NRP warns second demonstration if requests not met

Ho Vann, senior official of National Rescue Party. 

 

PHNOM PENH (The Cambodia Herald) -- The National Rescue Party (NRP) will hold another demonstration to demand for the reforms of National Election Committee (NEC), Ho Vann, senior official of the NRP, told reporters Thursday.

He said the protest this month will march to present petitions to officials of the European Union (EU) and the United Nations to ask these two major international institutions to urge changes in the NEC.

We plan to protest again because the NEC’s answers haven’t satisfied our requests, the NEC must be willing to respond to protestors demands.

The NRP hasn't currently set a number of participants in this month’s protest yet, Vann added.

Tep Nitha, Secretary General of National Election Committee, said the NEC had accepted and adopted several points of the UN’s recommendations.

The opposition parties have rights to hold protest as they wish, he said.

Recently, the NRP, a merger between Cambodia’s two major oppositions, Sam Rainsy and Human Rights parties, held a mass demonstration on April 24th at Democratic Park, demanding reforms with in the NEC.

After the officials of NRP read theirs statements in front of around 4,000 protestors, NEC officials came to the site to accept the petition.

[Thai] Government transparency needed on Preah Vihear

Singapore, 2 May 2013 ( The Straits Times/ ANN) -- Tens of thousands of Thais have been glued to their televisions in recent weeks, watching a high-stakes courtroom drama play out half a world away.

It is no murder mystery or dramatic terror plot, but simply the future of a 4.6 sq km patch of land on the Thai-Cambodia border that is being decided in The Hague, the Netherlands. The case has huge significance for the two Southeast Asian neighbors.

For Thailand, the live broadcast of the hearings at the International Court of Justice is unprecedented. The government hopes the transparency will curb rumors and misinformation.

The often long-winded legal statements and arguments over the issue that the two sides have been contesting for decades have thus become the stuff of reality TV. Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs also started a Web page dedicated to the hearings.

Court hearings have been reported in detail on the front pages of many Thai newspapers for days on end. Media pundits have weighed in to evaluate the Thai legal team's performance, which has been judged as excellent.

All the attention just goes to show much is at stake. The dispute is linked to the ancient pre-Angkor Wat Shiva temple called Pra Viharn in Thailand and Preah Vihear in Cambodia. It is perched on a high ridge overlooking the Cambodian plains.

Thailand and Cambodia have contested it for centuries. In 1962 the World Court ruled, based on a colonial-era map, that the temple itself belonged to Cambodia - a ruling celebrated in Cambodia and seen as a national tragedy in Thailand. But it never ruled on the 4.6 sq km patch of land adjacent to it, which both Thailand and Cambodia claim.

Hun Sen criticizes analysts over broadcast of recording សម្តេច ហ៊ុន សែន ការពារ​ចំពោះ​ការផ្សព្វផ្សាយ​នូវ​អា​យ៉ៃ​ឆ្លងឆ្លើយ​រវាង​លោក កឹម​សុខា និង​លោក​សម​រង្ស៊ី​

KAMPONG CHAM, 2 May 2013 (The Cambodia Herald) – Hun Sen criticized and responded to some analysts who blamed the Press and Quick Reaction Unit for broadcasting a recording of a conversation between two opposition party leaders.

Analysts considered the broadcast of the recording between Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha, Human Rights Party leader, as a mistake of the government and the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP).

Hun Sen, however, dismissed the charge, stating that there were a lot of insults aimed towards the CPP on Facebook, and the analysts didn't mention anything about the wrongness of those insults.

Hun Sen expressed his reaction Thursday while presiding over an inauguration ceremony of a temple in the Me Mot district.

The braodcast Wednesday talked about the mutual criticism between Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha on the CPP after the 2008 elections which CPP had won 90 seats while 26 seats went to Sam Rainsy and three seats went the Human Rights party, the remainder went to two royalist parties.

The recording also voiced Sam Rainsy's strong criticism of the Human Rights Party and charge its leader of being a puppet of the CPP.

Phai Siphan, spokesman for Council of Ministers Office, didn’t give any comment when asked about the recording titled "Kem Sokha and Sam Rainsy have the illness of forgetting what they have said".

PM sure of numbers game [Hun Sen is the candidate, the election organiser and the vote-counter, that's why he is so sure that he will win]

Last Updated on 02 May 2013 
Phnom Penh Post 
By Meas Sokchea

Prime Minister Hun Sen gestures while delivering a speech in Phnom Penh last year. Photograph: Pha Lina/Phnom Penh Post

Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday said he was strongly optimistic about the CPP’s showing come July and called claims that the party might dip below two-thirds of the seats unfounded.

“I don’t believe that they can win, although they have tried to shout that,” Hun Sen said. “And I don’t believe that more than two-thirds of the seats could drop down below 50-plus-one.”

Speaking to workers during an International Labour Day celebration in Preah Sihanouk, the premier stressed that the opposition would have little chance of gaining sufficient seats to make an impact in parliament.

Combined, the Sam Rainsy and Human Rights parties now hold 29 seats at the National Assembly. Prior to 2008 – when the constitution was amended during a government deadlock – one-third of the parliament’s 123 seats could block legislation or governments. Now, however, would the opposition Cambodian National Rescue Party wish to do so, they must hold 50 per cent plus one.

That possibility, assured Hun Sen, was remote. “I am not worried about this problem,” he said. “[The CPP] increased from 51 [seats] to 64, from 64 to 73, from 73 to 90. Therefore, if it fell down to 40 seats; it is not right.”

CPP mocks opposition on website [According to Cambodian law, secretly taping or recording someone's voice is a crime]

Last Updated on 02 May 2013
Phnom Penh Post
By Chhay Channyda and Abby Seiff
 

Though they both have links to public office – one a legislator, the other a former minister – neither Kem Sokha nor Sam Rainsy are being hailed on the Council of Ministers website for public service.

Instead, in a lengthy audio file posted yesterday by the government’s Press and Quick Reaction Unit, the two heads of the country’s main opposition party are mocked mercilessly.

“Kem Sokha is a champion of boast,” a radio-smooth narrator intones at the start, before switching to a clip of Sokha taunting the Sam Rainsy Party’s poor showing in the polls and accusing them of being a “puppet party”.

“In this case,” the narrator continues, “Kem Sokha accused Sam Rainsy of being a puppet and Sam Rainsy said Kem Sokha is the puppet’s puppet. It’s double puppetry.”

Over the course of 25 minutes, the Ayai Between Two Strong Leaders, as the file is sarcastically titled, plays out with the men’s speeches, a high-ranking opposition official and Prime Minister Hun Sen presenting the pair in an increasingly unflattering light.

The presentation drums up the infamous 2011 leak of a conversation between the premier and Sokha, which likely contributed to a failed opposition merger that year. Though both parties managed to form the coalition Cambodian National Rescue Party in July 2012, political analysts said at the time they would have had a far stronger showing that year had they come together prior to the commune elections.

“Remember His Excellency Sam Rainsy that your speaking with me can be leaked as well,” the premier warns in the final audio clip. “Recordings are done everywhere, in every country. Even if you whisper like today, I speak.”

The clip fades and the narrator cuts in.

“Please [continue to] follow; what trick do both leaders have to deceive their activists?”

