reached agreement on the issues they raised and showed their determination to lift the two ministries’ cooperative ties to a new height.

They signed a cooperation plan for their ministries in 2010.

DEVELOPMENT-CAMBODIA: Minority Languages Face Extinction

via CAAI News Media

By Robert Carmichael

PHNOM PENH, Jan 13, 2010 (IPS) - One of Cambodia’s oldest languages – S’aoch – appears headed for extinction in the next decade. Other languages spoken by its minority people are lining up to take the place of the 6,000-year-old language in the most endangered category.

Ron Watt, the education adviser at Care Cambodia, holds a bilingual dictionary used in Care's school programme to revitalise minority languages.

Credit:Robert Carmichael/IPS

Dr Jean-Michel Filippi, a linguist who has studied the S’aoch language for a decade, has recorded 4,000 words of S’aoch and is preparing to write a grammar for the language. But even he holds out no hope for it. That is because just 10 people in a small village in southern Cambodia speak S’aoch fluently, and none of them uses it in daily conversation.

Filippi says the imminent extinction of S’aoch means his efforts to preserve something of it are critical. "That is because a language is a unique vision of the world," he says. "It’s very specific and a very peculiar classification of reality."

According to the United Nations’ cultural body the world’s remarkable diversity of 6,700 languages is dying out at the rate of one every fortnight. By the end of this century just half will remain, the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) warns on its website.

The work done by linguists like Filippi to document dying languages is important for a number of reasons. Filippi says that long after it is gone, a language could have uses in diverse areas such as commerce, psychology or artificial intelligence. A case in point, he says, is Navajo, the Native American language that was used by U.S. forces in World War II in the Pacific to encrypt radio transmissions, and whose story was popularised in the film ‘Windtalkers’.

Blaise Kilian, joint programme coordinator of UNESCO in Phnom Penh, says there is inevitably more than one reason for language death. The most obvious is that too few people are fluent.

"But you also have the environment and the way people themselves – especially the new generation – react to the changing environment," says Kilian. "And how much they are interested in preserving and transmitting their own language."

Filippi says the imminent demise of S’aoch has less to do with the low numbers of people who speak it, and much more to do with the attitude of the people themselves.

"Survival depends on one thing: Does the minority want to protect and save its own culture?" he asks. In the case of the S’aoch, he adds, that desire is lacking.

That is because after the murderous Khmer Rouge regime was driven from power in Cambodia in 1979, the S’aoch people found themselves unable to return to their original village. Instead they settled in a village called Samrong Loeu near the port town of Sihanoukville in the country’s south.

But without fields to work, they faced enormous difficulties. Filippi says the impoverished S’aoch now aspire to the lifestyles enjoyed by their relatively wealthy Khmer neighbours, who have fields, motorbikes and houses. And so they have put their own language and customs behind them and adopted the language of the majority Khmer population.

"When you are put in a position of economic inferiority, you tend to reject your own culture," Filippi says. That rejection has gone so far that Filippi struggles to get the surviving S’aoch even to recall their folk tales or religious ceremonies.

The case of S’aoch is not unique to Cambodia, which UNESCO estimates has 19 endangered languages. Others in trouble include Somray and Poa, with around 300 speakers each, Samre, with 400 speakers, and So’ong, with 500 speakers.

But even minority languages with just a few hundred speakers face distinctly different outcomes. Filippi says the Somray language of south-western Cambodia is likely to survive several more decades at least even though it has just a few hundred speakers.

That is because the animist religion of the Somray requires that prayers are accurately rendered in their own language to be effective, a compelling reason for the villagers to ensure their children grow up fluent.

Some languages are much more widely spoken, such as Tampuon, P’nong, Kuong and Jarai, each of which has up to 30,000 speakers living in the country’s north and north-east. Provided their communities back the effort, the chances of language survival are much higher.

Kilian says the first step to revitalizing a language is to determine its chances of being saved, and then create an orthography – a specific writing system – for educational materials. Those materials can then be used in education programmes.

In the case of Cambodia, some of that educational work is carried out by non-government organisations such as International Cooperation Cambodia (ICC) and Care International.

ICC has produced highly regarded books in minority languages, some of which Care uses in a bilingual school programme that was started in 2003. ICC also runs adult literacy programmes and records folk tales and other cultural aspects of minority life in the country’s long-neglected north-east.

Ron Watt, Care’s education adviser, says the bilingual schools education programme now has 128 teachers using four languages and teaching in 25 schools. Last year around 1,900 children were enrolled, almost half of them girls.

"The education ministry is very keen on this and now they are replicating it, with three more schools set to open next year," he says.

Under the bilingual education system, children in Grade 1 use their own language for 80 percent of classes, with the rest of instruction undertaken in Khmer. The proportion of minority languages used drops over the following two years, and by the time Grade 4 begins, all teaching is in Khmer.

Watt admits that the programme is not perfect.

"People with a language development bent would say that this isn’t a classic language maintenance model, let alone a language development model," he says, explaining that he would prefer to see instruction in minority languages continue after Grade 3. But the current programme is "much, much better than doing nothing."

UNESCO’s Kilian says the Cambodian government seems broadly receptive to preserving cultural aspects of the country’s heritage, likely in part because of their tourism value. He points out that Cambodia is known to tourists for Angkor Wat and the Khmer Rouge, but little else. That means ensuring its cultural diversity is sensible.

But no matter what efforts are taken, Cambodia will certainly have lost some of its languages by the end of the century. For the doomed languages there is little that linguists can do other than record as much as possible of the language, folk tales and customs so that when tongues like S’aoch eventually die, something of what they represented still remains.

Cambodian PM says Thai government will not survive

Cambodian premier Hun Sen told a student graduation ceremony that the Thai government would "not have long to live"

via CAAI News Media

PHNOM PENH — Cambodian premier Hun Sen Tuesday stoked a diplomatic row with Thailand, saying the neighbouring country's government would not survive and branding its foreign minister the "chief of terrorists".

Ties between the two nations, which have fought a string of deadly border clashes, hit a new low late last year when Phnom Penh appointed former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra as an economics adviser.

Hun Sen told a student graduation ceremony that the current Thai government would "not have long to live" and vowed to wait for a new administration to take power in Bangkok before fully restoring diplomatic relations.

Thailand and Cambodia recalled their ambassadors in November and expelled senior diplomats over Hun Sen's appointment of Thaksin, who is living abroad to avoid a jail term for corruption in his home country.

Diplomatic tensions soared further when Phnom Penh then refused to extradite Thaksin during his first visit to Cambodia in his new role.

Thai premier Abhisit Vejjajiva took office in December 2008 and must call an election by December 2011. He came to power after a blockade of Bangkok's airports in 2008 helped bring down the previous, pro-Thaksin government.

Hun Sen criticised Thai foreign minister Kasit Piromya for his involvement in the blockade, which was carried out by the royalist "Yellow Shirt" movement that also helped spark the coup that toppled Thaksin in 2006.

"You are the chief of terrorists in the siege of the airports, because some Cambodians were also hostages at the airports," Hun Sen said Tuesday, referring to Kasit.

Kasit is a favourite target of the Cambodian strongman after allegedly calling Hun Sen a "gangster" in a parliamentary debate last year. The Thai minister said at the time that his comments had been translated incorrectly.

Hun Sen also restated Cambodia's claim to disputed land around an ancient temple on the border between the two countries, a row that has sparked a series of clashes since mid-2008 in which seven people have died.

Thai media reported Tuesday that Thaksin would visit Cambodia again in late January to better coordinate fresh anti-government protests in Thailand by his own supporters, known as the "Red Shirts".

Two Cambodian loggers shot, one missing in new Thai border incident

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/

via CAAI News Media

Jan 13, 2010

Phnom Penh - Cambodian authorities said two Cambodian citizens logging illegally in Thailand have been shot dead by Thai troops and a third is missing, national media reported Wednesday.