Workers march, air grievances

Last Updated on 02 May 2013 
Phnom Penh Post 
By Mom Kunthear and Shane Worrell

Workers and labour activists take part in a march to mark International Labour Day in downtown Phnom Penh yesterday. Photograph: Sreng Meng Srun/Phnom Penh Post

Banners calling for higher wages and the government to find the “real” murderers of slain union leader Chea Vichea were among those carried by thousands of workers who marched through the capital yesterday to mark International Labour Day.

More than 5,000 people converged on the National Assembly, where they presented a petition to legislator that demanded improved working conditions.

“All garment factories must have skilled doctors,” the hand-written sign of one worker outside the assembly read. “The government must act to regulate rent prices around factories,” read another.

Discrimination against men in the garment sector and sexual harassment against women needed to be addressed, workers said, and fixed-duration contracts needed to be scrapped.

Beer promoters made it known that their product was beer – not their bodies – while sex workers simply wanted respect.

Political parties were chasing the same thing. With less than three months until the National Election, opposition and ruling party lawmakers alike trumpeted their policies on working conditions and wages – issues pundits predict will be mainstays until the election.

No doubt aware of this, union groups appealed to workers to be mindful of how they vote on July 28.

Rong Chhun, president of the Cambodian Confederation of Unions, said this applied particularly to civil servants, who are often paid less than the new national minimum garment wage of $75 per month.

Cambodia, Hong Kong Slip in Press Freedom Poll

Freedom House's map of press freedom for the Asia-Pacific.

RFA

By Parameswaran Ponnudurai
2 May, 2013

 

Press freedom took a knock in Hong Kong, Cambodia and Thailand while Burma chalked up the best gains for media reforms in Asia over the past year, says an annual global survey.

Only five percent of Asia's population had access to a "free" media in 2012, while 47 percent lived in "partly free" and 48 percent in "not free" media environments, according to the "Freedom of the Press 2013" survey released Wednesday by Washington-based Freedom House.

It cited a "worrying deterioration" in press freedom in Cambodia as well as in Thailand, which has been downgraded to "not free" from the "partly free" category.

Cambodia

Cambodia's score has worsened "due to an increase in the number of journalists behind bars" and "a significant rise in threats and physical violence against the press, including the first murder of a reporter since 2008," the report said.

It referred to the jailing last year of independent radio station owner Mam Sonando, who was convicted of sedition and sentenced to 20 years in prison for the outlet's coverage of land disputes.

Mam Sonando was convicted in October on charges of instigating insurrection, drawing protests from rights groups who accused Prime Minister Hun Sen of muzzling criticism against his rule.

A Cambodian appeals court in March however quashed that ruling, dropped most of the charges, reduced the sentence to time served and ordered his release.

Freedom House said despite the release, there was a "continuing negative trend" in media freedom in Cambodia ahead of crucial elections in July.

"Media owners continue to face pressure and harassment, which is quite worrisome," Karin Karlekar, Freedom House Project Director for Freedom of the Press, told a press conference.

Thailand has been put back into the "not free" category "due to a trend of aggressive enforcement of lese-majesté laws," Freedom House said.

Critics say the lese-majeste laws are used as a political tool to discredit and silence opponents. Those found guilty of insulting the Thai royal family can serve up to 15 years in jail for each offence.

In a case that was widely denounced by rights groups, an ex-magazine editor was jailed for 10 years in January after he was found guilty of publishing articles defaming King Bhumibol in 2010.

Hong Kong

China's special administrative region Hong Kong's score also declined in a reflection of "growing government restrictions on journalists' access to information and several violent and technical attacks against reporters, websites, and media entities," Freedom House said.

Cambodia Angkor Air plans network and fleet expansion ahead of PAL-backed Cambodia Airlines launch

Cambodia Angkor Air plans network and fleet expansion ahead of PAL-backed Cambodia Airlines launch

2nd May, 2013

Cambodia Angkor Air is planning rapid fleet and network expansion as competition intensifies in the Cambodian market. The Cambodian flag carrier is expected to more than double its fleet by the end of 2015 and launch services to several new markets, including mainland China, Hong Kong, India and South Korea. Cambodia Angkor Air was established in 2009 as a joint venture with Vietnam Airlines but remains one of the smallest flag carriers in Southeast Asia, only operating domestically and to two neighbouring countries.
Cambodia Angkor Air has already seen its most dramatic expansion in its four-year history, launching three international routes over the last six months. Further rapid expansion of Cambodia Angkor Air and the planned launch of a second Cambodian scheduled carrier that will be affiliated with Philippine Airlines (PAL) should lead to more rapid growth in the Cambodian market. The Cambodian passenger market grew by 18% in 2012 and by 21% in 1Q2013, based on figures from Cambodia Airports.

Cambodia Angkor Air looks to catch up with ASEAN peers

Cambodia Angkor Air currently accounts for only 15% of international capacity in Cambodia, lower than the home market penetration of any Southeast Asian flag carrier. It is also the smallest of Southeast Asia’s flag carriers based on fleet size and the second smallest based on seat capacity.

Southeast Asia’s flag carriers ranked by weekly seat capacity and fleet size: as of 1-May-2013

Rank	Carrier	Weekly seats	Number of aircraft	% of international seat capacity in home market
1.	Singapore Airlines	546,000	126	40%
2.	Malaysia Airlines	538,000	133	29%
3.	Thai Airways	532,000	103	30%
4.	Garuda Indonesia	478,000	88	16%
5.	Vietnam Airlines	385,000	83	39%
6.	Philippine Airlines	298,000	65	24%
7.	Lao Airlines	32,000	21	43%
8.	Royal Brunei Airlines	29,000	10	72%
9.	Cambodia Angkor Air	22,000	5	15%
10.	Myanmar Airways International	15,000	7	16%

Note: SilkAir, Firefly, MASWings, Thai Smile and PAL Express included within the Singapore Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Thai Airways and Philippine Airlines figures as they are full-service regional subsidiaries/units. Budget airline subsidiaries excluded.
Weekly seats and capacity share based on data for week commencing 29-Apr-2013. Weekly seats rounded to nearest 1,000.
Source: CAPA – Centre for Aviation, Innovata and CAPA Fleet Database

Cambodia Angkor Air currently operates a fleet of three A321s and two ATR 72s to only three domestic and three international destinations. It has a smaller share of capacity in Cambodia’s international market than close partner and shareholder Vietnam Airlines. Its 15% share is also only slightly larger than the 11% share from Bangkok Airways and AirAsia. Read the full article here.

Cambodia Must Up its Game in Rice Exports

May 1, 2013

By Khut Inserey

Cambodia announced two major bilateral trade agreements last month, with the Philippines and Thailand, that are expected to further expand the country’s rice export sector. Over the last few years, Cambodia has emerged as a major rice exporter in the region, due in large part to the Royal Government of Cambodia’s recent expansion of its agricultural sector.