The two dead men were in a party of 26 who crossed the border on January 10 in Oddar Meanchey province in north-west Cambodia, the Cambodia Daily newspaper quoted a senior army source as saying.

It was the latest in a series of shootings in the past four months in which Thai troops were accused of shooting Cambodians logging illegally and brings the number of dead to at least four.

Last week, the Cambodian government said it would station extra soldiers along the border in Oddar Meanchey to prevent its citizens from crossing illegally into Thailand. After the latest incident was reported, Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said the government would again increase its efforts.

'The government will build more checkpoints to prevent them and warn them from crossing the border illegally to prevent shootings,' he told the newspaper.

In the most infamous case, a 16-year-old died in September after he was shot and wounded, then allegedly tied to an ox cart while alive and set on fire by Thai soldiers. The Thai government later insisted the teenager had already died from gunshot wounds when troops burned his body.

Poverty is widespread in Cambodia and drives thousands to work in Thailand, often illegally.

The relationship between the two nations has been tense for more than a year with a number of clashes reported between troops from both countries over a disputed piece of land near the 11th-century Preah Vihear temple in northern Cambodia.

Ties worsened late last year when Cambodia appointed Thailand's fugitive former premier Thaksin Shinawatra as an adviser to the government.

Enjoy a Value-Packed Vacation in Cambodia Courtesy of Angkor Holiday Hotel’s New Promo

via CAAI News Media

2010-01-13 06:26:08 - Guests can now avail of Angkor Holiday Hotel’s Holiday Promo, which offers a variety of perks and discounts.

Siem Reap, Cambodia – At Angkor Holiday Hotel, the holidays are far from over. The hotel’s Holiday Promo Package offers complimentary services such as a one-day tour to Angkor Complex and a soothing one-hour massage, giving guests the luxury of having a vacation that is both informative and relaxing. Aside from being given the chance to learn about the fascinating

local culture, guests are provided by the promo package with conveniences such as one-way airport transfer, a delicious daily buffet breakfast, one Khmer set menu for dinner, free Internet access up to one hour at the business center, and early check-in/late check-out until 3 p.m.

The hotel offers invigorating welcome drinks and complimentary bottles of mineral water for those who avail of the promo, and the staff is available to cater to their concerns. The promo is valid until 31 March 2010, with a minimum stay of two nights. Package rates start at USD 109.00 for double occupancy, and are already inclusive of taxes and surcharges.

Angkor Holiday Hotel is located near the commercial and business district, making it a prime location for travelers who want affordable accommodations and quality service. The hotel offers spacious air-conditioned rooms with four-star amenities such as Internet access, a mini-bar, coffee/tea making facilities, an IDD phone, and a DVD player.

Round-the-clock room service and a variety of facilities that appeal to corporate travelers and holidaymakers are also offered by this Cambodia hotel. Tour services to the world famous Angkor Wat and the other local attractions may be arranged. For transportation conveniences, flight, coach, and taxi arrangements can be made. There is a doctor on-call for medical assistance, as well as babysitting and dry cleaning/laundry service.

Guests can avail of spa treatments or make use of the swimming pool, which has a built-in Jacuzzi. Fitness enthusiasts can head to the gym, and guests who are interested to relax in a laid-back atmosphere can use the private cinema. They can also try their hand at karaoke for an entertaining time with friends or loved ones.

For business travelers, the business center has high-speed Internet access as well as printing/fax services. The conference rooms can accommodation up to 120 guests each.

For more information on this promo and to book reservations, visit

 http://www.angkorholidayhotel.com/.

###

About Angkor Holiday Hotel

Angkor Holiday Hotel in Siem Reap is an affordable accommodation provider located near business and commercial areas. Guests who are arriving by plane will find it convenient to know that the hotel is only a 10-minute drive away from Siem Reap International Airport. It is also near tourist attractions such as Angkor Wat and the Royal Palace.