Despite positive development, compared to neighboring countries with similar weather and soil conditions, Cambodia’s paddy rice yield remains relatively low. Photo/Karl Grobl

Agriculture, led by rice farming, contributes to roughly a third of the country’s GDP and has immense potential for strengthening Cambodia’s economic growth, accelerating poverty reduction, and improving the living standard of its citizens. As part of this agenda, in 2010, the RGC adopted a new Policy Paper on Paddy Production and Rice Export, better known as the Rice Policy, to promote diversification of Cambodia’s economic sectors by catalyzing growth in paddy rice production and milled rice export to match the growth seen in the garment and service sectors. In his keynote address at the policy’s launch, Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen said: “The policy aims to ensure that we grab the rare opportunity to develop Cambodia in the post global financial and economic cataclysm.”
If Cambodia’s rice export sector were to reach its full potential, it could produce 3 million tons of milled rice, with the total export value amounting to $2.1 billion (approximately 20% of the GDP) and an estimated additional $600 million (approximately 5% of the GDP) to the national economy. It would also boost employment and income for agricultural farmers who make up more than 70 percent of the population living in rural areas.
Despite positive development, compared to neighboring countries with similar weather and soil conditions, Cambodia’s paddy rice yield remains relatively low. In 2006, the average yield was 2.6 tons per hectare, while Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam achieved 2.8 tons, 3.5 tons, and 4.9 tons, respectively.
The underutilization and non-usage of arable land is a huge deterrent to the industry’s growth. Most Cambodian farmers cultivate paddy rice once per year during the rainy season, while farmers in Vietnam’s delta region cultivate 3.5 times annually. Such low productivity is mainly a result of high energy prices and poor transportation infrastructure. For example, in the low elevation Mekong plain, petroleum products are generally used to pump water into irrigation canals, which makes it too expensive for farmers to plant multiple crops a year. Moreover, rural areas pay a much higher rate (30-90 cents per kWh) than those living in urban centers (20 cents). In contrast, farmers in Vietnam only pay about 10 cents per kWh.

As a relatively new player in the milled rice market, Cambodia faces a steep learning curve. However, with a surplus of 3.5 million tons of paddy rice, Cambodia has the potential to soon be among the top five milled rice exporters in the world. Photo/Karl Grobl

Poor transport and infrastructure such as roads, railways, warehouses, and handling equipment also increase costs for farmers. To transport one ton of rice on a 100 km road, Cambodian farmers must spend $15, while their counterparts in Thailand and Vietnam pay $4 and $7.50, respectively. The lack of handling equipment in one of the main ports, the Sihanouk-Ville Port, is also a major constraint for the export of large quantities of milled rice. In addition, lack of access to and high cost of credit decreases domestic economic value-added and hinders milled rice export, presenting an obstacle for rice millers to stockpile paddy rice.

According to the Rice Policy, If Cambodia is to export 3 to 4 million tons of milled rice per year, it has to produce at least 10 to 11 million tons of paddy rice. In fact, in 2012, Cambodia enjoyed a surplus of more than 4.7 million in paddies, according to the Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Fishery. Yet, official figures from the Ministry of Commerce showed that it only exported 200,000 tons of milled rice last year, or only 10 percent of its full capacity.

[A Khmer Rouge] Soldier testifies about Cambodian massacre

Published: May 1, 2013

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia, May 1 (UPI) -- Lawyers questioned a former Khmer Rouge soldier about his witnessing of the massacre of Lon Nol military personnel in Cambodia in 1975, officials said.

The massacre occurred at the execution site of Tuol Po Chrey, and thousands of Lon Nol soldiers were killed after being promised new positions in the army, The Phnom Penh Post reported.

In October, Khmer Rouge Tribunal judges added the massacre to the trial of the three former leaders — Ieng Sary, Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan — who are being tried for crimes against humanity.

Ung Chhat testified Tuesday about what he saw.

"The Khmer Rouge would not allow the next vehicle to leave for Tuol Po Chrey unless they saw the previous one, which had transported Lon Nol soldiers to Tuol Po Chrey earlier, return. Later, I saw the vehicle which transported Lon Nol soldiers earlier return empty," he said. "At that site at the Tuol Po Chrey fort, I saw the dead bodies were on the ground with their heads pointing north."

Chhat vehemently denied receiving orders to kill anyone at Tuol Po Chrey and said he was not involved, the Post reported.

The court is hearing more witness testimony today.

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2013/05/01/Soldier-testifies-about-Cambodian-massacre/UPI-61571367416930/#ixzz2S893LkK1

For one to love Thailand, must we hate our neighbours? ["A Thai with a Cambodian heart", a "traitor"]

By Pravit Rojanaphruk
@PravitR May 1, 2013 
The Nation

Thai readers be warned: You are about to read a commentary penned by an alleged "Thai with a Cambodian heart", a "traitor". 

This is not a self-description but something branded upon the writer by fellow Thais who found my recent comments on Twitter unacceptable, sacrilegious even.

All I did was to state that Thais should be fair and decent in dealing with the dispute with Cambodia over the 4.6 square kilometres of land around Preah Vihear Temple along the border, and to urge Thais to accept with grace whatever ruling is made by the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Apparently, there are ultra-nationalist Thais who support the idea that if the ICJ ruling, scheduled for later this year, goes in favour of Thailand, then they will gladly accept it. However, if the verdict benefits Cambodia, then they will not shy away from calling for military action to defend what they believe to be, without an iota of doubt, part of Thailand.

Precisely when being fair and decent to your neighbour became a treacherous act, I do not know. But such has been the situation since many ultra-nationalists and nationalists began to celebrate and praise the head of the Thai legal delegation, Ambassador Virachai Plasai, and his team, particularly Thai-hired Romanian lawyer Alina Miron.

This has been accompanied by relentless vilification of and condescending remarks about Cambodia and its people on social media sites. As the legal representatives of both countries accuse one another of lying, ultra-nationalist Thais will not allow any shred of doubt that perhaps we may not be totally right - or even right at all - to be entertained. The narrow notion of nationalism requires that people see foreign countries on the other side of the border as innately evil.

It's as if we cannot love Thailand without hating our neighbours, particularly Cambodia and Myanmar. If one can only love one's country by looking down on and vilifying other nations, it means that there's probably nothing much one can be proud of in one's own society.

True patriotism requires being fair to others, and appreciating the value of criticism of one's society, for this is how society can learn and improve itself.

A Khmer-American army expert: Thai army is superior to Khmer military

Re: Preah Vihear and the Thai military failures 

Understand your enemies before you call them coward

Anonymous said...

Dear 5:20 am (second article),

Are you military scholar and tactician? When did you serve in the 21th Century's Army? Or what Army are you currently serving?

I served 16 years in the U.S Army and I visited Thailand a few times in their military base in Lop Buri and I can tell you that they are stronger, better trained and better-equipped and their combined/joint trainings are superior to Khmer military. Lessons learned from the past: the Thais invaded Khmer territory multiple times and they took our land, people, and everything we have; so don't let stupidity and ignorance blind you. These border clashes were just simply fought by Khmer Surin Rangers; not their special warfare groups; navy, air force and their ground forces. Understand your enemies before you call them coward. RFII-don't underestimate your enemy.

29 April 2013 10:42 am

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

I still believe that Thai soldiers are cowards

Anonymous said...

Dear 10:42 am,

You talk like you know everything, but in reality you had ONLY a child's knowledge. Most of us do realize that the Thai army has strength superiority over Khmer forces., You mentioned that Siam (Thailand) had 300,000 plus troops but you had little knowledge of how and where are those Thai  troops stationed and deployed. Siam had very unhappy neighbors all around them. Those neighbors of Siam either hated Siam through jealousy because of Siam's success or border disputes. Siam had fought many border wars with it's neighbors. Siam had to divide a lot of their 300,000 plus troops to guard all their borders instead of only their borders with us Khmer. Siamese bravery does not come close to the Vietnamese tenacity and experiences. Siamese people are cowards. They lost many border clashes with their neighbors. They even lost to Laos a much smaller population than Cambodia. Now Khmers in this era are not stupid and irresponsible like the Khmer Rouge. We will try our best to avoid a fight with a larger thieving Siam but we can only get pushed around so much before we push them back. OH ! BY THE WAY, CAMBODIA NOW HAD AT LEAST 100,000 well-equipped ground forces, not only 6000 as you suggested. Our ill-equipped navy had 6000 troops and we have 2100 air men personels for the ill-equipped air forces. We also have several thousand reservists. OH ! WE DON'T HAVE SEVERALS NEIGHBORS WHO HATED US LIKE SIAM DOES. Vietnam is at peace with Hun Sen, Laotians never have any problems with Khmers. WE ONLY HAVE TO DEFEND AGAINST SIAM. YOU NEED TO DO YOUR HOMEWORK BEFORE YAKING AWAY. I AND MOST REAL KHMERS STILL BELIEVE THAT SIAMESE ARE COWARDS. THEY ARE ONLY GOOD IN KILLING REFUGEES.

30 April 2013 4:21 am

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

Thai army is the best in Southeast Asia

Anonymous said...

30 April 2013 4:21 am,

Just because I disagree with you does not allow you to cause friction and disunity among ourselves. This is another illustration why we can never be united as one.

You can articulate these comments if you insist. However, it does not change the fact that Thai military are better-trained, well-fed, well-equipped and their Special Forces, Navy Seal, and Marines are some of the best in SE Asia, trained by U.S military.

What does "dislike" got to do with national interest? China, the Soviet Union and Vietnam were all friends before. Now, they don’t get along. Cambodia needs to be a strategic and complex thinker. Stop thinking small and minutes; but think strategically. When I say "strategic" I mean think of our nation’s national interest for the next billion years from now.

Yes, many Khmers think Siamese are cowards; but look at your own map and land. Whose country is bigger, better and richer? Word with no action is half of the truth.

1 May 2013 10:22 am

-----------------------------------------
If Thai army is the best, why it allowed the Lao Army to kick their sorry butts?

Anonymous said... 

 29 April 2013 10:42 am

I am very doubtful of your observational skill Sir, particularly your general aptitude as a proficient military evaluator despite of your claims being up to 16 year long service in the US Army. Perhaps you gave an emphasis and/or lauded excessively to the wrong Thai military unit which its sole functional purpose is to serve as a show case to impress the unsophisticated eyes like yours !!!. But even if what you had described was accurate about this Lop Buri unit,why they allowed Lao Army to kick their sorry butts of their comrades from the small islands all the way across multiple towns ?!!!

1 May 2013 2:26 am 

---------------------------------------
I am a U.S military expert!

Anonymous said... 

1 May 2013 2:26 am

Political parties promised to respond to International Labour Day marchers' demand for pay increase to $150 per month គណបក្សនយោបាយ សន្យារ​ឆ្លើយតប​នឹង​សំណើ​របស់​កម្មករ នៅ​ក្នុង​ទិវា​ពលកម្ម​អន្តរជាតិ​

Front L-R: Yont Tharo, Mu Sochua and Kem Sokha, who are MPs from the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, came out to receive marchers' petition.

 

(ថ្ងៃទី 1 ឧសភា 2013,) | ដោយ: មុនីរាជ CEN

ភ្នំពេញ: នៅ​ថ្ងៃ​ទី​១ ឧសភា ដែល​ជា​ទិវា​ពលកម្ម​អន្តរជាតិ​លើក​ទី​១២៧ កម្មករ កម្មការិនី នៅតាម​បណ្តា​រោងចក្រ សហគ្រាស ប្រមាណ​ជាង ២.០០០ នាក់ បាន​ធ្វើ​ការប្រមូលផ្តុំ​គ្នា នៅ​ទីលាន​ប្រជាធិបតេយ្យ ដោយ​មាន​កាន់​បដា​ពាក្យស្លោក​ជាច្រើន​ផ្ទាំង ទាក់ទង​ទៅ​នឹង​ក្តី​កង្វល់​របស់​កម្មករ​។ ក្រុមកម្មករ បានធ្វើការ​ស្រែក​ទាមទា​រ​តម្លើង​ប្រាក់ខែ និង​បាន​ហែ​ក្បួន ពី​ទីលាន​ប្រជាធិបតេយ្យ តាមផ្លូវ​ព្រះស៊ីសុវត្ថិ​(​មាត់ទន្លេ​) ឆ្ពោះទៅកាន់​មន្ទីរ​រដ្ឋសភាជាតិ ដើម្បី​ដាក់​ញ្ញត្តិ​ជូន​រាជរដ្ឋាភិបាល និង​អ្នកតំណាងរាស្ត្រ​។​

​ការ​ហែរ​ក្បួន​នេះ គឺ​ដឹកនាំ​ដោយ​សហភាព​សហជីព​កម្ពុជា និង​សហភាព​ការងារ​កម្ពុជា រួម​ទាំង​សហភាព សហព័ន្ធ នៅក្នុង​វិស័យ​ផ្សេងៗ​ទៀត រួមមាន​វិស័យ​កាត់ដេរ  សំណង់ ទេសចរណ៍ ចំណីអាហារ និង​សេវាកម្ម មន្ត្រីរាជការ សេដ្ឋកិច្ច​ក្រៅ​ប្រព័ន្ធ កសិកម្ម ធនាគារ និង​ផ្នែក​ទូរគមនាគមន៍​។

​ ការ​ហែរ​ក្បួន​នេះ គឺ​មិន​មាន​ការប៉ះទង្គិចរ​វា​ង​ក្រុមកម្មករ និង​អាជ្ញា​ធរមាន​សមត្ថកិច្ច​នោះទេ ដោយ​មាន​ការជួយ​សម្រួល​ចរាច​រណ៍ ដល់​ការ​ហែរ​ក្បួន​ថែមទៀត​ផង​ពី​សំណាក់​អាជ្ញាធរ​ប៉ូលិស និង​ប៉េអឹម​។​    ​
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ជាមួយគ្នា ​នោះ ក៏​មាន​ការ​ចេញ​មក​ទ​ទួល​ញ្ញត្តិ​ពី​សំណាក់​តំណាង​គណបក្ស​សង្គ្រោះ​ជាតិ និង​គណបក្ស​ហ្វ៊ុនស៊ិនប៉ិច ពី​ដៃ​មេដឹកនាំ​សហជីព នៅ​មុខ​រដ្ឋសភា​។
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​ ប្រធាន​សហភាព​សហជីព​កម្ពុជា លោក រ៉ុង ឈុន បាន​ថ្លែង​នៅ​មុខ​រដ្ឋសភា​ថា គោលបំណង​នៃ​ការ​ប្រារព្ធ​ទិវា​ពលកម្ម​អន្តរជាតិ​នេះ ស្តីពី ប្រាក់​ឈ្នួល និង​ប្រាក់ខែ​របស់​កម្មករ ហើយ​ប្រាក់ ១៥០ ដុល្លារ ត្រូវ​បញ្ចូល​ក្នុង​ច្បាប់​ជូន​ដល់​កម្មករ​គ្រប់​វិស័យ មិន​ចំពោះតែ​កម្មករ​កាត់ដេរ​សម្លៀក​បំពាក់ និង​ស្បែកជើង​ទេ​។ ចំពោះ​មន្ត្រីរាជការ ក៏​ត្រូវ​ស្ថិត​នៅក្នុង​ច្បាប់​ប្រាក់ខែ​អប្បបរមា គឺ ១​លាន​រៀល ក្នុង ១​ខែ ជូន​ដល់​គ្រូបង្រៀន មន្ត្រីរាជការ ប៉ូលិស ទាហាន​ទាំងអស់​។​