Contact Information

Angkor Holiday Hotel

Corner of Sivutha Blvd and National Road No. 6

Siem Reap, Kingdom of Cambodia

Tel: 855 63 966 777

Fax Number: 855 63 966 800

Email: gm@angkorholidayhotel.com

Website: http://www.angkorholidayhotel.com/

DAP News ; Breaking News by Soy Sopheap

via CAAI News Media

Two Years in Prison over Singer Prostitution Case

Wednesday, 13 January 2010 02:16 DAP-NEWS

Chhin Sotheary, a Little Known Cambodian singer, was the victim of a sexual trafficking scam, Phnom Penh Municipal Court heard on Monday.

The accused in the case, Preap Sophea, 31, was arrested on July 19, 2009 after allegedly falsely claiming to offer the sexual services of Chhin Sotheary, a court official said. She was found guilty, fined CR1,000,000 and sent to prison for two years. The plaintiff demanded US$10,000 compensation.

Chhin Sotheary´s fiancé had called police to arrest Preap Sophea after seeing his partner’s name in a catalogue of women on offer to clients.

Sotheary´s fiancé told the court that Preap Sophea had claimed Chhin Sotheary was not present at the establishment.

“I called to police to find and arrest her as soon as possible because it is a infringement upon my fiancée’s rights,” he was quoted as saying.

Preap Sophea claimed that the case was just a mix-up, with a woman of similar name but different identity listed. “She (the similarly named woman) has left for Thailand,” she said.

Judge Chaing Sinath found the presented evidence sufficient to charge her with sexual trafficking.

Climate Change Concerns for Cambodia

Wednesday, 13 January 2010 02:19 DAP-NEWS

The National Committee of Disaster Management (NCDM) Secretary General for Cambodia on Monday voiced concerns about the effects of climate change.

Peou Samy said at a seminar at Naga World Hotel of Phnom Penh that natural disasters are both local and international.

Storms, flooding, droughts and other disasters have already beset Cambodia us, he added, saying that at least US$153 million worth of damage was caused by Typhoon Ketsana.

“We need US$131 million to support … victims of bad weather,” he said.

Aslam Perwaiz of the Asian Disaster Program Committee (ADPC) said that the EU has €1 million allocated to support areas around the Mekong River, for poverty reduction projects and strengthening the capacity of local authorities.

Perwaiz added that the project will help to cut climate change risks in Southeast Asia. Cambodia is one of the most disaster-prone countries in the region.

Disaster management capacity building at provincial, district and commune levels to prepare and implement disaster risk reduction plans remains one of the most important priorities, Perwaiz added.

Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam will all receive assistance, he said.

Gambling Must Stop, PM Warns

Wednesday, 13 January 2010 02:20 DAP-NEWS

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen once again on Tuesday warned the 8 Phnom Penh district governors to put an end to all gambling, including football betting and card games.

The premier’s caution is the latest in series of warnings to local officials in the course of an ongoing crackdown on gambling. Gaming continues, however, behind closed doors.

The PM claimed that at least one lawyer had yawned in a National Asse-mbly session after a night’s gambling.

“Do not suppose that I don’t know some lawyers yawned in the National Assembly Session,” the PM said during a graduation ceremony in Phnom Penh on Tuesday. “At the moment, gambling is done at guesthouses and hotels.”

“Please watch out carefully if you do not want trouble,” he instructed the governors, singling out Daun Penh district as “the most difficult area.”

The premier also warned that cockfighting, a popular traditional pastime in Cambodia, must also be halted.

There has been strong support for the government’s crackdown on gambling, perceived by many as a social evil dragging Cambodians into poverty.

Expected High Demand for Pork at Chinese New Year

Wednesday, 13 January 2010 02:21 DAP-NEWS

A pork vendor at O’Russey market said on Tuesday that the demand for pork will be higher during the upcoming Chinese New Year, to fall on February 14.

The pork will be in demand as most Chinese buy meat or whole pigs as ceremonial offerings, though some are concerned about swine flu, Khim Nady said, though prices are not expected to rise much.

A kilo of pork currently fetches US$3.5-4.5.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forests and Fisheries, that pig industry decreased over 4 percent in 2009 over 2008. The decline is said to due to the high cost of feed and animal diseases. Disease is a key concern.

Around 1,000 pigs per day with a value of at least US$2 million dollars arrive from abroad to supply the local market demand.

Currently, the MAFF has closely followed animal movement to prevent any communicable diseases, said Kao Phal, MAFF’s director of health and animal production. “This year our measure is similar to last year about the poultry and animal movement during this event.”

Thai Soldiers Encroach Upon Cambodian Territory

Wednesday, 13 January 2010 02:21 DAP-NEWS

Cambodian troops and Thai black-clad soldiers are close to confronting one-another at the Choub Ron area after 30 Thai soldiers moved from O’Krogn- oung in Thailand to camp in the O’Kbal Haseb area at the Thai-Cambodia border in Oddor Meanchey province.

Chen Sivuth, the provincial inspection chief, on Tuesday told DAP News Cambodia the Thais came to camp in the area at 10 am on January 11.

“Following Thai soldiers camping, Cambodia soldiers reached that area, but they have not confronted one another yet, but Cambodian party demanded absolutely those Thai soldiers returned to their old station,” he said. “Those Thai soldiers were willing to act illegally.” However, both soldier parties often hold discussions for cooperation and to improve the relationship between the militaries.

Green energy experiment under threat

Photo by: Ellie Dyer

Dong Ly, chairman of a committee tasked with running a green energy experiment in Battambang province, operates one of the lights powered by it on Monday.

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Our intention is to become a self-sustaining energy industry."
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via CAAI News Media

Wednesday, 13 January 2010 15:04 Ellie Dyer

Battambang Province

FIVE years ago, a 100-person village in Battambang province became a trail-blazing experiment in the use of renewable power in rural Cambodia.

The village, An Long Tmey, located in Chhey Teal commune, received its own ‘gasification’ system, a renewable energy reactor that converts nut husks and wood into green energy.

To operate the system, residents laboured day and night to oversee organic products being turned into gas and pumped through a dynamo to electrify their community. Families also planted crops of high-yield wood to fuel the unit.

By many accounts, the entire community benefited from a stable, long-term power source, which serviced 300 homes in the area.

Now, that system is under threat.

The state-owned Energy Authority Cambodia power line is coming to the village. With cheaper rates – around 900 riels less per kilowatt – and the promise of 24-hour power, it could potentially provide a better deal for the community.

But if the existing renewable system is to survive, the electricity commune must find US$20,000 to upgrade its existing wires to be compatible with the national grid. Only then can it become a licensed body able to provide energy to residents.

With only $9,000 of savings, if the village does not find a donor willing to help, another energy provider, such as Electricite du Cambodge, will be licenced in the area and the experiment will end.

On Monday, the executive committee that operates the system told the Post how the village has benefited from power.

As he sat in front of the gasification unit, which was funded by $110,000 coming from groups including the UN Development Programme, committee member Sam Sophorm told how a stable energy system had changed the economic makeup of the village. Small shops and restaurants can now stay open after dark, he said, which has been a boon for trade. The local clinic can treat patients during the night, and a TV and electric guitar repair shop is flourishing.

He said he believes the project could provide a viable model for other rural villages like An Long Thmey.

“People here are lucky to get offered the line from the government, but in other areas of Cambodia that don’t have electricity, to use gasification must be a good option for them,” he said.

Committee chairman Dong Ly, 52, said he hopes a third party will step in to plug the gap in funds, but added that he realises he cannot fly in the face of development.

“I am in the middle. I am sorry we did not save enough to upgrade, I would like the energy community to continue, but I can’t be the barrier to stop the government’s plans,” he said.

As villagers await a resolution, investors and observers are reflecting on the successes and failures of the experiment and what it means for efforts to bring renewable energy to other villages throughout the Kingdom.