Cambodia to mark 15th anniversary of accession to ASEAN next year

PHNOM PENH, May 1, 2013 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia will observe the 15th anniversary of its entry into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) next year in order to assess achievements it has received from its membership in the bloc, Prime Minister Hun Sen said Wednesday. "The year 2014 is the 15th anniversary of Cambodia's accession to ASEAN," the premier said during the celebration of the International Labor Day with about 1,300 workers at the Sihanoukville Autonomous Port."Cambodia will hold a forum to evaluate the results and benefits that the country has got from its membership in ASEAN."
Scholars, researchers, experts, academics and youths will be invited for the event, he said, adding that the country became the 10th member of ASEAN on April 30, 1999.
Meanwhile, the premier said that ASEAN has currently been playing a greater important role in regional and global arenas.
In terms of economics, he said, the bloc has been under negotiations with China, India, South Korea, Japan and Australia- New Zealand for the establishment of regional free trade agreements.
At the 22nd ASEAN Summit in Brunei last month, ASEAN leaders endorsed a decision to allow ASEAN and China's Hong Kong to start to negotiate towards the establishment of a free trade agreement. "These activities will open opportunities for Cambodia to expand markets for its products abroad," he said.

Cerritos College Student from Cambodia Named One of Nation's Top Scholars [A Long Beach top student]

Vanneren Long, a Cambodian student from Long Beach, was among 74 students chosen for this honor among nearly 800 applicants from two-year colleges nationwide.     

 

Vannaren Long, a Cerritos College honors student, has been named one of the nation's top scholars by the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship Program.
Long, who is from Long Beach, was among 74 students chosen from nearly 800 applicants from two-year colleges nationwide. The scholarship, which is one of the most competitive undergraduate transfer scholarships in the nation, will provide Long with up to $30,000 per year to complete a bachelor's degree.
He was also been named to the All-California Community College Academic First Team, an acknowledgement of academic distinction by Phi Theta Kappa, the premier two-year college honor society.
Having grown up in a remote village in Cambodia with daily challenges of living without electricity, he hopes to become a nuclear researcher and make electrical energy more plentiful and accessible to everyone in society. He is transferring to the University of California, Berkeley this fall where he will study nuclear engineering to make his dreams come true.
"With encouragement, counsel, and support from Professor Juntilla, I applied for the Jack Kent Cooke Scholarship and surprisingly was selected," said Long. "I would like to thank Professor Juntilla and Professor Jim Henriques, my physics professor and my mentor. This honor belongs to all of us."
- Cerritos College Media Relations Dept.

From Cambodia to Bowdoin: Two Unlikely Students Recount Their Journeys to College [in the U.S]

May 1, 2013 by Rebecca Goldfine

Cambodia exchange students Rada Chhorn and Kimsrung Lov are studying at Bowdoin this year

As young girls growing up in Cambodia’s countryside, both Kimsrung Lov and Rada Chhorn faced steep odds in obtaining a college education.

Lov’s father, a small business owner in a town 57 miles outside of Phnom Penh, believed that because girls were only destined to become housewives, it was a waste for them to receive an education.

Chhorn was raised on a small farm in a village with no electricity or plumbing, and her family could not afford to pay for college.

Despite these obstacles, Lov and Chhorn not only earned undergraduate degrees, but they became two of just a handful of Cambodian students to study abroad in the United States.

Lov and Chhorn spent the past year at Bowdoin attending classes and living on campus. They are the third and forth Cambodian women to study at Bowdoin (following last year’s two students, Marady Kith and Kalyan Yim) through the Harpswell Foundation’s exchange program with the College.

Kimsrung Lov with Lisa Flanagan, Bowdoin’s English advisor for multilingual students

The Harpswell Foundation, established in 2003 by physicist, novelist and MIT professor Alan Lightman, helps young Cambodian women with great potential but limited means earn an education. The foundation has built two university dorms in the capital city of Phnom Penh to provide poor female students, who are barred from living in Buddhist pagodas like their male peers, with free room and board. The foundation also provides its residents training in English, computer literacy, leadership and critical thinking skills.

Lightman says the purpose behind his mission is to help Cambodia recover from the crippling legacy of the Khmer Rouge.  The most effective way to do this, he argues, is to empower and educate its people, particularly its women. The women who qualify to live at the Harpswell Foundation are selected based on their intelligence and their leadership potential. Lightman says his expectation is that in 20 years these women will be leading the country as heads of hospitals, businesses, NGOs, government agencies and entrepreneurs.

Recently, Lov and Chhorn gave talks at Bowdoin, recounting their stories about how they ended up last fall in Brunswick, Maine. Macy Galvan ’13 also spoke about her time last summer as a Leadership Resident at one of the foundation’s dorms, where she taught English and critical thinking classes to the students.

Lov first told her story of growing up in a family in which her brothers were encouraged to pursue college while she and her sisters were told to stay home and learn the family business.

But Lov said she aspired to do more than sell cement and boat equipment. Eventually, she convinced her father to let her attend university if she earned a scholarship. Because she graduated in the top 2 percent of high school students in her country, she had no problem achieving this, and went on to get a degree in computer science.

Alan Lightman, founder of the Harpswell Foundation, and Rada Chhorn

While a university student, Lov lived in Harpswell Foundation’s dorms for three years, forging bonds with the other young women there. “We have the same goal, which is making a better future for Cambodia,” she said.

After Bowdoin, Lov plans to return to Cambodia and work in technology. She admitted, though, that while she finds computer science classes fascinating, she was most affected by her education courses at Bowdoin. “When I return to Cambodia I am not going to just make money from [my] computer science major. I am going to integrate education with technology, so the next generation of Cambodian people can make use of technology,” she said.

The Royal Ballet of Cambodia Arrives in Brooklyn This May

May 1, 2013 | By Elizabeth Barber, DNAinfo The Royal Ballet of Cambodia is coming to BAM this weekend
(http://seasonofcambodia.org/)
 

FORT GREENE — Tall, regal headpieces, all colored in gold. Slow steps and regal gestures. Hands and wrists cuffed with shimmering bangles.

The Royal Ballet of Cambodia is coming to BAM this Thursday, opening three nights of performances of “The Legend of Apsara Mera” that will be the centerpiece of Season of Cambodia, a two-month festival showcasing the best of modern Cambodia’s art scene.

“The Legend of Apsara Mera” tells the Khmer creation myth of a war between gods and demons in the cosmos. In the tale, the warring divinities churn the milk waters below, calling up from the froth mythical dancers, the Apsaras, of such stunning beauty that they divert the two powers from war.

The Queen of the Apsaras was then reincarnated on the earth, becoming mother and princess to the Cambodian people, according to a press release.

It’s the story of Cambodia’s beginnings, a theme that has profound resonance in Season of Cambodia’s celebration of contemporary art in Cambodia, a country no longer uniquely defined by the peaks and lows of its past: the 12^th-century Khmer Empire and, some eight centuries later, the Cambodian Genocide.