Investors believe that the village’s experience has been instructive with respect to how renewable energy can work within rural communities, but they also recognise its failures.

Over the years, in response to increased demand, the commune began supplementing its renewable energy sources with diesel. Training villagers to run their own power source also provided a unique challenge.

Tony Knowles, director of SME Cambodia, which put forward at least $25,000 towards the village project over past five years, explained: “The idea of an energy cooperative has a lot of appeal, but in retrospect we are talking about taking rice farmers and turning them into managers.

“It’s a complicated process. The problem in a village is that the person you may be dealing with or wanting payment from may be your cousin.”

The experience in An Long Thmey village has prompted a change of path for the firm.

“What we do know now is that we are less enthusiastic about jumping to a cooperative as a first step. We are looking at investing in motivated entrepreneurs, who have more incentive in maintaining customer service, and businesses such as rice mills.”

The importance of setting up viable business models to provide for the Kingdom’s long-term needs has also been emphasised by other companies looking to benefit from Cambodia’s power problems.

According to a report from the Asian Development Bank and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), only 20 percent of households in the Kingdom are electrified, and energy demand is set to grow 3.7 percent per year until 2030.

The government has recently ramped up renewable power operations. In September last year, it slashed trade tariffs for some renewable energy products from 35 percent to 7 percent.

Jan Lan, from the National Bio-digester Programme, an organisation that promotes biofuel cooking stoves and is jointly supported by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, said that sustainability was key.

He hopes, in time, that his industry can be funded by carbon trading.

“There is a lot of industry potential here,” he said. “Our intention is to become a self-sustaining energy industry.”

Police Blotter: 13 Jan 2009

via CAAI News Media

Wednesday, 13 January 2010 15:02 Phak Seangly

COPS HAVE BEEF WITH LIVESTOCK PILFERER

Police in Kampong Siem district in Kampong Cham province sent a 27-year-old suspected cow thief to the provincial court on Sunday for sentencing, two days after his arrest. Police said the man was charged with robbery after he stole a young cow from a 65-year-old farmer in his village and concealed it in a nearby forest last week. At the police station, the suspect confessed that he stole the cow in order to slaughter it and sell the beef.

DEUM AMPIL

WELL-ARMED THIEVES ROB MILL OWNER

A 46-year-old mill owner was shot in a robbery on Sunday in Battambang province’s Ek Phnom district. The victim said three men with AK-47s and an ax robbed him, making off with approximately US$10,000. Military police said that they arrested a 35-year-old suspect the day after the robbery. However, the suspect claimed innocence, saying he was a taxi driver. Police are hunting for two more suspects who escaped in a car after the robbery.

RASMEY KAMPUCHEA

MILITARY POLICEMAN NABBED FOR ATTACK

A 28-year-old military policeman has been accused of seriously injuring two men who were walking on Sunday night in Phnom Penh’s Sen Sok district. The military policeman reportedly thought the two were thieves when he allegedly attacked them. A 19-year-old victim was sent to Calmette hospital after the accused shot him with his gun. The other victim, 23, reported that the policeman beat him and his companion and shot at them repeatedly. Police said the suspect had been arrested.

DEUM AMPIL

MURDEROUS PAIR SENT TO SLAMMER

Phnom Penh Municipal Court sentenced two men to 12 years in prison on Monday for unintentional murder.According to the court, the two attacked an intoxicated man with wooden sticks and a cleaver during an argument in April. The deceased and his friends had cursed the defendants, who were drinking alcohol at home in Phnom Penh.

RASMEY KAMPUCHEA

OFFICER ACCUSED OF DRIVING DRUNK

A customs officer allegedly injured three people while driving drunk in Daun Penh district on Sunday night. One motorbike was also destroyed. Witnesses said that the driver tried to escape from the scene but had a flat tyre. Military police followed the intoxicated man to intervene. However, the man, who was not identified, was not arrested because he agreed to pay about US$150 to the three victims.

KAMPUCHEA THMEY