“The focus of the entire Season of Cambodia festival is on introducing the phenomenal living arts of the country to a wider audience,” said Joseph V. Melillo, BAM Executive Producer. “It is not to deny history, but rather to emphasize the extraordinary present of Cambodia’s artistic community."

The spiritual, delicate dance — first performed in Paris in 1964 — was choreographed by Princess Norodom Buppha Devi, a former principal dancer in the Royal Ballet in the 1960s who lived in exile from 1970-1991, seeking sanctuary from the Khmer Rouge’s genocidal campaign against all intellectuals, including dancers, from 1975-1979.

As part of the government’s plot to roll the once cosmopolitan country backwards to an agrarian Year Zero, 90 percent of Cambodia’s trained dancers were executed during a half-decade long nightmare.

Cambodia: Release scapegoats for killing of trade union leader សង្គម​ស៊ីវិល​ស្វែង​រក​អន្តរាគមន៍​ដោះលែង​ឃាតក​សិប្បនិមិត្ត​សម្លាប់​លោក ជា វិជ្ជា

Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun were wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for the 2004 killing of prominent trade union leader Chea Vichea.

© Heng Sinith

“

Considering the seriously flawed criminal investigation, grossly unfair trial and lack of evidence, these two men should never have been convicted in the first place

”

Rupert Abbott, Amnesty International’s researcher on Cambodia, Laos and Viet Nam

Wed, 01/05/2013

Two men wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for the killing of prominent trade union leader Chea Vichea in 2004 should be released immediately, Amnesty International said today, on International Labour Day.

Following an unfair trial, Born Samnang, 32, and Sok Sam Oeun, 45, were sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2005 after being convicted for the murder a year earlier of Chea Vichea, the president of Cambodia’s Free Trade Union (FTU).

After a campaign by human rights groups, the Supreme Court released the two men on bail on 31 December 2008 and ordered a retrial. But on 27 December 2012, four years after their provisional release, the Appeals Court upheld the original verdict and sent the pair back to prison, despite any new evidence being presented. They have appealed this latest decision.

“Considering the seriously flawed criminal investigation, grossly unfair trial and lack of evidence, these two men should never have been convicted in the first place,” said Rupert Abbott, Amnesty International’s researcher on Cambodia, Laos and Viet Nam.

“Cambodian authorities should ensure that these two men are immediately and unconditionally released once and for all – they must be allowed to try to rebuild their lives.”

Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun were originally arrested in January 2004, on suspicion of killing Chea Vichea.

Chea Vichea had been shot dead at a newspaper stand in the centre of the capital Phnom Penh earlier that month, following a series of death threats against him.

Police officers threatened and detained those providing alibis for the two suspects, and intimidated other witnesses. Born Samnang said that police beat and coerced him into making a confession - the principal evidence on which the pair were then convicted.

Cambodian Court Orders New Probe in Reporter’s Death

Hang Serei Oudom’s wife Im Chanthy speaks to reporters after a hearing at a court in Rattanakiri, April 30, 2013.

RFA 

30th April 2013

 

A court in Cambodia on Tuesday ordered a renewed probe into the murder of a journalist who had exposed corruption among local elites, saying an earlier investigation had neglected important evidence that could shed new light on the case.

Presiding judge Y Sovann told the Ratanakiri provincial court that several sources of information had been overlooked during the investigation into the killing of Hang Serei Oudom, who was found beaten to death in the trunk of his car last September.

The court had been due to deliver a verdict on Tuesday for the two suspects charged with his murder, Cambodian military officer An Bunheng and his wife, known by her nickname “Vy,” who have both denied the charges.

“The investigating judge must examine additional evidence in the case of Hang Serei Oudom,” Y Sovann said, adding that the former investigating judge Luch Lao had failed to perform his duties and would be replaced on the case.

“The [new] investigating judge must look into the cell phone records of the deceased from [telecommunication companies] Mobitel and Mfone before the murder took place, and interview additional witnesses to the crime scene.”

Y Sovann said the judge should also ask additional questions of An Bunheng and his wife, as well as other military police officers in the area that may have additional details about the incident.

He ordered that the accused couple remain in detention until further evidence comes to light in the case, adding that there would not be a time limit placed on the new investigation.

Thousands of workers in Cambodia march for pay rise on Int'l Labor Day សមាជិកសភា គណបក្សប្រឆាំង ទទួលញ្ញត្តិពីតំណាងកម្មករ

Ath Thon, president of Cambodian Labour Council, joint organiser of the march, talks to reporters.
 
PHNOM PENH, May 1, 2013 (Xinhua) -- About 5,000 Cambodian workers [DAP News reported more than 20,000 marchers] took to the street on Wednesday to mark the International Labor Day, calling for pay rise, better labor conditions and decrease in petrol prices, a union representative said.
Marchers, mostly garment workers, held banners and walked from the Freedom Park near the Wat Phnom historical site to the National Assembly in order to submit a petition to the National Assembly.
"Our petition is to ask the government to set the minimum wage of 150 U.S. dollars a month for a garment worker and to take measures to ensure working safety for workers," Rong Chhun, president of the Cambodian Confederation of Unions, who headed the protest, told reporters.
Currently, the minimum wage for a garment worker is 80 U.S. dollars.
"We also urge the government to cap the gasoline price to less than 1 U.S. dollar a liter from the current price of 1.37 U.S. dollars," he said.
The garment industry is Cambodia's largest income earner, representing more than 80 percent of the country's exports.
The latest report of the Ministry of Commerce showed that currently, the country has about 500 garment and footwear factories employing some 510,600 workers. Last year, the country exported garment products in equivalent to 4.6 billion U.S. dollars, up 8 percent year-on-year.
Prime Minister Hun Sen said the government allowed workers to express their rights through protests in order to demand better labor conditions.

A tale of two democracies: How Mongolia has outshone Cambodia

By Michelle Tolson
By Asian Correspondent 
May 01, 2013

Mongolia appeared on the global radar in 2009, when news of its massive copper deposits and untapped mineral wealth attracted international investors in droves.  The country suddenly went from being a remote adventure destination to one described as “the next Qatar,” worthy of multi-million dollar deals.

Real estate boomed and inflation became epic at 20 percent.  In 2011, two years after President Elbegdorj, signed the ink on the Oyu Tolgoi mining contract, which has been described as one of the largest copper deposits globally, Mongolia earned the moniker of the fastest growing economy in the world.  This was followed by the less glamorous rating of Ulaanbaatar being rated the second most polluted city in the world by the World Health Organization. Let’s not forget Mongolia’s status of having one of the highest rates of alcoholism internationally, while being known as the “coldest capital in the world”.  In short, Mongolia is not an easy country to live in and perhaps it is for these reasons and more that the country was given the honor of hosting the Community of Democracies (CoD) from 2011 to 2013.

While the main conference wrapped up on Monday, April 29, there was a small closing event Tuesday with the parliament and civil society members getting some coveted face time with democracy heroine and Nobel Prize winner, Aung San Suu Kyi.  “We want to know how she manages to look so good at 68,” confided Member of Parliament and leader of the Women’s Caucus L. Erdenechimeg.

Nobel laureate and Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, center, attends the opening of the VII Ministerial Conference of the Community of Democracies held in Ulan Bator, Mongolia on Monday. Pic: AP.

Putting aside its recent democracy honor, how is Mongolia really doing?

The Brookings Institute published a doubtful analysis by Nyamosor Tuya, former foreign minister of Mongolia, on the country’s democratic evolution.  She cited entrenched poverty consistently hovering at 30 percent, in spite of the strong growth in the economy, as an indicator of inequality.  Tuya wrote, “It should be noted that the latest poverty figure shows a decrease ― 29 percent in 2011 versus 39 percent in 2010 ― but it is yet to be determined if this is attributable to government’s untargeted cash handouts of the past three years, or whether it points to a trend”.  The Mongolian government implemented a broad-based cash handout scheme of 21,000 MNT (about US$15) to each citizen every month, which ended in 2012.   Though seemingly small, this sum is significant in light of the 20 percent of its 3 million citizens who survive on US$1.25 a day.

In contrast to Tuya’s dark assessment, Julian Dierkes of the Institute of Asian Research praised Mongolia’s democracy as a non-violent phenomenon that began shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union, one that outshone its other Central Asian neighbors. Dierkes sees Mongolia’s late access to foreign investment as a benefit that allowed the political framework of democracy to establish itself more firmly before mining wealth altered its course.

Pricey school breaks ground on Koh Pich

Last Updated on 01 May 2013
Phnom Penh Post 
By Hor Kimsay
 

The Overseas Cambodia Investment Corporation (OCIC), the developer of Koh Pich, is to invest $5 million to build the Canadian International School of Phnom Penh (CISP).

Owned by Pung Carolyne, a daughter of well-known businessman Pung Kheav Se [owner of Koh Pich], the CISP building officially broke ground yesterday on Koh Pich, targeting students from wealthy Cambodian and other foreign families in Phnom Penh.

“It is expensive,” said Donna Trafford, principal of CISP. “But we aim to provide an internationally diverse student body with an exceptional education and support them to pursue their dream and goals.”

The new school building has four floors, is constructed on three hectares of land and covers 9,500 square metres.  Touch Samnag, deputy director of OCIC, said the school building is expected to finish in mid-2015.

This new building is the second phase of OCIC investment in an international school in Cambodia, with the intention of creating a seamless journey for students from pre-school through to grade 12.

Pech Polene, chairman and CEO of Westline Education Group, a private school in Phnom Penh, told the Post that the number of international schools in Phnom Penh is increasing in correspondence to the improving economic situation and a growing number of young people in the country.

“I do not think [CISP] is our competitor because we have a different market segment,” Polene said. “The industry is currently seeing healthy growth and healthy competition.”

NEC to meet parties, NGOs over election registration

PHNOM PENH, 1 May 2013 (The Cambodia Herald) -- The National Election Committee (NEC) said Tuesday it will hold a meeting with representatives from different political parties and non-government organizations over party registrations for upcoming election.

The meeting to take place Friday will be held at its headquarters in the Ministry of Interior and will be headed by Havan Sivilay, a member of the NEC.

The registration for July’s general election started on April 29 and will last for 15 days until May 13.

To date, four political parties, the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP), the royalist Funcinpec Party, the Khmer Republican Party and the Khmer National Party, have registered and submitted their candidate lists.

Kem Sokha, acting president of the National Rescue Party, said his party is ready to register to compete in the fifth legislative election.

The comment was made Wednesday in front of the National Assembly where he accepted petitions from workers who were celebrating International Labor Day.

Cambodia still bleeding Rouge

Wednesday 1 May 2013 - http://www.enca.com

Cambodian relatives of former Khmer Rouge Foreign Minister Ieng Sary cry during the funeral ceremony at Leng Sary's house in Malai, near the Cambodian-Thai border, in Banteay Meanchey province, some 400km northwest of Phnom Penh on March 21, 2013. Picture: AFP

 

MALAI, Cambodia - It has been hailed as a chance to heal a traumatised nation, but former foot soldiers of the brutal Khmer Rouge say Cambodia's genocide trial is a waste of money that will only re-open old wounds.

 The landmark case against the most senior surviving leaders of the hardline communist regime, which began in 2011, has been described as one of the world's most complex in decades and is costing tens of millions of dollars.

 

The tribunal, set up in 2006 after long negotiations between Cambodia and the United Nations, was billed as an opportunity to find justice and reconciliation after one of the worst horrors of the 20th century.

 

But in former Khmer Rouge strongholds along the Cambodian-Thai border, ageing former regime cadres would rather that the bloody episodes of the late 1970s are forgotten.

 

"The wounds are almost healed, but I think the trial is like a sharp stick piercing the old wounds," said Nhem Preuong, who joined the Khmer Rouge as a soldier in 1973.

 

"Everyone suffered under the regime, but we should let hatred go," said the 58-year-old father of three, who is now a local councilor and married to another former Khmer Rouge cadre. "We should bury the past."

 

Led by Pol Pot, who died in 1998, the Khmer Rouge wiped out up to two million people - nearly a quarter of the population - through starvation, overwork or execution in a bid to create an agrarian utopia.

 

The northwestern region of Malai, close to the border with Thailand, is home to thousands of former Khmer Rouge members, some of whom fill local government positions, while others sell goods at a dusty local market.

 

The town was the powerbase of former Khmer Rouge foreign minister Ieng Sary, who died on March 14 at the age of 87 while on trial for war crimes and genocide over his role in the regime's 1975-1979 reign of terror.

Overcoming the inhumanity of war in Cambodia

By Melanie de Klerk Global News

Bou Meng, One of only two living survivors of S21.

Photos of female prisoners from the S21 Prison in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

View through the glass of the Killing fields monument Cambodia.

The list of Security Regulations for prisoners at the S21 prison Phnom Penh , Cambodia.

It’s a cloudless, sunny morning. The heat already threatening to rear it’s suffocating head through the gentle breeze. It’s only just 8 a.m. and I am waiting on a Phnom Penh street corner for my local guide.

It was the day I would visit Tuol Sleng Prison, or simply known as S21, and the Killing Fields.

Both have become common stops for tourists with good reason. Both of these places are symbols of a dark chapter of Cambodian history that Cambodians want the world to see, to understand and to remember.

Like most Western visitors to Cambodia, I was vaguely aware of the history of violence that had plagued the country, taking an estimated 1.7 million lives in the fairly recent past.

But, admittedly, I did not understand the full scope of what had happened after Pol Pot and the Ultra Maoist Khmer Rouge took over the country in April of 1975.

Arriving at the Tuol Sleng prison in the heart of Phnom Penh I was immediately struck by the fact that the prison looked nothing like a prison, at least from the outside. I learned that it never was intended as such.

Before 1975, it was a school educating young Cambodians. In a cruel twist of symbolism after 1975, the buildings became torture chambers for those who had been educated.

Stepping into one of the small rooms that had once been a classroom, now stained with blood that could never be washed away, my guide told the graphic details of what prisoners brought to these rooms had to endure.

Just outside that one “cell block” stood a sign that read “THE SECURITY OF REGULATION”. This sign had ten rules posted that all prisoners were subject to, on it, the tenth summed them all up: “If you disobey any point of my regulations you shall get either 10 lashes or five shocks of electric discharge.”

Walking from room to room, cell to cell, the feelings of unease continued to creep up.

Cambodian, Thai defense ministers to talk on border cooperation

PHNOM PENH, May 1, 2013 (Xinhua) -- The 9th Cambodia-Thailand General Border Committee (9th GBC) meeting will be held in Thailand on May 16-17 in order to discuss measures to strengthen peace, stability and cooperation along the border, a Cambodian defense official said Wednesday.
"The meeting will be co-chaired by the two countries' defense ministers (Gen. Tea Banh of Cambodia and Gen. Sukumpol Suwanatat of Thailand)," Neang Phat, secretary of state of the defense ministry, told reporters at Phnom Penh International Airport before he left for Bangkok to attend a preparatory meeting with Thai defense officials.
He said the forthcoming 9th GBC meeting will focus discussion on cooperation to strengthen security along the border through jointly fighting against cross-border crimes, drug trafficking, and other illegal activities in order to build a border of peace, stability, cooperation and development.
"The meeting will also discuss measures to avoid (military) confrontations that may affect the two countries' development and people livelihoods," he said.
Besides, it will discuss ways to clear landmines in the World Court-defined Provisional Demilitarized Zone surrounding Cambodia' s Preah Vihear Temple, he said.
Cambodia and Thailand have had sporadic border conflicts over territorial dispute near Cambodia's Preah Vihear Temple since the UNESCO listed the temple as a World Heritage Site on July 7, 2008, but Thailand claims the ownership of 4.6 square kilometers of scrub next to the temple.
Deadly clashes between the both sides' troops occurred in February and April 2011 during the rule of former Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.
Military tensions have eased since August 2011 when ex-Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's Pheu Thai Party won a general election and led the current government.

Cambodian-Americans Need To Think Bigger, Entrepreneur Says

Timothy Chhim, president of the Chamber of Commerce for Nanuet, New York.

 

Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer

01 May 2013 

WASHINGTON DC - Cambodians have been settling in the United States for decades now, yet there are few real success stories in business.

But there are exceptions, like Timothy Chhim, president of the Chamber of Commerce for Nanuet, New York, who recently visited Washington for a business conference. He told VOA Khmer in an interview that too many Cambodian immigrants fail to think big, take risks and go after what they want.

“If we think big and we think we want something, it makes us find a means to move from small to big steps,” he said. “I would appeal to Cambodians to thoroughly consider business [ownership]. If we only think that we’ll spend a lifetime working for hourly wages, we know we can’t get rich.”

Determination is the first step to success, he said. A plan helps too, and financial support. That could mean submiting a proposal to the Small Business Administration, or finding a loan from the bank through a proper business plan, he said.

“I don’t work for survival,” he said. “I have a big goal to achieve.”

That includes not working for five, 10 or even 20 dollars per hour. “So that’s why I own a business, for insurance of home, car, life or retirement,” he said.

Chhim, who has been president of his local Chamber of Commerce since 2011, said this has helped him establish business connections with professionals and local government representatives. 

In Long Beach, New Opposition Seeks Support

Sophinarath Cheang, VOA Khmer

29 April 2013 

LONG BEACH - Cambodians who go to the polls for July’s parliamentary elections will face two major choices, the ruling Cambodian People’s Party, and the new opposition, the Cambodia National Rescue Party.

The new opposition represents a combination of two former party leaders, Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha, both of whom were in Long Beach earlier this month, looking for funding and support ahead of the election.

This California city is not known for an abundance of political participation by its Cambodian residents. But community organizer Tith Tippana hopes to change that for the Rescue Party.

Kem Sokha (L) Vice-President of the opposition CNRP and Sam Rainsy (R), President of the opposition CNRP.

In an interview with VOA Khmer at his Long Beach home, he said the hard part was convincing Cambodian-Americans here that the two opposition leaders share the same goals.

“The difficulty is that, primarily, Cambodians think we have two different paths—but actually these two paths have only one purpose, which is change,” he said. “So the difficulty is to combine the two leaders.”

Tith Tippana recently hosted a meeting between the two opposition leaders and more than 700 residents in a Long Beach banquet hall. Nearly 300 people had to be turned away, he said.

That’s a lot of participation from the largest Cambodian-American community in the United States, which could help allay the concerns of other, smaller communities, he said.

“Long Beach is a place for our fellow Cambodians to learn from one another,” he said. “So on the political stage, if Long Beach residents are involved, the world will be involved as well.”

Tith Tippana said that the joining of the two parties will help in the upcoming election in Cambodia, where the Rescue Party will run against the ruling Cambodian People’s Party for parliamentary seats and the premiership.

Long Beach supporters raised just $20,000. But Tith Tippana said he senses a change for this election, which he called a turning point for Cambodia.

Like father, like son in CPP [Hun Sen is building a political dynasty] លោកហ៊ុន សែន​បង្ហាញ​បេក្ខជន​ថ្មី

Last Updated on 30 April 2013 
Phnom Penh Post 
By Vong Sokheng

Senior CPP lawmaker Cheam Yeap speaks during a workshop in Phnom Penh earlier this year. Yesterday, it was announced that his son, Cheam Chansophoan, will run in the July election. Photograph: Hong Menea/Phnom Penh Post

The list of ruling party candidates drawn from the families of high-ranking officials expanded again yesterday as Prime Minister Hun Sen announced that the son of CPP stalwart Cheam Yeap will join his father on the ballot come July.

“Cheam Yeap’s son will also stand in Battambang province,” he said.

Speaking at the inauguration of a pagoda in Prey Veng, the premier took the opportunity to talk up the party’s newest strategy.

“It is not about nepotism and partisanship, but there must be resumption [from their parents to children],” he told the crowd of roughly several hundred villagers and monks.

The premier then offered his second endorsement in less than a month for Prey Veng candidate Sar Sokha, 33, the son of Minister of Interior Sar Kheng.

“I would like to keep my nephew here to stand in the upcoming election in order to protect all the achievements of his parent and his uncles, especially the CPP’s achievement, because we are old now,” Hun Sen said.

Sokha, Hun Sen said, was talented enough to have received a provincial governor appointment had he been of age.

“I was supposed to appoint him as a provincial governor, but he has not yet reached the [minimum] age. Before he gets there, let him sit on the National Assembly and gain skills on administration and management.”

Canadian facing child prostitution charges after Cambodian police raid hotel room

A photograph of the streets of Siem Reap, a few kilometres from Angkor Wat. Canadian man Vigai Indra Komar, 50, made a second appearance in Siem Reap Provincial Court Monday and is being held in custody on suspicion of child prostitution. Submitted photo

VANCOUVER DESI

A Canadian man vacationing in Cambodia is facing child prostitution charges after police raided his hotel room Friday.

Vigai Indra Komar, 50, made a second appearance in Siem Reap Provincial Court Monday and is being held in custody. The Toronto Star has reported that Komar’s passport was issued in Vancouver.

According to the Phnom Penh Post, police operating on a tip raided Komar’s room at the Hilton Angkor resort and found a 14-year-old girl “cowering naked in the bathroom.” Chea Heng, deputy chief of the anti-human trafficking and children protection office for Siem Reap province, told the Post that police also found pornographic materials, a camera and erectile enhancement pills in the room.

Komar was sent to court Saturday and preliminary child prostitution charges were filed, while the alleged victim was helped by the provincial social affairs office.

Under Cambodian law, someone found guilty of having sex with a minor under 15 years of age faces between seven and 15 years in jail.

The Post reported that Komar had a run-in with the authorities on a previous visit to Siem Reap, but he was not charged.